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Cake-cut tobacco is a particular type of smoking tobacco where leaves are cut into ribbons and then subjected to intense pressure for anywhere from several days to several weeks. When new pipe smokers see cake-cut tobacco for the first time, they’re often at a loss for what to do with it. Is it meant to be used in tobacco pipes or is there another device you’re supposed to use it with? If you’re one of those folks with questions, never fear, the team from Paykoc Pipes is here to provide the information you need to make the most of cake-cut tobacco.
Six Common Types of Tobacco Cuts
If you are going to understand pipe tobacco the place to start is with tobacco cuts. How the tobacco is cut will play a role in how agreeable it is to the beginner when they smoke it. That said, all cuts are conducive to a good smoking experience. It’s just that different cuts produce slightly different experiences. Therefore, you will probably need to try your share of different pipe tobacco cuts before deciding on the type that suits you best.
- Cake Cut Tobacco: Cakes are produced by taking ribbon cut tobacco and compressing it while applying steam. The result is large bricks of tobacco that are then cut down into brownie-sized "cakes". To smoke this type of tobacco users pull a piece off of the cake and crumble it before loading it into their tobacco pipes.
- Coin Cut Tobacco: Coin-cut tobacco, also known as spun-cut tobacco, is a fascinating style of pipe tobacco with a rich history dating back over 400 years. Unlike traditional pressed tobacco blocks or plugs, coin-cut mixtures involve tightly spinning whole tobacco leaves into a rope. The pressure is applied through twisting rather than external weight or presses. These densely twisted ropes are then sliced into circular coins, which resemble thin, flat discs.
- Cube Cut Tobacco: Cube cut tobacco is a unique blend that combines air-cured burley tobacco leaves from Tennessee with aged red Virginias. These leaves are then pressed into cakes and cross-cut into small squares, making it easy to fill your pipe and ensuring a slow, deliberate burn.
- Flake Cut Tobacco: To achieve the flake cut tobacco is pressed together into thin layers while heat is applied. After being heated and pressed these layers are cut into rectangular shapes that resembles jerky. In most cases, different types of tobacco are pressed together in this way which causes the flavors to mix together to create unique taste sensations.
- Ribbon Cut Tobacco While this is the most common type of cut for pipe tobacco there is no such thing as an industry standard ribbon cut. Each manufacturer typically has their own ribbon cut. As the name implies the ribbon cut produces long strands of tobacco. These can be packed into the bowl as is.
- Shag Tobacco: Shag tobacco is a finely cut ribbon tobacco that offers a different texture and flavor experience compared to standard ribbons. It is often used in pipe tobacco blends and provides a unique smoking sensation. Shag tobacco consists of very thin, delicate strands that allow for easy packing and ignition. When smoked, it tends to burn quickly, delivering a brisk and intense flavor.
IMAGE SOURCEs: "Dutch Pipe Smoker" Blog
Why Do Companies Make Cake-Cut Tobacco?
The existence of cake-cut tobacco is something of a mystery to a lot of people, and we totally understand why. After all, tobacco pipes seem made for ribbon-cut tobacco, so why would anyone bother to make cake-cut tobacco, never mind buying it and using it? The answer to that question is “variety”.
Centuries ago, the practice of pressing tobacco originated to simplify tobacco's transport on long journeys, transcontinental journies. These days, however, tobacco is often pressed for a different reason. By subjecting different types of tobacco to extreme pressure for prolonged periods of time the cell walls of the tobacco break down and the different flavors meld together, creating a taste sensation you can’t really get any other way. Even if you took the exact same tobaccos, ribbon cut them, and blended them together loosely the flavor experience would not be the same.
What’s the Right Way to Pack a Bowl With Cake-Cut Tobacco?
If you’re like most people when you first encounter cake-cut tobacco you won’t be quite sure what to do with it. Are you supposed to just cut off a chunk and drop it in the bowl as-is? Or are there tobacco pipe accessories specifically designed for processing and prepping cake-cut tobacco? The answer is, none of the above.
Prepping cake-cut tobacco is actually a pretty simple and straightforward process that can be easily mastered with little muss or fuss. Follow the steps outlined in the infographic below to prepare and pack cake-cut tobacco for use in your tobacco pipe.
Practice Makes Perfect
Chances are you’ll break off a little too much the first few times since the pressed tobacco expands quite a bit after you grind it between your palms for a while. But you’ll get the hang of it soon enough. Once you have enough tobacco to fill your bowl just go about the packing process like you would with any standard ribbon-cut tobacco.
As we mentioned earlier what makes cake-cut tobacco worth the trouble is that by pressing it you force the different flavors to meld into a completely unique experience. All you really need to figure out is how much cake represents a bowl-full and when to stop rubbing it to produce an optimal burn.
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