Aro Toppings: What are They?
- Thread starter TN Jed
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There are companies that make flavorings for commercial uses, literally hundreds of flavors. Blenders sometimes make their own, like various kinds of liquor, or they buy flavorings to blend for a topping.
Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but doesn't that make nearly all pipe tobacco an aro? I know I'mdiving into the rabbit hole.
Sorry Sir Bard didn't mean to include you on that. User error. Thanks for your input.
Technically, latakia blends and orientals are the aromatics while the vanillas, cherries, etc. are flavored, but....
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Q: I keep hearing about "cased" tobacco. What does this mean?
A: There are two things of interest here, namely "casing" and "top flavouring." They are two distinctly different approaches to altering a blend's flavor. Some tobaccos employ both.
Casing requires that the tobacco be soaked in or sprayed with a "sauce" that may contain sugar, molasses, liquorice, alcohols like rum or whiskey, and various flavourings, natural or otherwise, depending on the manufacturer. Once the tobacco "drinks" the sauce, it's conditioned in large cylinders that dry it back to the desired moisture level, generally between 12% (on the dry side) and 22% (very moist). Optimal moisture for smoking depends on the smoker, but it's generally in the 13-16% range. The aromas and flavours imparted by casing will remain in the tobacco pretty tenaciously, and will affect the smoke throughout the bowl.
Top-flavouring is added by spraying the finished blend with scents and flavourings. This is usually a much lighter application, and doesn't alter the moisture content of the leaf dramatically. Sometimes called "top-notes," this can be quite ephemeral. Because of the volatile nature of many of the commonly used components, a tobacco left to "air out" may lose a lot of the perfume that's applied this way.
Depending on the casing used, tobaccos can become very sticky. Some producers use humectants to maintain a specific moisture level in the final product. You'll hear people talk about PG, or propylene glycol, the most commonly used humectant these days. It's generally spoken of in rather disparaging terms, thought it's not the PG that deserves the condmenation, but the blending houses who use it with reckless abandon. If the tobacco won't dry out, PG is likely the culprit. In small quantities, it does its job well. In large quantities, it produces a sticky, wet smoking, pipe clogging weed that should never see the inside of a pipe.
Not all flavoured tobaccos are cased, and casing is not always a bad thing, but the term is used incorrectly more often than not, so a lot of confusion has been created."
Why apologize?
Here's a link to Greg Pease's FAQ, which you may find helpful:
compared to cigs what is in even the most chemically enhanced pipe tobaccos are basically organic. Everything in them is pretty much food grade unlike cigs. And mainly I think because of how much flavor is part of the pipe experience. And also how much pipe smokers aren't stuck on brand loyalty in the same way.
nope. Casing verus top note. But it does mean many tobaccos are closer to an aro then the snobs would like to admit.
Not really. Casings serve largely to support the flavors in a tobacco, to help flavors develop during processing and aging, but not to sublimate the tobaccos. Tobaccos that are completely "natural" can be pretty bland.
Aros have toppings that provide more of a presence, like a cherry or vanilla topped blend. You're aware of their presence as something "additional" to the tobacco.
The definition of aro has changed over the years. Today, when the word "aromatic" is used it's in the context of added flavors, like fruit, or anise, that are more distinctly present in the blend. Years ago the term referred to blends with a strong component of oriental leaf and/or Latakia, since those types of tobacco were aromatic.
One thing I've noticed (and this isn't absolute by any means, just a general observation) is that OTC blends have more additives. Half and Half has something inside that makes it burn a lot easier than blends at a local tobacco shop or other higher end blends. I also found Half and Half and Carter Hall to perhaps have added nicotine similar to the extra nicotine added to cigarettes. This is my personal observation and may be incorrect, but I didn't notice those same components with higher end tobaccos or those blended by my local shop
I was obtuse once. My wife put me on a diet, now I am equilateral...?
My first cherry tobacco (lane) tasted like cough syrup. I haven't tried others yet.
Uuuuuuu.... I think it's also important to note, that casings are used to keep the ever shifting flavors of tobaccos from one crop to the next tasting similar. I get so perplexed by homeblenders who feel compelled to add a casing to a homeblend of tobacco, when there's absolutely no reason to.
Casings are also added early on in the tobacco production. Toppings are usually added just before packaging.
Casings are also added early on in the tobacco production. Toppings are usually added just before packaging.
Thanks for the help! I've learned a lot!
He wasn’t asking for their recipes.The "why", is why do you ask? The reason for the guarding is obvious to even the most obtuse of us.
He was asking if there was a way to know if the blends or flavorings were natural. A reasonable question.