Greetings from the Highland Plateau of Brazil
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Welcome @AngueraCoyra
Thank you for your very interesting post
Unfortunately the Oz Govt is trying to stamp out tobacco by taxing it to death
Unlikely to see any of those in Oz, unless one was to visit Brazil and bring them back personally
I live in Sydney(Oz’s largest city) where there are NO pipe shops. Tobacconists here are cigarette vendors and Vape joints.
Even so, I imagine it it won’t be easy to source those tobaccos in Brazil.
Unless you “are in the know”
Thank you for your very interesting post
Unfortunately the Oz Govt is trying to stamp out tobacco by taxing it to death
Unlikely to see any of those in Oz, unless one was to visit Brazil and bring them back personally
I live in Sydney(Oz’s largest city) where there are NO pipe shops. Tobacconists here are cigarette vendors and Vape joints.
Even so, I imagine it it won’t be easy to source those tobaccos in Brazil.
Unless you “are in the know”
I know a considerable amount about Brazilian Tobaccos, having frequented the various tabacarias during my six year residence in São Paulo, and in particular the tobacconists in the "Mercadão".
Traditional varieties are rather heavier in nicotine than I believe most North American consumers are accustomed to. Much, much heavier.
And I agree about the "cheap Virginias" comment. Much of it has supplanted the richer South African tobaccos used in many traditional English blends and the depth and complexity has suffered as a consequence.
Unfortunately they're not smoked very much anymore; but the ones that do still have a bit of popularity are Amarelinho and Arapiraca (Piracanjuba also, I forgot about that one); rolled into straw cigarettes always.
Among poor old men, that's all they know about tobacco. With wealthier old men you'll sometimes find a pipe smoker, but they are usually not familiar with most of what I described.
There is indeed a growing niche of pipe smokers though, mostly young or middle aged men, rediscovering what we have here. It's gotten to a point where I can list from the top of my head 4 REALLY good blenders, top notch stuff really, and 5 pipemakers who make beatiful pieces with our native hardwoods (that's a topic for another post, but suffice it to say I have only owned one briar pipe in my life and will probably never buy another); they all get more business than they can handle.
If you really want to try them, I can try to source and pack them for you - free of charge. A tin of a carapiá blend I'm smoking right now should be about 9 $, shipping will probably cost a bit more, but it'd be a small package so I imagine not too much.
Yes, they do have that image. But I believe this has a lot to do with the reputation ropes got from the likes of Arapiraca and Piracanjuba. Those I believe have to blended in Jaguari or Virginia to be properly appreciated.
A really good mixture is "Sertão das Alagoas" from Graciano at TabacosBR; I feel he really extracted the potential of Arapiraca by mixing it in a bunch of high quality Virginias. It's a very mysterious smoke, with many layers that often jump out, but you can't quite describe.
Great quote by the way. Oscar Wilde is by far my favorite writer, I believe there has never been a better one in all of History.
Oz doesn't seem to have very magical laws! Haha.Welcome @AngueraCoyra
Thank you for your very interesting post
Unfortunately the Oz Govt is trying to stamp out tobacco by taxing it to death
Unlikely to see any of those in Oz, unless one was to visit Brazil and bring them back personally
I live in Sydney(Oz’s largest city) where there are NO pipe shops. Tobacconists here are cigarette vendors and Vape joints.
Even so, I imagine it it won’t be easy to source those tobaccos in Brazil.
Unless you “are in the know”
Can you tell me why you're calling Down Under that? Made me curious.
You could say they're hard to find at first, but since it's a small niche once you know a few people they can tell you about the others, and soon you'll know where to buy a lot of stuff. If you'd like to peruse a bit, the best blends I know are in the websites of Tabacos Dalberto, O Confrade, and TabacosBR; Dom Saturnus also has some good blends, just a level below. You might want to try writing those names and "tabacos" in Google for the stores to show up.
I just checked and shipping to Sydney should be $ 13; the Carapiá blend I mentioned (Virginias, Rústica and Carapiá dust) would be $ 9, a rope of Jaguari from Dalberto is $5, pre-prepared for the pipe would be $10, one really good blend by Graciano at TabacosBR (I consider him the best in Brazil) would be $12. If you'd like, I can try to source and ship them for you free of charge - just to spread our flavors for you guys really.
These are from Spanish speaking Countries, in Brazil what we have is called "cordas", they're different.
And you probably smoked a very strong one raw, it's not the best way to appreciate them. Blended in lighter bases is how you really feel what they can offer
Thank you for all your detailed information. I will look up the retailers you mentioned.
No, nothing magical about Oz (Aus = Oz
) when it comes to tobacco at all.It is illegal to grow your own tobacco. And there is a very heavy tax on tobacco imports. Currently AUD1.80 per gram and increasing yearly
Yes , i tried it in Argentina from a friend who brought it from Brazil. They called it cuerda brasilena. Yes , very strong.
Damn! That's crazy. All sorts of drugs on a rampage everywhere and a man can't grow the innocent tasty leaf. Here it's a pretty common thing among pipe smokers, it's not that hard to own a small plot of land and frequent sunlight makes the plant thrive easily.Thank you for all your detailed information. I will look up the retailers you mentioned.
No, nothing magical about Oz (Aus = Oz
It is illegal to grow your own tobacco. And there is a very heavy tax on tobacco imports. Currently AUD1.80 per gram and increasing yearly
Let me know if you want to try that little adventure.
It's a country with crazy legislation in many aspects.
The ACT (Australian Capital Territory ie Canberra) has decriminalised marijuana so long as you are growing it for your own consumption.
But growing tobacco ? You face a possible jail sentence
New Zealand is a lot less restrictive. Dave (@Ahi Ka) has been growing and ageing his own tobacco for a few years now.
