What's new

Pipe Smoking 101

Rating - 100%
102   0   0
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
818
Location
Long Island NY
I think this is a good outline for beginners.

PIPE TOBACCO: TYPES

Virginia Often referred to as “bright leaf tobacco,” and the most widely grown variety in the world. Typically air cured (also called flue cured), Virginia is sweeter and mellower than dark leaf tobacco.
Cavendish: Virginia tobacco that has been cased (see below) with a bit of rum and sugar. The sugars caramelize during the process, sweetening and darkening the tobacco. Darker versions are referred to as Black Cavendish. Lighter versions are Gold Cavendish.
Burley: Burley has lower sugar content and a deeper flavor than its Virginia cousin. It is also generally higher in nicotine.
Dark Fired Kentucky: Burley that has been cured by smoke.
Turkish and Oriental: Typically sun-cured and grown in Southern Europe and the Middle East. This highly-aromatic tobacco has more flavor than Virginia or Burley, but lower nicotine content.
Latakia: A Turkish tobacco that is first sun-cured and then fire-cured, leading to an extremely smoky flavor and aroma.

PIPE TOBACCO: CASING AND TOP FLAVORS
Most pipe tobacco leaves first undergo a process called “casing” where moisture is added along with subtle amounts of sweeteners such as sugar, rum, cocoa and or licorice. Most pipe tobacco then receives a “top” flavor which can be essence of everything from vanilla to peach to whiskey. The more top flavor, the more aromatic the tobacco.

PIPE TOBACCO: STANDARD CUTS
Most pipe tobaccos, are cut following the casing and top flavor process. Here are the most common cuts:

Loose Cut: A long, thin ribbon cut, similar to the Bugler cut, but slightly thicker.
Broad Cut: The thickest cut, about twice as wide as a loose cut. Commonly used with air-cured Virginia, then used to blend with other cuts.
Cross Cut: A broad cut that is cut twice, creating small squares.

PIPE TOBACCO: PRESSED CUTS
With pressed cuts the tobacco is placed under extreme pressure and varying degrees of heat for an extended period of time. The tobacco emerges in compressed cakes or rolls. A bit of fermentation also occurs during the process, which gives the tobacco a fuller, rounder taste. Pressed cuts usually contain little or no top flavor.

Flake: The tobacco is placed under very high pressure and varying degrees of heat. When the tobacco cake emerges, it is sliced into thin flakes, typically about 1-2 inches wide and 0.1 inches thick. You fold or lightly rub the flake to put it in your pipe.
Ready Rubbed: Flake that has been created under slightly less pressure. The flake is partially separated so it can be readily smoked or combined with other cuts.
Cube Cut: Flake tobacco that has been cut into small cubes.
Roll Cake: Flake tobacco that is sliced more thinly than normal. The flakes are then rolled into a tight tube. Finally they are sliced again. The result is a thin medallion.
Spun Cut: A time intensive process where tobacco leaves are hand rolled into thin ropes as much as 60 feet long. The rope is then placed under compression and ultimately sliced into medallions, similar to roll cake.

PIPE TOBACCO: PRESSED CUTS
"Mixture" is a term often seen on pipe tobacco packages. As te name implies, it is simply a mix of tobacco types, cuts and flavors.
No other tobacco category is as diverse as pipe tobacco. Spun cuts, cross cuts, loose cuts, flakes and mixtures, Virginia, Burley, Latakia. It’s enough to confuse even an experienced pipe smoker.

EACH BLEND TASTES DIFFERENT
In order to help you navigate through the more than 80 blends, we have classified each of them according to three characteristics: Body, Aromatic Taste and Room Note. For each characteristic, a scale indicates how intense or mellow the tobacco blend is.

THE SCALE
We show each characteristic on a five point scale:
(1) Low (2) Mellow (3) Balanced (4) Distinct (5) Intensive

BODY
Similar to wine or beer terminology, body refers to a deepness or fullness of flavor. In general, the types of tobacco leaves used determine the body. A blend that is mostly Cavendish will often be low in body (think of a pilsner), while a blend that has a great deal of Latakia can be intensive in body (think of a stout).

AROMATIC TASTE
Almost all pipe tobaccos have some degree of flavoring added, from vanilla to rum to peach extract and just about everything in between. Aromatic Taste describes the extent to which the taste of the flavorings come through while smoking.

ROOM NOTE
Simply put, how pronounced is the tobacco’s scent to those around you? Is it light and unassuming, or bold and pronounced? In general, a more intensive body or aromatic taste will lead to a more intensive room note.
 
Last edited:
Rating - 100%
35   0   0
Joined
Jan 25, 2010
Messages
478
Location
planit earf
one correction I would add is not all pipe tobacco is cased, perhaps that is true for lanes, but not for pipe tobacco in general.
 

Beardfellows

J.D.-Chief Executive Beardfellow
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Oct 13, 2017
Messages
33
It all makes sense now... sort of. Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Joined
Sep 28, 2017
Messages
305
Location
Iowa
Hello from the cigar side of the forum. I have a story ill tell yall. Back many years ago in a small farm town village called Blue Springs Mississippi i met a man who was a friend of my dads friend that lived down the road and soon became my friend. He suffered from polio when he was a boy so he was physically handicapped some and he couldnt talk quite right and sometimes took a few tries to find out what the hell he was saying. I was only maybe 8 or 9 years old when i met him. I remember finding a very old pipe that may have belonged to his dad perhaps, i studied it and took his pouch of tobacco and loaded a bowl him standing there like wtf. I had been studying him as well so i knew how to pack and light. I was then puffing on this old pipe i remember burning ash and slivers all in the mouth. He sit back and didnt say much other than how my parents would kick his butt if they found out. Eventually they knew but they never said anything about it is what my mother said. This went on for years, he became a very dear friend to me. He give me a knife on my 10th birthday which i still have to this day, i now have thousands of dollars worth of collectable and rare knives thanks to him seeding me with a knife addiction.
 
Top