Am I A Shmuck For Preferring Corn Cobs?

[Nhassey48]

So as a new pipe smoker I see a lot of people recommending corn cob pipes for a cheap alternative to see if you like the hobby. I also see them as people having some as a change up of normal briar pipes. Having been smoking nothing but cobs the past months, I smoked a briar for the first time and actually did NOT enjoy it. The flavor was not what I was used to.
My question is, is it just because I’m new to pipe smoking or is it an actual thing to prefer corn cobs all the time? Does preferring the corn cob pipe experience, flavor and price make me a shmuck? I would be interested to hear if there are any people here who mostly smoke corn cobs.
Last thing I will add, I do
Enjoy this as a hobby and not just for utilitarian purposes. But it seems like briar pipes are the “end goal” of every pipe smoker.
Thanks

 

[olkofri]

Nope, you're not a schmuck.

You do need professional help, though. ?

Talk to Dr Briar.

 

[Seamaster]

You’re not a schmuck and you’re not alone. I prefer them to briars.

 

[smokiespipesmoker123]

Cobs are great, briar is not the end all be all either..
Cobs, Briars, Clays, Meers, Mortas, Pear, Strawberry wood, Falcons... Smoking instruments all, each with their charms...

Hey man, don't get so caught up in.....tings....

 

[Chasing Embers]

Does preferring the corn cob pipe experience, flavor and price make me a shmuck?

Nope, I prefer them myself.

 

[olkofri]

On a serious note, flavour is a highly subjective thing. Yes, it's possible you got too used to a given instrument and now anything else tastes odd. Like drinking nothing but gin and then having tequila and going pfui!

Taste also depends on other factors besides the tool: which blend, types of tobacco, environmental factors, even cleanliness of the pipe (cake? ugh!).

You need to get acquainted with good briar pipes and get used to differences in taste, not just among pipes but also among blends. Some genres just taste better in a cob, apparently. They say that cobs are just the thing for burleys, whereas I've hear that latakia sings in a morta pipe.

Up to you: If you're content to smoke nothing but cobs and just can't stand briar, then just smoke nothing but cobs.

 

[02Knight]

I have several Cobs that I use strictly for my Aromatic tobaccos. Now for my strong flavors such as Orlik Dark Strong Kentucky, HH ODF, Peterson's Irish Flake etc. I use my briar pipes. I don't want the ghosting to occur from the aromatics in my briars, so I never smoke the aromatics in them. Now when I do find an aromatic that I fall in love with I will find one of my briars and will smoke the aros in it, and will dedicate it to that particular blend. I have yet to find one though. Perhaps one day you will find that Briar pipe that you fall in love with then your mind will change!

 

[Nhassey48]

On a serious note, flavour is a highly subjective thing. Yes, it's possible you got too used to a given instrument and now anything else tastes odd. Like drinking nothing but gin and then having tequila and going pfui!

Taste also depends on other factors besides the tool: which blend, types of tobacco, environmental factors, even cleanliness of the pipe (cake? ugh!).

You need to get acquainted with good briar pipes and get used to differences in taste, not just among pipes but also among blends. Some genres just taste better in a cob, apparently. They say that cobs are just the thing for burleys, whereas I've hear that latakia sings in a morta pipe.

Up to you: If you're content to smoke nothing but cobs and just can't stand briar, then just smoke nothing but cobs.

Yea. Just the cost of them seems like a expensive thing to try and force. Granted, I forced myself to smoke a pipe until I found blends that I actually enjoyed

 

[Misanthrope]

Nope, not a schmuck at all. The best pipe for any given person is the pipe they get on with the best, and if that's a cob, then it's a cob. I personally don't get on great with cobs, but many people prefer them over other types of pipe.

 

[Pit&Pipes]

I probably smoke my Meers most, then briars and then cobs. But in the winter I change and smoke my cobs more and then my briars. I give my meers a break during the freezing cold months since I have to smoke outside/garage.

 

[mso489]

I think I have about ten MM cobs, one Dominion cob, and about eighty other pipes, mostly briar, but one Meer, about six Mountain Laurel, one cocobolo and a clay or three. If you like cobs only, that's fine. I highly recommend the special edition MM cobs that come with acrylic stems, often about $24.99, for their durability and comfort. I tend to chew through the basic stock stems.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I do tend to take briars to work though. Cobs tend to be fragile.

 

[JMcQ]

IMO, both cobs and briars need a few smokes to get rid of that "new pipe taste".

 

[wolflarsen]

You're not doing it wrong until you start acting like those murderous corn cult kids in Children Of The Corn ... a great film based on a short story originally published in the March 1977 issue of Penthouse magazine.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Children Of The Corn ... originally published in the March 1977 issue of Penthouse magazine I might add.

I just lost so much respect for that story.

 

[mortonbriar]

Over the years I have found 'preferred' bowl materials, bowl shape, bowl size, stem materials, draft hole size, bit, tobacco moisture, tobacco blend choice/cut and packing technique all matter, but none of these things bear as much weight as the accumulation of experience. 10,000 hours. Report back when you are through.

 

[Pit&Pipes]

I do tend to take briars to work though. Cobs tend to be fragile.

View attachment 45914

Love the matching tampers!! ??

 

[Chasing Embers]

Over the years I have found 'preferred' bowl materials, bowl shape, bowl size, stem materials, draft hole size, bit, tobacco moisture, tobacco blend choice/cut and packing technique all matter, but none of these things bear as much weight as the accumulation of experience. 10,000 hours. Report back when you are through.

Does thirty years count?

 

[mortonbriar]

Does thirty years count?

I am going to give it to you this time, but for the next 30 I am sending auditors to check your daily tally.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Love the matching tampers!! ??

He is good at what he does.?