Tobaccos
Tobacco Cuts
The cuts that define the sales forms of pipe tobacco — ribbon, flake, plug, and rope — affect nearly every aspect of the smoking experience, from burn speed to flavor intensity.
Tobacco cuts describe the physical forms pipe tobacco takes when prepared for sale. The same blend takes on an entirely different character depending on whether it is chopped into fine ribbons, pressed and sliced, or twisted into a rope. Cut determines nearly every aspect of the experience, from burn speed to smoking temperature, from flavor intensity to the ritual of preparing tobacco for the pipe.
For this reason, knowledge of cuts is considered the natural complement to knowledge of variety, such as Virginia or Burley. As Turkish equivalents for the cut names have not yet become established, the international terms are retained below alongside descriptive Turkish names.
The Main Cuts
| Cut | Description | Effect on smoking |
|---|---|---|
| Ribbon | Loose tobacco chopped into thin, long strips; the standard for ready-made mixtures | Easy to pack; burns evenly and predictably |
| Shag | Long strands cut very finely | Burns well even when packed tightly; requires attention as it burns fast |
| Flake | Thin slices cut from a block of tobacco pressed under pressure and heat for days | Burns slow and cool; taste is intense, requires preparation |
| Broken flake and ready rubbed | Flake that has been broken up or factory-rubbed open | Bridges flake's flavor with ribbon's practicality |
| Plug | An unsliced pressed block; the smoker cuts their own slice | Retains moisture and freshness for a long time; the most demanding form |
| Rope/twist | Leaves twisted into a rope rather than pressed | Intense, strong, and generally high in nicotine |
| Coin/curly | Discs formed by slicing a rope or roll crosswise | Burns slow; packed whole or crumbled |
| Crumble cake | A block made by lightly pressing ribbon-cut tobacco | Crumbles easily by hand; retains moisture like plug |
| Cube cut | Pressed tobacco chopped into small cubes | Coarse pieces burn slow and cool |
Some of these forms have become identified with particular traditions. The "shag" said to be smoked by Sherlock Holmes in the stories is this very fine-cut style. Escudo, considered the symbol of the coin cut, is a Virginia-Perique blend; the classic examples of cube cut, meanwhile, are Burley-based. Crumble cake is also known as a relatively new form embraced by modern small producers such as Cornell & Diehl.
How Pressing Changes Taste
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