Quote Originally Posted by cpmcdill View Post
Tambolaka is an uncased tobacco that should be kept relatively dry. It has no preservatives added and if kept humid like a cigar will generally spoil. Like Nachman said, just keep it in a tight jar. That way it will maintain the tobacco at the humidity it arrived at, which is most suitable. Tambo can even be allowed to dry out more, and need only be softened up when you intend to smoke it. The way Tambolaka is cured is to be pressed into sticks and bound in rope, then left in the rafters of a grass hut on an island in Indonesia for 5 years. Besides the naturally occurring enzymes in the tobacco, some yeasts probably play a role in creating the unique flavor of the tobacco. But where there's yeast, there's bound to be mold spores too, so any unbalance in the delicate curing process can lead to an outbreak of the fuzzy stuff. Another reason to store Tambolaka in a jar is to isolate it, as the mold/yeast might potentially spread to your other tobaccos.
I had appx a pound of the stuff and was not happy to see the white fuzzy stuff everywhere. The whole thing went into the trash it was too far gone when I noticed it. It was probably too moist when I got it and went downhill from there. From the smell I probably would not have liked it but I still wan not happy to toss it. I am thinking I need to get some more jars. When I get large amount of bulk tobacco I jar it. Its the little 2 oz bags that I have in a cooler along with opened tins. I did notice all the "opened" tins have now sealed shut and I could not just twist them open. Also no mold problems with anything else just the Indonesian stuff.