The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 123
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- The Pipes Magazine Radio Show – Episode 123
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Kevin Godbee
- Jan 20, 2015
- 1 min read
Kevin Godbee
Thank you for joining us for The Pipes Magazine Radio Show—the only radio talk show for pipe smokers and collectors. We broadcast weekly, every Tuesday at 8 pm eastern USA time and are available on nearly all podcast sites and apps. Listen on your computer, tablet, phone and even in the car! Our Featured Interview tonight is with pipe maker Tyler Beard. His pipes are named “Tyler Lane Pipes”, and he is also the founder of the PipeMakersForum. In “Pipe Parts”, Brian will talk about Tobacco Storage. There will be some important information for maintaining your tobacco cellar and keeping your tobacco in good shape for long-term storage. We will also have a recording of J. R. R. Tolkien in lieu of music tonight. Sit back, relax with your pipe, and enjoy The Pipes Magazine Radio Show!
Tonight’s show is sponsored by Sutliff-Tobacco.com, CupOJoes.com, SmokingPipes.com, Missouri Meerschaum, 4noggins.com, MeerschaumStore.com, Cornell & Diehl, and Savinelli Pipes and Tobaccos. Please give them some consideration when making your next pipe or tobacco purchase.
We hope you enjoy our 1-hour show produced just for you—the pipe smoker and collector. The following link will launch a pop-up player. Alternatively, you can download the show in iTunes and other podcast sites and apps after the initial broadcast is complete here.
Pipe Maker, Tyler Beard
TylerLanePipes.com
Written by Kevin Godbee
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Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 619. Our featured interview tonight is with Corey Hays. Corey is a 26-year old pipe smoker that is part of our ongoing series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. He is from Mississippi and has never lived more than 20-minutes away from The Country Squire Tobacconist. He was influenced to smoke a pipe by reading J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and 20th Century American History. He has been smoking pipes for three years. At the top of the show, Brian will have a tobacco review of a special tobacco that you could only get a pipe show.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 618. Our featured interview tonight is with AJ Khaled. AJ is a 22-year old pipe smoker that is part of our ongoing series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. Interestingly, he wasn’t initially inspired to take up the pipe by The Lord of the Rings, but more so by the author Tolkien himself while he was reading some of his other works. AJ has some really unique custom made pipes where he gave design specifics to and had them made by pipe makers Chris Askwith and Arcangelo Ambrosi. At the top of the show, we’ll have an “Ask the Pipemaker” segment with pipe artisan Jeff Gracik.
The other day, I was having a conversation with a friend about tobacco moisture. He tends to believe that a freshly opened tin presents the blender’s notion of the ideal moisture content for that tobacco, and that’s how it should be smoked. He’s not wrong, but as with so many things in our wacky world, it’s a little more complicated than that. When thinking about ideal moisture content for any specific tobacco, there are criteria for determining “correct” levels that can sometimes be at odds with one another. The proper moisture content for packaging tobacco, for instance, may not be the ideal moisture for smoking it. By way of background, let’s have a very brief and simplified look at the life of our beloved leaves once they’ve left the curing barns. Whole leaves or strips, the lamina of the leaves with the midrib removed, are boxed or baled quite dry for storage and transport. Before the tobacco can be worked, it has to be conditioned to a moisture level that allows it to be handled without shattering. There are various ways to accomplish this, but the end result is leaf that is pliable and easily manipulated without breaking. It can then be pressed into soft cakes that are cut into ribbons, or blended in stacks destined to be turned into plugs or flakes. At this point, it’s too moist to be considered “finished,” and has to go through a redrying stage. Since all of these steps may take place over a matter of months, or even years, tobacco can go through several conditioning/redrying cycles before it becomes the finished product. When it’s time to package a blend, the moisture level of the tobacco may have to be adjusted once again. If it’s too damp, there’s an increased risk of mold blooms, either within the sealed tin, or when spores are introduced after the tin is opened. This is never a good thing, so there’s a fairly hard upper limit to how much moisture is acceptable at this stage. If the leaf is too dry, on the other hand, things get troublesome in a different way. Dry, fragile tobacco