How Do You Pick Your Next Smoke?

[Mike N]

I love my Perique and Latakia blends and they dominate my rotation , although lately I have been smoking a lot of cube cut burley tins. One of the best things about pipe smoking is the incredible variety available nowadays. Despite the naysayers, American pipe smokers are in a Golden Age of tobacco: JL Pease’s Drucquer & Sons series, C&D‘s regular small batches, HU now available in the states, Captain Earle’s, LJ Peretti, Watch City, Country Squire, etc. A 2oz. tin at $18 will give you 12-15 bowls for the price of one decent cigar.

I like to keep a dozen or so blends I have jarred in a wooden tray and kind of think of it as a buffet line: sometimes you want the chicken other days the beef. After a week or so I put 10-12 different jars in the tray. This forces me to consider blends I may have forgotten about and I am usually pleasantly surprised. If a bowl is not smoking right midway thru, I dump it.Life is too short to eat broccoli when you really wanted a loaded baked potato. I rotate my pipes much the same way and don’t dedicate any to a particular type of tobacco. Clean your pipes every evening and “ghosting” is very unlikely in my experience.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I smoke a blend or blend type until boredom strikes, then I pick something that seems to be the opposite and repeat the process.

but... menthol cigarettes are an everyday thing.

 

[Sgetz]

I don't smoke much. One of two bowls a week. But I find choosing which blend really difficult. And even more so which pipe. Maybe that's just me

 

[Brad H]

Fire investigator

Ahhh. Never can get the scent of an electrical fire out of the cloths….

Fun fact, the first thing a fire fighter does when he gets out of a smoking burning building…. Lites up a cigarette. Seen it happen so many times.

 

[VDL_Piper]

I just have a few jars and tins laying around and just stuff something in a pipe, only open a tin if I'm getting a real desire for something special and I have a couple of favourite tobaccos always about that stand me in good stead.

 

[Sig]

No rhyme or reason here.
I have about 15 blends open right now. I just pick the one I have a hankering for. (First time ive ever used the word hankering).
Then pick appropriate pipe.
I have no "time of day", or seasonal favorites. Light Virginia in a snowstorm, a Latakia blend in 95 degree heat...it makes no difference.
I generally smoke 2-3 bowls a day, time permitting. The last bowl of the day is the one I usually have the most time for, so I use a larger pipe....Pete Watson, Pete 315XL, Charatans Make Oversized, Meer Calabash....
And the last bowl is either a good VaPer or a Latakia blend....usually.

 

[B.Lew]

I enjoy opening a new tin and smoking that primarily until finished. Usually with a few jars around that I can pull from if I need a change in taste. I have no problem smoking 2-3 bowls of the same blend and out of the same pipe in one day.

I don’t dedicate pipes either.

 

[Sea Lord]

I have a few tins or pouches open. I go through them, then, I make new choices and go through them. Etc. I'm motivated by my envies of the moment when I select which ones I'll open.
I also have a few personal blends made from whole leaf. Sometimes, I smoke all-whole leaf blends. Sometimes, I will add some commercial tobacco to them. it really depends on my level of 'inspiration', or 'creativity', of the moment.

 

[JazzInAZ]

Still figuring this out. Since joining the forum a few months ago, I've got the lead on so many new blends I want to try -- now that I've acquired several of them, I find it extremely difficult to decide what to crack open, since they're all "new." I used to smoke max 1 bowl per day, but now it's often 2, which "helps" if you know what I mean.

I will almost always choose a tobacco I've got open first, and then choose a pipe for it. The blend is usually based on feeling at the moment, but very slightly weighted towards finishing something off. Often, I also experiment by mixing things together, which only makes the journey more complicated.

 

[seanv]

I try to keep open jars and tins to a reasonable amount, for me that is around 10 different blends at a time. I finished a fresh tin of Peterson Navy Rolls yesterday and currently have 9 jars in rotation.

I generally only get to smoke a few pipes a week so these jars and tins will stay open for a while. I used to rotate open blends often but at my slow rate of smoking, I ended up with for me, too many half smoked blends.

