Curing
A new and important phase for the tobacco commences after harvesting, the 'curing'. The leaf is dried, loses its green shade and, depending on how it is treated, becomes yellow, red or brown.
Tobacco is divided into four types, depending on how it is cured:
- air-cured
- flue-cured
- sun-cured
- fire-cured
Air-cured tobacco
Air-curing tobaccoinvolves the entire plants or just the leaves being hung in sheds to dry. These sheds are open on all sides, which allows for a strong natural ventilation. The tobacco gradually dries out and acquires a brown colour.
There are two types of air-cured tobacco:
- the air-cured tobacco which is processed further without being fermented. And important one here is the Burley tobacco, which is largely intended for cigars.
- the air-cured tobacco that still has to undergo a fermentation process.
The fermented air-cured tobacco is usually used for the manufacture of cigars and for dark cigarettes. For fine-cut tobacco it is above all the fermented air-cured tobacco from South America that is important. It is a type of tobacco that because of its good aroma, and in many cases very refined taste, can ideally be used for pipe tobacco. The leaf structure makes it also highly suitable for chewing tobacco. The colour is light to dark brown, sometimes also red or reddy brown. The most important countries for air-cured tobacco are Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Colombia.
Air curing
Sun-cured tobacco
Tobacco leaves can also be hung in the sun to dry though naturally the climate has to be suitable for this. Sun-cured tobacco is ochre to red in colour. The orient tobaccos are sun-cured and have a highly aromatic taste and smell. They are very popular for giving a blend an eastern flavour. Orient tobaccos are mainly used for cigarettes, but they are also used for adding to different other types, such as pipe tobacco. Orient tobacco grows on the slopes and in the valleys of mountainous regions of numerous East European countries but also in Turkey, Greece and Italy. Another, different type of sun-cured tobacco comes from Malawi, Korea, Thailand and India. This is most suitable for pipe and chewing tobacco.Flue-cured tobacco
Flue-cured tobacco is hung up in sheds which have a series of tubes through which hot air or steam is blown. The heat given off by the tubes accelerates the drying of tobacco. This system takes its name from the tubes which are known as flues. Flue-cured tobacco is largely used for cigarettes. But flue-cured tobacco is also important for fine-cut tobacco. The colour of the tobacco ranges from yellow to red. The main growing areas for flue-cured tobacco in the United States are Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas. Flue-cured tobacco is grown otherwise in Korea, China, Brazil, India, Italy, Canada, Argentina and in a number of African countries such as Zimbabwe and Tanzania.Fire-cured tobacco
Fire-cured tobacco is cured by hanging the tobacco in a shed above a fire made of special wood and shavings. Besides drying the tobacco, the smoke gives it the characteristic aroma. These tobaccos are dark brown. The main growing areas in the United States are Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. But this tobacco also comes from Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and ItalySorting
After the tobacco has been cured the leaves are removed from the stem if this has not already been done in the field. There is a difference between the tobacco leaves that grow at the bottom of the stem, at the top and in the middle. Because of the difference in taste, the leaves are sorted accordingly. There is also a difference in burning effect. The thinner lower leaves burn faster than the upper tougher leaves. The leaves are also sorted by length, thickness, intactness and colour. Once this has been done they are sorted again into different qualities.
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