Tobacco Rotation
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I have the same setup as erich. I dedicate pipes to types, I have two for aros, 3 for latakia, and 2 for va. I always carry one or two blends of the same variety when I go out, and 1 briar and a cob. I don't rest my pipes as long as they should be and have had no trouble. So to supplement that, I smoke the crap out of my cobs on weekends. All my baccy is in jars, so I just open whatever sounds good. But my P&C order is due Monday, so I'll be restocked :D
i was lucky enough to get my grandfathers estate pipes (around 20), so I'm able to play a bit with rotation and blends. I have 1 aero pipe to try them out, I'm not a big fan of them. So I usually have 1 tin of aero open. I have 2 virginia pipes, usually 1 tin of virginia open. Then I have about 16 english pipes, and about 4-5 tins of english open at a time. I love my english.
Lots of different views, so I'll throw one more log on the fire... I'm a minimalist when it comes to my pipe collection; I only have eight and all are in use consistently. 2 dedicated to aromatics; 2 to VAs, 2 to Latakias, one to VaPers, and one to cigar blends. I have just one tin of each tobacco genre opened at one time. This arrangement, I believe, gives me variety and allows my pipes the proper amount of resting time so that I can achieve the full experience of a blend. I can smoke all day if I like with no danger of turning my pipes into a soggy sour...something.
To answer your second question: I think it takes about an ounce of any given tobacco before you experience it properly, both for you and your pipe. That is to say, if you are looking to taste the tobacco the way the blender intended, you must allow your pipe time to fully absorb the flavors of the tobacco to produce an unadulterated smoke. That means you have to smoke out the previous blend. As some have said, this may not bother you. In fact, many pipe men enjoy the lingerings of previous blends. I do not.
I would like to make one bold claim as a fairly new pipe smoker (I've been smoking just over 5 years): you should NOT smoke a single pipe everyday. In the short term, you won't experience any problems; but in the long run you will be left with a wet and sour pipe that will demand all kinds of attention to remedy. And contrary to some, all Latakia blends ghost.
To answer your second question: I think it takes about an ounce of any given tobacco before you experience it properly, both for you and your pipe. That is to say, if you are looking to taste the tobacco the way the blender intended, you must allow your pipe time to fully absorb the flavors of the tobacco to produce an unadulterated smoke. That means you have to smoke out the previous blend. As some have said, this may not bother you. In fact, many pipe men enjoy the lingerings of previous blends. I do not.
I would like to make one bold claim as a fairly new pipe smoker (I've been smoking just over 5 years): you should NOT smoke a single pipe everyday. In the short term, you won't experience any problems; but in the long run you will be left with a wet and sour pipe that will demand all kinds of attention to remedy. And contrary to some, all Latakia blends ghost.
Here is my 2 cents.
I have about a dozen pipes give or take. I smoke three per week, two at home and one at work. At the end of the week (friday) I clean them and take out three more. This way, each pipe works for a week and then gets three weeks off per month, and I don't have to clean a pipe every day. I smoke two bowls a day, so each pipe gets at least 24 hours rest between smokes.
As for tobacco, I try to keep around six tins open at all times in small mason jars. The pipe picks the tobacco. After you smoke a particular pipe for a while, it will tell you which tobacco it likes.
As for the second question, don't keep smoking a tobacco you don't like. Jar it up, put it in your cellar. Your tastes might change. The tobacco might age well. Come back to it in two years and then try it again.
I have about a dozen pipes give or take. I smoke three per week, two at home and one at work. At the end of the week (friday) I clean them and take out three more. This way, each pipe works for a week and then gets three weeks off per month, and I don't have to clean a pipe every day. I smoke two bowls a day, so each pipe gets at least 24 hours rest between smokes.
As for tobacco, I try to keep around six tins open at all times in small mason jars. The pipe picks the tobacco. After you smoke a particular pipe for a while, it will tell you which tobacco it likes.
As for the second question, don't keep smoking a tobacco you don't like. Jar it up, put it in your cellar. Your tastes might change. The tobacco might age well. Come back to it in two years and then try it again.
My rotation is a long one as I only smoke 3 - 4 bowls a week. I have eight pipes that form my regular working group - two churchwardens, two Sixten Ivarsson designed Stanwell Royal Guards, a Brigham briar voyageur, and Peterson Mark Twain, and two meerschaums - a plain smooth bowl, and a calabash meerschaum Sherlock Holmes style. My tobacco rotation includes Frog Morton, Frog Morton's Cellar, S. Gawith's Squadron Leader, Boswell's Northwoods, G. L. Pease Abingdon(I live on Abingdon Dr.), Ashton's Artisan's Blend, Just for Him's Shortcut to Mushrooms & Ruins of Isengard, I also like Presbyterian and move that in and out of the mix.
