Twist tobacco

Twist tobacco

　　【Twist Tobacco】A specialty of Yishui, known as “Yishui Twist,” it is a type of air-cured tobacco, also called sun-cured red tobacco, and commonly referred to as local tobacco. It is mainly distributed in the limestone regions to the west, southwest, and northwest of Yishui County, with concentrated production areas in towns such as Gaocun, Wangzhuang, Xiawei, Quanzhuang, Yuandongtou, and YaoDianzi.

　　According to the Yishui County Annals from the seventh year of the Daoguang reign in the Qing Dynasty (1827): “In the southwest, tobacco is grown; in the northwest, mountain elm; and in the western hills, medicinal herbs abound, yielding profits comparable to three mouths of food for the people.” This shows that Yishui twist tobacco has a long history of cultivation and has been an important source of income for local farmers. Hence, there is still a saying among local tobacco growers: “Aged tobacco is like aged grain.”

　　There are over ten varieties of twist tobacco, among which “Lian’erzi” and “Liuye Jian” are the most renowned. Depending on the curing method, twist tobacco is divided into two types: “plate tobacco” and “bundled twist.” The best quality tobacco comes from “Xingyu” and “Malan” produced in Gaocun Township, and it is considered the premium grade of Yishui twist. By the mid-Qing Dynasty, this tobacco had become a popular gift exchanged among aristocratic families.

　　Twist tobacco thrives in mountainous slopes, leached brown soil (red soil parent material), and brown forest soil. Soybean cake fertilizer is the best choice for base fertilizer. It is usually planted after the wheat harvest. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is the season for twist tobacco to mature and be harvested. Tobacco farmers cut the stems and leaves with tobacco sickles, weave grass into mats, and set up rows of drying racks

　　Liumzi tobacco is highly favored by coastal farmers and fishermen for its unique qualities: excellent fattiness, rich oil content, strong kick, high elasticity, and the ability to maintain good combustibility even in humid conditions. Every winter and spring, numerous tobacco merchants and organizations flock here to compete for purchases. Annually, thousands of tons of this tobacco are sold to Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, the three northeastern provinces, and the eastern coastal regions, while also supplying several thousand tons of cigar raw materials to tobacco factories within the province. In 1987, the county planted a total of 28,000 mu of Liumzi tobacco, yielding 10.08 million kilograms.