Patent attributes
A component of a smoking article having tobacco beads. The tobacco beads can be located in a filter and/or a tobacco rod. The filter can be a multi-component filter, wherein an sorbent (preferably upstream) removes at least one constituent from mainstream tobacco smoke passing through the filter and downstream tobacco beads compensates for taste lost to the sorbent. The tobacco beads optionally include flavorants in addition to tobacco particulates. The tobacco beads can be located within a cavity in the filter or within the tow. This component can comprise additional flavors, which are released into the mainstream smoke under ambient conditions. The tobacco beads optionally include binders such as microcrystalline cellulose or other cellulosic material, which can be formed into a paste with tobacco powder and optionally with additional flavors. The paste can be extruded and spheronized to form the tobacco beads.
