J. F. Germain & Son Germain's Medium Flake

Another good tobacco from Germains. Smokes cool, no tongue bite even if pushed fast. Very mild toping of orange flavoring applied which is in harmony with natural tobacco taste. Good smoke on hot summers day. Recommended.

A very light tobacco. When you open the tin a realy nice virginia note comes out. The tobacco is a little bit wet. You should dry him a little bit. The flake has a nice cut. It burns very soft and slow. There are no tounge bites at all. This was my first flake and I have to say that this will be not the last one. Next week I will get a delivery with W.O. Larsen No. 32 and Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia. I hope these two flakes will be as good as the Germains Medium Flake. For all smokers who love pure virginia taste without any flavouring this is a very very good one.

I've been smoking a pipe for a little over a year so still a newbie, I was sent a sample of this when I purchased my first pipe and found it interesting. A year later and sampling many other tobaccos I bought sum more medium flake,it's a medium strength virginia with a citrus topping not much to look at in the tin but the tin note produced is pleasant. I find the moisture content just right and smokes straight from the tin,packs and takes to the flame easily needing few relights. There's a wonderful citrus/lemony taste but not to overpowering and with the sweet virginia's it works well,it's a relaxing smoke with a medium N kick and find it smokes well in any pipe where other tobaccos have failed to do so. Will definitely be buying more and would certainly recommend.

This is a lovely bright broken flake in appearance. The tin note is sweet lemon and honey. I cannot detect casing outside of this.

Takes the flame well and is a single light, low maintenance smoke.

Produces a nice, clean, fresh Virginia aroma and is particularly sweet to the tongue. Would make a pleasant all day smoke for straight Va fans.

Medium Flake is one of those tobaccos that tends to go un-noticed by many, much to their unbeknownst disappointment, for they are missing a fine experience. This is essentially a golden and bronze VA flake, but it is not cut or sliced, making it more like plug tobaccos. You can select to sheer off fine strips, with a texture like horsehair, or cut a cube of it for your favourite clay.

The VAs are scented with violet, s it typical of a Lakeland, which I find most enjoyable. They are exceptionally delightful if you slightly toast the leaf before you pug it in your pipe, and I generally take the lid of an old tin and place it over an oil lamp (with a trimmer) with lay out a bit of Medium Flake on that, which brings out the violet scent and unfolds its hidden sweetness.

Like most VAs, Medium Flake is greatly enhanced with age. I managed to uncover a 10-year tin in my cellar and opened it, not realizing how long it was in there until I flipped it over, as the experience was so amazing, I had wondered what I was doing differently. Two years at least is what I suggest for the full experience, but if you can manage to sneak one away for a decade or two, you will e i for a divine treat.

A green tin is still very pleasant, and I keep one in regular rotation at all times. I find it exceptional early in the day (just after rising), with tea, or after dinner. It does not mix well with scotch, as the delicate ambrosia of Medium Flake is easily overpowered by any strong serums that you may care to partake with it. I find that simple water is best here.

A to bowl size, unlike some VAs that tend to bite, I have never had an issue with medium Flake. I have smoked it in everything from tiny (Group 1) bowls and clays, to my trusty OBD. The experience is perfect in any size, and as it is close to a plug from the tin, if you don't sheer it or rub it out it smoulders cool and fresh for a very long, smouldering smoke, and makes a good companion for reading.

The control you have over consistency is remarkable, so if you want a faster burn or fewer relights, you need only rub it out a tad more and it behaves admirably. It is also a good DGT candidate, especially in larger bowls. My only regret is that i can't buy it in 1Lb bricks.

The overall composition of Medium Flake is a very mellow Lakeland background note, with motes of honey, cake, copper, and a mead-like quality that you need to experience to fully appreciate.

Medium Flake lives up to its name. It begins mild to medium in flavor and deepens to a solid medium level of aroma, flavor and strength. It can be quite yummy.

At its best, it produces a pure Virginia flavor profile, with high notes of burnt caramel and musty essences. There is a touch of spiciness when I exhale through my nose. Natural sweetness is present in taste, but mostly in the waft.

There does not appear to be any casing or flavoring. It can be provoked to nip the tongue mildly if puffed absentmindedly. Opening the tin and letting it relax (dehumidify) for a few weeks in proper storage seems to benefit its burning properties and flavor.

I find it very easy to pack by folding its long flakes over in half and in half again, usually placing a pinch of rubbed out flake at the very bottom and on the very top of the bowl. I suggest that one not be too quick to simply rub this out. It really works as a flake.

One good charring light and two initial lights get me most of the way through the bowl. One additional relight about mid-way seems a regular phenomenon with Medium Flake.

It seems to burn well in the medium and large size bowls I use. It loses something essential outdoors and is perfectly suitable to indoor enjoyment in the close confines of my car.

While I will not likely cellar this in significant quantities, it will be kept on hand for the times when I crave its refined character.

Medium Flake and its cousin, Brown Flake, have very little, if anything common. They are differing offerings for different desires. Both are worthy.

Another quality Germain product.

Upon opening the lid of this small tin I detected very little to no aroma of the brownish colored tobacco with slivers of golden Virginias pressed into this small container.

As I rubbed out this Medium Flake to my liking I detected it was fresh and a little moist. I had no problem in packing this medium flake in a 1963 Group 2 Dunhill Prince, it lights easily and as long as you have a tamper there is not too much problem in keeping it lit.

I did not notice any tongue bite, but.....this tobacco will get a bowl hot real fast. IMO this is a mild tasting Medium Flake, but improves to a medium tasting tobacco as you smoke this towards the bottom of the bowl.

Keep Your Pipe Cool, Smoke it Slow, Enjoy it Longer

IMO Medium Flake, like its sibling, Brown Flake, is a nice tobacco, well manufactured, probably of very good leaf, the initial taste of which is quite good but eventually tends to fade away, losing both in body and flavour. Unlike BF, Medium Flake is a kind of naturally sweet Virginia, in the same vein of Dunhill?s Three Year Matured (not as fruity though) or Bjarne´s Flake de Luxe. Equally moist, MF is lighter in colour than BF. I found it easy to break up the individual flakes, but difficult to light the tobacco once it was packed. Some airing is beneficial, but I have noticed that it can dry up very quickly and turn to dust.

As with Brown Flake, the initial flavour was surprisingly rich, smooth and palatable. I really enjoyed this flake for a couple of minutes, in which time I smoked it slowly and carefully. In spite of the difficulty in keeping it lit, it did burn well and smoothly. But once I was getting the ?feel? of it, there occurred some kind of chemical (or chimerical?) transfiguration and, spoof!, its structure and flavour simply vanished into thin air?It is as if some dark magical force (Voldemort?) suctioned the life out of this tobacco and rendered it innocuous and dull. Why? Cannot tell, but it just seemed that way. A shame, really. This could have been very nice.

This is a quality tobacco with quality Virginias presented in a very tightly packed flake. I find it impossible to peel off a whole flake but that hardly matters as it smokes perfectly straight out of the tin and didn’t need any dry time and only one light after the initial flame. The aroma is of subtle floral notes with some background of fruit, maybe plum? But everything about this tobacco is subtle except for the enjoyment. For me that’s full on. This is great smoking tobacco and I love it.