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Pipe News
- 2011-03-31 11:58:31
Nebraska Tobacco Tax Increase Proposal Harmful
From: IPCPR - 2011-03-31 05:01:46
Oregon Considers Controversial Tobacco Tax Increases
From: IPCPR - 2011-03-30 14:25:29
1st Iberian-American Tobacco Trade Fair, FIT
From: Press Release - 2011-03-29 10:23:41
Hawaii Faces Fight Over Tobacco Tax Increase Proposal
From: IPCPR - 2011-03-29 06:51:29
Indiana Smoking Ban Will Only Hurt Lagging State Economy
From: IPCPR
- 2011-03-31 11:58:31
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By Bob Tate
Rope tobacco, also known as Twist tobacco, are tobaccos that are spun together to form a ‘rope’ of tobacco. This process is done almost entirely by hand. Sometimes the ropes are cooked under pressure, and other times they are not. It all depends on how strong that particular blend is meant to be. Rope tobaccos offer a very strong smoking experience and they are not recommended for beginners and/or smokers who have a low tolerance towards stronger blends.
Ropes used to be the most common form of finished tobacco products. It can be chewed, cut and smoked, or ground up into nasal snuff. It was also the preferred choice of tobacco amongst sailors and miners of days gone by.
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By Bob Tate
Balkan Blend. That term is very mysterious.
Is there really such a thing?
If there is, what is it?
What distinguishes a blend as a Balkan Blend?
These and many other questions arise from the mysterious term of Balkan Blend. This is one of the most debated and discussed subjects amongst pipe smokers when talking about blend genres. This is a subject that can seem very confusing because there doesn’t seem to be any real, clear cut, definitive definition for Balkan Blends. It seems to me that the definition for Balkan Blend is based solely on conjecture and personal opinion.
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By Bob Tate
The pouch aroma of this blend reminds me of dry grass/hay with some sweetness and a noticeable amount of spiciness. I detect some tang to it as well. It smells quite nice. The moisture content is perfect for smoking right away. I loaded up my pipe and proceeded to the charring light.
On the charring light:
Flavor: Is a straight forward tobacco flavor with light hints of sweetness.
Aroma: Is very sweet smelling.
I finished lighting the pipe and settled in for the smoke.
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By Bob Tate
Some of you may know from reading my articles, reviews, and from discussions in our forums, that I normally use the term ‘Latakia Blend(s)’ and not ‘English Blend(s)’ when I am talking about a blend that contains Latakia tobacco. The reason why I don’t like to use the term English Blend when associating it with Latakia is because the addition of Latakia into a blend does not make it an English blend. I have no idea where that connection started from and most people that I have talked with whom are from Great Britain do not understand it either.
I believe that the term ‘English Blend’ started being used in the American pipe tobacco market. Maybe they began using it to distinguish between English blends of the day that were manufactured under the tobacco purity laws of Great Britain and the blends that were made in America. It is also possible that it may have started off as a marketing gimmick that caught fire and spiraled out of control. Regardless of how it started, it is erroneous to refer to all blends that contain Latakia as ‘English Blends’.
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By Bob Tate
The tin aroma of this blend is sweet, smoky, earthy, and with a hint of tanginess. It smells very good. The moisture level is perfect for smoking right away with no drying time needed. This tobacco comes in cake form. Using a sharp knife, I shaved off some of the tobacco from the cake and rubbed it out. I loaded the pipe and proceeded to the charring light.
On the charring light:
Flavor: It is a heavy Latakia flavor with lots of woody, earthy, and smoky tones, with hints of sweetness and a very light hint of black coffee.
Aroma: It is a very heavy and strong Latakia aroma. I find it pleasing, but I know for a fact that it will be very unpleasant and offensive to most others. This blend will not win you any popularity contests with its room note.
I finished lighting the pipe and settled in for a nice relaxing smoke.
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By Bob Tate
In the years that I have been involved with pipe smoking, I have heard and read numerous things from pipe smokers that I do not agree with or just doesn’t make any sense to me. One of the things that I continually see and hear is that pipe smokers evolve over time in their choice of tobacco blends. Some people call it a natural progression. I consider both of the terms one in the same as it applies to this case.
The general meaning of it, as I have heard and read, is that; most pipe smokers start off smoking Aromatic blends because they don’t know any better and naturally progress and evolve into smoking English Blends when they learn how to properly taste and appreciate the flavors of tobacco. (I prefer to use the term Latakia blends instead of English blends. Read about it in my article: English Blends and Latakia Blends - One in the same?).
It seems that the popular opinion amongst pipe smokers is that Aromatic blends are horrible tobacco and that they are for beginning pipe smokers because they don’t know any better and they need time to be able to appreciate the finer tobaccos and blends that are available. It also seems that the general consensus is that Latakia is the top of the pipe tobacco smoking evolutionary ladder and is the ‘end all, be all’ in pipe smoking. Once you get to where you only smoke Latakia blends, then you are considered a “real” pipe smoker.
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By Bob Tate
This is not a new article, it is part of a previous article that I have written. I am revisiting it here because I think that it deserves a spot by itself without rehashing the tax article that it originally appeared in. I re-published this part of it with some small revisions.
I am doing this because I am saddened and disheartened by a lot of recent comments by a lot of pipe and cigar smokers. It seems that a lot of smokers still don’t get it that we are all in this together.
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By Bob Tate
The pouch aroma is a nice straight forward tobacco smell with a light hint of tanginess. The moisture content is perfect for smoking right away with no drying time needed. The cut of this blend is rough, coarse, and chunky. I loaded the pipe using the Three Step Method and proceeded to the charring light.
On the charring light:
Flavor: Is a straight forward tobacco flavor.
Aroma: Is a straight forward tobacco aroma with a hint of sweetness.
I finished lighting the pipe and settled in for the smoke.
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By Bob Tate
Luciano (pronounced: Lu-chee-ah-no) pipes are made in Italy and are the creation of Luca Di Piazza, owner of NeatPipes. Luca wanted to create a high quality line of pipes that would be affordable to all pipe smokers. In the beginning months of 2007, he set to work making the first pipes that would carry the Luciano name. He wanted to make sure that every pipe in the Luciano line had all of the correct engineering that makes a pipe a good smoker, but he wanted to be able to produce them in a way that keeps the cost of the pipes low and affordable. The way that he achieved this was by having each pipe Hand Finished instead of Hand Made.
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By Bob Tate
Although this article is ultimately going to explain and show how to ream your tobacco pipes, I thought that I would first talk a little bit about cake. After all, you won’t be reaming your pipe if there is no cake to ream. Cake is the carbon build up that occurs in the chamber of tobacco pipes over time from smoking.
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