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LEARN MORE ABOUT TOBACCO
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BASIC TYPES OF TOBACCO:
BURLEY tobaccos are air cured and harvested by the stalk. The air curing process which takes place in an open barn under natural weather conditions takes 4 to 6 weeks. The leaves will turn from green to light tan or brown. The world's best Burleys are grown in Kentucky and Tennessee.
CAVENDISH is a process by which tobaccos are prepared. It is a tobacco which is “double” fermentated.
This process uses air-cured or flue-cured tobacco infused with substances that are high in sugar (rum, honey, etc…). After infusion, the tobacco is compressed, steamed, heated, fermented and aged for a period of time. Flue cured “Bright” tobaccos have the highest natural sugar content of any type of leaf. The“Cavendish” process results in a compressed “cake” of tobacco that is sliced and rubbed-out to ribbons of multiple leaf, that burn slower, with a mellow, flavorful character. Untreated, the Bright leaf tends to burn very hot and fast, with a light, sharp flavor. The Cavendish process makes a more pleasant product! The tobacco is aged longer, burns slower, has a better taste, and the ladies love the smell!
VIRGINIA tobaccos are cured after they are harvested, leaf by leaf in the fields, when the tobacco is ripe. The green leaves turn yellow during the curing time. Virginia tobaccos are grown in many countries around the world. The Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia produce outstanding flue cured tobaccos.
LATAKIA tobacco is primarily grown and cured on the Greek/Turkish island of Cyprus. The leaves are only 6 to 7 inches long and are of the Turkish Smyrna variety. It is cured over a stone pine or oak wood fire, which gives it an intense smokey-peppery taste and smell and turns the leaves dark brown to black. Too strong for most people's tastes to smoke straight, it is used as a "condiment" or "blender" (a basic tobacco mixed with other tobaccos to create a blend), especially in English (5-25% Latakia), Balkan, and some American Classic blends.
TURKISH or ORIENTAL is a highly aromatic, small-leafed variety of tobacco which is sun-cured, naturally sweet and has good burning qualities. These tobaccos are grown in Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Russian Georgia on the Black Sea. (Condiment tobacco)
PERIQUE Perhaps the most strongly flavored of all tobaccos. Perique is grown in St. James Parish outside New Orleans is typically blended with pure Virginia to lend spice, strength, and coolness to the blend and used to add spice and flavor to English type mixtures. (Condiment tobacco)
BASIC BLENDS OF TOBACCO:
There are basically two types of tobacco blends:
Aromatic Blends that gain their flavor and sweetness because of the various casings (molasses, brown sugar, vanilla, chocolate, (etc.) and
Non-Aromatic/Natural Blends that receive their flavor and smoothness through the skillful blending of natural tobaccos.
While most American Style Blends are Virginia or Burley based Aromatics, there are a number of straight Burley mixtures and blends of Burleys, Virginias and condiment tobaccos. English Type Blends traditionally are mixtures of straight Virginias or Virginia blended with condiments and/or Orientals. Oriental Blends are "English Type" mixtures with healthy portions of Oriental tobaccos. Scottish Blends tend to be matured (aged) Virginias (possibly with condiments added) and Danish Blends are traditionally sweetened Virginia Cavendishes. Cavendish is a generic term that refers to type of cut and processing.
CUTS AND BURN RATES:
The burning rate of pipe tobacco is determined several factors: the type of tobacco, cut of the tobacco, moisture content, amount of casing or flavoring used, how rapidly the smoker puffs, and how the tobacco has been packed into the bowl.
Virginias tend to burn more readily than Burleys, and condiment tobaccos will slow down the burning rate. Artificially sweet tobaccos will by nature smoke slightly faster and hotter than natural tobaccos. Dry or finely cut tobaccos will burn more rapidly and should be packed more firmly. Tobacco blends are often comprised of a mixture of cuts to insure proper burning rates.
English flakes are tobaccos pressed into a cake then cut into slices which must be broken up when packing your pipe, and consequently smoke very slow and cool. These mixtures are a good choice for a fast or heavy puffer or when smoking outdoors.
A good rule of thumb is that your pipe should never become too hot to hold comfortably against your cheek. The key is to experiment, try new brands, tins or mixtures.
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