If I am into the tobacco blend and the pipe themselves, the best is tea, and my favorite black tea is P&G Tips. Water is second, best if crisp and cold. Bourbon and water and occasionally a single malt Scotch can be a heightened experience but can shoulder over the leaf. Other beverages work -- beer, wine, coffee, hot chocolate -- but coat the mouth and mask a good blend, for me. Colas not so good, the whole sugar or sugar sub thing just doesn't go.