denicotea History

...has everthing to enjoy smoking.

ENJOYMENT - TOP QUALITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS

In the 1920’s and 1930‘s cigarettes without filter or roll-your-own cigarettes dominated the market. Back in 1932 the Denicotea filter was invented in order to reduce tar and nicotine in tobacco smoke. The filter was patented and at the same time a small range of cigarette holders was introduced. In the same year Willy Heineberg founded the Denicotea Company in Cologne, Germany. 

Already in 1938 the first export market was forged. After difficult years during World War II - all premises in Cologne were destroyed - the company re-started in Bergisch Gladbach/Refrath with new optimism and the will to expand. Today Denicotea products are sold in over 50 countries all over the globe, mainly in Central-Europe, Eastern Europe and the Far East. With its wide range of products for the concerned smoker, Denicotea offers a variety of top quality lines to the smoking world.

A new kind of smoking culture

Denicotea cigarette holders created a new kind of smoking culture which over the course of years revealed ever new aspects as the spirit of times changed. Ladies could avoid the image of the “vulgar” woman by using this elegant and smart accessory when indulging in the habit of smoking. Hard smoking men avoided the side effect of yellowish teeth and fingers by using a filter holder. They even enjoyed the reputation as connoisseurs. Cigarette holders kept cigarettes at a distance and their users set themselves apart from the masses that were smoking cigarettes due to their worries about social insecurity or perhaps even smoked to kill hunger.

Already in the 1920’s Prof. Dr. Traube developed a process to reduce tar and nicotine from tobacco smoke by using silica gel as an adsorbent agent. The Denicotea filter was born.

Silica gel in its purest form guarantees a filtering effect without the side effect of losing taste or aroma.

Only original with the red cap

Because of the highly porous structure of the silica gel (1gr. of silica gel equals a surface of 300 square meters) silica gel can reduce tar and nicotine to a high extent. Moreover the silica gel is initially clear and turns brown after the filtering of cigarettes and shows the degree of saturation as the colour changes gradually to dark brown.

The filter is designed in such a way that the originally ultra-fine smoke particles are compressed into coarser compounds. These are carried to the silica gel under the principle of the shock and impact effect, enabling it to absorb the condensate droplets in a perfect way.

It is absolutely important that the filter fits the mouthpiece of the holder precisely so that no unfiltered smoke can pass along the filter tube. Later the Denicotea king-size filter (L-Filter) was developed for particularly sensitive smokers.

Creativity of ideas for material, form and colour

The range of Denicotea cigarette holders features a remarkable variety of materials, forms and colours. Depending on their taste, smokers can choose between acrylic, plastic, gold, wood or tortoiseshell imitation, single or multiple colours. The holders consist of a mouthpiece and a cup. These two pieces can be screwed apart to insert and replace the Denicotea silica gel filters. The mouthpieces and cups can be made of the same material or of different materials.

The thread and mouthpiece of the more economic holders are molded as a unified whole, the thread of the high quality models is made of metal. The cup can be movable or unmovable. If the holders have a movable cup, they are called “automatic“ or ejector holders. If they do not have an ejection mechanism (so that the cigarette must be removed manually after smoking), they are referred to as “standard“ holders.

Denicotea range for pipe smokers

As early as 1935 Denicotea also decided to introduce briar pipes into its range. These pipes were fitted with the Denicotea silica gel filters. The construction of the pipes had to be special in order to protect the plastic filter from the high temperature of the pipe tobacco smoke. Today Denicotea sells several 10,000 filter pipes a year but uses 9 mm activated charcoal filters that dominate the world market. Denicotea filter pipes carry the “d” logo on the mouthpiece. 

​Denicotea filter crystals considerably reduce humidity, tar and nicotine and thus guarantee a cool and gentle smoke. Some crystals are placed on the bottom of the pipe bowl before the tobacco is filled in. The effect is a highly comfortable and pleasant smoke with an easy draw. After finishing smoking the ash and the black crystals are emptied into an ashtray. Denicool crystals can also be used when breaking in a pipe no matter if an activated charcoal filter is used or not. 

Further items in our range: pipecleaners, deniclean cleaning liquid for pipes and cigarette holders.

We enjoy the service right around cigarette and pipe smoking and still want to devote ourselves to this business for a long time. This is the basis of our competence. Since many years we have been gathering experiences and have been broadening our knowledge that we are always willing to share with our customers in the form of current and reasonable offers. We welcome the opportunity to begin a dialogue with you.

We would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the many years of loyalty to our company and our products and wish you many more wonderful moments of enjoyment with us, Your denicotea shop team.