New Pipe Smoker With A Question? Ask an Old Fart

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by Gabe215

Been doing some roaming on these threads on some research, my buddy and I want to start smoking pipes (we both are cigar smokers) can I store pipe tobacco in an old empty with a boveda pack? I'm assuming the aromatics will affect my cigars like infused cigars would! Also what if I don't open tin can it go in my coolidor?

I think I'm gonna try and sample some stuff I've read on the what's in your bowl thread, I was gonna try first and foremost Christmas cheer, and so to bed, night cap, royal yacht, exhausted rooster and sextant. I'm assuming I will like strong sweet tasty tobacco any other stuff I should try? Price isn't a huge point to factor because I will not leave being a cigar smoker, it's cold out and my girlfriend will let me smoke a pipe on the house and sounds like a fun hobby!! Thanks CA!

First of all, pipe smoking and cigar smoking are two completely different beasts. You will not, by any means, get the volume of smoke from a pipe that you will from a cigar. And if you try, you will fry your tongue and be sorry for days.

As to your questions, an unopened tin need not be stored where there is humidity as it is a vacuum sealed environment, neither letting humidity in or out. I have Christmas Cheer from 1999 which is unopened. Sealed tins will last as long as the seal remains intact.

Other tobaccos that are open, mason jars or other canning jars are great for keeping tobacco in and keeping it fresh. A glass jar with a bail top lid is also helpful.

as for the tobaccos you listed, be careful. Your first one, Christmas Cheer is naturally sweet tobacco, but it is a single crop Virginia and Virginias are naturally sweet. But I must tell you that isn't what you might imagine. Virginias are a great thing to enjoy, but not everybody enjoys the aroma of them as it is a natural tobacco without some sort of topnote on it. Royal Yacht is an aromatic and is usually enjoyed highly for the room note which it is smoked.

Furthermore, strong in pipe tobacco terms is something other than what it is in cigars. Do not expect the same affect.

If I could make a suggestion, I'd find a tobacconist near you (or an old pipe smoker) who can teach you how to pack, light, tamp, and keep your pipe lit live and in person - these simple things can make pipe smoking a pleasurable thing, while doing them improperly can make pipe smoking a royal pain in the asterisk, even if you have a great tobacco.

So, when you say strong and sweet, I'd say your best option is to get a bunch of samples to try so that you can find what you like and what kinds of tobaccos you enjoy. If I might, I would summarize the major types of tobaccos in this way.

Here is the link to a post where I list what I consider the main tobacco types.
http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/showpo...&postcount=789

Hope this helps.

Peace o the Lord be with you.

[CoffeeWaterBeer]

Quick question for those more experienced than me.
I'm window shopping for a pipe to purchase right after xmas and I'm seeing the majority of pipes are out of stock. Is this normal because we're dealing with a product that takes time to make properly or is it just the gift buying rush that has depleted the stock (I'm eye-balling P&C specifically), or both?

[Conch Republican]

I don't know nearly as much as everyone else, but probably the Christmas rush in your area. I have a guy I. Can ask if you need me to, PM me with what you are looking for Nd I will be happy to ask

[Zanaspus]

P&C tends to get an order of pipes in, make a new posting for each style, and when it sells (regardless of any plans or abilities to acquire it in the future) the listing just stays there forever.

If you want to see the pipe you are actually going to receive, I highly recommend http://www.smokingpipes.com/ . They are a classy organization that receives most of my business. Not a bad thing to say about them in all my dealings.

[CoffeeWaterBeer]

Smoking pipes has what want. Thanks Tony, I'm going with them as the their tins and pipes fit my needs

[Zanaspus]

Originally Posted by CoffeeWaterBeer

Smoking pipes has what want. Thanks Tony, I'm going with them as the their tins and pipes fit my needs

No worries at all. Russ Oulette does mix him some fine baccy. If you've yet to try his blends, several are quite stellar.

[Col. Kurtz]

My regular smoking buddy knew I was sniffing around the edges of pipe smoking. He chose the occasion of Christmas to pipe bomb me!




