четверг, 28 июня 2007 г.

The Manufacturing

Tobacco plants are seeded indoors, and transplanted into fields after six to 10 weeks. The plants are carefully pruned so the leaves grow to the necessary size. Plants that produce the outer wrappers of cigars are usually kept covered with cloth to protect them from the sun. The plants take several months to mature in the fields.

Curing

After harvesting, the tobacco leaves must be cured in order to develop their characteristic aroma. The leaves are cured when they have passed from bright green flexible fresh leaves to dried brown or yellowish leaves. Chemically, the naturally occurring chlorophyll in the leaf gradually breaks down and is replaced by carotene. To cure, the harvested plants are strung to narrow strips of wood called laths. The laths are hung from the ceiling of a well-ventilated curing barn. In dry weather, they may cure simply by hanging, a process called air curing. The leaves may also be flue-cured. In this method, the laths are hung in a small barn which is heated from 90-170°F (32.2-77°C). The temperature must be carefully monitored in order to prevent extreme rapid drying. Sawdust or hardwood may also be burned in the curing barn, to aid in drying the leaves and impart an aroma.

Fermenting

After the leaves are cured, they are sorted by color and size. Small or broken leaves are used for the cigar filler, large leaves for the inner wrapper or binder, and large, fine leaves, usually grown in shade or under cloth, are set aside for the outer wrapper. The leaves are tied into bundles called hands of 10 or 15 leaves each. The hands are packed in boxes or in large casks called hogsheads. The tobacco is kept in the hogshead for a period of from six months to five years. The leaves undergo chemical changes during this period referred to as fermentation. During fermentation, the aroma and taste of the leaf develops. Cigar tobacco is usually fermented longer than other tobacco. Fermentation for two to five years is typical for high quality cigars. After fermentation, the leaves are manually sorted again by highly trained workers.

Stripping

4 The filler leaves must have their main vein (or stem) removed, or else the cigar will not burn evenly. This can be done by hand or machine. Manually, a worker with a thimble knife fitted to his or her finger clips the vein near the tip and pulls it down. Then the worker stacks the stripped leaves in piles (called books or pads). Mechanically, a worker inserts the tobacco leaves into a machine under a grooved, circular knife. By depressing a foot treadle, the worker causes the knife to lower and cut out the vein. The worker can stop the machine with the foot treadle, and stack the stripped leaves.

The stripped leaves are wrapped in bales and stored for further fermentation. The bales may be shipped at this point, if final production resides elsewhere. Just before the leaves are ready for manufacture into cigars, they are steamed to restore lost humidity, and sorted again.

Hand rolling

Fine cigars are rolled by hand. Cigar rolling is skilled work: it may take a year for a roller to become proficient. The filler must be packed evenly for the cigar to burn smoothly, and the wrapper should be wound in an even spiral around the cigar. Hand cigar makers usually work in small factories. Each worker sits at a small table with a tray of sorted tobacco leaves on it and space to roll out the cigar. First the worker selects from two to six leaves for the filler. These are placed one on top of the other and rolled into a bunch. Then the worker places the bunch on the binder leaf and rolls the binder leaf cylindrically around the filler. The unfinished cigars are placed in an open wooden mold that holds them in shape until they can be wrapped.

6 Wrapping is the most difficult step. The worker takes the partially completed cigar out of the mold and places it on the wrapper leaf. With a special rounded knife called a chaveta, the worker trims off any irregularities from the filler. Then the worker rolls the wrapper leaf around the filler and binder three and a half times, and secures it at the end with a small amount of vegetable paste. The worker cuts a small round piece out of a different wrapper leaf. This is sometimes done by tracing around a coin. This circle is then attached to the end of the cigar with paste. The worker has completed the cigar, though it still must be tested, sorted and packed.

Cigars may be made by hand in teams. Some workers may make the bunch and wrap it in the binder, and then the more delicate finishing work of rolling the wrapper is left to more skilled workers.

Machine rolling

7 The majority of cigars are made today by machine. A typical cigar machine may require several workers to tend to its different functions. One worker feeds tobacco leaves onto a feed belt between guide bars that are adjusted for the length of cigar desired. The machine bunches the leaves, forming the filler. A second worker places binder leaf (or HTL) onto the binder die. The leaf is held down by suction, and the machine cuts it to the proper size. The filler then drops onto the binder die. The machine rolls the binder around the filler. A third worker places the wrapper leaf (or HTL) on a wrapper die. The partially completed cigar drops onto the wrapper die, and the machine rolls the wrapper around the cigar. A fourth worker inspects the completed cigars and places them in trays.

The finished cigars are passed to an examiner. The examiner inspects the cigars for imperfections and checks them for proper weight, size, shape, and condition of the wrapper. The examiner may correct imperfections by patching wrappers or re-shaping heads.

Finishing and packing

Cigars that pass inspection are placed on trays and passed to a banding and wrapping machine. A worker places the cigars in a hopper, and the machine places a band around them. The same machine may also wrap the cigars in cellophane. The ringed cigars may be also passed to workers expert in sorting by shade. They sort the finished cigars according to minute variations in wrapper color. Cigars with the same wrapper shade are then boxed together.

Quality Control

Cigars are checked for quality during each step of the manufacturing process. The quality of the tobacco leaves is very important, and leaves are sorted and inspected after curing, after fermentation, and before they are made into cigars. The finished cigars must be checked for consistent diameter, weight, size, draw (how well smoke can be sucked through them), and for any imperfections in the wrapper or in the shape. Cigar factories employ personnel to maintain the manufacturing machinery so that cigar measurements are consistent. In many smaller tobacco factories the final inspections are done by eye. A worker places cigars through a ring to check diameter and measures their length with a ruler. Appearance is critical to the individual cigar, and a box of cigars must also be inspected so that at least the top layer is consistent in color. The quality of the wrapping must be inspected for hand-rolled cigars. The veins of the wrapper should appear in a uniform spiral, and the leaf must be smooth and taut.

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