Hi and welcome to the Puff Pipe Tobacco Guide, where we will discuss the different types of tobacco out there for all you pipe fanatics. In this issue we will discuss the different tobacco cuts such as the shag and cube cut, and talk about the differences in the different varieties of tobacco.

When it comes to pipe tobacco, there are eight basic types of cut. They are as follows:

Cake

Formed into round discs, cake tobacco is pressed into rounded molds and is generally sweet due to the honey that is added to it. The smoker must use a knife to “flake” off pieces of tobacco.

Curlies

Perhaps the most difficult cut to make, curlies are long and tube shaped pieces of tobacco that are cut into small circles.

Flake

Flake’s are essentially big blocks of tobacco that are sliced into three inch “flakes”. They require the smoker separate the flakes via a rubbing motion. There is also a large type of flake called the “6-inch Flake”. They differ from traditional flakes in the way that you would suspect: they are six inches instead of three.

Ready-Rubbed

Ready-Rubbed tobacco is the lazy man’s flake – they are the same as flakes except that the rubbing has been done for you.

Ribbon-Cut

This type of pipe tobacco comes the way you might expect it to given its name. That is, it comes in long ribbons.

Slices

These are essentially the same as flakes, with the only noticeable difference being the thickness; slices are thicker than flakes.

Shag

I could toss out an Austin Power’s joke here, but since it is not the year 1992, I’ll spare you. Shag is tobacco that has been very shredded, taking on a very fine consistency.

Twist

We spoke of the process of making Curlies earlier. Twist is essentially made the same way, except that instead of cutting the “curly” shapes, they cut them into one to two inch pieces instead. In truth, you do not see Twist that often, but if you poke your nose around enough, you can find some.

I’m sure that is not all of the cuts out there, but they are the basic cuts, and it is probably more than you will need to know about for some time. Now that we know the types of cuts, let’s talk about the actual types of pipe tobacco.