can break into small fragments, even to the point of some of the leaf turning to dust during handling when packing the tins, and when those tins are jostled about during transport. This, again, is not ideal, establishing a lower limit for moisture content. Then, there’s the tobacco’s potential for aging to be considered. In order for these biological and chemical changes to take place, there has to be enough moisture to support the metabolic processes of the microorganisms involved in the various stages of fermentation that begin once the tin is sealed, and to allow for equilibration of various volatile byproducts of those processes. Finally, within the relatively wide window of upper- and lower-boundary conditions, there’s the moisture level for best smokability to be considered. That’s where things can get a little tricky. Different smokers have different preferences, and this is confounded by the fact that different types of tobaccos behave differently when their relative moisture content changes. To my palate, mixtures containing high percentages of latakia or oriental tobaccos generally tend to smoke and taste their best when on the dry side, while blends that predominantly comprise Virginia tobaccos like a bit more moisture to bring out their sweetness. But, this is a very general guideline, and I often find exceptions. Sometimes the same tobacco can be quite mercurial in its presentation depending on how damp or dry it is. The other day, I had a bowl of a latakia and Virginia-rich flake, fresh out of the tin with no drying time, and it was delightful, with the sweetness of the virginias taking center stage. A subsequent bowl, after a bit of drying time, rendered the orientals more forward, softened the sweetness, and polished the sharper edges of the latakia’s flavor profile. Same tobacco; two very different experiences. Additionally, things like ambient air temperature and relative humidity can play a significant role in the way any tobacco burns, but more importantly, how it tastes. (When it’s hot and humid, I generally abandon my latakia mixtures in favor of VAs and VA/perique blends.) If you haven’t experimented with this, it’s a fun thing to play with. Take enough tobacco out to fill your next bowl, and let it sit out for a while – anything from a few minutes to an hour or two, depending on the climate. (For those in tropical zones, this might actually have the opposite result. Yes, there really are people in some parts of the world who keep their tins sealed to keep moisture from getting in, not out.) See how it tastes in comparison to fresh from the tin. When tobacco is on the dry side, a gentle hand when packing is advised. What about when we rediscover an opened, long-forgotten tin whose contents have become all but desiccated? Can it be brought back to life? While the tobacco won’t return 100% to its best form, as some of the volatile components from aging will be lost to the ether, it can certainly be made smokeable again, and might yield some pleasant surprises. Of course, first give it a try as is, and see what it’s like. There are a couple of good ways to bring the moisture level up, and some not so good ways. I don’t recommend spraying it with water, putting apple or potato slices in the tin, or any other drastic measures. Tobacco takes up moisture much more slowly than loses it, and it will take time for all the strands to reach equilibrium, so a gentle approach is advised. My favorite is to put the leaf in a small bowl, cover the bowl with a damp cloth or paper towel, and set a plate on top. Keep an eye on it over a day or two, checking the progress periodically and ensuring the cloth remains damp. This also works […]
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 617. Our featured guest tonight is Jon David Cole. JD is the Owner/Tobacconist at The Country Squire in Jackson, MS, and the accompanying online store. We’ll have JD and Brian talking about what’s new at the store and in the business in general, including Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s acquisition of Mac Baren. At the top of the show, Brian will discuss pipe shows, pipe show organizing, and the Las Vegas International Pipe Show.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 616. Our featured interview tonight is with Gabe Hall. Gabe is a 23-year old conservative Californian from Bakersfield that is involved in politics part time. He is part of our newer ongoing series of pipe smokers that are under the age of 30. Both his story of starting pipe smoking, and his smoking routine are a little bit different than the usual story. