I've got about 20 blends on the go right now. I love the idea of only having 3 or 4 or 5 jars open at a time, each from a different genre, but I've still got a lot of blends to try first. 
How Many Open Blends?
- Thread starter MrWillow11
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I have three tobaccos I smoke regularly and I have three more or less I smoke when I feel like a brief change. So, I have only three tins open at any one time, I have enough to last me until the end.
I usually have anywhere from 2-6 open tins/ziploc bulk bags at any given time. I have smoked out of opened tins for months with no discernable issues. I don't jar or mylar anything unless it's for long-term storage.
I try to limit the number of jars I am smoking from (I have 36 in total but other open tobaccos here and there). It just gets too hard to choose what you want to smoke.
When I get bored of a blend I throw it in mylar, seal it up and toss it into long term storage, and fill that jar with a newly cracked tin.
When I get bored of a blend I throw it in mylar, seal it up and toss it into long term storage, and fill that jar with a newly cracked tin.
I probably have somewhere around 70 jars. Some contain bulk that had to go into a jar right when I got them and some are from tins I just “had “ to crack.
My rotation is very wide. It’s not unusual for me to go a month of 1 bowl per day without smoking the same blend twice and even then, I disturb less than half my jars.
As with literally every single aspect of piping, it’s all preference because there are no rules. There’s really barely even “best practice” other than keep your pipes clean.
My rotation is very wide. It’s not unusual for me to go a month of 1 bowl per day without smoking the same blend twice and even then, I disturb less than half my jars.
As with literally every single aspect of piping, it’s all preference because there are no rules. There’s really barely even “best practice” other than keep your pipes clean.
I’m sitting on about 175 open jars currently, but trying to reduce that over the next few years to no more than 20. I’m just a sucker for trying new blends, and I lack the patience to wait until all my opened jars are done before I try whatever the new blend is. It’s an illness.
I’ve been pretty good with it the last few years, but I still can’t help but crack open new or limited run blends, so for every jar I empty, a new one seems to take its place. My open tobacco shelf is bowed like, well, a bow
only the threat of it collapsing has been enough to stem the tide of novelty!
I’ve been pretty good with it the last few years, but I still can’t help but crack open new or limited run blends, so for every jar I empty, a new one seems to take its place. My open tobacco shelf is bowed like, well, a bow
only the threat of it collapsing has been enough to stem the tide of novelty!
I go hybrid.
I try and be a good little piper and not open new tins until I clear a jar out.
That being said there are some jars that hold stuff I only smoke now and then or I tried and was meh about. I learned thought, that some airtime can help with that so revisit those from time to time.
Then, I just loose my control and pop a new blend to try or an aged tin of one I haven't had in a while that I like. This weekend I smoked 10 bowls and the last one was from a tin of Robert Mcconnell Scottish Flake, since it had been a couple of years. That's a jar that won't stay full long.
I try and be a good little piper and not open new tins until I clear a jar out.
That being said there are some jars that hold stuff I only smoke now and then or I tried and was meh about. I learned thought, that some airtime can help with that so revisit those from time to time.
Then, I just loose my control and pop a new blend to try or an aged tin of one I haven't had in a while that I like. This weekend I smoked 10 bowls and the last one was from a tin of Robert Mcconnell Scottish Flake, since it had been a couple of years. That's a jar that won't stay full long.
I was told there would be no math.
It is sooooooo hard to not open a new tin everyday.
Seriously, I have 6 tins I'm currently smoking my way through but that don't count the 6 to 10 jars that I occasionally dip into when I want something different.
Seriously, I have 6 tins I'm currently smoking my way through but that don't count the 6 to 10 jars that I occasionally dip into when I want something different.
I thought the correct answer was 42...
I think you should buy more jars.
I think you should buy more jars.
I think I have 25 open tins/jars. I am trying not to open new ones right now. I'm trying to figure out my rotation and get into a groove, but 25 years on; I'm still figuring out what I like, don't, and don't anymore.
I currently have 54 jars to smoke from. At one point I had almost 70. Of the 54, I have multiple English/Latakia blends, Virginia blends, a few Burleys, a few aromatics, and one Lakeland. It's always nice to have some variety.
As I work through certain blends and want more of the same blend or something new to try then I'll pop a new tin.
As I work through certain blends and want more of the same blend or something new to try then I'll pop a new tin.
Four to six open at one time. I 'bulk dry' them, so almost all are ready to smoke.
I had a dozen open tins at one time. Decided to get more disciplined before it got to be too much of a cluster mess. I now have three open tins, one Va or VaPer, one English, and one aromatic. When I empty a jar, I’ll replace it with a new blend of the same genre. The Va/VaPer jar runs out pretty often, so I’m still getting to pop a new tin once or twice a month.
Not really sure but more than 10 and fewer than 100. I'm feeling logarithmic today.
Approaching 100, but only around 6 that I hit on a regular basis. The rest I view like a library, always there for reference with certain ones going in and out of favor over time. The variety of tobacco is one of the things that I like about pipe smoking.
easily over 70. I don't sweat anything diminishing. I haven't had any problems with moisture loss or flavor weakening in jars. Sure there are plenty I have to jar up but I don't want to wait 3 years before finally being able to enjoy what I just bought. Variety is the spice of life. Love the choices.
I guess that's one difference for me, I don't jar my stuff (don't have the space), everything just stays in their original tins. I also generally buy the smallest size tin available for a blend though too (so many in there I haven't yet tried, so I don't know if I will like them and thus, don't want to deal with selling/trading off the ones I don't want once finally opened).
But another part of not keeping too many open at once for me is that, well I like to sit with a blend for a while to get a feel for it.
Though, if I smoke more than once in a day, if I have the time, the subsequent smokes will all be different. If I already had one blend that day, I don't want it again that same day and want something else. I suppose if I regularly could smoke multiple bowls in a day, I'd make it through tins faster and could keep more open because they'd be gone faster.
But another part of not keeping too many open at once for me is that, well I like to sit with a blend for a while to get a feel for it.
Though, if I smoke more than once in a day, if I have the time, the subsequent smokes will all be different. If I already had one blend that day, I don't want it again that same day and want something else. I suppose if I regularly could smoke multiple bowls in a day, I'd make it through tins faster and could keep more open because they'd be gone faster.
Open and in rotation: 9 Aeros, 6 VA/vapers, 3 English, and Carter Hall as the prerequisite coffee accompaniment.