As a new pipe smoker myself, glad to hear so much variation. I started out with a few 2-4 oz. samples of B&M blends, figuring that I'd smoke those and then work my way through the rest of the B&M's offerings.
Then I found out about bulk samplers from online vendors, and had to buy more jars. :P And then there were the tobacco company freebies, and the tin of Black House... and pretty soon I was up to a dozen, and figured that was good.
Bought a set of smaller jars (will hold just about 2 oz.) so that I could take along a representative sample on a cruise - and lo and behold, patiobum was on the same cruise, and I wound up with another dozen or so samples to jar. 8O (thanks again, Martin! There are still some flakes I haven't gotten to yet... but soon...)
So, yeah - 24 seems to be workable. Can't wait to find out what sparks the next change in my rotation strategy...
Then I found out about bulk samplers from online vendors, and had to buy more jars. :P And then there were the tobacco company freebies, and the tin of Black House... and pretty soon I was up to a dozen, and figured that was good.
Bought a set of smaller jars (will hold just about 2 oz.) so that I could take along a representative sample on a cruise - and lo and behold, patiobum was on the same cruise, and I wound up with another dozen or so samples to jar. 8O (thanks again, Martin! There are still some flakes I haven't gotten to yet... but soon...)
So, yeah - 24 seems to be workable. Can't wait to find out what sparks the next change in my rotation strategy...
I have Five blends in rotation. They are:
C&D Captain Bob's Blend
C&D Captain Bob's Shipmates Blend
C&D Captain Bob's Pot O' Gold Mixture
Iwan Ries Three Star Blue
Milan's Buddy's Blend
I have a minimum five pipes dedicated to each of these blends. I generally smoke each of these blends every day. I always give pipes a rest and always use a pipe knife and pipe cleaner after each and every smoke.
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C&D Captain Bob's Blend
C&D Captain Bob's Shipmates Blend
C&D Captain Bob's Pot O' Gold Mixture
Iwan Ries Three Star Blue
Milan's Buddy's Blend
I have a minimum five pipes dedicated to each of these blends. I generally smoke each of these blends every day. I always give pipes a rest and always use a pipe knife and pipe cleaner after each and every smoke.
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I currently have around 15 blends opened and around 25 pipes. I usually try to rest my pipes for at least 24 to 48 hours between smokes.
I try to not keeping more than 3 tins open at the time. That is about what I smoke in 1 weak, if 50 g tins.
I never had any problems smoking the same pipe 2-4 times a day, everyday for long periods of time. I enjoy hand made pipes the most, so I cannot afford buying more than 3 artisan pipes a year. After smoking I scrape the bowl and use dry pipe cleaners until it comes out of the shank as white as it where unused.
I never had any problems smoking the same pipe 2-4 times a day, everyday for long periods of time. I enjoy hand made pipes the most, so I cannot afford buying more than 3 artisan pipes a year. After smoking I scrape the bowl and use dry pipe cleaners until it comes out of the shank as white as it where unused.
drcarlo,
I have no prolem with that. Rarely, I must load a "day-pouch" and carrry one pipe. When I do, I still use a pipe cleaner after every smoke (when possibble) and then I give that pipe a good rest for several days depending on if I smoked it more than twice. I only use dedicated pipes to specific belnds,
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I have no prolem with that. Rarely, I must load a "day-pouch" and carrry one pipe. When I do, I still use a pipe cleaner after every smoke (when possibble) and then I give that pipe a good rest for several days depending on if I smoked it more than twice. I only use dedicated pipes to specific belnds,
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I am actually the same as yourself, Murf. I have one Aromatic, two VA's and one english on the go at one time. They are all in Bail jars, and I usually take out what I need for the week at a time and leave them in tins. I also have one briar and one cob dedicated to each blend. I do find that the englishes I enjoy are all heavy in Latakia, so im not concerned about that. I find I have a nice rotation going, but I dont lose sleep on which pipe is used on which day, thus the cobs. This has also helped me realize which style of pipes smokes best with my blends.
I do believe my pallet is settled, and I'm extremely happy with my choices. Time to sell some pipes, buy the ones I know work, and invest in the tobaccos I enjoy.
Not to say I'll never try enything new.......hahahaha
I do believe my pallet is settled, and I'm extremely happy with my choices. Time to sell some pipes, buy the ones I know work, and invest in the tobaccos I enjoy.
