Let’s see. In our last installment, we talked about the the growing and picking process, how the leaves are picked and when. So now we’ll discuss…

Curing the Tobacco

After they’re picked, leaves are taken by tractor to the curing houses. Imagine a Cuban style Casa de Grande, the size of two football fields, built specifically for drying and curing tobacco. Typically, its natural ventilation is controlled by opening and closing windows.

The very labor intensive process of curing begins by separating each leaf according to type and size. This is done by hand and is strictly supervised. Once that’s done, the leaves are sewn together in pairs through the stem. The sewn pairs are hung from a pole, each with about 100 leaves, which are placed in the curing house at different levels depending on the type and size of the leaf. Heat from the sun and the design of the curing house create a sauna-like condition that forces the moisture in the leaf to dissipate. Leaves change from rich green to yellow and finally to various shades of brown.

Once dried the leaves are removed and placed in piles of fifty and arranged into larger stacks where fermentation begins. It’s the pressure from the leaves stacked on each other, along with the natural heat and humidity, that facilitates fermentation and the release of impurities. Water is sprayed on the stacks around the clock so as to maintain proper fermentation temperatures. Heat in the middle of the stack can reach 160°F!

If the temperatures are allowed to go higher, the leaves will burn and spoil. It takes constant 24 hour vigilance to stay on top of this process. The “sweating” removes the oils, sap, ammonia, tar and nicotine from the leaves. It’s a thirty five to forty five day process during which workers break up the piles and re-stack them so the leaves cure evenly. And, depending on the particular leaf, the process might be repeated several times. But once complete, the leaves are off to the aging rooms.

That’s next! Till then, keep Herfin’!