I know very little about pipe smoking. He knows a bit, but I want to give it a try soon. Specifically, I have read to discard the filters. Should I should clean after smoking and while still warm?

Can you refer me to a good youtube video of the proper way to pack a bowl and break in a cob (if there is such a thing)?

He gave me 4oz of a burley kake blend. How do I rub it out? Do I need to?

Finally, I like to smoke mild to medium cigars. I prefer mild non-peppery Dominican and Cubans. I'm not particularly interested in aromatics. Can you recommend some tobaccos to try? I have my eye on squadron leader.

Thanks! I'm sure I'll have a bunch more questions soon!

[Col. Kurtz]

I think I've figured out most of the basics from rereading this thread. Can someone classify the tobacco types and their characteristics? I see English blends, periques, virginias, burley, oriental, etc. what can I expect from these bases?

So far I don't think I like burley. Too much like the Levi Garrett chewing tobacco from my youth. Being from nc, I'm very familiar with flue cured gold leaf that goes into cigarettes and burley out west. Is virginia similar?

As above, I prefer mild to med cuban and Dominican cigars without pepper. What pipe tobacco comes close?

[Zanaspus]

Originally Posted by Col. Kurtz

I think I've figured out most of the basics from rereading this thread. Can someone classify the tobacco types and their characteristics? I see English blends, periques, virginias, burley, oriental, etc. what can I expect from these bases?

So far I don't think I like burley. Too much like the Levi Garrett chewing tobacco from my youth. Being from nc, I'm very familiar with flue cured gold leaf that goes into cigarettes and burley out west. Is virginia similar?

As above, I prefer mild to med cuban and Dominican cigars without pepper. What pipe tobacco comes close?

First, don't dicount all burleys from a taste of Classic Burley Kake. That is a topped (sugary syrup added to "enhance" the flavor) example that I am not particularly fond of despite burley being a go-to smoke of mine. I'm not saying you'll like burley, just give it more chances.My favorite burleys tend to be nutty and "cigary." Before I continue on, I'd suggest that you call the good folks at Cornell & Diehl and have them put together a sample package to try new and different things.

Tobacco types:
Burley: You've encountered. A neutral tobacco tasting tobacco that has lots of examples both good and bad (Go to your local smoke shop and get a pouch of Prince Albert to encounter a "pure" burley experience.

Virginia: Where it all started. That gold stuff in Brightleaf Square in Durham is, in fact an example of a virginia. While many pipe smokers end up here, it's not necessarily a great place to start. Its high sugar content means that smoking it too hot (i.e. smoke coming from your pipe or mouth that someone else can see) tends to make it tastless and tongue-biting. Once you've played around and can handle smiking on the edge of keeping things lit, you may find you like this stuff.

Perique: A condiment tobacco from St James Parrish in LA. It is often mixed in small amounts with virginias to mitigate their bitey qualities. Many folks call it peppery, but in reality, it's a chameleon that has almost as many tastes as blends it's a part of. Pepper, prunes, raisins, sweet cream, etc are only a few of its associated flavors.

Orientals: A group of tobaccos originally grown in the old orient; Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, etc. These tend to add a spicy or buttery quality to blends.

Latakia: A smoked oriental used in many blends which adds a campfire kind of note. This is a love it or hate it thing. I tend to go through love/hate cycles with it.

Types of "blends":

English: We could write a whole book of what does and does not constitute an English blend. Let's just say it's a mixture that always includes orientals/latakia as well as perhaps Virginia, burley and/or Perique

Vaper: Virginia/perique. Just what the name implies. These two are often combined to raise the pH of virginia tobacco and thus mitigate some of virginia's bite.

Welcome to pipe smoking. The information and number of blends compared to cigars is sort of like chess to checkers.

Like I said, call C&D, and they'll be happy to send you small amounts of various things so you can test drive them. Learn what you like and what you don't, and never be afraid to revisit things as pipe tastes are ever-dynamic. You'll find pipes and cigars have less in common than you might first think. And don't discount perique, or latakia, or whatever simply because of your cigar experiences. Like I said, very different animals.

