Tangwena's Malawi-Style Cob Cure: Fermented Cannabis

i haven't read much here yet...is this process anaerobic or aerobic? :)

We’re working with anaerobic with this one Ziggy. Vacuum sealed the whole time. Tangwena’s joined us over here, bringing his years of experience and passionate motivation with him. He has us all drooling. Lol!
 
Since my first buzz at the age of 22 I've been searching for an elusive euphoric experience, one that connected me to a deeper awareness, insight, and hallucinatory inspiration one might more often attribute to ceremony than recreation. After years of dreaming, and following three years of learning to grow my own cannabis, I've danced around the edges of my dream, but so far the Dark Devil Auto was the closest thing to otherworldliness I'd come across.

There was a singular moment in my youth where I was transported by the after effects of Columbian Gold, which memory may or may not be influenced by the hunky tennis player that shared that experience with me. Just in case he wasn't the cause of the memories being so......delicious, I'll be growing a Columbian Gold this year. A girl has to know. :battingeyelashes:

I'll be cobbing that eventual harvest.

"Cobbing?" you inquire. "What is cobbing?"

I'm so glad you asked. :slide:

Well, it turns out someone has worked to perfect a method of curing that he believes closes replicates the cobbed buds he grew up appreciating in Africa. Tangwena was frustrated for years at the inferior quality of the euphoric experience with western-style drying techniques. For decades he devoted himself to the process of replicating the flavors and euphoric effects he remembered from his earlier years, but using safer methods.

In Africa the buds were cobbed and buried for fermentation, creating magical alchemy that transformed good bud into intense bud. Be forewarned, this is not cannabis you want to smoke as a newbie. At least not alone. Lol! Burying your cannabis can be problamatic from a sanitary perspective, particularly in the control of microorganisms that promote mold. Tangwena overcame that problem with vacuum sealing, and then he worked out a timeframe that gets the buds fermented and ready to cure in less than two weeks from harvest.

Vacuum seal the finished buds and let it cure for three months and you'll have an end product that will change how you think of your cannabis. From reading their accounts you'll change that perspective when they first come out of the cob after a week or so fermenting. :slide:

His thread is titled "Malawi style cob curing." When you've achieved success with this technique you're going to want to thank him. It'd be a nice gesture to stop by and pay your respects. If you don't want to bother with a membership to do so you can let me know and I'll pass it on. I think he and I are going to be talking about this technique for many years.

Do yourself a favor, go to his thread and read his accounts of the euphoria. Come back ready to play. :battingeyelashes:

Tangwena's thread's been up for years and runs nearly 250 pages. They welcomed me with open arms, thrilled to share what they learned as a team, and even reworked the flow chart fellow member repuk developed to reflect current knowledge. In a nutshell, this is our process. No need to reinvent the wheel.



I know, impressed the hell out of me too. :circle-of-love:

I want to do this. I'm going to do this. It's so much more fun to take these adventures with friends. Want to play? Ok, let's learn to ferment our cannabis together.

I'm just starting the process myself. I'm being a bit more casual with this thread than others I've started because I don't want to wait until I'm all ready. I want to start while I'm in process, let you guys jump in and add information as we go. I'll be harvesting my Malawi in the morning, and the plant needs to hang to get to around 80% RH before I cob any. That'll take between 1 to 3 days. As Tangwena describes it "the sugar leaves should be limp, but not brittle." He likes to think the buds are still alive when he cobs them, and talks sweetly to the buds as he compresses their sweetness into a cigar-shaped bundle of future joy.

Supplies:
* You'll need something to wrap the buds in. The best wrapper appears to be corn husks. I got mine from the rain forest, but you can find them in many stores for wrapping tamales. Alternatively, Tangwena suggested construction-weight paper bags. They'll withstand the abuse better than thinner bags. The corn husks create more surface area with their grooves. Tangwena says he swears by the sweeter taste created by the husks.

* The best cobs hold 1.5 - 2 ounces of buds, at somewhere around 80% RH

* A vacuum sealer system eliminates the threat of mold. You're going to squeeze them snugly.

