Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[Tangwena]

Like the golden cure and the darker ones, I made a cob that I diddnt sweat just to see what would happen and it has quite a different effect and flavor

I used to as teenager score some cobs wrapped in maize husks.
The buds were yellow and dark golden brown.
They must have dried the plant whole and then loosely cobbed the buds to get that look.
But just how they were stored or aged is a mystery to me. The dried buds could be peeled off of the cob as they were only lightly compacted.
But the fine exquisite perfumed flowery aroma I have never smelled in jar cured buds.
The cure made them smooth like inhaling air so you hit it hard!
Then your head burst through your skull and your mind wandered free it blew everyone away one hit two if you just sipped it.
The buds were a big calyx type of plant very firm sativa type monster plant type buds. Some of the Malawi plants grown by the heads in the villages were like tree's.
They supplied the whole smoking population of the village. They were much loved and adored by everyone down the line to me in the back ally behind my suppliers hut.

 

[brock1]

There are so many new tastes to experience my friend.
From loud sticky mind bending cures to hard dark hash like cobs that need grinding into powder to unlock that unique perfume peculiar to that plants cobs.
I remember scoring cobs in back ally's at night breaking them in half to get that tell tale history of the plant, almost like its DNA through your olfactory glands.
You may be able to tell I chewed about 1/10th of a gram about an hour ago of the Mulanje x Mal/Ethiopian cobs I made.
I am def someone better right now ha ha.

Yes its certainly intestersing how it can unlock new flavours mate. I am going to cob some SHD dry this year to see if it makes any difference to cob the buds dry vs wet. I have never tried eating cob yet I tent to grind and smoke it. Much a unique set of taste come through that are definitely not the same as the bud you start with.

 

[Hombre del mont]

I am going to cob some SHD dry this year to see if it makes any difference to cob the buds dry vs wet. I have never tried eating cob yet I tent to grind and smoke it.

Hi @brock1, when you say dry, do you mean completely dry? Completely dry won't work I'm afraid. Almost dry will work but will take a little longer.
I highly recommend that you give eating a little go; as a weed smoker just eat 0.75g (or more) first thing in the morning before smoking a spliff. Very different kid of hit, I think you'll like it.

 

[brock1]

Hi @brock1, when you say dry, do you mean completely dry? Completely dry won't work I'm afraid. Almost dry will work but will take a little longer.
I highly recommend that you give eating a little go; as a weed smoker just eat 0.75g (or more) first thing in the morning before smoking a spliff. Very different kid of hit, I think you'll like it.

Yes I didn't mean 100% dry. I want dry enough for the cob not to be dark brown/black almost hash coloured. I will defo give eating it a try next run with Cobs

 

[Hombre del mont]

Ah, I understand. You'll love eating it i'm sure

 

[Mallitlahuani]

I used to as teenager score some cobs wrapped in maize husks.
The buds were yellow and dark golden brown.
They must have dried the plant whole and then loosely cobbed the buds to get that look.
But just how they were stored or aged is a mystery to me. The dried buds could be peeled off of the cob as they were only lightly compacted.
But the fine exquisite perfumed flowery aroma I have never smelled in jar cured buds.
The cure made them smooth like inhaling air so you hit it hard!
Then your head burst through your skull and your mind wandered free it blew everyone away one hit two if you just sipped it.
The buds were a big calyx type of plant very firm sativa type monster plant type buds. Some of the Malawi plants grown by the heads in the villages were like tree's.
They supplied the whole smoking population of the village. They were much loved and adored by everyone down the line to me in the back ally behind my suppliers hut.

Man you got to experience the real deal in Africa. That’s amazing.

That semi compressed state of the cob is exactly what happened when I diddnt sweat the buds, I was easily able to peel individual buds off of it and the flavor and smell diddnt change as much as when I sweat the cobs. I do remember that the taste from that cob was allmost the same as the fresh bud but it was like a concentrated syrup version of the mixed berry smell from the live plant.

 

[Tangwena]

Man you got to experience the real deal in Africa. That’s amazing.

I have still not seen anything like the best cobs I scored, we have a lot to learn about curing this plant.

