Yes or No?
- Thread starter WNCLEE28466
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The only way to know for yourself is to press a ribbon cut yourself into a cake, slice and see.
I’ve done that, some blends change (both for the better and for the worse), others don’t. The change is primarily a slight increase in sweetness if you press hard enough to squeeze some juice/oil out of the ribbons.
You can also cube cut a European plug, you can rub it out (good luck), and try the same with flakes. Personally I don’t find huge differences other than the burning characteristics. My choice is to cube cut plugs, fold+stuff flakes, and smoke ribbon as is.
I’ve done that, some blends change (both for the better and for the worse), others don’t. The change is primarily a slight increase in sweetness if you press hard enough to squeeze some juice/oil out of the ribbons.
You can also cube cut a European plug, you can rub it out (good luck), and try the same with flakes. Personally I don’t find huge differences other than the burning characteristics. My choice is to cube cut plugs, fold+stuff flakes, and smoke ribbon as is.
You should smoke some of each and form your own opinion.
Not necessarily. The cut is just one of the tools in a blender's arsenal, so whether it makes sense to press a blend into a kake, plug, etc. depends on the tobaccos used and the blender's goals. Your question is like asking "is a tobacco more flavorful in a briar or a meerschaum pipe." The answer is it depends. Depends on the blend, depends on the pipe, and so on.
Tobacco is pressed first and foremost to more quickly mesh the juices of the different leaf to marry the flavors more. And, to me the whole leaf flake and plugs stick together better and make a more dense burning material to slow down the burn. But, cakes tend to fall apart, losing that slower burn, IMO.
I wonder sometimes whether the companies that make these either have to rely on another company to process one of the ingredient leafs for them, so they get the leaf already shredded, or if they intentionally do this in house because there are so many different ingredient varieties, with various degrees of percentages that shredding before pressing just makes the blend taste better. You know, like the recipes calls for 2% of a leaf, which might only be a partial leaf in a whole leaf plug, so most of the flakes wouldn't include that leaf making the flakes all taste different; whereas adding a pinch of shredded leaf may give you more consistency throughout the cake.
Either way, there are some cakes that I like, but I am never excited to see a cake when I first open a tin. I always just go ahead and break up cakes with my fingers and smoke them more like a ribbon. Otherwise I always end up with just a couple of smoldering chunks in the bowl at about halfway through the smoke.
I wonder sometimes whether the companies that make these either have to rely on another company to process one of the ingredient leafs for them, so they get the leaf already shredded, or if they intentionally do this in house because there are so many different ingredient varieties, with various degrees of percentages that shredding before pressing just makes the blend taste better. You know, like the recipes calls for 2% of a leaf, which might only be a partial leaf in a whole leaf plug, so most of the flakes wouldn't include that leaf making the flakes all taste different; whereas adding a pinch of shredded leaf may give you more consistency throughout the cake.
Either way, there are some cakes that I like, but I am never excited to see a cake when I first open a tin. I always just go ahead and break up cakes with my fingers and smoke them more like a ribbon. Otherwise I always end up with just a couple of smoldering chunks in the bowl at about halfway through the smoke.
@lawdawg I can't say if a tobacco is more flavourful in a briar or meer because I only really smoke clay pipes; I've tried a briar 3 times though and had 2 gifted ones I've since sold.
I think flake, plug, coin, and rope cuts retain more moisture and flavor for longer than loose tobacco, and they also smoke longer even once rubbed out. They do however require more labor to slice and/or rub out, though people who use the fold and stuff routine with flake and coin obviate that chore. Personally, I enjoy slicing plug or rope and rubbing it out, but I don't always have the time, so loose tobacco becomes the default, or I do the prep in advance and leave a few pipe bowls in a crockery bowl to smoke up.
Back when Craig Tarler would press your order on request, I recall being amused at the slight changes in the smoke of say Stratfordshire or Yale Mixture - but to be honest, it may have had more to do with the burn characteristics than any substantial change to the taste. I still have a couple of blocks he pressed in my cellar, may have to see which blend(s) and do a comparison - but the age would be a substantial part of the equation at this point.
I have been smoking flakes for over 20 years and I could never see myself smoking anything else. I gave up Latakia and Orientals over a decade ago. I think I am pretty set with my 41 different blends in my cellar.