A shape that has a hole in one end to put tobacco, and a hole in the other end to draw the smoke from. Most excellent combination for English blends I have ever found.
Best Pipe Shape For Lat Blends
- Thread starter tarak
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Well said chasingembers. I do find a wider diameter is good. That said, I find billiards, pots, and bulldogs great for English, not because they do anything special, but because I like the aesthetic.
What chasing said, with a few caveats, such that the material has to be briar, or meerschaum or corn cob..... I am not a fan of pots at all, but so what?
I smoke English blends in everything but a pot!
Enjoy!
I smoke English blends in everything but a pot!
Enjoy!
I get the MOST flavour from a Lat blend (flakes usually but rubbed) from a tiny French made Jeantet bent billiard. It even makes medium body lat blends taste really FULL. It is my favorite pipe to smoke Gaslight and Quiet Nights and as others have noted, shallow bowls with wider bowls really tame the lat blends and make them more nuanced.
Cheers,
Chris :puffpipe:
Cheers,
Chris :puffpipe:
It's amazing how varied opinions can be. Thus, the best Lat pipe is the one that you love smoking Latakia in.
It is more important to dedicate a pipe to flakes, or Va to keep the Latakia out.
English however, I can load into anything of med to large size. Some pipes have advantages over others, but this is an ongoing experiment. I usually buy pipes that I see myself smoking and enjoying immensely.
English however, I can load into anything of med to large size. Some pipes have advantages over others, but this is an ongoing experiment. I usually buy pipes that I see myself smoking and enjoying immensely.
For ribbon cut I find that a Pot or Billiard shape works nice. For flakes a Dublin or a Billiard.
It's not the Latakia, it's the number of constituent tobaccos that make a wide bowl especially good, for me. A simpler Lat blend does fine in a standard diameter bowl with average depth. When you have a blend with four or more tobaccos, including two or more Virginias or burleys, or any other four or more blend, a wider bowl gets more different leaf burning at once, and that seems to make the flavors meld and complement each other better. This may all be psychology or superstition, but I definitely notice more interest in the flavors with a complex blend in a wider bowl.
Sorry to bring up a stale thread. This is a topic I've been thinking on lately. A narrower bowl may have a tendency to burn hotter than a wider bowl when puffed because there will be more of a 'fanning' effect from the same volume of air (a mouthful) being sucked through a more narrow opening. This may necessitate more cautious smoking.
Another consideration is how the pipe draws smoke into your mouth. Different parts of your tongue percieve different tastes.(i usually taste sweet things best on the tip of my tongue, bitter on the back of the mouth, etc). Where the stem deposits smoke onto your tongue then can really influence the taste of the smoke. I found that pipes with a bent stem, or a downward canted bowl usually concentrate smoke on the middle of my tongue. this can really bring out a LOT of sour taste to me that would not really be noticed in a straight stem pipe which puts the smoke on the tip of my tongue. Much sweeter tasting with the sours still present but not dominating. I don't know if this will be the same for everyone, but it's what I've noticed.
Another consideration is how the pipe draws smoke into your mouth. Different parts of your tongue percieve different tastes.(i usually taste sweet things best on the tip of my tongue, bitter on the back of the mouth, etc). Where the stem deposits smoke onto your tongue then can really influence the taste of the smoke. I found that pipes with a bent stem, or a downward canted bowl usually concentrate smoke on the middle of my tongue. this can really bring out a LOT of sour taste to me that would not really be noticed in a straight stem pipe which puts the smoke on the tip of my tongue. Much sweeter tasting with the sours still present but not dominating. I don't know if this will be the same for everyone, but it's what I've noticed.
Very interesting thread. I’ve found the more complex-wider bowl ideaology to hold true for me, at least in my limited experience. I have never considered how/where the draw would land on the tongue though. I always assumed the smoke would just disperse throughout your mouth regardless of stem/draw or location of the stem in one’s mouth. I’ll have to pay attention to where the stem is in my mouth to see if it changes the flavour. Thanks!
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