Pipe Tobacco Cuts

Pipe tobaccos are offered in different cuts that, given the same blend used, can affect the aroma of the smoke.

We can identify two broad categories of tobacco cuts: pressed and unpressed.

Standard pipe tobacco cuts

Standard pipe tobaccos cuts are the most common and are obtained simply by cutting the leaves. Unlike pressed, they do not require preparation before loading the tobacco pipe.

They have the advantage of burning more easily, so they are more suitable for beginning smokers.

Let's find out about standard pipe tobacco cuts. 

Mixture Tobacco

The term mixture has a double meaning: it is both a type of cut and a blend of several tobaccos.

Obviously we dwell on the first meaning.

This cut comes in the form of chunks or short, thin strips of tobacco. Mixture tobaccos are easy to load into the tobacco pipe and their combustion is smooth.

In the case of coarser cut mixtures, we speak of wild cut.

Ribbon Cut Tobacco

Here the cut is finer, with the leaves reduced to thinner strips a few centimeters in length.

Ribbon cut tobaccos are also easy to load into the tobacco pipe and easy to burn.

This is a very common cut in classic English blends.

Loose cut Tobacco

Loose cut tobaccos have a coarser cut than the mixtures, with medium-to-long length swipes. 

We can call them a middle ground between ribbon cuts and wild cuts.

Pressed pipe tobacco cuts

Pressed tobaccos are less common than their counterparts, but particularly popular with experienced smokers because of the quality of aroma preservation. 

Pressed tobaccos almost always require preparation prior to loading into the tobacco pipe. In addition, because they are more coarsely cut, combustion is less immediate and they contain more moisture.

These tobaccos are made from Virginia, Burley, and Kentucky and contain more nicotine than classic blends. 

For these reasons, pressings are not an ideal choice for those just getting into tobacco pipes.

Plug

Plug is a small loaf of pressed leaves about 4 cm thick.

Generally, the plug is made through a double pressing process.

The first press compresses a stack of leaves until it is reduced to the 4-cm-thick blob. It is then pressed a second time at ideal humidity and temperature levels.

This process also causes the tobacco to ferment and can last several weeks.

But how is the plug smoked?

With a sharp knife, a thin bar (called flake) is cut to the desired size. 

The plug has the advantage of ensuring better preservation of tobacco flavors.

American manufacturers have come up with a special kind of crumbly plug, called crumble cake, which can be crumbled by hand without having to use a knife

Flake Tobacco

Flake tobaccos are thin bars of pressed tobacco, 5-12 cm long and 2-3 cm wide.

They are made from plugs and are a popular cut for Virginia connoisseurs, which they believe best expresses their qualities.

They are rather moist; in fact, they are not immediately ignitable and are more suitable for experts.

Many smokers, because of the moisture, tend to let it dry for a few hours outside the container before smoking it.

As for smoking methods, flakes are smoked in 2 ways: some people fold the bar and insert it whole into the stove, and some people break it up to make a blend-like cut.

The first method requires some experience, but it offers unique flavors that are impossible to achieve with the second method, which, on the other hand, has the advantage of letting the smoker choose the blend cut.

Broken flake or ready rubbed is when the flake is sold already partially broken.

Rolled pipe tobaccos

Rolled are not a category in their own right, but rather a subcategory of pressed. They include twist and curly cut.

The twist consists of dried tobacco leaves rolled like a cigar, so it is not an actual cut. 

To smoke it, it is cut into thin rounds of about 1 mm, which are inserted rolled or crumbled into the stove.

It is unsuitable for novices because it consists of tobaccos with a high nicotine content.

It is said that originally the twist was not smoked, but chewed, precisely because of its high nicotine content. Not surprisingly, it was prized by miners and sailors on warships, who could not smoke on the job.

The other "rolled" is the curly cut (or bird's eyes), which is the twist washer.

Some manufacturers also market tobacco in this format.