How to Freak a Black & Mild
Black & Milds are popular cigars produced by the John Middleton Co., which makes the product with an extra, thicker paper wrapped inside the outer paper. This paper makes the cigar last longer, but some smokers prefer the purer taste of the tobacco without the extra paper. Removing the "filter paper," colloquially known as a "cancer paper," is called "freaking," "tweaking" or "champing" the Black & Mild. It involves removing all of the tobacco from the cigar, extracting the paper and replacing the tobacco.
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Instructions
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Open the individual Black & Mild cigar's packaging by pulling on the tab of the plastic wrapper, which is just below the plastic or wood tip and says "Black & Mild." Take off the part of the plastic wrapper that covers the tip, but not the part that covers the actual cigar.
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Roll the cigar back and forth in your hands or fingers to loosen and extract the tobacco, which will fall into the plastic wrapper and conform to the wrapper's cylindrical shape. As you do this, you will have to move the cigar further up to accommodate the tobacco collecting in the plastic wrapper. Continue until the plastic wrapper is full of tobacco and you must fully extract the nearly empty cigar from the plastic.
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Set the plastic wrapper full of tobacco aside, being careful that the tobacco does not spill out.
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Use an implement such as a book or tray to catch the rest of the tobacco as you continue to force it out by rolling the cigar between your hands or fingers. There is some tobacco beneath the plastic or wood tip of the cigar, which may be harder to extract; roll harder on the plastic tip, bang it against something solid, or blow through the tip to force this tobacco out.
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Extract the inner paper. Once you remove all the tobacco, look down into the hollow cigar from the end opposite the tip. You will see a paper inside that is a lighter color than the outer paper, more of a tan color than the brown of the exterior. Try to grip this paper and pull it away from the tip. If your fingers are too large to get a decent grip or the papers are stuck together, take a key and run it between the inner and outer papers, then grip the other side of the paper from the key and pull the paper out.
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Return the tobacco to the cigar. First sprinkle back inside the loose tobacco you collected after filling the wrapper, then place the cigar back at the top of the plastic wrapper and roll the wrapper in the same manner you earlier rolled the cigar, to work the tobacco back in. As you are replacing the tobacco, pack it (force the tobacco to settle farther down in the cigar) by banging the tip on a solid object or flicking the exterior of the cigar with your finger. Continue this process until all the tobacco is returned to the cigar.
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Tips & Warnings
It is possible, without the paper and with some tobacco loss, that the tobacco will not completely fill the cigar when you complete this process. If the Black & Mild is hollow toward the top, just twist the empty paper until it reaches the tobacco, then rip off the twisted paper or light it and puff until the cigar's "cherry" reaches the tobacco.
Freaking a Black & Mild can be a messy process that spills tobacco. Perform this task outside or on top of an easily cleanable area, such as a table or large tray, to avoid extensive clean-up.
The inner paper is occasionally glued to the outer paper too firmly to allow this operation. These Black & Milds are referred to as "unfreakable."
References
- Photo Credit Cigar with ash isolated over a white background image by Roman Sigaev from Fotolia.com
