How do you Dedicate Your Pipes?

northernneil · Aug 4, 2014

I am not interested in your actual system per say. More in the process of how you decide what pipe will get what tobacco?
Do you strickly look over the pipe, and based on its dimensions and bowl characteristics, determine it's dedication before the first time you smoke it? How often do you change your mind from your initial dedication?
Personally, I like to start all my pipes with a light VA blend and adjust based on the pipes performance. If the pipe doesn't pick up on the subtle flavors in the VA, then I will try a mixture in it, usually a VA/Or or a VA/Bur. If it is still lacking, I'll then try out a Latakia mixture.
So how do you guys decide the best tobacco for your new pipe?

mso489 · Aug 4, 2014

Whoa, I'm angling for an invitation to rsuninv's dedication rites. I select pipes for tobaccos, but I don't dedicate them.

I'm not sensitive to ghosts. I'm afraid I probably enjoy a little latakia boost with my Va/Per from time to time, though

it is anathema to say it on Forums. I go for the pipe that will unwind the flavors, often smaller pipes for Va and Va/Pers,

and wider bowls for complex blends with a number of tobaccos. I like English blends in straight billiard pipes, though I

smoke them in Dublins and others from time to time. Haphazard may be the word to describe me related to dedicating

pipes.

troutface · Aug 4, 2014

My method is the same as Tim's, except I have the Dalai Lama bless the pipe and then we all go out for BBQ.
But seriously, I start conicals with a flake because that's the conventional wisdom. In any case, regardless of bowl shape, if my usual blends just aren't tasting right then I begin experimenting to see what the pipe likes. Not real scientific on my end.

sablebrush52 · Aug 4, 2014

I used to dedicate my pipes in the traditional manner, hitting them with bottles of Champagne. But that really messed up the pipes.
I do reserve several pipes for specific kinds of blends for which they have shown, through experimentation, a sympathy. Pots do well with Balkan/Oriental blends or complex blends. I have a couple of tall conical chambered pipes that do well with Stonehaven. Billiards can go different ways, so once I've used a Latakia blend in a pipe, I use that pipe for other blends containing Latakia. Pretty simple.

phil67 · Aug 4, 2014

Pretty simple for me. All of my pipes are dedicated to pipe tobacco no matter what religion that tobacco may be. However, I’ll admit that my Stanwell poker seems to be well suited for flakes with a fold and stuff method, which I rarely do.

phred · Aug 4, 2014

At this point, with one notable exception, all of my pipes are dedicated to the larger categories of tobacco (Aros, Va/Pers, English/Latakia, etc.), so I don't really have a process as such. I don't have a pipe dedicated to straight Virginias yet, so I'll probably dedicate one of my last remaining unsmoked cobs to that project, and then pick up a briar to dedicate once I've verified that I'm not prone to the dreaded Red Virginia Sensitivity Condition...
Beyond that, I've been tending to break in pipes with codger Burley blends (mostly Prince Albert), and then experimenting from there to see what works best - though I have to say, lately my pipe selection has tended to be as much about the length of time I have available for a smoke as it has been about the type of tobacco I'm smoking.

natibo · Aug 4, 2014

Whatever tin is open and closest at the time.

lonestar · Aug 4, 2014

Similar to most of the above. I start with virginias and work my way down the list until something sings.

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How do you Dedicate Your Pipes?

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