Cutting it Fine

Fashion goes in circles: now, as at the beginning of the 20th century, it’s a rare article on the history of tobacco and smoking that is not accompanied by some visual representation of a smoking Indian. At the whim of the illustrator, the particular native concerned is usually scantily clad and smoking either a huge, shapeless cigar or some very complicated form of pipe. As a rule, the Indian is reclining right next to a tobacco bush or tobacco leaves. But as to how the tobacco was actually cut, there is no indication whatsoever – one can only hope that it was properly picked and dried.

But the strange fact is that even in far more authoritative sources there is still practically nothing written on tobacco cutting. Brockhaus and Efron devote almost twenty five pages of their encyclopaedia (which is quite a lot) to tobacco, but the lines on cutting it give the impression that the main (and only) purpose of this was to obtain long, even strips: “Should it be desired to obtain a fibrous tobacco – Turkish, as it is called, whose whole mass consists of long parallel fibres, it is put to the knife in staggered cuts.” And there are touching pictures of a ‘tobacco cutting machine’, which would slice the tobacco crossways and lengthways. According to the logic of the compilers of the encyclopaedia, this is all the information about cutting tobacco that the reader needs to know.

Anyway, never mind Brockhaus and Efron. We know that there are more ways of cutting tobacco than might appear from a cursory acquaintance with the subject. Even so, the ordinary consumer – especially, if for one reason or another he is not involved with pipes – actually knows very little about the pros and cons of the different types of cutting. Nor is he likely to know much about the history of tobacco cutting and the way it is carried out today, or the specific characteristics of the operation that largely determine the way the tobacco is actually smoked. And such knowledge that is generally possessed is frequently limited to ideas like: tobacco comes in a ‘simple cut’ (which for some reason gives it a milder taste and makes it smoke more rapidly which, incidentally, is not very often the case) and a rough or ‘navy’ cut, which is stronger and more difficult to smoke. (And there are quite a lot of people who still have unpleasant memories of a Soviet tobacco, known as ‘Sailor’). So it might be a good thing to take a closer look at the whole business.

Ready Rubbed

The point should be made at the outset that the tobacco mixtures (usually the popular and inexpensive ones) that are readily available to the modern consumer are sold in one format only – Ready Rubbed, as it is called. This means that the compressed tobacco is cut into thin slices and rubbed. On the one hand, this substantially facilitates the procedure of filling the pipe, which is extremely useful for beginners. But, on the other, it stops experienced pipe lovers from being inventive. But the sentence of the market is final and not subject to appeal: the general consumer does not want to be bothered with the intricacies of filling his pipe and prefers to have his tobacco shredded. Here the analogy with coffee beans and ground coffee springs to mind: the latter may have a stable place on the supermarket shelves, but the real devotees prefer to grind (and some even to roast) their own coffee beans themselves.

Mixture

Furthermore, it should be borne in mind that for the most part it is not pure tobacco that we are smoking, but a blend. In practically every mixture of quality pipe tobacco, the blender includes a minimum of ten different base tobaccos and sometimes as many as thirty. And since the different sorts of tobacco have to be carefully mixed before going into the bowl, it is obvious that the means of cutting have to be unified. But despite this, many complex mixtures still have to be crumpled and given a final mixing before being packed into the bowl. The result of this is that the method of cutting known as Mixture – in which the different tobaccos are cut differently so as to even out the speed at which the assortment burns – is practically the only possible way of creating complex blends.

Nevertheless, there still exist a large number of different ways for cutting pipe tobacco. But when we realize that several different names can be given to exactly the same means of cutting, and that in relation to some of them there is still no unified agreement among specialists and devotees, it’s easy to see how many disputes can arise on this question. In this review, we have tried to bring together the most widely held opinions on the subject, although to expect that the disputes will die down would, at the very least, be na?ve.

