About Brazilian rope tobaccos

[Alottalatakia]

Hi there! I wrote this and posted it first at the Welcome Bandwagon forum... But I decided to repost it here because I think more appropriate.
Bellow a rope tobacco that I usually have access here in Brazil.



Rope tobaccos are widely available here and you can find almost anywhere in the countryside.It was the first type and is still a very traditional and loved way to smoke tobacco. RYO  is made using corn husk. Thanks to a ressurgence of traditional and artisan everything,  they may be more popular than normal industrial cigarettes. There are several varieties, ranging from very dark and wet to golden dry. Minas Gerais state ( the hills where I live) produces some of the best known tobaccos, Piaui state make the best known- Arapiraca. The states in the south, namely Parana, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul have sizeable plantations and the natives there, mainly German and Italian descendants, are the ones who still smoke pipes. Unfortunately  most of those tobaccos are over fermented and to smoke them in a pipe may cause you to grow hair not only in your chest but also in your eyeballs or other unmentionables. A few producers in the Southern states produce tobacco that are suitable for pipe smoking, and they are bright and sweet.



For those who never saw it before, rope tobaccos in the making...This photo is recent, January 2019

 

[Timbo]

Those pics are great and that is a lot of baccy in that last one of the ropes being made. Love it.

 

[user 2027]

I'll take 50' section of it! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

 

[huffelpuff]

Welcome aboard!

I started with rope tobacco back in 86. It was love at first light. Unfortunately I had lots of trouble getting ropes and moved on to more easily obtained tobaccos. I have gotten back into ropes thanks to the availability of Gawith tobaccos from England here in the States.

Those pictures are great! I love the history and tradition of rope tobacco. I really wish there was a wider variety available. I look forward to hearing more about your local tobaccos and the history and traditions from your country.

Jim

 

[BloodWood]

Your native rope looks quite delicious from here. 

Over fermentation?... "I'm your Huckleberry"

 

[Fr_Tom]

We just need to find a source for them in the US!

 

[DrT999]

We just need to find a source for them in the US!

Or someone there who will sell overseas. . . . It could be a lot of extra work for what could be short-term sales from a dozen or so of us.

 

[Alottalatakia]

Well.., as I told you before...
Do you have anyone that you may know who comes to Brazil in the near future or does business here on a regular basis? This person can have the tobacco delivered to his/her address in Brazil, and afterwards take it to you guys in USA. Cheaper and safer.
Otherwise, I can get some, my treat, and handle it to a trusted messenger of yours here...

 

[Alottalatakia]

and.., I'm curious: Does any of you ever tried the twist tobacco from The Country Squire tobacconist in Mississipi? Are they any good?

 

[Fr_Tom]

and.., I'm curious: Does any of you ever tried the twist tobacco from The Country Squire tobacconist in Mississipi? Are they any good?

These are Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. ropes, and while I have not ordered from The Country Squire, I have tried them and think they are very good.

 

[huffelpuff]

I haven't ordered from Country Squire but I have smoked many of the G&H twists. The rum, maple, and cherry are favorites. The plain is really nice as well. The coconut however is a little odd but still really interesting. They aren't so much flavored tobaccos as they are scented. The tobacco is the star flavor and the "scent" is more of a wonderful little surprise that wafts in and out appearing and disappearing throughout the smoke. For example the coconut is a wonderful tobacco flavor and the coconut isn't intrusive at all. It rounds the edges of the smoke and pops in as a whiff of suntan lotion. As I said its a bit odd but oh so good!

Jim

 

[Alottalatakia]

I just went through the topic posted earlier on about G&H twists and found it very interesting. There are peculiarities about those twists and ours in Brazil. G&H have an outer tobacco leaf wrapping, they're lighter in colour and look like made from a single rope.., I'm not sure.
Ours are made from thinner ropes composed of 4 to 8 leaves. Then they're twisted with up to 9 ropes making a thicker rope, with no outer wrapping, and left in the sun or in a open barn to ferment for 60 to 90 days. During this period the rope is tighten up every 4 days.
The result is tightly packed, moist and black. You can notice a sweet and sour molasses smell. After cutting it the way you prefer ( I make coins), you leave it to dry for some hours. I think the best way is to blend it with a drier and tamer tobacco. Two thirds mature Virginia and one third twist works very well for me.
Just once I tried some perique, in a small amount, and I get some similar spicy and peppery notes, specially if I retro-inhale, from my local tobacco. Perhaps the fermentation and pressure method make them distant cousins. But Brazilian rope is made at open air whereas perique matures for much longer, in an almost airless environment and uses a different leaf.
Good nicotine content, smoky aroma; sweet, sour and spicy flavour. Full bodied thin smoke with sort of barbecue room note. Not for the faint of heart! After one of those you can either melt down in your couch or jump around like Daffy Duck...

 

[Alottalatakia]

Another interesting rope...
This tobacco "log", wrapped in wood ribbons is a Porronca from Ceará state. Curious tobacco: after sliced or cut in flakes you need to heat it in a pan until retracts a bit and start to turn fragrant.