Not to say I'll never try enything new.......hahahaha
captainbob,
It is difficult to destroy a good pipe. My experience is that cheap, not very well engineered pipes tend to go bad with intens use and sloppy cleaning during a days use. However, my better pipes can be abused during the day without unplesant taste. Even if I forget to clean it in the evening, it feels dry and gives a pleasant smoke the day after.
I'm on vacaion at time being and I forgot 3 pipes on my desk at home, so I have only 2 pipes with me. I've used both 2-4 times each day for a week now, without any unpleasant experiences.
It is difficult to destroy a good pipe. My experience is that cheap, not very well engineered pipes tend to go bad with intens use and sloppy cleaning during a days use. However, my better pipes can be abused during the day without unplesant taste. Even if I forget to clean it in the evening, it feels dry and gives a pleasant smoke the day after.
I'm on vacaion at time being and I forgot 3 pipes on my desk at home, so I have only 2 pipes with me. I've used both 2-4 times each day for a week now, without any unpleasant experiences.
@ captainbob: I actually bought 4oz of Buddy's Blend. Smoked 2oz, grew tired of it, cellared the rest. I seemed to enjoy it more in the beginning than towards the end. Granted, I was on an extended vacation, and only had that and 1 more tobacco to smoke. Maybe I got bored. And now, I'm growing tired of the other blend I had while on vacation (Shortcut to Mushrooms). Although I won't have enough of that to cellar, so I think I'll just finish it. maybe 2 bowls left of that.
Thanks everyone for your comments! I'm still trying to figure out what will work for me. I've been thinking about increasing the number of blends in any given rotation. Maybe from 3 to 6? That way, I can have 2 aro, 2 lat, 2 VA open at once. That might be sufficient to keep it interesting.
For awhile, I was smoking just 1 bowl of each blend, maybe 2, before going to the next one. And since I've only been smoking a pipe for about 3-4 yrs, I started out with alot of variety (mostly aro), in order to figure out what I like.
But there was just that one time, Christmas 2011, brand new pipe, 1 blend (Altadis Basin St. Blues), that has convinced me to slow down, enjoy each blend for a week or so, before moving to something else. It was like an
epiphany. And I think at that point, I matured as a pipe smoker.
Now I'm just fine tuning. Too bad we're goin thru a heat wave here. I'll smoke outside in the rain or snow, but I hate the heat. And I never thought of moving from Buffalo to Philly would be that different, weather wise, but for me, it was truly a move down south. I feel worse for my friend who moved further south, near DC. We both miss the snow, and don't enjoy the summer heat
Thanks everyone for your comments! I'm still trying to figure out what will work for me. I've been thinking about increasing the number of blends in any given rotation. Maybe from 3 to 6? That way, I can have 2 aro, 2 lat, 2 VA open at once. That might be sufficient to keep it interesting.
For awhile, I was smoking just 1 bowl of each blend, maybe 2, before going to the next one. And since I've only been smoking a pipe for about 3-4 yrs, I started out with alot of variety (mostly aro), in order to figure out what I like.
But there was just that one time, Christmas 2011, brand new pipe, 1 blend (Altadis Basin St. Blues), that has convinced me to slow down, enjoy each blend for a week or so, before moving to something else. It was like an
epiphany. And I think at that point, I matured as a pipe smoker.
Now I'm just fine tuning. Too bad we're goin thru a heat wave here. I'll smoke outside in the rain or snow, but I hate the heat. And I never thought of moving from Buffalo to Philly would be that different, weather wise, but for me, it was truly a move down south. I feel worse for my friend who moved further south, near DC. We both miss the snow, and don't enjoy the summer heat
murf,
The best thing I ever did to increase my enjoyment of the pipe was to alternate my favorite blends through the day in dedicated pipes. I generally will smoke five different blends in five different dedicated pipes each day.
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my favorite (of course)
click on pic to enlarge
The best thing I ever did to increase my enjoyment of the pipe was to alternate my favorite blends through the day in dedicated pipes. I generally will smoke five different blends in five different dedicated pipes each day.
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my favorite (of course)
click on pic to enlarge
murf - Philly, and PA generally, are way more pipe friendly than Buffalo and NY state. Come join us downtown in Philly at Morley's and if you behave yourself, we'll clue you in on some secrets. lol Next monthly meeting is this Thursday.
hp
les
As to the OP, my rotation is probably ridiculous, since I have a few hundred pipes that I do try to rotate with quite a few hundred open (tins and jars) blends. But then I bore easily and like the variety.
hp
les
As to the OP, my rotation is probably ridiculous, since I have a few hundred pipes that I do try to rotate with quite a few hundred open (tins and jars) blends. But then I bore easily and like the variety.
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