The Certified Consumer Tobacconist Evolution

Any tobacconist worth their salt can tell you about innumerable atrocities committed by ignorant consumers: these include lighting cigars backwards, lighting the cedar sleeve (sometimes including the silk ribbon at the foot), using a torch lighter on a briar pipe, complaining about stems in premium cigar filler, licking an entire cigar then using a shop cutter, sticking a cigar in their nose then returning it to a display box, and many many more!

Furthermore, few people truly understand what priming is, the importance of air curing, the magic of fermentation, the extraordinary skill it takes to blend and roll a cigar, much less the thousands of artisanal steps between seed and ash.   

But the real shame is the lack of activism and pro-activity of luxury cigar and pipe smokers.  After all, luxury tobacco can be a selfish pursuit, in that we enjoy it solely for ourselves.  It can be easy to forget that our beloved products, lifestyle and freedoms are constantly being demonized and  eroded by over-regulation and over-taxation.  No other profession suffers more punishment and threats from local, state, and federal governments.  And of course countless "health" groups, with hundreds of millions of dollars in their budgets, drive their mission to erase us from existence.  

Ultimately, the only way to combat these forces is through education and activism.  That activism can be as simple as sharing your passions with those who don't know any better, educating your peers, and of course supporting Cigar Rights of America so they can provide a political voice in Washington DC and at the state and local level.  

If you really love these products, then you must take a stand and be proactive.  Any loud mouth can pontificate about what they think they know, but only a Tobacconist University (TU) Certified Tobacconist has proven their fundamental knowledge.  The new TU Certified Consumer Tobacconist (CCT) degree is a historic and revolutionary way to prove your knowledge and join the fight for our freedoms at the same time.  The new CCT program can be purchased in the GET CERTIFIED section of the TU website for $100 and comes with a free one year membership to Cigar Rights of America (CRA).  If you are smart enough to pass the test, you will be a Certified Consumer Tobacconist and a member of the CRA.  There is no better representative of this industry than a CCT/CRA member and we encourage you to join our ranks and help us preserve luxury tobacco for generations to come!

THE CCT PROCESS

1. Accept The Consumer Code of Ethics & Standards & Apply for Apprenticeship

- After your $100 payment your apprentice listing will appear on the TU website and the CRA will initiate your annual membership

2. Study the TU Academic Curriculum at your own pace

3. Take the Final Exam* on the TU website

- if you pass you will be awarded your CCT degree and your website listing will be certified

- if you fail, you will be removed from the TU website, but your CRA membership will continue

* The TU Final Exam for CCT is 50 questions, multiple-choice and True/False.  It is the same length and difficulty as the original professional test for certified tobacconists which was used from 1996-2005.

The R&D Manifesto

 

Welcome to the future.  You can read all the "standard" info about R&D Cigars on the TU website in the R&D Lab.   Essentially, R&D Cigars are small batch, TU Certified cigars created with an educational purpose: educating your mind and palate.  At TU, we want to be about something (#beaboutsomething); we believe in substantive professionals and products.  We see more hyperbole and cult-of-personality marketing in the premium cigar industry than in perhaps any other.  Yet, there is enough substance, history, and tradition in the luxury tobacco industry that exaggerations are unnecessary.

While contemporary cigar marketers are busy creating outlandish and tantalizing brand names, using "sex" to sell, or trying to convince you that the picture of them inspecting leaves in the fields are authentic, retail tobacconists are working with consumers, face-to-face, on a daily basis.  While a cigar vendor can type up a bunch of alluring words on a website or for an advertisement, retail tobacconists are being accountable, honest, and educating their customers so they will return and become satisfied regulars.  Trust is the cornerstone of credibility and every successful retail tobacconist knows that.  It is easy to sit around in an office all day and concoct fancy words, but the real premium cigar industry exists in the retail tobacconists store because that's were the consumers are.  Retail tobacconists do not have the luxury of BS-ing customers: they must #beaboutsomething.  

With that said, we do recognize that marketing in the cigar industry is exciting and interesting.  There is so much innovation and communication happening that it is hard to keep up.  And at the very least, its never boring.  But, TU is not about exaggeration and empty words.  We want to #beaboutsomething.  Ultimately, if you call everyone a "master" or "legend" or if everyone is like "family" or your "brother",  then those words will lose their value.  The words we use at TU mean something; that's why we have the largest glossary in the industry, and we take those words seriously (ie. Flavor = Taste + Aroma,  Maduro is both a color description and fermentation process, and our certified retailers have a "real" store, not just a virtual one). 

At TU, we want to #beaboutsomething, and R&D is.  As you will see in the R&D Lab, extraordinary efforts have been made to educate your mind and palate.  While taste is, and will always be, subjective, we can teach and illustrate facts, history, and enhance your appreciation of luxury tobacco in the process.  While we look forward to many years of researching and creating educational products, we also hope that TU R&D will help and inspire others in the industry to take it to the next level and #beaboutsomething. 