 

[KalamataStrain]

I have still not seen anything like the best cobs I scored, we have a lot to learn about curing this plant.

Chapter 5 cobs

Hello Tangwena, happy Easter! First of all thank you for sharing this knowledge about the cobs. I tried it last year after reading this great thread!

It worked like a charm and the high was exceptional!… reading it today again I stumbled on something very special you wrote about the chapter 5 cobs. Do you have any information about how it’s done?, because the description you gave, was eye opening like looking at treasure …the plant is a gift from nature, some people like smoking it, making resin, hash and many more things, but this cob style is very special.. is there any source to read or to travel and look after this chapter 5 cobs?…sorry for so many questions but I’m excited to learn more.
Have a blissful life and thank you for your time

 

[Tangwena]

Chapter 5 cobs

Hello Tangwena, happy Easter! First of all thank you for sharing this knowledge about the cobs. I tried it last year after reading this great thread!

It worked like a charm and the high was exceptional!… reading it today again I stumbled on something very special you wrote about the chapter 5 cobs. Do you have any information about how it’s done?, because the description you gave, was eye opening like looking at treasure …the plant is a gift from nature, some people like smoking it, making resin, hash and many more things, but this cob style is very special.. is there any source to read or to travel and look after this chapter 5 cobs?…sorry for so many questions but I’m excited to learn more.
Have a blissful life and thank you for your time

Thanks for the kind words my friend I'm glad you find it to your liking.
Unfortunately there is no information I know of about how they were made.
The villagers were not big on keeping written records the art was passed down through the families and local tribes.
Also special plants and cures were kept close and the knowledge guarded thats why in Africa you find so many lesser quality cobs as local people try to copy and cash in on the fame that Malawi cobs have in Africa.
Most of the published stuff is by European observation and then only of one particular variety of cure.
There were many localized variations on the cure some outstanding others not so.
The chapter 5 as we called them came from the Norther area and even back in the 70's was hard to find. I was told it was made by the nangas or doctors in the area for special purposes like rituals ect.
First up you would need that particular type of plant with its unique high then the cure.
I live in a country were its still illegal to grow pot but if I could legally grow it and cure it I am sure it could be done eventually.

Fields of Green for ALL

The Malawi Cob This report on the Malawi Cob is a result of 30 years of “full blown research” by a Cannabis fanatic and friend of the Dagga Couple in Malawi called Mr Bambo Mbudadenga who wrote this...

hi-in.facebook.com

This is the best information I have come across.

The Malawi Cob

The Malawi cob is an interesting rendition of Cannabis, Malawi style. We take a dive into the story behind it and how it is made today.

fieldsofgreenforall.org.za

 

[KalamataStrain]

Thanks for the kind words my friend I'm glad you find it to your liking.
Unfortunately there is no information I know of about how they were made.
The villagers were not big on keeping written records the art was passed down through the families and local tribes.
Also special plants and cures were kept close and the knowledge guarded thats why in Africa you find so many lesser quality cobs as local people try to copy and cash in on the fame that Malawi cobs have in Africa.
Most of the published stuff is by European observation and then only of one particular variety of cure.
There were many localized variations on the cure some outstanding others not so.
The chapter 5 as we called them came from the Norther area and even back in the 70's was hard to find. I was told it was made by the nangas or doctors in the area for special purposes like rituals ect.
First up you would need that particular type of plant with its unique high then the cure.
I live in a country were its still illegal to grow pot but if I could legally grow it and cure it I am sure it could be done eventually.

Fields of Green for ALL

The Malawi Cob This report on the Malawi Cob is a result of 30 years of “full blown research” by a Cannabis fanatic and friend of the Dagga Couple in Malawi called Mr Bambo Mbudadenga who wrote this...

hi-in.facebook.com

This is the best information I have come across.

The Malawi Cob

The Malawi cob is an interesting rendition of Cannabis, Malawi style. We take a dive into the story behind it and how it is made today.

fieldsofgreenforall.org.za

Hello and thanks for the quick reply and the provided link, appreciate it.
It seems that either way someone has to be there and search for the right locals. It’s ok if they wanna keep it secret, besides this is part of their culture.

