My First Really Enjoyable Bowl

[Eaglesgift]

It's my 5th day of pipe smoking and I guess I've had 2 bowls most days, 3 yesterday and 1 so far today (so only 10 in total). I started with Presbyterian, which tasted like musty old books to me, then moved onto Royal Yacht, which I found a lot easier to deal with. Then I tried a couple of cheaper blends - Sutliff Fox & Hound and Super Value English Mixture. Both of those were easier to get on with than Presbyterian and Royal Yacht but I didn't have any revelationary moments with them.

It wasn't until I broke open the Lane Limited Partagas yesterday that I really started to enjoy myself. Only had to relight it once, in the middle, and it was the first blend that I really enjoyed the taste of. Things got even better this morning: I just had the most wonderful experience with a bowl of Partagas and for the first time, I feel like I could smoke another bowl straight away. More to the point, I feel like I really want to.

I tried a few different packing methods until yesterday when I thought to myself, "You're overthinking this. You know how tobacco burns and how firmly it should be pressed down." I just decided to wing it and stop going from one extreme to the other, and it seems to have worked. I also think that, for me at least, blends like Presbyterian are perhaps a little too challenging at the moment and are something I might be able to appreciate more when I know what I'm doing.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my joy. I was going to say that smoking a pipe finally felt like I'd imagined it would this morning but that's not true: it felt even better. I know Partagas has Burley and Latakia and Black Cavendish in it, but I'm not sure if the Black Cavendish is made with Virginia or Burley...I think I concluded it was probably Virginia after a bit of Googling (because Europeans tend to use Virginia rather than Burley for Black Cavendish?) but I could be completely wrong as I know almost nothing. It seemed to make a big difference whatever it was...thicker smoke, smoother, with a little sweetness. I can't wait for my next bowl!

 

[shanez]

I love it when the stars align and a bowl is just fantastic.

Of course, you just started down the rabbit hole. ?

Before long you'll revisit those others or some different ones and the planets will align along with the stars.

 

[alaskanpiper]

It’s a beautiful moment when everything clicks. It only gets better from here.

 

[Eaglesgift]

It was lovely to feel like I was smoking the pipe rather than the other way around. Now we've got a hailstorm here - I hope it doesn't make any holes in our roof.

 

[Fiddlepiper]

I tried a few different packing methods until yesterday when I thought to myself, "You're overthinking this. You know how tobacco burns and how firmly it should be pressed down." I just decided to wing it and stop going from one extreme to the other, and it seems to have worked

It took me a lot longer than 5 days to come to this revelation! The more I was overthinking the worse it became.

 

[mikethompson]

when the stars align

hey that's my line!

But when you have a bowl that works out like that it makes all the work worthwhile. Don't go crazy trying to get that perfect bowl every time, it will come with patience (or so I am told).

 

[Eaglesgift]

hey that's my line!

But when you have a bowl that works out like that it makes all the work worthwhile. Don't go crazy trying to get that perfect bowl every time, it will come with patience (or so I am told).

Yeah, after posting I realised I'd better not expect everything to be plain sailing now, just because I had one great bowl. Jumping around from blend to blend isn't going to make it easier either but they all look so appealing I can't help myself. The tin of HH Old Dark Fired is the one I keep eyeing at the moment.

I'm also hoping my second pipe turns up soon. 14 blends and 1 pipe doesn't seem right.

 

[dcicero]

Congrats! Nothing like it when you get it going right!

 

[Erehwesle]

Great to hear! I'm really new to the hobby too and have just been lucky with my Cobbit and Ozark that I just haven't had issues keeping a bowl lit. I am chalking it up to just artlessly packing the bowl loosely, not having any great expectations, and not obsessing over packing that much!

 

[Eaglesgift]

Great to hear! I'm really new to the hobby too and have just been lucky with my Cobbit and Ozark that I just haven't had issues keeping a bowl lit. I am chalking it up to just artlessly packing the bowl loosely, not having any great expectations, and not obsessing over packing that much!

I like the look of the Cobbit (I'm using a MM Legend) but they're quite overpriced over here. All pipes are really - I've ordered a briar from the UK but I'm guessing it might take a while to get here. I'm not expecting a different pipe to make it easier - I'm sure it's me and not the pipe - but I definitely need more than one.

 

[Erehwesle]

I like the look of the Cobbit (I'm using a MM Legend) but they're quite overpriced over here. All pipes are really - I've ordered a briar from the UK but I'm guessing it might take a while to get here. I'm not expecting a different pipe to make it easier - I'm sure it's me and not the pipe - but I definitely need more than one.