* The process begins with a 24 - hour sweating step, maintaining the cobs at 40 C/104 F. There are many ways to achieve this, some of which repuk suggested on his chart. I'll be using a seed-starting heat pad with an inverted container under the insulating weight of a couple towels. Simplicity and frugality rolled into one.

There were some good pointers I found in just the first 10% of Tangwena's thread.

Aaaaand I just realized they got deleted. Lol! I'll go back over the material tonight and tomorrow and add it into this thread. I'll get the process worked up with details. They're aware that we're building on their experience and heartily encourage us to create a flow between the communities.

Tangwena's intention is to share this wonderful gift of knowledge with the world, to change the hearts and minds of cannabis enthusiasts, one cob at a time. I'm honored, as an unofficial ambassador of :420: to bring the knowledge back to my friends.

I think we're going to look back on this day warmly as the start of something wonderful. Can't you feel it? :yahoo:

Ok, who's in?
Im feeling it. Think ill get a couple grows under my belt first before trying it. Or I may just take an ounce out of my 2nd lot... decisions lol. Either way you got my attention
 
:passitleft: Thanks

I went two days hanging for the Malawi cobs and I think they were the perfect moisture content.

The Jamaican was drying low and slo since the 18th. The buds were a perfect 80% once I let them get to room temp. I took out an ounce for a cob and a half ounce for a canary, with the daughter’s blessing. We have two more in flower, so she can afford to let me have this bit. :battingeyelashes:





I’ve already noticed that the temp settings aren’t as true as I thought they’d be. I’ll keep adjusting until I get a true 104 F and start the timer then.

Good afternoon Sue,
I noticed we have similar dehy units.:nomo:

Mine runs at 111.5 when setting the temp at 105.:hmmmm:
 
Just for clarification, by the end of it will you be completely drying the buds out?

When your nose tells you it's done you let them dry out. Then you reseal them for the best long-term storage.

:welcome: Bilbobudkin. I'm tickled pink to have pulled you into the fun. It's gonna be a hard one to resist, I warn you up front. Lol!
 
When your nose tells you it's done you let them dry out. Then you reseal them for the best long-term storage.

:welcome: Bilbobudkin. I'm tickled pink to have pulled you into the fun. It's gonna be a hard one to resist, I warn you up front. Lol!
Have you seen the results first hand then? Just a yes or no will suffice dont want any spoilers lol.
 
Have you seen the results first hand then? Just a yes or no will suffice dont want any spoilers lol.

My cobs have just begun their transformation, so any sampling was immature to what we're going for, but my answer would have to be a hearty and happy "Yes" :battingeyelashes:
 
High SweetSue, Tangwena, Guys,

First of all let me say how nice to have "The Man", yes you Tangwena, to grace our thread. Some very nice, fascinating stories you have. Shows your years of experience. You must be at the "Guru" level, lol. Great to have you here.

@SweetSue - You are having FUN! As we all are. Sounds and looks like so much fun sharing adventures. That's life for me! I missed this thread for 3 days, and come back to 7 pages to read. Nice, and busy.

I started my cob experience. I weighed 2 oz dry purple haze, rehydrated with apple slices (didn't check RH), rolled in parchment paper and left in 104F for 24 hrs. Yesterday I put in 80F room to age. I haven't looked at it yet. No sweat on stage 1, so went to stage 2. I will open after 1 week. Logistics prevents me from taking pics. After listening to you guy's experiences, I'm getting excited.

So, while rolling the cob, I thought it was difficult. Then I thought of a 1/2 inch piece of pvc say 6 " with a wooden dowel to go inside. I think it would be easy to compact a cob shape that way. I'm thinking this will go viral; and if it does, someone will develop a machine to cure cobs automatically. Sounded cool to me. I was also wondering about the corn husk. Seems the canary cobs cure well. Do the husks make the cure better?

Well, I'll try to check in more often. Love this thread.:green_heart: Love you guys :green_heart:
:goodjob: :Namaste:
 
High SweetSue, Tangwena, Guys,

First of all let me say how nice to have "The Man", yes you Tangwena, to grace our thread. Some very nice, fascinating stories you have. Shows your years of experience. You must be at the "Guru" level, lol. Great to have you here.

@SweetSue - You are having FUN! As we all are. Sounds and looks like so much fun sharing adventures. That's life for me! I missed this thread for 3 days, and come back to 7 pages to read. Nice, and busy.