In this thread there is something that I want to ask about how long to sweat the cobs.
In the beginning it was 24 hours, in some other post it was 12 to 15 hours.

I think I will try the next one with 12 hours sweating, or is this to short?

For a 20 gram cob, 7 to 10 days fermentation, 29°C seems to be enough.
If I let it longer to ferment, let’s say ~30 days, will this have another impact or even degrade the cob? Do you have any experience with that?

Thank you!

 

[Taima-da]

Hello and thanks for the quick reply and the provided link, appreciate it.
It seems that either way someone has to be there and search for the right locals. It’s ok if they wanna keep it secret, besides this is part of their culture.

In this thread there is something that I want to ask about how long to sweat the cobs.
In the beginning it was 24 hours, in some other post it was 12 to 15 hours.

I think I will try the next one with 12 hours sweating, or is this to short?

For a 20 gram cob, 7 to 10 days fermentation, 29°C seems to be enough.
If I let it longer to ferment, let’s say ~30 days, will this have another impact or even degrade the cob? Do you have any experience with that?

Thank you!

Body temperature, 4 hours is enough

 

[Tangwena]

Hello and thanks for the quick reply and the provided link, appreciate it.
It seems that either way someone has to be there and search for the right locals. It’s ok if they wanna keep it secret, besides this is part of their culture.

In this thread there is something that I want to ask about how long to sweat the cobs.
In the beginning it was 24 hours, in some other post it was 12 to 15 hours.

I think I will try the next one with 12 hours sweating, or is this to short?

For a 20 gram cob, 7 to 10 days fermentation, 29°C seems to be enough.
If I let it longer to ferment, let’s say ~30 days, will this have another impact or even degrade the cob? Do you have any experience with that?

Thank you!

There is no written in stone length of time to sweat or cure I use my sense of smell to determine all parameters.
The reason being the moisture content of the starting buds 6 hours sweating is enough, the drier the buds the longer the sweat.
I have beautiful cobs one of which I am using now that had no sweating just storage at 30c for 5 months, with a couple of openings, inspections and drying in between they are amazingly strong.
All buds require different treatment depending on their structure and potency, look and taste you hope to get.

If you follow the article I posted the link to. forget about the long drop toilets and sheep dung ect.
Think about what those conditions produced. ie lack of oxygen, moisture, heat ect.
Thats what you are looking for, the original "recipe" is just one way of getting one type of result.
Playing with the variables heat, time, oxygen level and moisture content is where the secret hides.

 

[Taima-da]

Hello and thanks for the quick reply and the provided link, appreciate it.
It seems that either way someone has to be there and search for the right locals. It’s ok if they wanna keep it secret, besides this is part of their culture.

In this thread there is something that I want to ask about how long to sweat the cobs.
In the beginning it was 24 hours, in some other post it was 12 to 15 hours.

I think I will try the next one with 12 hours sweating, or is this to short?

For a 20 gram cob, 7 to 10 days fermentation, 29°C seems to be enough.
If I let it longer to ferment, let’s say ~30 days, will this have another impact or even degrade the cob? Do you have any experience with that?

Thank you!

Longer ferments and higher temps (particularly with higher initial moisture content) lead down the path toward an ever darker, more integrated and homogenous mass (ending up black, sometimes with shiny sparkles of crystal developing all over)- smells head toward greater levels of ferment, from flowers through foody odors (fruits, candy, doughy, beery), heading toward funky, sweaty, B.O.+ ,going right through to fecal. Never really wanted to go that far myself, though it doesn't hurt the potency at all- the material becomes more stupefying, but far less pleasant to taste

 

[ProfessorLefty]

Just finished sweat and ferment of my first cob. Strain is Samsquanch OG which is an Indica dominant hybrid. It went in really really wet—sugar leaves hadn’t even wilted—so I was worried that it would rot or mold. As you can see it came out nearly perfect. Got a whiff of that sweetness I haven’t smelled since my last bag of Mexican brick weed around 30 years ago. Odd thing is that there was a distinctive funkiness in the fresh plant that’s not present in the cobbed weed, but the corn husk reeks of it (guessing it’s something soluble that migrated out along with the water?)

