You dun need a picture, it is brass with yellow bamboo and looks like every other 7" kiseru on the market today. Plus I don't have a camera anyway.
Anyway onwards -- I got it today and tried smoking a bit of cigarette tobacco in it --- don't do this in a pipe, truly dual-purpose blends are a myth, and real cigarette tobacco should never go near a normal pipe if for no other reason than it lacks flavour and is too dry --- anyway I did it regardless and found it to be a very good (and very brief) experience. The small bowl, tiny actually, about the size of a small pea, is made out of metal that heat up quickly and keeps the tobacco cool enough to be enjoyed despite how dry it is -- and seems to seriously smooth out the flavour. Moreover it picks up a bit of the flavour from the bamboo and makes it quite nice if I do say so.
I wouldn't suggest putting multiple blends in these things, they REALLY need to be specialized, and one strong tobacco will render the pipe virtually useless for anything else. Though you could always replace the bamboo.
Once can also use it as a cigarette holder if you cut it into thirds, and this seemed enjoyable enough, but lost a lot of the advantages of the kiseru (no paper to taste at all, and even the best papers detract from tobacco's flavour) in favour of significantly longer smoking time.
However, I still feel I need something with a helluva lot bigger kick to get any use out of this thing. . .apart from using it to measure snifters of snuff (just the perfect size for one nostril) anyway. With that in mind I've ironically turned to a snuff tobacco company to get my hand on some Thuoc Lau (is to Vietname what Koiki is to Japan -- and we can still get it stateside). . . I also managed to hunt down a lead on some Koiki, but its time-sensitive (a friend is actually going to the damned country) and I'll get it sometime late February or early March if things go smoothly.
I'll update with hows those smoke when the time comes, but for now I just wanted to say the kiseru has an interesting effect on the flavour of tobacco, and it might be worth looking into (if you've the materials and equipment) to make your own with a larger bowl. .. say .25-35 deep and only wide enough to be able to fit in the tamper. Much bigger than that and I think the metal would get too damned hot, though my thermal-dynamics are a bit rusty heh heh. Like I said you'd have to specialize it for a particular blend, but that may not be such a bad idea in this case.
Of course we all know this topic is really just about me getting the first part of my 2-part process of -finally- trying some koiki (I told you people I'd get my hands on some if it was the death of me) if only for the sake of curiosity -- and I'm excited to see the plan move forward heh heh.
Anyway onwards -- I got it today and tried smoking a bit of cigarette tobacco in it --- don't do this in a pipe, truly dual-purpose blends are a myth, and real cigarette tobacco should never go near a normal pipe if for no other reason than it lacks flavour and is too dry --- anyway I did it regardless and found it to be a very good (and very brief) experience. The small bowl, tiny actually, about the size of a small pea, is made out of metal that heat up quickly and keeps the tobacco cool enough to be enjoyed despite how dry it is -- and seems to seriously smooth out the flavour. Moreover it picks up a bit of the flavour from the bamboo and makes it quite nice if I do say so.
I wouldn't suggest putting multiple blends in these things, they REALLY need to be specialized, and one strong tobacco will render the pipe virtually useless for anything else. Though you could always replace the bamboo.
Once can also use it as a cigarette holder if you cut it into thirds, and this seemed enjoyable enough, but lost a lot of the advantages of the kiseru (no paper to taste at all, and even the best papers detract from tobacco's flavour) in favour of significantly longer smoking time.
However, I still feel I need something with a helluva lot bigger kick to get any use out of this thing. . .apart from using it to measure snifters of snuff (just the perfect size for one nostril) anyway. With that in mind I've ironically turned to a snuff tobacco company to get my hand on some Thuoc Lau (is to Vietname what Koiki is to Japan -- and we can still get it stateside). . . I also managed to hunt down a lead on some Koiki, but its time-sensitive (a friend is actually going to the damned country) and I'll get it sometime late February or early March if things go smoothly.
I'll update with hows those smoke when the time comes, but for now I just wanted to say the kiseru has an interesting effect on the flavour of tobacco, and it might be worth looking into (if you've the materials and equipment) to make your own with a larger bowl. .. say .25-35 deep and only wide enough to be able to fit in the tamper. Much bigger than that and I think the metal would get too damned hot, though my thermal-dynamics are a bit rusty heh heh. Like I said you'd have to specialize it for a particular blend, but that may not be such a bad idea in this case.
Of course we all know this topic is really just about me getting the first part of my 2-part process of -finally- trying some koiki (I told you people I'd get my hands on some if it was the death of me) if only for the sake of curiosity -- and I'm excited to see the plan move forward heh heh.