In the future, when you come across R&D Cigars at a TU Certified Retail Tobacconist (CRT), you will know that everything about those cigars is authentic and the tobacconist who is curating them is credible because he/she is the first professionally certified tobacconist that had to pass a test to sell you a certified cigar.   Furthermore, all of the personal and product certification standards are transparent and freely available on the TU website: including but not limited to our Code of Ethics & Standards, the TU Academic Curriculum, our Glossary, Tobacconist Tips, FAQs, and all of the standards of TU Certification.

 

#beaboutsomething

Another Great Success!

Surpassing our goal of 1,000 Certified Tobacconists & Apprentices at this years IPCPR tradeshow was a huge achievement for TU! Thank you to everyone who signed up to become an Apprentice at the show, took their CRT exam with us or even simply stopped by the booth to show support. An impressive twenty five apprentices passed the final, attaining their certification. Follow this link to see a complete list of our Certified Tobacconists.  Haven’t begun your certification process yet?  Get Started!

Top 5 Reasons To Be Certified

1) Credibility Matters- Enhance your professional credibility by becoming Certified by TU. Immersing yourself in our extensive academic curriculum will help to further establish your professional credentials. By completing the Steps to Certification, CRT’s adhere to our high expectations in regards to product knowledge and customer service thus become knowledgeable, trustworthy in the eyes of consumers and peers.

2) Personal Satisfaction/Self-Esteem- Becoming a CRT will define and shape yourself beyond your job description. You will achieve a deep sense of personal satisfaction as well as validate your luxury tobacco experience.

3) Make your Certification work for you- Promote yourself. Wear your certified lapel pin and display your diploma and other certified accoutrements. Let your certification set you apart from other retailers. TU Certification also works as a free training vehicle for your employees. Customers view certification as a guarantee they will receive a high level of quality service, it demonstrates a commitment to our industry.

4) Improved Skills and Knowledge- Develop a well rounded educational experience while studying the four Colleges that comprise Tobacconist University: Tobacco, Accoutrements, Taste, and Service College.

5) Stay Tuned- Only certified retailers can profit from selling The Tobacconist Handbook or administering the final exam to Apprentices. We also have many exciting  projects in the works which only Certified Tobacconists will benefit from.

Tobacco Flavor Chart

David "Doc" Diaz, CMT Academic Contribution

Certified Master Tobacconist #1793

Tobacco Flavor Chart

 

Do you ever struggle for descriptors to identify the flavors (taste + aroma) that you are sensing in your tobaccos?  Or, do you wish there was a tool to help you distinguish and organize all of those flavors so you can document the taste of your favorite cigar or pipe tobaccos?   Well, now there is – thanks to Certified Master Tobacconist David “Doc” Diaz!  After years in development, Doc has produced the Tobacco Flavor Chart to help all luxury tobacco lovers describe and analyze their favorite tobaccos.  This Tobacco Flavor Chart can be used to help you describe the cigars or pipe tobaccos you smoke as well as save that information for reference at a later date.  This is a handy tool for retailers to give to their customers and for consumers to use and save so they can remember what they smoked.  This Tobacco Flavor Chart was created as an educational tool for anyone to use and please feel free to email Doc or TU suggestions, additions, or corrections if you think they are needed.  Enjoy!

Georgetown Tobacco: A National Treasure

 
If you know me well, you may know that walking into Georgetown Tobacco in the early 1990s changed my life. I never knew the world of luxury tobacco existed until I stepped into that store; I was used to buying cigars at cafeterias on the streets of Miami. To this day I remember the extraordinary Tobacconists that helped me discover great cigars and new ways to savor my time – perhaps this is why I have such a fondness and respect for Tobacconists. And I can only begin to imagine how many thousands of people have been impacted the same way.

   

While Georgetown is coming up on its 45th Anniversary, and they just Certified their 11th CRT, it is no mystery why they are one of the world’s greatest retail Tobacconists. Starting with their founder, David Berkebile and every Tobacconist I have met in their stores, there is enough passion and knowledge on their sales floor to make any Tobacconist and customer salivate. While TU writes about putting Products & Customers first, I think that philosophy might have been absorbed from Georgetown. I’m sure someone could write a book on the knowledge, history, tall tales, and passion found at Georgetown; and I can honestly say that their retail store is one of the world’s most beautiful – in any industry!

  

  
 
Ultimately, we are lucky to have such an extraordinary group of Tobacconists Certified, and grateful for the things they have and will teach us down the road. Congratulations to Georgetown for continuing to be the best at what they do. And many thanks for sharing that with TU, your customers, and the rest of the world….. Looking forward to the next 45 years.
 


- Jorge Armenteros, CMT 

Art & Cigars

One of the most important things we teach consumers, Tobacconists, and society is the amazing and unparalleled nature of the premium cigar. Great works of art, crystal, furniture, and architecture are created in less time than a great cigar; and they last lifetimes! …while the destiny of a cigar, through combustion, is to return to dust. In fact, hundreds of people and thousands of years of human knowledge and experience go into every premium cigar!

