Does Anyone Layer Anymore?

[stokesdale]

It's probably obvious that I don't really read most of the threads on this forum so frankly, I don't know if anyone on here does layer tobacco in their pipes like I do a lot, but I've been layering tobacco for decades when I don't want all of one thing in a larger pipe. To be sure, to those newer pipe smokers, I'm not talking about mixing different blends/tobaccos together, I'm talking about taking two types and layering them into your bowl.

Yesterday afternoon I found a new layering that was very impressive. I put a pinch of Burley Flake #2 in the bottom of a deep bent billiard, two coins of Vanilla Roll Cake, pinch of BF #2, two more coins and so on. I ended up with four layers of BF and 3 layers of VRC. Man was it good!

I didn't feel like an entire bowl of BF #2 because its a real ball twister--great for a smaller pipe but sometimes too much for a deeper bowl, and the VRC on it's own was gonna be too sweet for an entire bowl (I had 45 minutes to kill on my porch). It was great because for about 7 or 8 minutes I'd get that ball twisting nicotine hit from the BF, then right on back of it was 7 or 8 minutes of the sweet vanilla and so on...they really went well together.

 

[coming to_falling too]

At the recommendation from another member, I'm smoking now Dark twist that has Dark Birds Eye on top. In a smaller pipe, so i couldn't layer it like you described, but i might go for a larger bowl next time and do it like you did.

 

[stokesdale]

At the recommendation from another member, I'm smoking now Dark twist that has Dark Birds Eye on top. In a smaller pipe, so i couldn't layer it like you described, but i might go for a larger bowl next time and do it like you did.

It really does take a larger pipe to do it right in my opinion, because you don't want it to just go from one to the other and be done, you want the flavor to go back and forth several times to get the full effect of the layering, if that makes any sense.

 

[coming to_falling too]

It really does take a larger pipe to do it right in my opinion, because you don't want it to just go from one to the other and be done, you want the flavor to go back and forth several times to get the full effect of the layering, if that makes any sense.

I get the concept, of course. Methinks i have some experimenting to do

 

[verporchting]

Yup, occasionally I want a parfait and have several go to recipes, or I just take a notion to try something.

I’ve got one meerschaum pipe that seems to gurgle inexplicably when smoking certain tobacco but I’ve found a layer of cube cut burley at the bottom not only reduces that problem but adds another dimension to the smoke and adds a little punch so I pretty regularly do that. Not scientific by any means but I enjoy it.

 

[anotherbob]

rarely. usually with aromatics that I feel like would go good together. And usually it's pretty close to what I imagine they'll be like. But honestly I just can't drop the feeling that I could be on the verge of ruining several good tobaccos at a time. Though even rarer I'll mix some stuff that seems wrong together. Like a little semois with EGR. Which actually was interesting. Not good or bad but interesting. Oh yeah and also sometimes I'll have not quite enough of something to fill the chamber and will top it off with something similar.

 

[BarrelProof]

What is this witchcraft you mention?

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I put about a 1/4 chamber of any OTC on my stronger perique blends, It adds a nice sweetness.. and I still get my vitamin N.

 

[mso489]

Verporch dropped the term parfait, which I've seen used before instead of layering, after dessert dishes where different flavors are layered. I've always meant to try this, just to see if I could pick up the changes. My hesitancy is just getting into the enjoyment of one flavor and having it change to something else not as good. But I may try it yet. I think a deeper, but not necessarily broad bowl would be good. By the time you get to layer three, I think there might be some flavor mixing, but I'm guessing.

 

[cshubhra]

Very occasionally I layer a very strong blend like Macbaren HH Rustica with a extremely mild aromatic like Rattray’s Exotic Passion. I get a sweet strong taste though - Not individual tastes

 

[stokesdale]

Verporch dropped the term parfait, which I've seen used before instead of layering, after dessert dishes where different flavors are layered. I've always meant to try this, just to see if I could pick up the changes. My hesitancy is just getting into the enjoyment of one flavor and having it change to something else not as good. But I may try it yet. I think a deeper, but not necessarily broad bowl would be good. By the time you get to layer three, I think there might be some flavor mixing, but I'm guessing.