Haven’t tasted it yet, I’m going to give it at least a week cure first. I also saved aside some buds and dried them the typical way for comparison.

 

[Tangwena]

Just finished sweat and ferment of my first cob. Strain is Samsquanch OG which is an Indica dominant hybrid. It went in really really wet—sugar leaves hadn’t even wilted—so I was worried that it would rot or mold. As you can see it came out nearly perfect. Got a whiff of that sweetness I haven’t smelled since my last bag of Mexican brick weed around 30 years ago. Odd thing is that there was a distinctive funkiness in the fresh plant that’s not present in the cobbed weed, but the corn husk reeks of it (guessing it’s something soluble that migrated out along with the water?)

Haven’t tasted it yet, I’m going to give it at least a week cure first. I also saved aside some buds and dried them the typical way for comparison.


View attachment 18129419

Good on you for giving it a go.
Next time try it with drier buds and you will retain more of the aromas.
How you treat the cob post sweat is just as important as how you treat the buds pre sweat.
The colors look ok I would let it surface dry and then reseal it and keep it in a warm place 30c for a month opening and surface drying weekly.
Very good first attempt the colors are turning nicely. If you can master this cure you will never look back.

 

[ProfessorLefty]

Thanks Tangwena! I misinterpreted repuk’s instructions and dried to 65-80% of whole plant weight at chop, ended up sweating at 220g out of 300g, next time I think about 150-180g would be better, i.e. wilted but not completely dry (dry weight at 60% rh turns out to be about 75g from 300g fresh including stems and fan leaves)

At any rate, not ideal, but it’s not a disaster either—no ammonia or mold, and I’ve dried the husk & resealed. I’ll check it in a couple days.

Mean time, I’m tumbling 1/2 of the dried bud for kief, going to try heat curing it for hash


Here’s what the dry bud looks like:

 

[ProfessorLefty]

Thanks Tangwena! I misinterpreted repuk’s instructions and dried to 65-80% of whole plant weight at chop, ended up sweating at 220g out of 300g, next time I think about 150-180g would be better, i.e. wilted but not completely dry (dry weight at 60% rh turns out to be about 75g from 300g fresh including stems and fan leaves)

At any rate, not ideal, but it’s not a disaster either—no ammonia or mold, and I’ve dried the husk & resealed. I’ll check it in a couple days.

Mean time, I’m tumbling 1/2 of the dried bud for kief, going to try heat curing it for hash


Here’s what the dry bud looks like: View attachment 18129491

Edit, oh wait—this morning it smells like three-day old grass clippings ‍♀

 

[Tangwena]

Edit, oh wait—this morning it smells like three-day old grass clippings ‍♀

It will still get you high the THC is still there but all the flavor terpenes ect sweat out.
I did something similar years ago on some Panama, the juice exuded was golden and smelt like perfume.
I tried ingesting the juice but it had no effect whatsoever, however the cob once dried and aged scared the pants off me ha ha.
Tasted like shit but the high had me seeing and hearing things. I got lost in my own house going from the kitchen to the laundry ha ha.
I was in the passage leading to the laundry and I thought "where the F---k am I ha ha.

 

[ProfessorLefty]

I’m keeping it, even though it smells like pickles


Dried down from 34g to 28g over 12 hours today at 60%RH, got something like 8-17g to go

 

[Tangwena]

Edit, oh wait—this morning it smells like three-day old grass clippings ‍♀

Thats not as bad as it sounds mine always smell like that after sweating, drying and sealing for the cure USUALLY brings out the true aroma sweet and hash like and very exciting.
The best aromas occur during the month long cure.
Testing via your sense of smell during the one month cure is where the true artistry comes in and you can only get that from experience doing it.
OR subscribing online to my graduate course in cob appreciation which includes a first class trip for me to show you personally ha ha.
Dont worry I'm just going up FAST! on some Mulanje cob man I feel like superman.
I'm going outside to catch some fish yeeha.