Hope this helps.

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by Col. Kurtz

I think I've figured out most of the basics from rereading this thread. Can someone classify the tobacco types and their characteristics? I see English blends, periques, virginias, burley, oriental, etc. what can I expect from these bases?

So far I don't think I like burley. Too much like the Levi Garrett chewing tobacco from my youth. Being from nc, I'm very familiar with flue cured gold leaf that goes into cigarettes and burley out west. Is virginia similar?

As above, I prefer mild to med cuban and Dominican cigars without pepper. What pipe tobacco comes close?

Originally Posted by Zanaspus

First, don't dicount all burleys from a taste of Classic Burley Kake. That is a topped (sugary syrup added to "enhance" the flavor) example that I am not particularly fond of despite burley being a go-to smoke of mine. I'm not saying you'll like burley, just give it more chances.My favorite burleys tend to be nutty and "cigary." Before I continue on, I'd suggest that you call the good folks at Cornell & Diehl and have them put together a sample package to try new and different things.

Tobacco types:
Burley: You've encountered. A neutral tobacco tasting tobacco that has lots of examples both good and bad (Go to your local smoke shop and get a pouch of Prince Albert to encounter a "pure" burley experience.

Virginia: Where it all started. That gold stuff in Brightleaf Square in Durham is, in fact an example of a virginia. While many pipe smokers end up here, it's not necessarily a great place to start. Its high sugar content means that smoking it too hot (i.e. smoke coming from your pipe or mouth that someone else can see) tends to make it tastless and tongue-biting. Once you've played around and can handle smiking on the edge of keeping things lit, you may find you like this stuff.

Perique: A condiment tobacco from St James Parrish in LA. It is often mixed in small amounts with virginias to mitigate their bitey qualities. Many folks call it peppery, but in reality, it's a chameleon that has almost as many tastes as blends it's a part of. Pepper, prunes, raisins, sweet cream, etc are only a few of its associated flavors.

Orientals: A group of tobaccos originally grown in the old orient; Cyprus, Turkey, Syria, etc. These tend to add a spicy or buttery quality to blends.

Latakia: A smoked oriental used in many blends which adds a campfire kind of note. This is a love it or hate it thing. I tend to go through love/hate cycles with it.

Types of "blends":

English: We could write a whole book of what does and does not constitute an English blend. Let's just say it's a mixture that always includes orientals/latakia as well as perhaps Virginia, burley and/or Perique

Vaper: Virginia/perique. Just what the name implies. These two are often combined to raise the pH of virginia tobacco and thus mitigate some of virginia's bite.

Welcome to pipe smoking. The information and number of blends compared to cigars is sort of like chess to checkers.

Like I said, call C&D, and they'll be happy to send you small amounts of various things so you can test drive them. Learn what you like and what you don't, and never be afraid to revisit things as pipe tastes are ever-dynamic. You'll find pipes and cigars have less in common than you might first think. And don't discount perique, or latakia, or whatever simply because of your cigar experiences. Like I said, very different animals.

Hope this helps.

Tony, I think you did a good job with the descriptions.

Cornell & Diehl is a great suggestion - but I'd add a caveat here with them. They do Burley blends like nobody else does, so try a couple burley blends from them. They are also tops in regard to Aromatics as they do not use PG or a heavy syrup when they do top notes, again, my personal opinion is that they do these better than anybody else.

C&D also does a nice job with Latakia blends (what many call English blends). They have a few Virginias and VaPers that are not bad, but here is where you really need to go outside C&D to get a better idea of how these can really sing. This is more of a "you don't smoke only one brand of cigar that you really like" thing.

Once you get through a sampler from C&D, then we can help you get some other things from other blenders to give you other tastes to expand.

Remember though, your tastes may differ from everybody else. What my favorites are may not be yours - or anybody else's for that matter.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

[Zanaspus]

Originally Posted by RevSmoke

Tony, I think you did a good job with the descriptions.

