The Certified Medallion: Leveraging TU

We tell all TU Apprentices and Certified Tobacconists that getting Certified and passing the final exam is just the beginning of the process, albeit the hardest.  Ultimately, Certification must be leveraged by wearing the Certified Pin and using the Certified Medallion, on business cards, store signage, and your website.  After all, if you get Certified and never mention it to your customers, co-workers, vendors, and the community around you, then the benefits will never materialize.  While TU is no magic bullet for what ails our industry, the ability to leverage it is a massive competitive advantage.

PS: every CRT store can get a framed diploma with their logo, store signage stickers, and the right to use the Certified Medallion as long as they maintain one CRT.  Individual CRT can receive the Certified Pin, a personal diploma, mouse pad, and more…

The Tobacconist Handbook Proof

The Tobacconist Handbook Proof has arrived.  And, it is indeed proof of our credibility and professionalism.   These 205 pages, 120+ custom images/graphics, and 41,000+ words took almost fifteen years to create and then another 2,000 hours to distill into a handbook.   I could not be more excited to preview it here for you.  Thank you to all of the well-wishers and inquirers; it will be available in September 2009 and you will definitely be hearing more about it in the months to come.  Please sign up for our email list to get the latest and greatest news!

 

 

National Media Honors Certified Tobacconists

Certified Tobacconists from across the country received national media recognition for their accomplishments in a news report today:

 

Gaining positive media attention is a rare thing indeed these days, and important to projecting and preserving the honor and credibility of the luxury tobacco industry.  Congratulations to everyone who has been certified and was mentioned in the article.  Thank you for your support and enthusiasm.  And thanks to all our apprentices.  We look forward to certifying all of you and watching this list grow!

Cigar Anatomy: Final Exam Review

Premium cigars are composed of long filler, binder, and a wrapper. They are made exclusively by hand, although the bunch (binder+fillers) can be created using a Lieberman machine which assists the roller. In general, bunchers place 3 to 5 filler leaves* together and wrap them with a binder leaf, then place them in a mold and press.  The bunched cigars are rotated in the mold several times, about every 30 to 45 minutes, in order to create an even compression without a seam.  After the bunch is removed from the mold and press the wrapper leaf will be applied.  Wrapper leaves have their entire stem removed and each half of the leaf will be used on separate cigars.  These wrapper leaf halves are mirror images of each other so one will be applied right-to-left and the other left-to-right.  It is important to note that wrapper leaves are prized for their elasticity, tensile strength, consistent color and texture.

*Important Note: filler leaves have only half of their stem removed.  The half closest to the tip of the leaf is the thinnest part and it will remain; the thicker bottom half will be discarded. 

 

 

Pipes: Final Exam Review

The most popular materials for tobacco pipes are briar and meerschaum.  Briar comes from burls that form on the root system of the Heath tree while meerschaum is a white, clay-like mineral primarily found in Turkey.  Briar pipes are valued by their age, grain pattern, imperfections, and carving artistry.  Meerschaum pipes are known for their intricate carvings and ability to change color.  Both types of pipe will form cake, which is the carbon that develops along the inner wall of the pipe chamber and acts as insulation for the bowl, as well as promoting an even smoking experience.

While corncob pipes are considered the ‘quintessential American pipe’ because they were invented in America, Hookahs originated in India and were popularized in the Middle East.  Hookahs are considered an indirect smoking system because the smoke passes through water before reaching the smoker’s palate.

Accoutrements: Final Exam Review

Torch lighters require butane fuel to work.  While butane gas lighters are flavorless, liquid fuel lighters will taint the flavor of your tobacco.

Butane lighters must be purged before filling to release excess air build up in the tank.  The proper steps to filling a butane lighter are: turn volume down, empty (purge) gas chamber, and then fill with butane.

There are no ’self-sharpening’ cigar cutters.  The most invasive cigar cutter is the ‘cat’s eye’ a.k.a. V cutter.  Double guillotines have two straight blades while single guillotines have one.

A leather cigar case can quickly dehydrate a cigar while a resealable plastic bag can keep a cigar properly humidified for approximately a week.

Humidors can be made of wood, plastic, tin, or glass.  Furthermore, Spanish Cedar is not necessary for a humidor to work properly; it is a matter of preference and/or tradition.  When seasoning a humidor, one should not saturate the inside of the humidor with water as that can lead to extreme expansion which will damage the joints and/or seal.

Propylene glycol is used in reverse osmosis humidifiers while evaporation humidifiers require distilled water to work properly.

The two main types of hygrometers are analog and digital.  Digital hygrometers tend to be more accurate.

FAQ: Final Exam Review

A perfect guillotine cut will leave ample shoulder on the cigar head; it is best achieved by having a firm grip on the cigar shoulder.

The most common method to treat cigars affected by cigar beetles is freezing the cigars.

Ring gauge (rg) is the diameter of a cigar – in America rg is measured in 64ths of an inch.  Typically, thicker ring gauge cigars burn cooler and longer than thinner ring gauge cigars.  A cigar that is burning ‘hot’, or too rapidly will yield a pointed ember after ashing.

A well conditioned cigar (70% relative humidity (rh) & 70° F) can age and develop for a lifetime or more.  Over humidified cigars will produce an acrid and bitter flavor when smoked.

While plume, the crystallized evaporated remnants of cigar oils, can be a desirable trait of well aged cigars, mold is not.

MOLD

 

PLUME

Most cigarettes are not premium tobacco products because they contain RTS (reconstituted tobacco sheet), they are mass produced by machine, and they contain chemicals and additives.

Maduro cigars have undergone a longer fermentation to enrich and sweeten the leaf.