How Do You Feel About Stems In Your Tobacco?

[Ghosted Tamper]

Whilst tearing a chunk off of GLP Spark Plug about an hour ago, I noticed that I had torn out 3 various sized stems from the plug. This got me thinking; I've read/heard that some cigar rollers will intentionally leave a few stems in the bunch when rolling the filler leaves, which is supposed to add flavor that would otherwise not be present from just the leaves within the bunch. It is also supposed to help aid in combustion (of which I assume alludes to slowing down the burn).

Aside from perhaps a slight annoyance of a stem poking me when smoking a stick, I'm not sure what exactly their presence added to the flavor profile, or the overall experience the would not have been there without them. Does anyone here actively pick out any and all stems that they find within their pipe tobaccos, or do you find that they add something extra to the flavor/burn rate and just leave them be?

 

[didimauw]

I pick them out upon Discovery, hoping to not miss ANY during packing. The hard ones can hurt the tamping finger .

 

[sablebrush52]

I prefer mine attached to stummels.

 

[VDL_Piper]

I fold them up or squash them and smoke them. Tobacco costs $2.70 a gram here so it all goes up in smoke let me tell you.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Supposedly, the stems have a lot of nicotine in them!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I rarely run into a stem of any size and when I do, I remove it, eazy peazy.

 

[Mrs. Pickles]

I reflexively remove stems, but it’s very interesting to read that some people sense an extra flavor in them.

This echoes what I’ve heard said about other fragrant leaves (tea, cilantro, basil, etc) in that the soft stems at the base of leaves and between leaves are said to possess aroma and flavor compounds that the leaves themselves don’t have, or at least not in the same concentrations. I’m not sure if there’s actual food science that supports this or what.

Who’s up for an experiment of saving up every stem they find for a year, smoking them all in a single all-stem bowl and then reporting back to us on the flavor?

 

[Wet Dottle]

I think they are veins, not stems.

 

[sardonicus87]

I know I have gotten some of those hard bits. Whether or not it's pieces of stem or something else, I never noticed a taste difference.

When you have 1 gram of tobacco and you have 1 piece of stem in it that might not even weigh a decigram, or for that matter a tin of 50 grams of tobacco and probably less than 0.5% of it is stem material, I doubt there'll be enough difference to notice, assuming it makes a difference at all in the first place.

I don't go out of my way to pick them out. If it's big enough to cause a problem when loading the pipe, I'll pick it out. Otherwise I leave it.

Unless a food scientist/botanist weighs in or someone with some actual evidence that's not anecdotal or hearsay, I'm going to chalk up any flavor effects to being psychosomatic/placebo.

 

[Elric]

I thought (always dangerous) they were included intentionally in Latakia and accidentally otherwise. I tend to remove them when found in any event. If I wanted to smoke a twig, I would.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

When rarely found, toss ‘em - just like in the sugar or in the oatmeal.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I pinch them apart and fill with the rest of the tobacco.

 

[TheBarstoolsBuiltForBen]

Discard.

 

[hall222]

I toss 'em, if I find one..I don't go looking

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Stems would be about the size of your pinky finger. They are significant, and I would not want them in my tin. However, I am pretty sure you are talking about veins. I like these, stems and veins have a lot of nicotine. Actual stems would be woody tasting, but I don't really think that stems in tins is really happening on any significant level. Veins... I'm not sure why this would upset someone. But, I don't know a lot of things.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I've found stems to be much more prevalent in orientals. Smaller leaves - smaller stems, but more of them.

I even pick out the little cross section birdseye pieces from flakes and coins.

 

[Green Hill Hermit]

When rarely found, toss ‘em - just like in the sugar or in the oatmeal.

Where do you keep your oatmeal lol?

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Where do you keep your oatmeal lol?

Just joshing ---- haha, if I saw a bug in a 5 lb. sack of sugar I'd throw away the whole thing!

 

[Green Hill Hermit]

Just joshing ---- haha, if I saw a bug in a 5 lb. sack of sugar I'd throw away the whole thing!

One bug means lots of eggs. Gross.

 

[Green Hill Hermit]

One bug means lots of eggs. Gross.