Cellar Noob PSA: Bulk vs. Tins vs. Jars

[GreatWhiteNorthPiper]

I love looking at stacks of tins, it’s so satisfying! However, you’re quite right that bulk is a great way to cellar. I panic bought like 20 lbs of bulk when Mac Baren and Sufliff were going bye bye.

I took each 1 lb and divided 2 oz. portions into small 7 mil mylar bags and heat sealed them. Then put all 8 small bags in a big 7 mil mylar bag that’s not heat sealed, so I can easily pull a pouch out. That shit will last forever and takes up way less space and weight than tins. I just buried them in the closet

View attachment 429073
View attachment 429077

Fabulous collection you've got there!

 

[Servant King]

Hear hear! It's a thing of beauty.

 

[Skippy Piper]

Wonderful cellar collection! With the way tin prices are going these days I definitely prefer bulk tobacco myself and just jarring it up in big Ball jars, though I suppose it all depends on what you like to smoke. Thankfully most of the blends I enjoy the most are available in bulk, but if the tobacco you like best is only available in tins then that's the way to go. No point in trying to save some money if you're not going to enjoy what you're smoking.

 

[Dixie Piper]

I stack VA. Bulk by the Lb. as a new piper I give it at least a year before popping the jars.

My next purchase will be the Per Jensen Legacy Series tins however.

For 80's vinyl I'd have to go with "Infected" by "Thethe" and "Kick" by INXS. Honorable mention to "The Damned" and "The Stranglers".

 

[mtwaller]

Fabulous collection you've got there!

Thank you! I have, uh… maybe a bit too much. I smoke very infrequently. Even if I start smoking like crazy I’ll probably still need to sell quite a bit of stuff eventually. I still have some blends I want to cellar, but for the most part now all I buy is 3 tins each of the Sun Bear/CRF/The Beast/From Beyond releases and that’s about it.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Bulk saves money, but can be tricky when it comes to space.

 

[AcesAndEights]

I love looking at stacks of tins, it’s so satisfying! However, you’re quite right that bulk is a great way to cellar. I panic bought like 20 lbs of bulk when Mac Baren and Sufliff were going bye bye.

I took each 1 lb and divided 2 oz. portions into small 7 mil mylar bags and heat sealed them. Then put all 8 small bags in a big 7 mil mylar bag that’s not heat sealed, so I can easily pull a pouch out. That shit will last forever and takes up way less space and weight than tins. I just buried them in the closet

View attachment 429073
View attachment 429077

I agree. Nothing beats the look of a stack ‘o tins. I hopped on the bulk bandwagon about halfway into my cellar building journey, and I’m happy to have it all on hand. But I always stop and admire this bookcase whenever I need to go downstairs for something

 

[Servant King]

I agree. Nothing beats the look of a stack ‘o tins. I hopped on the bulk bandwagon about halfway into my cellar building journey, and I’m happy to have it all on hand. But I always stop and admire this bookcase whenever I need to go downstairs for something View attachment 429398

Now that's just the greatest thing I've ever seen. Mildly arousing, in fact.

 

[Gerald Boone]

If you home blend like me you tend to buy in bulk and avoid tins entirely. The tobacco I keep in glass stores very well. Right now I am only buying perique because I have pounds of regular tobacco. I blend a 40% regular tobacco to 60% perique as my go to for 99% of the time. I think individual taste, finding what you like, is important; for some of us that is tins for others bulk.

 

[Simonite]

Vacuum Sealing? Out of curiosity, if you buy in bulk, would using a vacuum sealer vs jars work or do you need the little bit of air for the aging process to actually happen? Now, my wife might not be happy if I use her vacuum sealer on tobacco, but she will forgive me.

 

[Brad H]

Vacuum Sealing? Out of curiosity, if you buy in bulk, would using a vacuum sealer vs jars work or do you need the little bit of air for the aging process to actually happen? Now, my wife might not be happy if I use her vacuum sealer on tobacco, but she will forgive me.

A debate for the ages.
All bulk in jars I vacuum seal.
Most all my bulk in Mylar is left in its original package bag/mylar it was shipped in, then put into Mylar and vacuum sealed. There is still some oxygen in the bags even after I vacuum seal them since it is trapped in the original packaging.

 

[HeadMisfit]

The issue with going crazy is that you can't control how you will like a blend over time.

 

[Servant King]

The issue with going crazy is that you can't control how you will like a blend over time.

This is true. But worst case scenario, you end up with a horde of tradeable/sellable stuff.

 

[Briarcutter]

Having a good stash is sort of like a gun. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it

 

[spugni]

Mostly 70s Italian lounge soundtracks, Smiths/Morrissey, and an absurdly large assortment of Miles Davis.

The Smiths and Morrissey as well as being a pipe smoker....you have great taste my friend.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I don't have exact numbers but if say 50% of what I have is tins and around 25% each split between mason jars and mylar. If I could do it over, there would be no mason jars for bulk, all mylar. I don't understand the vacuum seal concept, oxygen is required for aerobic aging. You're not preserving good, you're storing and aging tobacco.

I also figured out mason jars suck for flake unless you leave it really loose.

If you're going to cellar 25 pounds or so, I'd go mostly with tins. The savings with bulk for that amount is mostly negligible.

 

[Auxsender]

A guy in another thread, @Hupp showed how it's done.

He paid $107 for 25 pounds of Two Timer.

The man put on a clinic on stocking up.

View attachment 429066

And then another $107 on mason jars.

 

[Sobrbiker]

And then another $107 on mason jars.

For 25lbs, he must have gotten a great deal on mason jars…

 

[Auxsender]

For 25lbs, he must have gotten a great deal on mason jars…

For real

 

[Hupp]

And then another $107 on mason jars.

Actually I put 20 pounds in 2 extra 5 gallon mylar bags I had. The other 5 pounds I put in a food safe 5 gallon bucket. None of that Two Timer will ever see a pipe though. I bought it for RYO. With the cheap tube I bought when Tobaccopipes site had 90% off before shutting down, my ryo cost 23 cents a pack currently.