Sour taste

[CaptainAubrey]

The other day I was trying to find some pipe tobacco locally and in a hurry. Seems most places that claim to be a tobacco shop are primarily vape shops now. So at the last place I tried they had few choices. I did not want to pay the steep price for Sir Walter Raleigh because I don't think it is all that great, but I am a newbie. What do I know. I ended up buying a 3 oz bag of Tin Star Regular Pipe Tobacco.

It was extremely harsh. I moistened some of it in a jar and ran 3 4-hour cycles in the Instant Pot, thinking it could not be worse. It smelled great when I opened the jar. I decided to reduce the moisture in a sample and see if I thought it had potential before bothering with pressing. It was less harsh but definitely sour tasting.

What makes a sour tobacco? When I was a teenage fool I started smoking cigarettes and did so for about 15 years until I found a really good way to quit. I tried several brands and generally smoked Marlboro but occasionally Pall Mall or Camel. They all seemed OK, however to me going back to a pack of Winstons after being on Marlboro for a while the Winstons definitely seemed sour to me. Maybe this is the same thing. Too much flue-cured Virginia?

BTW, I finally got smarter about finding tobacco. I googly searched for cigar or pipe tobacco instead of tobacco shop and got better results.

Your patient indulgence appreciated,
John

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Sourness of commercial pipe tobacco could be because of your personal definition of "sour" or it could be because they added an acid to the tobacco.

 

[GreenDragon]

Some people (like myself) are very sensitive to the additives and general poor quality of commercial pipe tobaccos. I don’t like 95% of them, and much prefer blending my own. Highly recommend getting a sampler pack from WLT and experimenting.

 

[FmGrowit]

98% of what the tobacco industry calls "Pipe tobacco" is a play on words to lower the cost of cheap cigarette tobacco. Tobacco is taxed at different rate based on what the tobacco is being sold as. If the tobacco is sold as cigarette tobacco, the federal tax is about $25 per pound. If the tobacco is sold as pipe tobacco, it is taxed at a rate of about $2 per pound.

Every time I go to a tobacco auction, I see what is being bought for generic cigarettes and pipe tobacco. Trust me, you don't want to smoke most of it. There are a few upstanding companies that actually offer premium cigarette tobacco as pipe tobacco, but they are few and far between.

 

[CaptainAubrey]

98% of what the tobacco industry calls "Pipe tobacco" is a play on words to lower the cost of cheap cigarette tobacco. Tobacco is taxed at different rate based on what the tobacco is being sold as. If the tobacco is sold as cigarette tobacco, the federal tax is about $25 per pound. If the tobacco is sold as pipe tobacco, it is taxed at a rate of about $2 per pound.

Every time I go to a tobacco auction, I see what is being bought for generic cigarettes and pipe tobacco. Trust me, you don't want to smoke most of it. There are a few upstanding companies that actually offer premium cigarette tobacco as pipe tobacco, but they are few and far between.

The last time I was at a tobacco auction I was probably 5 years old and it was in an old wooden floored warehouse in Danville, VA. Of course I did not know what was going on but I saw people bidding on piles and putting tags on them. The smell was wonderful. I would like to go to another one some day but it ain't gonna happen in Dallas.

This Tin Star mess is genuine floor sweepings grade and is definitely cut more like cigarette tobacco rather than pipe. If not careful it will suck right up the stem. As I mentioned in another thread I am spraying it with 2% citric acid to tame it down a bit. I don't like a lot of additives but citric acid occurs naturally in tobacco so I may as well try to make it usable.

 

[CaptainAubrey]

Some people (like myself) are very sensitive to the additives and general poor quality of commercial pipe tobaccos. I don’t like 95% of them, and much prefer blending my own. Highly recommend getting a sampler pack from WLT and experimenting.

Cool beans, I did know they had sampler packs. I looked at their sight briefly and decided I just learn a bit more before chunking down big bucks to get enough for a blend.

Thanks a whole hogshead.

John