What is the difference between a tobacco “blend” and a tobacco “mixture”?
In the United States of America, most pipe smokers treat the terms as synonyms, and use them interchangably. The British do maintain a distinction. However, they designate a mixture as a manufactured tobacco, ready to smoke, that did not go through a pressure-treatment stage. This distinguishes the mixtures from the ready-rubbed tobaccos, which are first pressure-formed into flakes or squares and then rubbed out to form a loose tobacco. They recognize any combination of differing tobaccos as a blend. James Beard, 1997-09-18 It is worth remembering that the two terms are absolutely and completely synonymous in English. “Blend” is derived from Old English and Old Norse, (blenda and blendan respectively) and means “to mix” i.e. to combine, while “Mix” is derived from Latin word meaning “to mix” i.e. to combine or blend. Lastly, remember, most “pipe tobaccos” are made up of more than one type of tobacco, and as such, are all blends or mixtures (though yes you can get straight burley, etc.)
