G. L. Pease
In many cultures, the number 13 is considered an unlucky one, and there are fascinating tales of how this digit pair, the sixth prime, the "Baker’s Dozen," has come to be an omen of grave and imminent portent, and to this day, many buildings don’t have a 13th floor, but, we’re not a superstitious lot, right? So, go ahead and grab your black cat, break a mirror, sit under a ladder, and read on. On the other hand, if you’re truly cursed with a debilitating case of triskaidekaphobia, you’d probably better just close the window now and move on to something else, onaccounta this is the thirteenth edition of this column, and I don’t want to be responsible for any consternation you may be caused as a result of its appearing on your screen for too long. For the rest of you, without further rambling ado, let’s get on with things.

G. L. Pease
Welcome back. This edition of Ask G.L. Pease marks the one year anniversary of this column. It’s hard to believe how quickly time has flown by, and even harder to believe that after all this time, the questions still come in. Years ago, in response to the beginnings of a new on-line forum, someone asked, "How much can anyone say about pipes and tobacco? It’s just pipes and tobacco, right? What’s so interesting about that?" Well, that forum is still going strong, and people continue to be interested in this lively pastime of ours in a way that goes beyond just puffing on a pipe. And, this magazine continues to grow, with new readers finding their way here daily.

Clearly, there are still things to say about pipes and tobacco, and clearly, the culture of the pipe is alive and well, something special that transcends the tools and fuels that keep our tobacco embers smoldering, and our fires burning. It’s more than just burning leaves in blocks of wood with a couple holes and a straw.

G. L. Pease
It seems this month’s mail was dominated by questions and comments about aging. I’m glad we’re talking about tobaccos, here, and not me, because I simply refuse to comply with the universe’s insistence that I grow older, dammit. Call me Peter Pan. (What’s that confounded ticking, and who let a crocodile in through the out door?)

I reached deeply into the mail bag of Neverland, and pulled a few interesting questions out for this month’s installment, so without further ado:

Eric queries: Here’s the situation: Aside from your Westminster, I really love Balkan Sasieni Pipe Tobacco. Last year I began buying a shop’s Balkan Sasieni Pipe Tobacco in bulk, instead of the tins.

Now the question is are these one and the same? My palate says no, but both have the same description:

G. L. Pease
The problem with writing a Q&A column is that there’s always someone with a question that’s just plain hard. This is compounded, unfortunately, by the fact that I’ve always been the curious sort, and if I don’t have a ready answer to an interesting question, I can get bogged down in the research for hours, days, weeks. The Internet, fortunately, is a wonderful tool, and makes that research easier, putting all sorts of fascinating information at my fingertips. And, yes, I’m making an excuse, here, hoping to, somehow, justify the seemingly endless stream of old Avengers videos I watched in the interest of research. At long last, the answer is no, I don’t think John Steed ever smoked a pipe. Glad to put that one to rest, so I can get on to the other questions this month.

H.R. writes: Many have commented on the "ketchup" odor of certain Virginia blends, the result of vinegar produced during fermentation. (I always noticed a pronounced "dill pickle" aroma in the old Sullivan Powell’s Gentleman’s Mixture.) Do tobacco processors and blenders use specifically chosen yeast, acetobacter or lactobacillus cultures to engender the results they want, or are they just letting nature take its course, as did the winemakers, brewers and bakers of old? Has anyone ever tried using Dekkera/Brettanomyces to produce a "Belgian" style pressed Virginia flake?

G. L. Pease
As I sit down to compile this month’s column, I’m smoking a lovely little Peter Heeschen briar, in his signature P shape, filled with a prototype blend that I’ve been obsessing over for some time, and which is finally approaching the point where I am ready to move it towards production. Now begins the process of finalizing everything. Scaling batches from what I do to the final form can be, um, interesting. When I work on new blends, I do everything in small quantities, so there are often some minor changes that have to be made before taking the product live. It’s an exciting part of the process for me, but can be rather nerve-wracking, as well. Not often, but sometimes, I’ll get the first "productized" samples, and find it so different from what I’d become familiar with that I end up doing a lot of head-scratching while attempting to figure out how to bring things back on track. It’s turns out this is a strangely inexact science, really. What works in tiny, precisely measure quantities, made in my underground laboratory doesn’t always translate to large, precisely measured quantities, made at the factory. It usually goes relatively effortlessly, but sometimes, it’s the little things that end up being amplified to more dramatic distortions at production volumes. And, even after having been doing this for over a decade, when I’m at this point in the development cycle, I always feel like I’m starring in my own private episode of Fear Factor. So far, I’ve managed to make it to the final cut of each season, but it doesn’t get any less uncomfortable to know that something could go wrong. Blame it on gamma rays, and their effect on Man in the Moon Marigolds. (Apologies to Paul Zindel.)