I'll be honest with you, more often than not over the years I've layered and simply not gotten what I was expecting to get...so you may end up with a few bowls that you dump, but sometimes you get that one that really hits home. And, it's something different and doesn't require all of the effort of actual mixing.

 

[stokesdale]

Very occasionally I layer a very strong blend like Macbaren HH Rustica with a extremely mild aromatic like Rattray’s Exotic Passion. I get a sweet strong taste though - Not individual tastes

Sometimes you get that with a stronger aromatic...the smoke simply pulling down through the aromatic will flavor it somewhat.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

It really does take a larger pipe to do it right in my opinion, because you don't want it to just go from one to the other and be done, you want the flavor to go back and forth several times to get the full effect of the layering, if that makes any sense.

Quick, before Embers wakes up and start posting his monsters, here's mine:

Scottie Piersel commissioned "Chimney-Dog" for full flakes and "layering" - I guess I've always called them split bowls.

One of my go-tos in terms of layering (or mixing, both with great results) is a 1/4 or 1/3 of Shortcut to Mushrooms and a stronger Va/Per (IE: Cabbie's, St James, AJ's etc). Delightful!

- - -

Yup, occasionally I want a parfait and have several go to recipes, or I just take a notion to try something.

I’ve got one meerschaum pipe that seems to gurgle inexplicably when smoking certain tobacco but I’ve found a layer of cube cut burley at the bottom not only reduces that problem but adds another dimension to the smoke and adds a little punch so I pretty regularly do that. Not scientific by any means but I enjoy it.

That's a great name for them.

 

[stokesdale]

Quick, before Embers wakes up and start posting his monsters, here's mine:

Scottie Piersel commissioned "Chimney-Dog" for full flakes and "layering" - I guess I've always called them split bowls.

One of my go-tos in terms of layering (or mixing, both with great results) is a 1/4 or 1/3 of Shortcut to Mushrooms and a stronger Va/Per (IE: Cabbie's, St James, AJ's etc). Delightful!

- - -



That's a great name for them.

My freaking god man! It's huge!

 

[markus]

I do this quite often, but I usually try to use like blends or blends that will compliment each other.
Something like Carter Hall and St. Bruno, or Three Nuns and Kings Foil, or Semois and an OTC burley like CH or PA.
Although I enjoy Semois so much, that when I get to the 2nd blend, it's a bit disappointing.
Sometimes a good VaPer with a good burley works well too, For some reason I usually put the burley on the bottom though.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

My freaking god man! It's huge!

I liked the "fold-n-stuff" technique so much with some flakes, I had to try an "unfold-n-stuff".

Turns out, you need a little rubbed out on top to get things going, but yeah - an SG tin is probably 3 "bowls"? Although I've rarely loaded the pipe up to that extent.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

A variant of this that I like to do is to take two different flakes and twist them together and then stuff them into the pipe. It's not exactly the same.
Two that I do like to layer as described is an English like Black Mallory and a Virginia or VaBur like Burley and Bright. But, I enjoy more hearing what other people like to layer like this.

 

[karam]

Not layering, but I did mix Old Dark Fired with Black XX twist following @chasingembers but really didn't like it. I could taste both blends separately, it was a cacophony. Having said that, I still have a bit of Black XX, maybe I'll smoke that later today!

 

[kola]

I use small bits of Syrian latakia in my straight Virginias.

 

[stokesdale]

Not layering, but I did mix Old Dark Fired with Black XX twist following @chasingembers but really didn't like it. I could taste both blends separately, it was a cacophony. Having said that, I still have a bit of Black XX, maybe I'll smoke that later today!

To me, Old Dark Fired is like the mud on the floor of a porta john...hard for me to imagine anything good coming from layering it with anything else. There are a lot of people that like ODF for sure, but still, not sure if it could/should/would go with anything else.