Certain bowl shapes for diff tobaccos?

[twss]

Do you have any personal rules about which tobacco you smoke in which shaped bowls? I have heard people say smaller bowls for virginias and bigger for aroes. What do you think?

 

[unclearthur]

It all depends on my mood. Though I generally tend to smoke some of the more potent blends in smaller bowls.

 

[cortezattic]

With me it's a matter of how much flavor the tobacco has. So a wide bowl diameter is like running at full throttle,

and a narrow bowl more "held back" (like for sharp Virginia's). Maybe it's a matter of how much tobacco is burning

at one time, or how much oxygen is being sucked in while puffin'. ...or maybe I'm just kidding myself! :crazy:
I think Greg Pease blogged about this a long time ago. I'll have to look it up.

.

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OK, I found it in Pease's Briar Leaf Chronicles, Matching Pipes And Tobaccos (Part 1 of 2)

 

[bubbadreier]

The only thing that decides bowl shape and size for me is how much of kick I get from the Big N... The more N the smaller the bowl!

 

[marmal4de]

I have always smoked anything in anything!

 

[papipeguy]

Thanks for the Pease articles, Cortez. Like many pipers, I never really considered which of my pipes works best with a specific blend or tobacco type. Much to think about, must engage brain. Ouch!

 

[cortezattic]

I'm pretty much like marmal4de: smoke whatever pipe is up next; but most of my pipes are bulldogs with a .75" dia.
But I do have 2 very big diameter Sasieni pipes, and I noticed the difference. Va. flakes were overwhelming, but mild stuff like P.A. worked OK. To me the big pipes deliver more flavor/smoke volume, but not necessarily better flavor.

 

[yoru]

I use bowls the size of three pieces of the flake for flakes, whatever size that may be.
Otherwise the bowl is reflective of the amount of time I plan on smoking.

 

[python]

Like the others have said; the size of the bowl is not really a determining factor in what I choose to smoke in it. However, I do tend to smoke Latakia blends in larger diameter bowls.
Something else to keep in mind is that blends will taste differently, and sometimes better, in some pipes than they do in other pipes.
Here is a good blog post that was written by one of our members here, Sinistertopiary, about that:
With This Flame I Thee Wed

 

[marmal4de]

Hey Bob, thanks for linking that stellar article, it was a riveting read.

 

[jimbo]

It may be getting "too technical", but chamber diameter and depth mean little when the bowl has a sharp TAPER (bulldogs, Kirstens, etc.).
Also, a tall, narrow "stack" will smoke/taste differently than a squatty pot, even tho' they have the same tobacco volume.
Add these variables to the variations in tobaccos and in packing and you are trying to solve a formula that would confound Einstein. :D