By G. L. Pease
What fun! Another month, another mailbag full of great questions. As this goes on, though, my lack of mad organizational skillz is on the verge of becoming problematic. Here’s the way it should work. The mail comes in, I select those questions that seem to be of general interest, cut and paste them to a master list from which I will select the questions for a given month’s column, and remove them from the mailbag. Then, when I prepare the column for publication, I would simply move the questions from the master file to the article I’m preparing, and everything will be perfect. Nice.

But, there are a couple problems. First, chaos is my middle name. Sort of. (I’m fairly certain "Chaos" begins with the letter L in some language.) Despite this deceptively simple and foolproof methodology, the probability of my not removing a question from the mailbag once its copied, or from the master list once it’s answered is actually relatively high, with the resultant probability that I could end up answering the same question not only twice, but three times. That would be a bad thing. People would think I’d lost my mind, or that I wasn’t paying attention, or both, which might be too close to the truth on any given day. That is, if they’re actually reading along.

By G. L. Pease
There are always many great questions in the mailbag. It’s fun reading through them, but sometimes a bit of a head-scratcher selecting the ones to include in the month’s column. Of course, the overachiever in me wants to answer them all at once, but, truthfully, some require actual research, and have to be put aside for the future. So, if you’re fuming over the fact that you’ve sent in a question that I’ve not included yet, please know that it could well be simply because I don’t have a good answer for you, and that I hope to respond in a future edition.

On the other hand, if you’ve asked what color my socks are (you know who you are), I may continue to ignore your question. It’s not that I’m being elusive. I’m a bit colorblind, not severely, but have some difficulty, especially in the dim torchlight of my underground lab, with greens and browns, purples and blues. I usually have to ask my son to help me match things up when unsure, and with overall fashion advice, in general. I can’t always wear a lab coat (complete with pocket protector) and flowered Bermuda shorts to important functions.

By G. L. Pease
Welcome to the sixth edition of Ask G.L. Pease. It’s always a lot of fun going through the mailbag to select questions for the column, and this month was no exception. The questions are sometimes so specific that I simply email the querent with the answer. Or, they’ll be too straight forward, or not of general interest, an in that case, a quick reply with a link to a page with the answer is the best response. Once in a while, there’s the question I’ve answered so many times in different venues, my eyes begin to bleed when I read it again. Others are so complex that I wonder if some people are sending me up, or just have too much time on their hands. (How should I know which zoo? I’m not doctor bloody Bronowski!*)

This month, there was a question that intrigued me so much that I dove down a very deep rabbit hole for hours doing research. I didn’t come back completely dry, but some critical parts are still missing, so I’ll have to defer it until a later edition. (That’s called a teaser, I think. It’s supposed to get he reader to come back. I sure hope it works.)

So, this month, we’ve got a few that I found interesting. I hope you do, too.

By G. L. Pease
It’s hard to believe this is already the fifth edition of this no longer new column. It seems like only yesterday I was worrying over whether or not there would be enough interest, enough questions coming in to justify it and sustain it, and here we are, five months later, with me trying to keep up. Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and support. From the beginning, some really great questions, and a few tough ones, have found their way to the mail bag, and it’s always fun going through the archives to choose questions for the month. This month, I chose a few that seemed to me to be related, at least obliquely, so let’s dive in to those and see where we end up.

From Fred: One of the methods for making blends smoother, that I’ve seen discussed for a while, include ‘tin baking,’ home stoving and even using crock pot cookers. Depending on who you talk to, these techniques seem to involve the use of heat, different lengths of time and sealed containers. Some will use the heat of the summer sun and leave sealed tins in direct sunlight for weeks at a time. I’ve read speculation on what’s being done in terms of speeding up fermentation to melding the blend components. I’d like to know more about what’s really going on with the changes that heat brings to non-aromatic blends, and how to best achieve the desired results.

By G. L. Pease
Once again, the incoming questions are many, varied, and quite interesting. And, fortunately, I’ve got enough good ones to choose from that I haven’t had to resort to making them up, or, worse, answering the sillier questions, like what do I wear whilst working on new blends (a fetching little satin peignoir, with matching fuzzy high-heeled slippers), the color of the first car I owned in which I smoked a pipe (British Racing Green - really), or if it’s true that I’m attempting to grow homunculi in large glass flasks in my attic laboratory (not this year - the weather’s been off). So, let’s get to a few of them, and don’t forget, if you’ve got a burning question, or even something you’re just mildly curious about, send it along, and I’ll add it to the queue. Otherwise, the preceding sentences should offer ample warning about what you may face here in months to come.

This came from Kevin: Why are some Burley blends strong in nicotine and have a strong ash taste (usually the boutique blends) and other straight burley blends, like the mass market blends are extremely mild in taste and deliver no nicotine buzz? It is my understanding that burley commonly has one of the highest nicotine and ash levels, so how do the mass market guys get it to be so mellow and mild?