New Member and New Pipe Smoker

Howdy jrdlish, and welcome!
Lots of great folks are members here including a bunch of old timers who will do a much better job of getting you started than me. Enjoy the group!
Pipestud

Welcome. I always google my questions, which inevitably brings me to older threads here. Many of the questions we come up with have been asked before. I will say one thing: 1792 has a very distinct taste of tonquin, and the pipe you smoke it in will have that taste. It's called ghosting. I do not have many pipes, but one is for 1792 flake only.

Welcome! I'd encourage you to seek out a local pipe store and ask a bunch of questions there. I believe that there is no substitute for holding, seeing, and smelling tobaccos and pipes when you're first getting started. As far as traditional Tobaccos go, I'd steer clear of strongly flavored blends like Grousemoor or 1792 for the time being, and steer toward more pure old school tobaccos, like Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake, for one. Before that, it'd be best to get your technique figured out with some blends that smoke easily, like many Burley and English Blends, or really any ribbon-cut non-aromatic from a reputable manufacturer. Once you know how to light, tamp, puff a while, tamp, and repeat, then you can move on to more finicky tobacco types like flakes, ropes, and plugs. Use tobaccoreviews.com to look up blends and get an idea of what's what. There is an amazing array of tobacco varieties and blends available, so give everything a fair shot of a few ounces before giving up (unless you absolutely detest it) as your pipes need to break in, your tongue needs to break in, and your palate needs to become accustomed to looking for flavors not found before. Anyway, welcome, and enjoy the journey!

Hi there jrdlish,
Just enjoy your journey in pipe smoking. Relishing every moment of it even the tongue burn in the beginning :lol:. I was new as well in pipe smoking. Just started last February for my first puff and first pipe. I'd look every forum and facebook's page in my country (Indonesia) and find a great home. Communities and friends will help you enjoyed it better :puffpipe:

Welcome. All aboard. You starting with some of the strongest tobacco choices available. This hobby or addiction is strong, try everything, find what you like .

A warm tropical welcome to you from Malaysia!

It seems nobody really agrees on any answer to your question. Some guys swear that virginias are best in pipe that is tall and narrow, like a 2:1 ratio, and some say it doesn't matter. Other than that, well, dry your tobacco, keep enough pipes so you can let them rest between smokes, read the forums. Everything has been asked and answered before. Sort of...

Use a custom google search like this one that Woodsroad created. SEARCH

Cheers and welcome. I look forward to following along with you on this great forum.

I favour pipes with small, square bowls. Shortish smokes (depending on the toby, of course—ribbon will burn faster than a flake), which is useful in case I don't like the blend.
I'm a relatively new piper too, so I haven't zoned in on a 'favourite' blend, but have so on a genre: I prefer aromatics.

There are no rules set in stone as to which size pipe or bowl you should use with this or that tobacco,as long as the bowl is not packed too tight so as to allow air to circulate around the tobacco.However,I do have an MO that I tend to stick to that works for me.STRONG TOBACCO such as some of the ones you listed I Smoke in a small to medium sized pipe,the smaller size permits me to complete smoking the bowl without getting my socks blown off from the nicotine,and I can still enjoy the flavor.FLAKES I smoke as is in bowls that are a little bit deeper and narrower in diameter.Why?Flakes take a little more fire to keep them going,and a narrow bowl that is say 2-3” deep can produce a stronger draw to help pull the flame down into flakesI have found that wide,shallow bowls don’t work so well for flakes.RUBBED OUT FLAKE / RIBBON / SHAG: These will burn well in any bowl,deep,wide,shallow,narrow,tapered,straight.My tip is to dry the tobacco out for a few hours or more if needed prior to smoking.Cornell and Diehl tobaccos come at the perfect humidity level.a dryer tobacco will allow the flavor to come through,less

Condensation meaning less bitterness,less gurgling,your pipe breaks in faster,much less if any tounge bite.And again,fill the bowl in such a way that air can circulate around the strands of tobacco,With shags,ribbons,and rubbed out Flake,there should be a SPRINGYNESS to the tobacco and an easy,open draw.Hope this helps to get you on your way.

samuelgawith01, are you using the fold and stuff method for flakes?

I am using the fold and stuff.I also roll up the flakes and insert them into the bowl.I don’t ram them home too hard.Got to have that air flow.

Welcome aboard.

Howdy! Pear wood makes a good pipe, as does cherry, & they have the advantages of being both relatively inexpensive *&* having a nice flavor their own. For ones like that my choice as a starter would be a decent cube-cut burley or a Virginia, possibly with just a little flavor. Dark aromatics smell great but can be a problem keeping properly lit till you get more of a feel for it. Definitely don't go with the cheaper commercial (i.e., non-pipe-store) tobaccos -- they WILL burn your tongue because of the heavy casing (** - see below), I guarantee it. Captain Black's not bad (I prefer their original, but they have several flavors). You might laugh, but Sir Walter Raleigh isn't a bad one to start with; you'll probably want something with a little more flavor, though.
As far as best which for which, to me it's all personal preference. Best advice I can give is to echo verbatim what mikefu said -- make friends at a nearby pipe store. If they know their stuff at ALL they'll have both good info *&* some different good blends for you to try out. Re the ** above, "casing" is a method of flavoring; it's not necessarily bad unless overdone. Good summary of it here -- https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_Tobaccos#Aromatics_VS._Non-Aromatics
Pipedia, BTW, is a pretty good site for overall pipe stuff & has a lot of very interesting & informative articles. There are a TON of pipe sites out there, some good, some not-so. Pipedia is a favorite of mine since it has background on a lot of pipemakers, well-known as well as some more obscure ones. Be warned, though; it's a VERY easy rabbit hole to get lost in!