- Minimum order: 1 container (about 20 t)
- Built to your specification
- Sample on request, where lawful
- Export documents supplied
Before you order: what to know and what to check.
How blends are built
What goes into a blend
- FCV for sweetness and a smooth, bright smoke
- Burley for earthiness and body
- Oriental for spice and aroma
- Dark air-cured for depth and boldness
Blends we build
- Cigarette and cut-rag: FCV with burley and, in small share, oriental
- Roll-your-own: balanced for rolling and a steady burn
- Cigar filler: filler mixes for cigar makers (see cigar leaf)
- Pipe and chewing: built from the darker, fuller leaf
- Fully custom: from your written specification
How a blend is developed
- You send a target: nicotine, sugar, strength, colour, moisture, form, and a reference sample if you want one matched.
- We propose a mix from lots we hold and send a sample for approval.
- The agreed blend goes into the contract with tolerances, so the next container matches the first.
A blend has to be built on a written specification, not on words like “mild” or “premium”. Our post on how to specify a leaf blend shows what a good brief contains. Blends are made from the leaf on our strips and loose leaf lists. Terms: wholesale terms.
What a blend brief looks like for different products
The key parameters differ from product to product. This table shows what a manufacturer typically specifies for each, as a guide to writing your own brief. It is not our recipe for any product.
| Product | Typical leaf types | Parameters to specify |
|---|---|---|
| Cigarette (American blend style) | FCV, burley, a little oriental | Nicotine, sugar, case-ability of burley, strip or cut size, moisture |
| Roll-your-own | FCV-led, sometimes with burley | Taste, sweetness, cut width, moisture, burn |
| Pipe tobacco | FCV, burley, oriental, dark leaf | Cut style, casing, moisture, aroma target |
| Cigar filler | Dark air-cured and cigar leaf | Strength, burn, leaf position, long or short filler |
| Chewing and snuff | Dark air-cured and burley | Moisture, particle size, nicotine |
Blending in practice
How leaf blending is done
In a bulk blending process, the components are laid in layers or metered in precise proportions, then mixed so that the blend is uniform. Good practice includes sampling the blend at several points to check that nicotine, sugar and moisture are consistent, and keeping records of which lots went into each batch. A blend that is not mixed thoroughly shows up later as a product that varies from pack to pack.
Keeping a blend consistent from one order to the next
Leaf is an agricultural product, and the lots that made your first blend will not last for ever. A repeatable blend depends on:
- A written specification with targets and tolerances, not a description.
- Retained samples of each approved batch, so a later batch can be compared with it.
- A substitution plan, agreed in advance: what we may replace a component with, and how you approve it.
- Lead time. Tell us your forecast so we can reserve lots that will be needed for repeat orders.
Matching a reference sample
If you already have a product to match, send us a sample of the leaf or the finished cut, with the numbers you know. We cannot reproduce a flavour from a description, but we can look for a combination of lots we hold that comes close. You then test it and give feedback, and we adjust. Expect two or three rounds for a demanding product.
Limits and honesty
- We supply leaf blends, not flavoured or finished products.
- We cannot guarantee a taste. We can guarantee that a blend meets the measured specification you agree.
- Where a component is single-lot and cannot be repeated, we will say so up front.
Our guide to specifying a leaf blend has a longer checklist, and our wholesale terms cover packing and shipment.
A hypothetical blend development
To show how a blend comes about, here is an invented example. A manufacturer of roll-your-own tobacco wants a medium-strength blend with a sweet character and a nutty undertone. The steps might be:
- The manufacturer sends a brief with a nicotine and sugar target, a colour reference and a sample of its current product.
- We pick two FCV grades and a burley that bracket the target and propose a first mix.
- We send a sample, and the manufacturer cuts and tests it.
- The manufacturer reports that it is slightly too sweet and light. We adjust by raising the share of the drier FCV grade and the burley.
- A second sample is approved, and the final mix and tolerances go into the contract.
- The container is blended and packed, with retained samples from the batch.
The details would differ for any real product, but the cycle of brief, sample, feedback and adjustment is typical.
Ageing, packing and quality
Ageing and resting a blend
After blending, leaf often benefits from a resting period in which moisture equalises between components and the character settles. How long depends on the components and the product. If you are going to rest the blend yourself, tell us, so that we can set the moisture accordingly. If you want us to rest it before shipment, say that too, and ask what that will do to the lead time.
Packing a blend
A blend can be packed in the same C48 boxes as strips or in the forms we use for other leaf. Pack the blend so that the components do not separate in transit: loosely packed, mixed leaf can settle and segregate when jostled. Compression and consistent filling reduce that risk. The quotation states the packing and weights.
What the manufacturer is responsible for
A leaf blend is an ingredient. When you turn it into a finished tobacco product, you take on the obligations that go with it, including ingredient reporting, emissions limits, labelling and health warnings in markets that require them. In the European Union, Directive 2014/40/EU is an example. We can tell you what is in the blend, but compliance of the finished product is yours. See the compliance notice.
Five ways a blend goes wrong
- The brief was vague. “A bit stronger” cannot be reproduced. A nicotine figure can.
- The components were not mixed. Layers or lumps of one grade give a product that varies from pack to pack.
- One lot ran out. A component that cannot be repeated changes the blend on the next order.
- Moisture drifted. Components at different moisture equalise over time and change in weight and feel.
- The trial did not match production. A blend tested by hand on a bench behaves differently on a high-speed line.
Each of these is preventable with a clear specification, thorough mixing, a plan for replacement lots, a moisture target and a proper trial. Those are the same habits we recommend throughout this site.
Blends and your own quality system
A blend is an incoming material that should be tested on arrival against the agreed specification, in the same way as any other. Sample from several packages, test for nicotine, sugar and moisture, compare with the retained approved sample, and record the results. If a batch drifts from the specification, tell us at once, with the data, so we can look for the cause.
Tobacco is harmful to health. JKTabak supplies tobacco leaf to licensed commercial buyers only (manufacturers, processors, importers and distributors). The buyer is responsible for confirming that import, purchase and resale of tobacco is lawful in the destination country.
Photos and video from our lots
Pictures and clips of leaf we handle. For current photographs or video of a specific lot, ask us. The full sets are on the gallery and videos pages.