Indubitably, great cigars are works of art. Great cigar makers are artists. And retail Tobacconists are the curators of these precious miracles. At TU we consider ourselves to be in the art preservation business: preserving luxury tobacco for generations to come.

Cigars = Vacation

We know that our sense of smell is most closely linked to memory and emotion. And that our sense of smell has the greatest impact on our enjoyment of luxury tobacco – try smoking with stuffed sinuses to prove it. Pleasant aromas are relaxing. In fact, pleasant aromas have the power to transport us to a better ‘place’, a better feeling. Whether we are talking about the smell of grandma’s cookies, the ocean, or a great cigar, pleasant aromas force us to take notice and enjoy the moment. Those who enjoy luxury tobacco know that aroma transcends our daily responsibilities, stresses, uncertainties, and challenges.

The aroma of luxury tobacco forces us to settle down and appreciate the moment; the little things. Great tobacco is a compelling delicacy which helps us appreciate our time. What could be more important than savoring your time? Great cigars are like a mini-vacation! Use them as intended and you will enhance your quality of life.

  

* Tobacconist Anecdote: Lately, I have been seeing many more of our retail customers stopping to have a cigar in the shop. Customers who would normally walk out after their purchase look at the couch like a starving man looks at a steak. Once they realize the couches are there for them, they walk over and plop themselves down, immediately letting out a deep exhale. At first they have a glassy look in their eyes, then they remember they have a cigar in their hand and they start to look at it, touch it, and finally light it. After just a few puffs their demeanor begins to change. They watch the smoke waft delicately into the air and their gaze begins to relax. Within a few minutes they start letting go… their body and mind releasing tension. Eventually, our customers leave the shops happier, brighter, and lighter than when they entered. It is an extraordinary transformation. Every Tobacconist has seen this happen, and I think this is happening a lot more lately. But this is just proof that Tough Times = Better Business. People need great Tobacconists more now, than ever…. so get to work.

pH Balance & You

The balance between Acidity and Alkalinity effects our lives in innumerable ways; from the environment, soil, and our bodies, to the food we eat and liquids we drink.

  

“pH” is a measure of Acidity and Alkalinity [of a solution] on a scale where 7 is neutral; lower numbers are more Acid (down to 0), and higher numbers are more Alkaline (up to 14).

   

We learn in Tobacco & Taste Colleges that cigars are more Alkaline and cigarettes are more Acidic: this effects the consumption, nicotine absorption, and addictive differences between the two.

  

When it comes to luxury tobacco, pH monitoring is critical for the Soil and even the water used for Irrigation and Fermentations. But the greatest effects of pH do not come from the product itself, but rather, from your mouth. Your palate’s (tongue, mouth, saliva) neutral setting is around 7. Lemon Juice is around 2, Tomatoes are around 4, and milk is around 6.5. Anything we consume will effect the pH level in our mouth, and subsequently, the way we perceive the Taste of a cigar or pipe tobacco.

  

Have you ever smoked a cigar you know is good, and it just tastes “off”? Usually we just blame the cigar maker, Tobacconist, or our humidor, but, maybe it wasn’t the cigar. It is very likely that our mouth can be “off”.

  

Fortunately, our mouths/palates have the ability to restore their neutrality within a short period of time. You can expedite this process by drinking water, milk, or eating plain bread, to bring your mouth closer to neutral.

 
If you just finished smoking a cigar and want another, you can eat a little lemon sorbet to restore some Acidity to your palate. Ultimately, maybe you like the contrasting Acidity of coffee with the Alkalinity of a cigar; if so great. But it is good to know the facts and be aware of how our senses can be biased.

Stress Kills

While watching the news yesterday, I re-learned what most enlightened and open-minded people already know: stress kills. The medical expert on the show was discussing new studies which show how extreme anger causes 100,000 more deaths (in the U.S.) per year than all cancers combined. Extreme anger and stress kill more people than cigarettes! Sadly, we live in a time and culture that does not value the benefits of relaxation. But, as any lover of premium and luxury tobacco can tell you, there are few things which will add as much to the quality of your life as a great cigar or bowl of pipe tobacco. So whether your idea of relaxation involves watching the sunset, soaking in the tub, seeing a movie, a candle lit dinner, some good music, yoga, or simple meditation, you may very well benefit from lighting up a great cigar. Perhaps the only thing of value in this life is our time, so we should be making more effort to savor it. And remember the facts, the National Cancer Institute says there are no known negative health effects from the consumption of less than one cigar per day. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself.

Jorge Armenteros, CMT

Luxury Tobacco

We believe that the best cigar or pipe Tobacco in the world is your favorite. We assert that your passion for Tobacco is a natural luxury which is rooted in great traditions and history. The moderate consumption of luxury Tobacco is a healthy and enlightened human pleasure.
  
Luxury Tobacco- Tobacco products which are created by master craftsmen utilizing premium quality tobacco and intended to be enjoyed while savoring your time. Luxury tobacco is never homogenized, commoditized, or used out of habit or addiction.