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Ok, the old Pundit is gonna say this only once. Well, maybe twice: It’s beach time! Some of my happiest pipe-smoking memories were created on the back deck of an original Pawleys Island, S.C., beach house. Listening to the waves dash and flop were pure music, highlighted by the squealing laughter of children frolicking along the beautiful Atlantic shoreline. Now, before you go bellowing about shark attacks, Pundit has his No. 1 Rule about sharks and warning flags, even if no flags are flying on an empty stretch of coastline. Having fished the surf many a day and evening, and even occasionally on a high pier resting on mighty shell-encrusted pilings and stretching out over the aqua-tinted waters, it became apparent that predators with large, sharp teeth prowled menacingly close to splashing bathers So, Pundit Beach Rule No. 1, ankle-deep wading and strolling, only. Make quick swims if it is not too windy, and never if menacing fins are seen cutting the water like the bow of a battleship. Rule adjustments might be needed for kiddies and exuberant beach paddlers in the family. Another necessary adjustment in the rule is no swimming alone. OK, beach lesson over. You don’t have to take Pundit’s word. Check out sea-going pipe-smoking experts: Herman Melville, who knew a thing or two about ferocious whales, and Sir Ernes Henry Shackleton, a famed adventurer who took on frozen seas. No sharks, but the message loudly proclaims oceans harbor many a menace, some large in body with huge teeth and some just frozen solid mountains of floating ice. And while checking up on Pundit, you might enjoy Chuck Stanion’s Herman Melville’s Literary Pipes February 4, 2022, in Pipe Line and his masterful story on the Shipwreck of Shackleford’s Endurance, also in Pipe Line. Now back to Pundit’s time on the beach, in a chair at sunrise on a screened-in deck, seas dancing, pipe in hand. Vacations today seem to be all hurly-burly, hurry, scurry, and worry. Back when a seaside deck beckoned, I packed not only fishing equipment, and some clothes, but also a shoulder bag full of pipes and enough tobacco to survive a voyage with Sir Shackleton. Each morning, noon, and night watch was accompanied by different pipes and different blends. Pipes ranged from Dunhills, Cavicchis, Ser Jacopos, Ashtons, Petersons, and Savinellis. Blends tended to be simple: aromatics and English containing various additives, of course. On rare occasions, I made a Pundit blend, which combined English with Latakia and aros with Virginia. Pundit blends were meh, but there were Cornell & Diehl, Capstan, Samuel Gawith, Three Nuns, Wessex, and the late lamented McClelland, plus a couple of others to save the rare moments. Pundit beach time was also a time for testing THESIS (taste, heat, enjoyment, strength, issues, satisfaction). There is but one way to do this properly and that is to employ a new cob pipe. Cobs give a good overall THESIS, sort of the cheaper version of precious sea-borne meerschaums. Cobs are, in a way, landlocked meers, and provide an excellent idea of how a particular blend will emerge. Ok, enough of experimentation. We are on a beach vacation, right? Observing the sun rising over an orange-lit horizon with a pipe and a cup of coffee is simply put, enchanting. Sun and ocean seem to merge for a brief moment in a blur of beauty. You can find yourself at the beach, leaning back in a chair, letting the morning-salted breeze sweep over you whilst you puff gently in between sips. Ahh, that’s a morning on the beach. There is nothing quite like it in the Pundit’s mind. And now for a couple of thoughts from real experts on sea adventures: Herman Melville is an American author, poet, and novelist best known for “Moby Dick.” But let us not forget Cornell & Diehl’s Melville at Sea tobacco series of blends: Billy Budd, Redburn, and John Marr, other noted works from Melville’s pen as well. It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great. Failure is the true test of greatness—Herman Melville. Then there is Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton. Pipes, as mentioned by Chuck in his excellent piece on the great explorer, who relied on his pipe when the going got rough. Through endurance we conquer― Ernest H. Shackleton And finally, a Pipe Smoker of the Past cannot go without mentioning: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, born May 22, May 1859, and died July 7, 1930. If you are struggling to identify Sir Doyle in your mind, then you might be too young to be reading this. Of course, he is the prodigious author of the great detective Sherlock Holmes novels. Holmes and his drama are must-reads on any pipe-smoker’s novel list. ‘Nuff said! It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Hi Brian,
I followed the photos of your Disneyland trip. Looks like you had a good time.
IMHO, either store tobacco in the original tin or else use mason jars. Your thoughts are good.
Tyler Beard (Tyler Lane pipes) is a name that is familiar to me. I have not smoked any of his pipes, but who knows? The progression of pipes, pipe making, and pipe smoking on the internet has definitely been interesting, and now we have facebook groups and instagram.
JRR Tolkien, a customer in a tobacco shop – great find. It did sound like him, but I will have to go through some of the recordings in my collection. – nice.