I started my cob experience. I weighed 2 oz dry purple haze, rehydrated with apple slices (didn't check RH), rolled in parchment paper and left in 104F for 24 hrs. Yesterday I put in 80F room to age. I haven't looked at it yet. No sweat on stage 1, so went to stage 2. I will open after 1 week. Logistics prevents me from taking pics. After listening to you guy's experiences, I'm getting excited.

So, while rolling the cob, I thought it was difficult. Then I thought of a 1/2 inch pvc say 6 " with a wooden dowel to go inside. I think it would be easy to compact a cob shape that way. I'm thinking this will go viral; and if it does, someone will develop a machine to cure cobs automatically. Sounded cool to me.

Well, I'll try to check in more often. Love this thread.:green_heart: Love you guys :green_heart:
:goodjob: :Namaste:

I was also thinking that some type of press would be interesting. It'd have to resist the stickiness. Hehehe! They make a neat tool for rolling sushi, but it isn't powerful enough for the compression or long enough for a decent cob.

I hope it does go viral. I think this is what many people are looking for when they smoke, that sense of an expansive "more."

I'm excited Bode. I can't wait for your first report.
 
is this process anaerobic or aerobic? :)

It appears to be true fermentation; although there may be some cellular respiration occurring (I have no idea), at least initially.

So, while rolling the cob, I thought it was difficult. Then I thought of a 1/2 inch piece of pvc say 6 " with a wooden dowel to go inside. I think it would be easy to compact a cob shape that way.

Like when "rolling" a party joint, lol? Lick the sticky, attach it to the other end of the paper to form a big cylinder, set it on end, and start dropping (ground) in cannabis, using the unsharpened end of a pencil to "tamp" it throughout the process so that you can get enough in there for several people's enjoyment?

Why not try tossing a handful (or two?) of loose bud into one of those bags, and doing a vacuum cycle on it. If you get it into a rough cylindrical shape first, I'd think you could wait a few moments, then open the bag, wrap it with your cover of choice (corn husks, in this case), and then repeat the vacuum cycle & seal it this time.

Cannabis is remarkably compressible. While not proud of having done so, lol... I have, in the (distant ;) ) past, bought quantities of MexiBrick where a lid would take up less space than a cell phone. Which kind of sucked, because I was buying it mostly for the seeds - and its compressed state meant that all but a few of the (often) thousands of seeds were crushed.
 
My cobs have just begun their transformation, so any sampling was immature to what we're going for, but my answer would have to be a hearty and happy "Yes" :battingeyelashes:
Good to hear. This is something I will definitely be open to trying. I would not smoke or let any1 smoke something I have created that has not been finished properly. So I believe in good drying and curing but I can kinda see the science behind it in my head and Im intrigued. As long as you can stop it going too nasty it should be amazing.
 
Cob Update:
High Folks! It's been over 24 hrs and the cobs have been sweating in the dehydrator.
Here is how they looked.


Removed them and noticed the cobs weren't wet or damp.
The smell is quite unique. It reminds me of the smell of old bubble hash water that has sat around a while.
Canary shots:

Resealed the bags.
I decided to use this tub for ferment stage.
Heat mat under with insulation to keep things cozy.



I did not open the cobs to peek inside. I didnt want to be tempted.

If it gets too hot I will take off some layers.


Hm..I wonder if I should have just kept em in the dehydrator on low?
:reading420magazine:
Now thats what I call a sweat my friend you will get a very quick fermentation on those probably only need a week or so before they are ready to part dry and age. Nice job I can see your going to catch on really fast.
 
First of all let me say how nice to have "The Man", yes you Tangwena, to grace our thread. Some very nice, fascinating stories you have. Shows your years of experience. You must be at the "Guru" level, lol. Great to have you here.
Enough of the Guru my friend I am just a guy who grew up with the masters of pot in Africa. I just want as many of you pot loving and growing mad men to experience what pot can be if cured properly.
Once someone with the passion most of you already posses gets a handle on this technique you will take it to the next level I am sure.
Some of my friends already make cob and fermented weed thats as good as any I saw in Africa. I just plant the seed then you take it from there.
 
Back
Top Bottom