Loose cut
Tobacco intended for this type of cut is separated from the rest at a fairly early stage. When all the other varieties go under the press, this type of tobacco goes immediately to the next stage of processing, called casing. Here it is rolled in a special drum and saturated with various natural additives that bring out and accentuate its taste and aroma. After an appropriate period of maturing (which may take any length of time depending on the type of tobacco and the specifications of the blend being prepared), the tobacco leaves are moved on to the cutter, where they are basically shredded into strings with a diameter of 1.8mm. Loose cut tobacco is convenient to pack and it mixes equally well with tobaccos of other formats to provide a blend that will burn with maximum evenness.

Loose cut is a return to the past. Throughout the whole of the 19th century (and a good deal of the 20th), most of the tobacco on the market went through the pressing stage. But the gradual fall in demand for slab tobacco and the tendency for everything to be simplified prepared the groundwork for a departure from traditional technology. After all, if tobacco was to go on sale in small cuts, what was the point of wasting time on pressing? As a result, wherever technology made it possible to avoid difficulties, loose cut tobacco was used. This kind of tobacco dries quickly, but when stored in the proper way, it retains its taste qualities as well as any other.

Plug
Any tobacco mixture that has gone through the press is called plug, and consists of dense slabs around 3?4 cm thick. It should be pointed out that the pressing procedure is used not only for the convenience of storing and transporting tobacco, but primarily for giving it certain qualities of taste. After passing through the first stage of processing, the tobacco leaves are piled into the press, where they are squashed for a minimum of three hours. One of the major producers of pipe tobacco uses a press for this purpose that can exert a pressure of 55 tonnes and turn a metre-high pile of tobacco leaves into a slab 3?4cm thick.

Plug

After this, the tobacco briquettes are placed in another press, where they stay for several weeks under strictly regulated temperature and moisture conditions. The result is a briquette of exceptional density and durability, which is convenient for storage and transportation and which releases moisture only with extreme reluctance. So it is hardly surprising that this particular form of processing tobacco leaves was the most common for over a century, when pipe tobacco was for the most part used by smokers in the Old and the New Worlds and transportation of the product could take many months.

Before filling the pipe, the smoker cuts off the required amount of tobacco from the slab and rubs it according to his own preferences. Here there is a lot of room for experimentation on the width and shape of the cut.

But with the pace of life continually quickening and the number of devotees willing to spend time sawing up cubic briquettes getting smaller, it was necessary to come up with a type of tobacco that could be packed into a pipe easily. One of the methods that particularly suited the new trends was the flake.

Flake
Flake is the common name for an impressive group of tobaccos, and Flake Cut is a British development that has passed the test of time and the market. Basically, lots of tobaccos go through the Flake stage in their development, but they are subsequently given original names and only a few of them are actually called ‘flake’ in the usual understanding of the word. A flake is a thin layer about 1?1.5 mm thick produced by cutting a slab of pressed tobacco. Apart from its convenience for storage and transportation, pressed tobacco has another purpose: flake burns more slowly so it does not get so hot, and this ensures the smoker a cool, tasty smoke. This is the main reason why flake in its rubbed form is added to many tobacco mixtures.

Flake Cut

One of the synonyms of the flake style of cutting is Navy Cut, which owes its name to the fact that the British sailors carried whole briquettes of tobacco with them, cutting off thin slices when necessary. This, of course, meant that the smoker had to have certain skills – one can imagine how often on a long voyage a sailor would have to make use of his little board and tobacco knife.

Cut Plug is yet another name for slices of pressed tobacco. Cut Plug was one of the first means for producing tobacco industrially that was immediately ready for the pipe. Strangely enough, the first to develop this method were the British, who were usually conservative in all such things, and not the Americans, who always wanted everything done quickly. Later, ready-to-smoke tobaccos (sold under the name Ready Rubbed) began their triumphant procession through the shelves of the tobacco shops.

