(57) A process for making a cohesive tobacco composition, in which tobacco pectins within the tobacco itself serve as the binder, by contacting dry tobacco particles with a solution containing an agent to destroy the alkaline earth metal cross-links of the tobacco pectins, under high shear conditions. The resulting cohesive composition may have a solids content greater than about 14% and a viscosity less than about 2000 centipoise. A reconstituted tobacco sheet is made by forming the resulting mixture into a sheet and drying. In one embodiment ammonia and tobacco volatiles contained in vapors from the sheet drying step are recovered and recycled into the solution.