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Alchemist KFC: An Overview

Alchemist KFC: An Overview

  • Adrian hunter

        Hello fellow hookah enthusiasts! I hope you are all doing well. Right about now I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Who the hell is this guy" am I right? Well allow me to introduce myself. My name is Adrian Hunter and I'm crazy stupid excited about hookah just like you. I run a Youtube channel called PipeDreamHookah where I try to give back to this community by pumping out in depth reviews, tutorials, and general discussion about any and all hookah products. I'm also part of a project called The A.M. Hookah Podcast along with my good friend Matt Desind. And, as I'm sure you've figured out by now, I'm the guy behind this little thing I like to call The Pipedreamers Blog.



   

    Now that introductions are out of the way, lets get into the topic of this blog post, the newest line from Alchemist Tobacco, Kentucky Fire Cured, or KFC for short. If your not familiar with Alchemist as a brand, let me give you a quick run down. Alchemist Tobacco is a LA based company that ages there French tobacco in Bourbon barrels for about 3 months, giving the tobacco a very rich complex flavor profile. Before the addition of KFC two months ago, they had 3 different lines of hookah tobacco. Their Straight line features single note flavors such as Banana, Cherry, Blueberry, and Pineapple. The original line features signature blends like Bourbon Barrel Berry and Key Lime Mint. Their Stout line houses stronger more robust flavors like Lemon mint or Black Moon Melon.

 



   

    This post however, is about their newest line of tobacco, KFC, which currently has 5 flavors available; Moonshine Mint, Bluegrass Berry, Old Country Lime, Grapefruit Mash, and Peaches and Cream. What's the difference? How does this stand out from the other 3 lines? Well, for starters, the tobacco itself. Rather than using their typical French tobacco, they are producing a dark leaf burly tobacco with a less than standard curing process. The KFC line also introduces an alternate packaging quite different from the ice cream tub-like 350 gram containers that where all used to. Let's go ahead and dive into the specks on this tobacco starting with how its made.

 

                                                                                    
    The production process for this tobacco is very unique. As the name of the line implies, they fire cure their burly tobacco. What the name doesn't tell you is where they do it. Alchemist KFC line tobacco is slowly smoke infused in nontraditional curing barns, picture a bunch of tobacco being fire cooked in a big ass barn.

                                 

Do the barns have any effect on the flavor of the tobacco? Well, I don't know, but the fire curing process itself definitely does. It's also important to keep in mind that this line is produced in smaller batches, which limits the amount of annual production.

   

     Lets take a look at the product itself, starting with the new packaging. The packaging on this line is outstanding in my opinion. Rather than the ice cream tubs they use on their other lines, they are featuring a microwave safe plastic container inside a cardboard sleeve with Alchemists graphics and info on it. For anyone who smokes the king of all dark leafs, Tangiers, you will know the value of this plastic container. If you pack with an oyster fork, it's very easy to mix up and scoop your tobacco into your bowl without the mess.

     

 

     

     Moving along to some of the physical features of the tobacco, lets start with the cut. Once you have emptied the bag of KFC into your microwave safe container and mixed it up, it will be easy to see that the tobacco has a fine cut to it. The cut is consistent and there are minimal stems. What's interesting about the consistency of this tobacco
is that it isn't sticky at all. The juices absorb into the leaves well causing the tobacco to be fluffy, making it easier to pack. Oh and if you didn't notice, its dark... Dark Black.

     Let's take a look at the best way to pack this tobacco. This is a dark leaf tobacco so we can safely assume that a fluff pack isn't the way to go. I have tried a fluff pack and it burnt pretty much immediately. Next is the semi dense pack which preformed fairly well and the clouds where massive, but the session was OK at best. Shout out to Rob from dude where's my hookah for setting me straight, he suggested I just dense it into the bowl at an under pack. Armed with Robs advice I went to try the third packing method and BOOM, it was amazing. Full flavor, no burning and very heat resistant. So its safe to say that I will be recommending a dense pack for the KFC line.

     What about the clouds though?! Absolutely no complaints in the cloud department. Huge full bodied clouds every time, the clouds are the largest size at around 10 minutes into your session. You need to pack on some heat to get these bigger clouds though. For a medium sized bowl like the good fella, you want to go with 3 flats on one layer of HD aluminum foil. Same thing for the second round of coals, this tobacco will not burn. KFC will also bring you nice long sessions, In a medium sized bowl you can easily get 2 rounds of coals.

    Just a quick note about the flavor profiles for this line, at around to 30 to 40 minute mark you will start to pick up some earthy tobacco flavors in the mix. If your an avid dark leaf smoker you are probably used to this and may even seek it out. However, if you are a newer smoker, this may not be something you're in the market for just yet, I would suggest mixing KFC with lighter brands to lessen the effects of the burly tobacco to prevent this. Don't be afraid to try out different mixes with this tobacco, the brand mixes very will with itself and with other dark leaf brands, like Tangiers. If you do a pre-mix pack you can even get it to work with some blond tobaccos.


     NEW DARK LEAF SMOKERS BE WARNED! I've been smoking dark leafs for a while now, and this stuff still gives me a good buzz right away and lasts for a good 3 to 7 minutes.


     So whats this stuff going to run you? This tobacco is a bit more expensive than their other lines due to the cost of production. A 200 gram container will run you 17.99, which comes out to around .90 cents a gram, roughly 15 cents more a gram than their other lines. It's definitely worth the money as KFC preforms with the best of em!

     Over all I have to say that I'm absolutely in love with alchemists newest line, KFC. Outstanding clouds, flavor and longevity, all packaged into a beautiful, practical, microwave safe container. I would highly recommend trying this out if you haven't yet.

     I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read this blog. If you enjoyed this, then I'm happy to say I will be bringing  you more posts like this one, so until next time, Happy Smoking.

 

 

Hey! If your interested in some video reviews here are some links!

Moonshine Mint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-EEWjGECq8

Grapefruit Mash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N99v8Dwa7ds

Bluegrass Berry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K11Z8a3pisI

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