Today, uncut tobacco in the form of Plug is for one reason or another not so easy to find. Even so, there are still things to interest the serious smoker. Tobaccos cut in the Flake cut format (broad, thin slices) provide considerable opportunities for creativity. Inexperienced smokers or smokers in a hurry crush the tobacco slices and rub them with their fingers, then fill their pipes as if they were dealing with Ready Rubbed tobacco. But more sophisticated smokers use Flake Cut unrubbed. Packing a pipe properly with unrubbed flakes is a fairly complicated business, and numerous articles and guides have been written to help to explain it. Furthermore, the pipe used for such a method of packing should have a fairly wide bowl. Smoking a pipe packed in this way is also no easy business, but those who are experienced in doing it will assure you that it’s worth the effort.

Another means of cutting Flake tobacco is called Cube Cut. Here, the pressed tobacco is first cut into 3?5mm thick slices, and these in their turn are cut crossways so that regular tobacco cubes are made. Burley tobacco is usually produced in this way, but there are no rules without exceptions. On the subject of the size of the cubes, there are no precise standards, but many specialists are in agreement that traditional Cube Cut tobacco should have edges about 5mm in length. Any less, and the tobacco is considered to be granulated – a format that is particularly popular in North America. On the other hand, in recent years there has been a tendency to call all cube cut tobacco granulated, irrespective of the sides of the cubes.

Twist
Twist, also named Bogie, Pigtail or Rope, is one of the most archaic, but at the same time aesthetically impeccable means of cutting tobacco. Actually, one can only use the term ‘cut’ in relation to Twist tobacco conditionally, since this tobacco is in fact rolled. The preparation of the tobacco, or rather the tobacco mixture, is a long and expensive business and in certain aspects resembles the making of a cigar. Tobacco leaves of different types are piled up in the right order, then plaited, and finally covered with a special wrapper leaf. After that, the 1?2 cm thick roll is left to mature for a period of time.

Over the many years of its development, this method has been given numerous names, many of which have lost their meaning or acquired new ones.

The origin of rope tobacco is extremely exotic. At first, it was not smoked at all, but chewed. Like many other interesting things in the tobacco world, its invention was entirely due to English sailors. It was the tobacco of the cannoneers, since smoking on the wooden ships was a dangerous fire hazard, and smoking near the gunpowder stores was the height of foolishness. But their salt-soaked bodies demanded nicotine, so a way had to be found: the tobacco was twisted into rolls and left to soak for a long time in molasses. After that, it could be chewed.


Curly Cut

The idea was wholeheartedly supported by the British miners, since smoking in the mines was just as dangerous as smoking on the cannon deck, while the hunger for nicotine was just as strong as it was among the sailors. Going down to the pit face, the miners would take a supply of tobacco with them rolled into a coil like a ship’s rope.

Tobaccos made in this way are extremely strong – many times stronger than the popular tobacco blends that use other types of cut. So it was not for nothing that one of the oldest British manufacturers of pipe tobacco that has been producing Rope since the end of the 18th century and has no desire to lose clients (in a very literal sense!) points out to customers that this type of tobacco should not be smoked by people with hearts…

Today, the means of using Twist tobacco and its quality have changed. But it still remains sweet and, as previously, still has a vivid, full-bodied taste. Tobacco ropes of various thicknesses are prepared with oil added to give them elasticity – and from this alone it must be quite clear that getting tobacco of this kind to light up is a far from simple task. But even so, Twist tobacco is still sold, and the number of people that enjoy it has remained unchanged throughout the decades.

There are several other different types of cut that have developed from Twist, including Curly Cut and Spun Cut. Here, the tobacco blend is prepared in the shape of a roll 1?3cm in thickness, left to mature for a period of time, and cut into thin slices resembling Coins – which is the name of the cut. Packing a pipe with these coins is also no easy task, but is always effective and pleasant. Unfortunately, many devotees (and even manufacturers) can get mixed up between Twist and Curly Cut, but experienced smokers know the difference.