I do like to dedicate pipes to blend styles and specific blends. I am not a super taster but I do notice a difference over time smoking the same blend or style in a specific pipe. For me, it can lock in the more nuanced flavors that a blend may have.

 

[PaulRVA]

A couple VaPer’s in the morning usually C&D Exclusive or similar
A few bowls of something different throughout the day maybe an ARO an English or a random open tin.
A couple Straight Virginia’s in the evening.

 

[judcole]

I tend to start my day with burley in a cob.
These days, I am ending my day with Mac Baren Mixture.
In between - it varies from day to day.

 

[Brad H]

No rhyme or reason here.
I have about 15 blends open right now. I just pick the one I have a hankering for. (First time ive ever used the word hankering).
Then pick appropriate pipe.
I have no "time of day", or seasonal favorites. Light Virginia in a snowstorm, a Latakia blend in 95 degree heat...it makes no difference.
I generally smoke 2-3 bowls a day, time permitting. The last bowl of the day is the one I usually have the most time for, so I use a larger pipe....Pete Watson, Pete 315XL, Charatans Make Oversized, Meer Calabash....
And the last bowl is either a good VaPer or a Latakia blend....usually.

315XL is a gem of a pipe for last smoke of the day. It’s one I usually end up using for my last smoke of the day too.

 

[Indygrap]

Depending on the day, it’ll either start with John Marr, Poplar Camp, Pegasus, or the leftovers in my drying tray from last night. These are my “on my way to work” smoke. I’ll smoke whatever is in my pouch, which is usually one of the 3 blends mentioned above, on my way home. Then after I’ve settled in after work, I’ll see what strikes my fancy. Rinse, repeat. On weekends I’ll try & start with a burley or mild English & then see what I’ve got that’s been neglected for my rest of the weekend smoke. That way I can dedicate a little time to contemplate the tobacco & enjoy what I’m smoking.

 

[RPK]

After trying a variety of tobaccos in system, non system, fishtail or p-lip pipes I have pretty much come down to either Lane’s BCA or RLP-6 in my 80’s spigot and smoke in the afternoon and evenings outdoors. When the miserable weather gets here that will be reduced a bit.

 

[Day2Day]

I'm one of them moody smokers. I'll smoke CD's Good Morning before bed if I'm in the mood for it or Autum Evening on a hot summer afternoon, Cowboy Coffee whenever the mood strikes. The only predictable smoke is if I smoke at work then is usually a nice aero for the girls in the office.

 

[Brad H]

I'm one of them moody smokers. I'll smoke CD's Good Morning before bed if I'm in the mood for it or Autum Evening on a hot summer afternoon, Cowboy Coffee whenever the mood strikes. The only predictable smoke is if I smoke at work then is usually a nice aero for the girls in the office.

That’s right! Don’t let the labels and names of a blend stop you from smoking it as the name leads you to believe when you should smoke it! Non-conformity!
Cowboy coffee a damn fine smoke anytime of the day. Smoking some now with black coffee.

 

[Hutch Piper]

Lately I have only been able to smoke 1-2 per day. If I can get a smoke in the morning, it is always a Burley or Va/Bur blend. In the evening, especially now that it is cooler in NC, I enjoy blends with dark fired KY in them. Some of my favorites also include perique. If I can smoke in the afternoon, it is generally a VaPer blend.

 

[JoeW]

Spur of the moment method: I look at my jars and choose my tobacco about 2 minutes before I light it, based on what sounds good at that moment and the amount of time I have. If I can't decide (or don't want to spend the energy), I go with a current favorite (lately, Tashkent or Ampersand Flake or Kendal No.7). Trying to plan ahead often leads to disappointment: what seems good in the morning may not be satisfying in the evening.

I usually choose my cigars in the same way: put 3 or 4 in my toolbox, and narrow down the final choice when I'm sitting out on the deck ready to light.

Everything else in life, I try to plan days, weeks, or months in advance, but I usually find my smoking to be most satisfying when unplanned.

 

[ThermionicScott]

I have a habit of idly filling bowls in advance, while I’m sitting inside at my desk. So when it’s time to smoke, I’ll usually grab one of those. One cob is always ready to go with Carter Hall, and I often have another with a Virginia. Gawith Virginias especially seem to benefit from this habit.