Dry vs Wet Tobacco Out of the Package

[isaac]

Im always happy when I come across a drier tobacco out of the bulk packaging. I feel it gets me more bang for the buck. A pound of dry tobacco yields much more actual tobacco over wetter blends. It led me to ask this question here. Do you think manufacturers even "intentionally" weigh down their tobaccos to "stretch" the mix so to speak?

 

[Kal]

Most english I order come at a good moisture level.
The only ones that were a mess was a few aromatics from P&C.

I doubt a manufacturer would add moisture just for profit, but nothing would surprise me.

 

[kcghost]

Uh, no.

 

[sablebrush52]

Some years back I was having dinner with some friends in the pipe community and wondered aloud why British blends were so wet, to which a very well known blender replied, half facetiously, "because water is cheaper than tobacco".
Sometimes you will hear a blender refer to the importance of the water in how a blend ages.
That said, I think the truth is somewhat less mysterious or foreboding. Tobacco has to sit for an undetermined length of time before it is sold to a consumer. If it's in large bulk bags, that bag gets opened a number of times before the contents are used up. Besides, unless the plastic bag has been metallized, it's not impermeable and moisture is being lost during the whole time that it sits. So, my expectation is that the water is there to keep the contents from drying out before they are sold. Simple as that.

 

[warren]

Do you think manufacturers even "intentionally" weigh down their tobaccos to "stretch" the mix so to speak?

Of course! an industry wide conspiracy. It's from the "old school" of "let's piss off our customers so they'll quit buying our product and leave us in peace."

 

[Worknman]

I doubt it. The blending process involves keeping everything properly humidified otherwise it will crumble to dust when they mix it. Some just use a little more than others depending on different factors.

 

[Servant King]

Most english I order come at a good moisture level.
The only ones that were a mess was a few aromatics from P&C.

I doubt a manufacturer would add moisture just for profit, but nothing would surprise me.

You can say that again! I had about a dozen P&C aros in the salad days of my cellar. I never thought such dampness was physically attainable, only something theoretical that you could read about on TR.com or something. The "Out Of Office" series was particularly waterlogged, like they just went to the Amazon and scraped the stuff off a layer of moss on the jungle floor. Never again!

 

[bullet08]

Don't they weight the tobacco to specific weight when being packaged? If that's the case, by the time package is stored and dried, it might be less than what's written on it. Less chance of this in tins than bulk. I think you are paying for the weight at the time of packaging.

 

[Brendan]

Not intentionally I don't think.
End of the day, if the tobacco is on the moist side letting it air out on baking paper or similar, then into a jar or back in a pouch isn't that big a deal.

Rather air out tobacco briefly then have to try and rehydrate it.
Imagine how much more pissed off we would all be having to deal with overly dry tobacco?

And for the price point of bulk tobacco per ounce? Would they really sabotage themselves for an extra buck?

 

[Brendan]

Warren said it best

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I don't know for sure but would like to believe the moisture level is due to the manufacturers process and their best theory for it to thrive in the package. And it may be as simple that it would increase cost to add a mechanical drying step in the process. And that drying stage could have a negative impact on the final product. I don't believe they're purposefully doing it to save money.

 

[karam]

Some years back I was having dinner with some friends in the pipe community and wondered aloud why British blends were so wet, to which a very well known blender replied, half facetiously, "because water is cheaper than tobacco”

I have seen similar comments in SG/GH reviews.

Personally i prefer a wetter tobacco that i can get to a preferred state myself.

 

[rajangan]

If you're a company and you're not adding a minimum appropriate amount of water, you are throwing money away. Now, if the end user is forced to dehydrate a blend in order to either keep it lit, or bring it into optimum condition, then you can call that either scheisty or poor quality control.

 

[rajangan]

Just thought of something. What if you flipped it and said they keep moisture up in order to keep the price down?

 

[Western Isles]

I don't know for sure but would like to believe the moisture level is due to the manufacturers process and their best theory for it to thrive in the package. And it may be as simple that it would increase cost to add a mechanical drying step in the process. And that drying stage could have a negative impact on the final product. I don't believe they're purposefully doing it to save money.

Great new photo!

 

[JOHN72]

I totally agree with hoosierpipeguy and Karam........................The product requires packaging with optimal humidity​

 

[Duck]

Great new photo!

It is, ruins his hard man reputation though.

 

[fireground_piper]

Then there is Daughters and Ryan and people complaining that it’s too dry. No one is happy unless it’s at their personal moisture preference.

 

[cigrmaster]

I would much rather have a blend come wet than dry. I would never rehydrate brand new tobacco. I can dry the wet stuff easy enough.