Rant – abbreviations are the way of the future. You better get use to it. Sometimes it takes a while to figure it out. Just remember, FM=Frog Morton, FMOT= Frog Morton on the town, and FMOTB= Frog Morton on the Bayou. Better just get use to it.
Good show, Pete.
It is always good to hear the best ways to store tobaccos. You didn’t mention keeping the tobacco in its original sealed tin for aging. I have a number of tins that are stashed away getting some years on them.
I have got to hand it to Tyler. Taking a sabbatical to spend time with his family is the best investment and use of time a person can make. That in and of itself is commendable. I know that I, for one am happy to see him making pipes again. Now I will have a chance to pick one up.
I used to be one of the users to abbreviate prolifically. I stopped doing it a while ago when I heard people using terms like “vacay” for vacation, or Cali for California. Are we getting so lazy now that we can’t even pronounce the complete word?
JRR Tolkien doesn’t sound at all like I imagined him to sound. I don’t know why. That was a very cool clip though.
Great show, gentlemen.
One of the very best shows. The discussion of how to store tobaccos was really useful and seemed to be spot on. I guess I am going to have raise my opinion of Brian’s opinion.
Just loved the Tyler Beard interview. He seemed to be the guy that was there at the beginning. He had to learn how to carve his own pipes rather than getting on a website forum and getting quality instruction. His PipeMakers Forum is just a godsend to new pipemakers. I really don’t think we need any more new carvers, but if you are going to be one of those you have to take advantage of this site.
I have told more than one young carver not to take commissions but they just don’t see it. To the newbie it is a badge of honor to get commissions but in the long haul it just buries the carver in work he really doesn’t want to do.
Many of the newest carvers are using Instagram/Facebook as their internet presence rather than having a website. It isn’t better but it sure is cheaper and faster.
Tyler has done great work in raising the level of interest in pipe smoking and pipe clubs in the Oklahoma/Texas region.
I went to his website and he does the one thing that drives me crazy about carvers and their websites. Yes, it is good to know that the pipe is sold, but for the love-of-the-briar could you leave the selling price on display?
The old radio clip was absolutely cool!! I do have a question. If this museum has clips of the calls of extinct birds how do they know it is really that bird??
I enjoyed the interview with Tyler, he is a pioneer in the artisan world.
On abbreviations or acronyms, unfortunately they are paRt of every Web forum, no matter the genre. A rookie would be well served to learn some basic terms. We have at least one thread here on those terms. Don’t forget, like on doing right now, many folks use their phones for posting. While I can “swerve” type quite well, “My Mixture” takes four additional steps to display properly. Additionally, if folks tag their posts, that makes searching more effective.
The Tolkien audio was priceless.
I agree with kcghost that pipemakers should leave pricing or have pricing listed even after a sale. I like Tyler’s pipes, but need more information.
I never use MM965 as a descriptor, I use Dunhill 965. But I don’t mind Peterson’s called “Petes” or Savinellis called “Savs”.
I’m glad you guys found the interview worthwhile. It was a pleasure talking to Brian.
Leaving prices up on a website is a difficult and complex decision. If one’s prices were static, it would be simpler. Also, if these were factory items with a simple price-tier structure it would be easy. Instead, each price is semi-unique to the piece. Different embellishments, different grain/flaw qualities — not always apparent in photos — makes for prices that aren’t easily differentiated on a website. As I mentioned in the interview, my website acts as a brochure. I haven’t updted it in about 4 years. The price of those pipes wouldn’t perfectly reflect what I might charge today.
If you were to inquire about a pipe I had just posted on Instagram, and I tell you the price is $450, I don’t want to get in a a situation where someone feels cheated because the “same” pipe sold on my website for $375.
I don’t retain prices because I don’t want to mislead anyone. If I am hearing you guys correctly you are frustrated because you have no idea if you want one of my pipes because you haven’t a clue how much they cost. Makes sense. Maybe the solution is posting a price range somewhere on the site?
To clear things up:
My pipes start at $400 for blasts, and $750 for smooths. That is the base price, and they go up from there depending on factors like embellishments and grain/blast quality..
Obviously I have gotten over the shock of $75 pipes! 🙂
Again, thanks for the kind words guys.