Baka is shipping.
RoMa Craft Tobac has begun shipping the first size of its newest line, Baka Bantu. The 4 x 52 petit robusto is the first of two sizes that are expected to ship this year.
Baka uses a Cameroon wrapper over an undisclosed binder and filler. The name refers to the Baku people, a small population of peoples living in Cameroon and the surrounding countries.
- Baka Pygmy (4 x 46) — $9.25 (Box of 30, $277.50)
- Baka Bantu (4 x 52) — $9.95 (Box of 24, $238.80)
- Baka Ota Benga (4 1/2 x 60) — $10.60 (Box of 24, $254.40)
- Baka Poki (5 x 50) — $10.45 (Box of 24, $250.80)
- Baka Acephalous (5 x 56) — $11.50 (Box of 24, $276)
- Baka Jengi (5 3/4 x 46) — $11.40 (Box of 24, $273.60)
- Baka Hunter Gatherer (6 x 54) — $12.70 (Box of 24, $304.80)
Seven sizes of Baka were shown off over the summer at the IPCPR Convention & Trade Show. RoMa Craft has long planned on only releasing two of those sizes this year, though originally it was Bantu and Acephalous (5 x 56). Instead, the 4 x 46 Pygmy sizes will ship next month.
Skip Martin, co-founder of RoMa Craft Tobac, told halfwheel that Poki, a 5 x 50 perfecto) and Jengi (5 3/4 x 46) will ship early next year.
Baka is a limited production offering, around 1,000 boxes of the first two sizes are expected this year.