Arapiraca Mapacho Rolls, Brazil

More about Arapiraca tobacco rolls from Brazil.

In the beautiful and rustic Northeast of Brazil lays a town called Arapiraca, it is the capital of the state Alagoas. It is the main Brazilian producer of nicotiana rustica tobacco, the stronger and more traditional variety as opposed to nicotiana tabacum that is used for cigarettes.

Our rolls come in packs of approximately a kilo, most are close to a hundred grams over. Because of their irregular shapes they are hard to get into exact weights. When they are sold in the markets in Brazil they are cut and weighted on the spot

Arapiraca traditional use

In the Brazilian Northeast this tobacco has been grown since the old days of the big plantations and the international tobacco trade by galleons hundreds of years ago. Nowadays this tobacco is smoked less and less because of its strength. It is still used by traditional rural communities and in religious ceremonies. Old farm people smoke it in pipes and in the Brazilian spiritism religions it is used in special pipes by the entities. Another way that people have smoked it is wrapped in corn leaf. It is also used as bee leaf to make smoke for bees or even in preparations for organic farming for pest control.

Rapé Production

Arapiraca tobacco has found new use in the revival of indigenous Rapé or Shamanic Snuff. Nowadays big amounts get exported to the Amazon for Rapé production by the tribes and other forest dwellers who prefer this type over the local varieties mainly because of its superior potency.

Arapiraca Mapacho characteristics

Arapiraca became like a brand name for this high quality rustica tobacco. It is grown all natural and is manually processed and rolled in these big tobacco rolls. Where Peruvian and Amazonian Mapacho is rolled in sticks the Arapiraca is beaten in ropes of multiple strands, the same as normal flax rope. The color is deep black and when dried becomes a dark brown. It has a profound and pleasant tobacco scent.