New Pipe Smoker With A Question? Ask an Old Fart

[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.

[CoffeeWaterBeer]

A dozen small bell jars only runs about 10 bucks. I highly recommend them.
Also, if you go the jar route, check the lids on jars you don't open often after a couple days as they will sometimes loosen a bit. You should only have to re-tighten once though once fixed and left alone.

[RevSmoke]

Originally Posted by CoffeeWaterBeer

A dozen small bell jars only runs about 10 bucks. I highly recommend them.
Also, if you go the jar route, check the lids on jars you don't open often after a couple days as they will sometimes loosen a bit. You should only have to re-tighten once though once fixed and left alone.

I use canning jars for my bulk tobacco, but for tobacco already in a tin? Do you seriously take it out of the tin to put in a jar? I applaud you for doing so!

Personally, I like the tins for another reason - because I can slip one in my pocket and go. If I want to take some tobacco that is jarred, I take a couple pipe's worth and put it in a tin or pouch - glass jars don't not travel well, and break too easily (yes, I learned the hard way - I even thought 1/2 pint jars, being smaller was the ticket - it took break 2 of those even to teach me).

I have a large-ish Rubbermaid container that seals air tight, I think it was made to hold a loaf of bread. At present it has 9 tins in it, some 50g and a couple 100g. A couple of the tins have been in there for over a year and are still fresh.

In the 32+ years of pipe smoking, I've done a bunch of things. In college, I had only one container with tobacco, and it was the only blend I smoked. It held almost a pound, so I would just fill it up and smoke it. Usually, it lasted me about 2 months. I had either a pipe or a cigar in my mouth almost constantly, and pipes more than cigars. (My humidor held about 100 cigars, and it usually only had Punch Rothschilds, AF Chateaus, AF Rothschilds, and El Rey del Mundo Robustos in it.)

It wasn't till I was at Seminary that my tastes in tobacco expanded. I tried to get by on the cheap, and I really thought I couldn't justify a bunch of different tobacco sitting around. Well, that changed and so I needed to discover ways to store numerous open tins and bulk tobacco in baggies that were open so I could leave Mason/Ball jar sealed shut w/out opening and closing all the time. I also began to smoke less often, and cigars began to take up more of my smoking rotation space. That's where I discovered the Rubbermaid container. It has been servicing my "open tobacco" sealing needs for about 25 years or so.

There are many ways to do this, mine is just one.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

[OnePyroTec]

When "I" open a tin, it goes straight to a canning jar. I have so many cigars & pipe tobacco that I could never finish a tin before it would dry out because I am usually smoking a different tobacco most of the time.

When I travel for work for days on end, I do take a range bag (it is cushioned) full of the little jars & the pistol case carries about a dozen pipes . Sometime is it is just a day trip, I'll load a few pipes or take an old tin with some tobacco in it.