Let me start off by explaining what I mean by tin and can. Simply put a tin to me is what stuff like Squadron Leader comes in, the "traditional" or "old school" packaging. Compared to something like Frog Morton's or GL Pease. I absolutely love my McClelland's and GL Pease tobaccos, but I am not a fan of the can. I love a good tin. The satisfying hiss and pop it makes when you open it. The art work on the lid. I find myself not wanting to dispose of tins. Instead I try to find useful and inventive ways to reuse them. I have no such love for the can. I understand that there are good reasons to package in a can. Things like cost and a better seal, but I will always love my tins.
What is your take on this? Am I being a sentimental fool and should I get with the times?
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Pipes Magazine » Pipe Tobacco Discussion
Tin vs. Can
(12 posts)-
Posted 4 months ago #
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Many of us prefer tins.
If you have a ton of money, tins are more convenient, easier to store, look better on the shelf and, should you decide to sell them down the road and if you bought the right blend, tins are easier to move.
But the reality of life is -- bulk and cans are cheaper.
Is the same tobacco blend also sold in bulk worse than tins? Some say yes, but TBH, I think most of those folks who say that say that do so mostly because they prefer tins and thus this is one reason to explain why they pay more for the tin version LOL.
Some bulk is drier and "looser" than the tin version, sure; the flakes sold in bulk may be broken up, OK -- but it's the same stuff.
Give me a pound bag of the bulk version, TYVM. If it need to be hydrated, I can do that. It isn't rocket science. Then it will jar very well.
After all is said and done, I have, on average, 30% more money left over for more tobacco.
Posted 4 months ago # -
If you jar (mason jar) or have an air tight humidor (as I do) bulk in a bag is actually ok. It is all a matter of preserving moisture level (or knowing how to add moisture). That is a different subject. I order my C&D blends in one-pound tins and put the contents in my air tight humidors. I spray water on the underside of the lid (as/if needed) depending on the number of openings, level of free air inside and relative humidity.
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Posted 4 months ago # -
I am not a fan of cans because I have had them go bad after a decade. There is nothing worse than aging something for that long and when you open it you see dried out crispy tobacco. I know the tobacco can be re hydrated, but in my opinion it loses a ton of flavor. I have heard the newer cans are better, but if I were to stockpile a blend that came in cans, I would transfer it to something better. The one blend that I had bought in bulk but switched to tins because I like the tobacco better is Hamborger Veermaster. The bulk version I got( 2 8oz bags) had lots of broken flakes and lots of shake, more than half the pound was like a ribbon cut. The tinned version are nicely formed flakes with no shake. It smokes better when I can cube cut the entire flake and I think it tastes better, and I know the tins age beautifully because I have a couple of 11 year old ones left. I buy 3 SG bulks because those flakes are the same as the tinned version, they come perfectly formed and there is no shake in the pounds.
Most of my favorite blends come in tins, and I like that fact. I like the way they age, the way they store easier and I have no problem paying the extra for them. When you think about cost per bowl it isn't that much higher.
HarrisPosted 4 months ago # -
I think there's some confusion in terminology here. The OP seemed to be talking about an actual metal can, such as are used by many blenders, from McClelland to Pease. Here, I think he's using "can" to differentiate from the screwtop/open-with-a-coin flat tins used by Esoterica, MacBaren, Samuel Gawith, etc. I don't think by "can" he was referring to canning jars. But, please, correct me if I've misunderstood!
Bob
Posted 4 months ago # -
I also prefer the "tin" since my experience is that as long as you don't open the tin the tobacco lasts longer than the tobacco in a "can". When opened, wheater it be a tin or can I aleays store in a wide mouth jar.
Posted 4 months ago # -
What mbittner said. This is not discussion on the merits of long term storage in mason jars. Which I am a huge fan of btw. I am discussing the differences in how tobacco producers package their products.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Screw top tins.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I prefer the plastic tub!
For whereas men of an older school, like myself, smoke for the pleasure of smoking...
A.A. MilnePosted 4 months ago # -
I prefer the old school tins. I don't have any scientific reason and not enough experience with storing tobacco to say which one works better. I like them better because like the OP they are a part of the pipe smoking experience. There is something about the feel of a full tin of tobacco, especially the rectangular ones, that take me back to the old days. They seem "right" this hobby has so much history and mystique wrapped up in it and the tins are a part of that for me.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I definitely prefer the tins, something classy and appealing about them. I spend the extra money sometimes just so I can still have the tin after.
Posted 4 months ago # -
One thing I have noticed is that the flakes in rectangle tins are in general more uniform than the ones in the round tins. For example, Solani 633 flakes are nice and wide, thin and they are all the exact same size. Now take a round tin of Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake, the flakes are not uniform at all, same as Veermaster, Asltey 109. Funny how most of my favorites come in the square tins. Maybe I am like Rain Man and have a thing for perfectly formed flakes.
Posted 4 months ago #
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