For me the trick seems to be to not obsess with packing it a fussy way, but just get a good even density pack, and be willing to moderate my puffing to keep it lit.

Yeah, I am definitely going to put some money aside in my budget for May to look for a cool briar pipe. I'm certainly enjoying the two MM I have.

I find myself alternating between them. The hardwood Ozark wasn't quite as accessible as the Cobbit, but it seems to have aged in well after I used it enough to get through a slight burnt taste.

 

[Eaglesgift]

For me the trick seems to be to not obsess with packing it a fussy way, but just get a good even density pack, and be willing to moderate my puffing to keep it lit.

Yeah, I am definitely going to put some money aside in my budget for May to look for a cool briar pipe. I'm certainly enjoying the two MM I have.

I find myself alternating between them. The hardwood Ozark wasn't quite as accessible as the Cobbit, but it seems to have aged in well after I used it enough to get through a slight burnt taste.

I'm trying to order a couple of the MM hardwood pipes at the moment but I've hit a bit of a roadblock as the only vendor I've found with inventory uses a payment processor that my bank won't cooperate with. All to do with Verified by Visa and iFrames apparently. The wonders of modern technology.

(I did manage to order a couple of the Ozark minis)

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I'm not being critical but IMHO, you really haven't smoked any great tobacco yet. I like your description of Presbyterian, I share you feelings. Royal Yacht is love/hate it seems and many of us refer to it as Royal Yuck.

Here's the thing. If you found one bowl really good in the first 5 days of smoking, you have a lot to look forward to.

 

[Eaglesgift]

I'm not being critical but IMHO, you really haven't smoked any great tobacco yet. I like your description of Presbyterian, I share you feelings. Royal Yacht is love/hate it seems and many of us refer to it as Royal Yuck.

Here's the thing. If you found one bowl really good in the first 5 days of smoking, you have a lot to look forward to.

I'm still a complete novice as far as pipe smoking's concerned, I agree. I was just happy that I really enjoyed the Partagas. If all pipe tobaccos tasted like Presbyterian, I'm not sure how long I'd stick it out.

The ones I've got that I haven't opened yet are Dunhill/Peterson Nightcap and EMP, Balkan Sasieni, C&D Bayou Morning Flake, Capstan Blue, and HH Old Dark Fired. Do you like any of those?

 

[augiebd]

If you found one bowl really good in the first 5 days of smoking, you have a lot to look forward to.

This is very true and a great thing. Also, doing less thinking about packing, dry the tobacco well, pack light and smoke slow. More success will come. Don’t worry about relights, bowls that don’t burn as well, there is always something to learn and with time the enjoyment will become more and more routine. Sounds like you’re taking steps in the right direction.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I'm still a complete novice as far as pipe smoking's concerned, I agree. I was just happy that I really enjoyed the Partagas. If all pipe tobaccos tasted like Presbyterian, I'm not sure how long I'd stick it out.

The ones I've got that I haven't opened yet are Dunhill/Peterson Nightcap and EMP, Balkan Sasieni, C&D Bayou Morning Flake, Capstan Blue, and HH Old Dark Fired. Do you like any of those?

Capstan Blue and ODF are outstanding blends. The others are good quality blends, just not to my liking.

 

[Eaglesgift]

Capstan Blue and ODF are outstanding blends. The others are good quality blends, just not to my liking.

I tried both of those but I'm not very good at packing/smoking flake tobacco yet. I do like the flavour...almost like toast/hay/food of some sort...difficult to put into words. I had a bit of trouble keeping them lit though. Also tried the EMP and I liked that much better than the other English blends I've tried so far.

Oh, and I had another bowl of Royal Yuck. I have to admit, I quite like it. It was also the first time I've smoked anything to the bottom of the bowl without a single relight. It's quite strong - I've read some people say they never get a nic buzz from pipe tobacco but I definitely do from that.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Excellent! Enjoy the journey.️

 

[Eaglesgift]

Excellent! Enjoy the journey.️

Thank you. I can't wait for some more pipes to arrive - I feel like I'm being hard on this MM. Yesterday was the first day I had no cigars, just the pipe.

 

[Erehwesle]

I'm trying to order a couple of the MM hardwood pipes at the moment but I've hit a bit of a roadblock as the only vendor I've found with inventory uses a payment processor that my bank won't cooperate with. All to do with Verified by Visa and iFrames apparently. The wonders of modern technology.

(I did manage to order a couple of the Ozark minis)

Where you at? I had no problem ordering mine, maybe I could bird dog one for you and post it.