Bird’s Eye
One of the original means of cutting tobacco is known as Bird’s Eye. This method could be considered experimental if it hadn’t been in use for at least a century: the Bird’s Eye cut is referred to in one of Conan Doyle’s stories. The tobacco is prepared and cut by the Curly Cut method, then partially rubbed. As a result, little ‘coins’ of 0.5?0.7cm diameter resembling Birds’ eyes remain in the rubbed tobacco…

Ribbon Cut
To get a long, even ribbon from a tobacco leaf, machines are usually used. Evidently, the same ones as those we came across in the Brockhaus and Efron encyclopaedia. The tobacco leaf is naturally cut lengthways, and the main thing here is the width of the ribbon. Given the right width, a tobacco ribbon can easily be packed in the bowl of a pipe and, unlike Loose Cut, retains its moisture reasonably well. Another no less important factor is that Ribbon Cut tobaccos go well in mixtures, so it is not by chance that this type of cut forms the basis of many English blends. Its convenience for packing, predictable burning speed and lack of any inclination to dry out are what have made Ribbon Cut retain its popularity over two centuries.

Snag

Studying the origins of one tobacco cut or another in some way resembles the work of the palaeontologist, for it is a search for ‘missing links’ and evolutionary offshoots, for the exposure of false identities and dead-end lines… From the way things currently look, it was Ribbon Cut that gave rise to a whole group of methods for cutting that have been used at various times (including the present) for tobacco intended for use in cigarettes. This includes tobacco for hand rolling cigarettes (known popularly as ‘Roll Your Own’) and for the now largely forgotten cigarillos, as well of course as for industrially produced cigarettes. Everything depends on the width of the ribbon. The classical Ribbon Cut had a width of up to 2mm, which was not particularly suitable for filling the average cigarette, but the considerably finer Shag or Fine Cut can well be considered the prototype of modern cigarette tobacco. Shag is now considered to be a tobacco of the finest possible cut (sometimes in widths measured in sizes that would be more common to a jeweller, like 0.5mm) that is only smoked in very small pipes, although previously – right to the mid 20th century – this name was used for tobaccos of a rougher cut.

An intermediate position between the traditional Ribbon and the ultra-fine Shag is held by Medium Cut or Fine Medium Cut. This is widely used both as a pipe and as a cigarette (hand-rolled) tobacco. Many devotees point out that this type of cut, which is a little finer than the standard Ribbon, but much wider than the ordinary Shag, is the most universal and balanced type of cut, which is easily packed, burns well and is convenient for use in blends.

Special mention should be made of the artistic cuts, as they are called, such as Wild Cut, Exotic Cut and Hand Cut. From the technical point of view, this is all very simple – the cut is characterized by the irregular width of the tobacco ribbon. It is used as a rule in mixtures and tends to have an aesthetic character: tobaccos of various kinds and colours, cut in uneven ribbons, look fine in the pouch or the pipe bowl. But the reason for the popularity of this method of cutting does not, evidently, lie only in its aesthetics: this was exactly how exclusive tobaccos that had been cut by hand by famous masters, not by machine, looked in the past. This tradition has, unfortunately, died out, but veneration for the ‘artistic cut’ still remains.

Crumble Cake
Americans, with their love of fast food and inclination to reduce any operation to a couple of simple movements, have advanced along the path of improving Flake tobacco. The slices of pressed tobacco are stacked in piles and cut crossways to a width of 1?1.5mm. The mass of tobacco cubes that is formed in this way is once more put under the press and again cut into slices. The result is that a slice of tobacco crumbles into small fragments with the minimum of effort…

If you’ve managed to read this far, then you’ve probably begun to understand why the respected compilers of the encyclopaedia left the question of cutting pipe tobaccos well alone… The number of types of cut multiplied by the number of variations and the names for them (we have only quoted the most frequently used) could produce complete confusion.

In choosing a new, unknown tobacco, it is best to be guided by the simple rule: if you are a beginner, an inexperienced smoker, choose a tobacco in a simple mixture with a convenient type of cut (Mixture, Ready Rubbed, Loose Cut), otherwise you may well risk losing any desire to continue with your pipe. But, if you have advanced some distance down the path of pipe smoking, you can allow yourself to experiment with tobaccos of a more complex cut – Flake, Plug, Twist…

But in any event, there is no disputing taste.

by DMITRI GAYEV