Incense sticks, oils, candles—people enjoy adding pleasant scents to their lives. Flavored tobacco is part of this trend. Fruity and berry notes can harmoniously complement the natural aroma of tobacco.
It’s impossible to cultivate tobacco that would have a strong vanilla or apple aroma. Therefore, flavorings are added to the tobacco blend during production. The result depends on the substance itself, its quantity, and the manufacturing technology used—you can get tobacco with a pronounced aroma or subtle notes.
There are dessert, fruit, and berry flavorings, one of the most common being cherry.
Contents
Why cherry and how does tobacco acquire this flavor?
Where is cherry-flavored tobacco used?
Why cherry and how does tobacco acquire this flavor?
It is known that for centuries, people have been adding cherry leaves to tobacco bags and placing them next to steamed or alcohol-infused berries. Cherry-flavored tobacco may have been among the first flavored tobaccos. Among homebrewers, it is still popular to dry cherry leaves along with tobacco leaves and then remove them.
Another method of altering tobacco flavor—saucing—has long been used on an industrial scale. This involves adding a sauce made of non-volatile humectants, binders, flavorings, and aromatics to the tobacco bag. These include, for example, molasses, sugar, honey, licorice, cocoa, and fruit infusions. This sauce is essential for flavor control and can make up to 10% of the tobacco mass. At the final stage of production, cherry flavoring—natural or synthetic—is added to the tobacco blend. It accounts for approximately 1.6% of the total mass of the raw material.
Depending on the method and amount of ingredients, the resulting aroma can be lighter or more tart. It can be reminiscent of ripe berries or have notes of cherry pits. The aroma can vary in intensity: tobacco can smell like cherry leaves, berries, or even cherry desserts.
Where Cherry-Flavored Tobacco Is Used
Flavored tobacco is used to make cigarettes and blends for hookahs, pipes, and homemade tobacco products. It remains popular among all types of tobacco products.
Cigarettes
Many tobacco brands offer cherry-flavored cigarettes. For example, Chapman Red. The flavoring can be impregnated into the tobacco, paper, or filter, achieving a richer aroma. There is also a type of cigarette with a capsule, where the flavorings are stored in a special capsule inside the filter. To experience the flavor, gently press the filter before or during a smoking session—the edible gelatin capsule will burst, releasing the flavor.
Pipe
Pipe tobacco is typically a blend of Burley and Virginia tobaccos. Their tart and slightly sweet flavors complement each other and pair well with cherry flavoring. Pipe tobacco differs from cigarette tobacco by its coarser cut.
Homemade Tobacco Products
Home-rolling cigarettes often experiment with the flavors of their blends. Some purchase factory-flavored tobacco, such as blends with cherry nuances. Others purchase neutral tobacco blends and flavor them themselves. To achieve this, users can add cherry leaf during the fermentation stage or steep the blend in cherry liqueur.
Hookah
Hookah-like devices appeared over two thousand years ago, and at that time, aromatic herbs, rather than tobacco, were used. This tradition has been partially preserved to this day: hookah lounges always offer a wide selection of flavors, including various variations of cherry. Hookah tobacco flavors typically consist of a base, a topping, and an aftertaste. Cherry flavors can develop in any of these three forms and are often combined with other berries and mint. Exotic blends of cherry and pineapple, mango, melon, and even cola are also common.