Familiarty Breeds Contemp vs Variety is the Spice

[UncleRasta]

My tendency is to jump from blend to blend throughout the day. It takes an effort for me to finish an open tin (or jar) even of blends I quite enjoy, before opening something new. Sometimes it's a pattern such as Burley first thing in the morning. Va/VaPer later in the day. Latakia/Oriental at night.

I recently managed to focus on 2 blends (almost) exclusively for a few days (couldn't make it a week), and found that I enjoyed the growing familiarity.

How do other forumites feel about this? Perhaps you open a couple of tins and work them till they're done, or perhaps you jump around from blend to blend and genre to genre. I'd love to hear what and why, if you're minded to share.

 

[tschiraldi]

I tend to have 2 or 3 open at a time.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I will have 4 to 6 Virginia blends open at once that I'll finish in 2 to 3 weeks. I'll have another 10 to 12 tins of various genres I'll smoke through in a month or 3. If my mood changes, I'll open something I want to smoke. Smoking is a bit silly and frivilous, why get too structured with it?

 

[theloniousmonkfish]

More of everything! Dirt cheap bags, extinct blends, whatever is good is good and moods call for this or that. For work it's a pouch filled with whatever is on the scraps dish that morning. At home it's anything that sounds good. It was all purchased to be incinerated, I'll open any tin/tub/jar on hand.

 

[PipeIT]

My tendency is to jump from blend to blend throughout the day. It takes an effort for me to finish an open tin (or jar) even of blends I quite enjoy, before opening something new. Sometimes it's a pattern such as Burley first thing in the morning. Va/VaPer later in the day. Latakia/Oriental at night.

I recently managed to focus on 2 blends (almost) exclusively for a few days (couldn't make it a week), and found that I enjoyed the growing familiarity.

How do other forumites feel about this? Perhaps you open a couple of tins and work them till they're done, or perhaps you jump around from blend to blend and genre to genre. I'd love to hear what and why, if you're minded to share.

Life’s to short to smoke only one blend! ?

Where’s the, I’m going to smoke every blend before I die attitude! ?

 

[theloniousmonkfish]

If my mood changes, I'll open something I want to smoke. Smoking is a bit silly and frivilous, why get too structured with it?

I concur.

 

[Jacob74]

I've got 5 jars and a tub of SWRA in my ready available stock. The rest of my tobacco is my tiny (but growing) cellar. When I finish a jar of something I really like, I know that it's something that needs to get stockpiled.

 

[JLD66]

I normally have 6-8 jars of different tobaccos in my shop where I usually smoke. When I work through them I’ll change up some of them. When I’m fishing I’ll smoke the same tobacco all day, there’s no real pattern.

 

[ashdigger]

Just about the only thing I smoke back to back is Granger.

Although GH&Co American Blend Cherry Vanilla is an absolute dream.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Smoking through a tin at a time would present an organization in my life. However, enjoying a bowl should not stifle a person into finishing a tin. I prefer to hop around and grab whatever strikes my fancy. I pull from jars mostly and let tins age. Variety is very important to me and there is typically not much thought in selecting a blend either. I prefer no pressure situations when it comes to life and my pipe smoking. ️

 

[Chasing Embers]

If Willman Cowper hadn't written "The Task", what would the spice of life be? I'm voting rum.

 

[Kingsley]

I too am trying to focus on a few blends at a time, but, alas, I believe I have around 12 tins open at the moment. I need to get more jars.

 

[Jacob74]

If Willman Cowper hadn't written "The Task", what would the spice of life be? I'm voting rum.

 

[NomadOrb]

I tried doing the smoking one blend until it's done thing but I get a bit bored half way through.

I change it up as I see fit.

 

[Chasing Embers]

View attachment 60374

You sir just memed my all time favorite movie.??? "I've not yet begun to defile myself" is one of my most used quotes!?

 

[judcole]

I have a number of blends open at one time, and smoke a variety during the course of a day.

 

[seanv]

I have about 30 jars in regular rotation. Some things I only smoke occasionally like rum flake or black frigate. My regular smoking rotation is about 10 blends. I am not hard set with rules though, anything goes in my pipe smoking routine.

 

[Jwebb90]

I generally have 2-3 spots open in the rotation. As soon as I finish a tin I will bring in something new to fill it’s spot. This creates enough variety for me and at the same time really forces me to spend time with each blend.

 

[saltedplug]

I knew a guy who worked at Tinderbox who would buy a 100g tin and smoke it all the way through before buying another. Well, my smoking was hardly like that, and I'm not sure I see the reason in sticking to one blend before moving on; and what if you bought bulk? Why does the next tin always seem to suggest itself as the green in the grass along the way that you saw greener.

Who are you impressing by the discipline of a low number of blends in your rotation? No one cares. Perhaps if you are trying to fully taste a blend by a concentrated exposure to it you might only smoke one blend at a time.

But I think few of us aspire to be Jim Inks.

 

[Tennessee Dave]

More of everything! Dirt cheap bags, extinct blends, whatever is good is good and moods call for this or that. For work it's a pouch filled with whatever is on the scraps dish that morning. At home it's anything that sounds good. It was all purchased to be incinerated, I'll open any tin/tub/jar on hand.

Great avatar!