Cornell & Diehl is a great suggestion - but I'd add a caveat here with them. They do Burley blends like nobody else does, so try a couple burley blends from them. They are also tops in regard to Aromatics as they do not use PG or a heavy syrup when they do top notes, again, my personal opinion is that they do these better than anybody else.

C&D also does a nice job with Latakia blends (what many call English blends). They have a few Virginias and VaPers that are not bad, but here is where you really need to go outside C&D to get a better idea of how these can really sing. This is more of a "you don't smoke only one brand of cigar that you really like" thing.

Once you get through a sampler from C&D, then we can help you get some other things from other blenders to give you other tastes to expand.

Remember though, your tastes may differ from everybody else. What my favorites are may not be yours - or anybody else's for that matter.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

Great point Rev. Virginias are not their forte.

[Col. Kurtz]

A kindly "thank you" for the very informative replies. Off down another slope... Your knowledge has helped me greatly as I try to get a handle on all this.

Virginias are local (to me) brightleaf? Why doesn't a Virginia blend smell or taste like a marlboro?

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by Col. Kurtz

A kindly "thank you" for the very informative replies. Off down another slope... Your knowledge has helped me greatly as I try to get a handle on all this.

Virginias are local (to me) brightleaf? Why doesn't a Virginia blend smell or taste like a marlboro?

Virginia blends are made from a different tobacco than what goes into Marlboro cigarettes - that tobacco is what we would call in the pipe world a burley tobacco. Pipe tobacco Virginias may or may not be grown in Virginia, in fact, some are grown in Africa, brightleaf is what it is commonly called - Virginias have a higher sugar content than what you will find in cigarettes.

[Col. Kurtz]

Sorry to be a pest. I'm really enjoying pipes so far!

I have a few opened tins laying around (with the lids on). Any danger of them drying out in say six months or so? I see some store in mason jars, but it seems those 50g tins seal fairly well. What's best for storing opened tins? I'm thinking desk drawer.

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by Col. Kurtz

Sorry to be a pest. I'm really enjoying pipes so far!

I have a few opened tins laying around (with the lids on). Any danger of them drying out in say six months or so? I see some store in mason jars, but it seems those 50g tins seal fairly well. What's best for storing opened tins? I'm thinking desk drawer.

Screw on top tins might keep for a while, but 6 months is pushing it. And that Dunhill square tin would not make it 6 months.

I like to store opened tins in a Tupperware cake or bread container, something that seals completely.

Oh, they will rust in your humidor.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

[Col. Kurtz]

Originally Posted by RevSmoke

Screw on top tins might keep for a while, but 6 months is pushing it. And that Dunhill square tin would not make it 6 months.

I like to store opened tins in a Tupperware cake or bread container, something that seals completely.

Oh, they will rust in your humidor.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

Would a boveda be too much to throw in with them?

Different Tupperware for aromatics?

And also with you.

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by Col. Kurtz

Would a boveda be too much to throw in with them?

Different Tupperware for aromatics?

And also with you.

If it seals air tight, you don't need a boveda.

If your tobaccos are in a tin, I think you'll be good. Although if you want to put the aromatics in one and the others in another, it wouldn't hurt. Also, if you have any with Latakia, those are the ones that are more powerful in regards to proximity to contaminating other tobaccos.

[OnePyroTec]

My would be that a case of jelly jars from the big box store would be your best bet. Container vs. container, they are cheaper than the trademark tupperware brand containers and at least for me...I don't have to listen to my wife ***** about her missing tupperware.

[MarkinAZ]

Originally Posted by OnePyroTec

My would be that a case of jelly jars from the big box store would be your best bet. Container vs. container, they are cheaper than the trademark tupperware brand containers and at least for me...I don't have to listen to my wife ***** about her missing tupperware.

Your wife has missing tupperware too Wayne? Amazing

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by OnePyroTec

My would be that a case of jelly jars from the big box store would be your best bet. Container vs. container, they are cheaper than the trademark tupperware brand containers and at least for me...I don't have to listen to my wife ***** about her missing tupperware.

Funny, all my Tupperware says Rubbermaid on it.

Rubbermaid that has an air tight seal is the same as Tupperware.