Finding What you Really Like

[Briar Lee]

That's Donald Sutherland. I'm guessing from either the original MASH movie or Kelly's Heroes.

Now, back to the OP. I'm going to offer a counter-argument to more more more. I feel one of the issues with newer smokers is trying to absorb the giant pipe smoking learning curve all at once, or at least in a very short period of time. More isn't always better, and in this case, a great number of options is not the best route. I'd recommend a more focused method. I'd hit each category of tobacco with a single representative. A burely. An English. A straight virginia. A virginia/perique. An aromatic. et cetera. Take mental notes, if not written ones. Chances are that you'll really take to one or two of them, and as/if you do, then dive deeper into that category. Unless you have a terminal illness or plan to die soon, there's plenty of time to go back and re-visit the lesser categories, and while you develop your smoking technique and palate, you'll be more inclined to enjoy your smokes and fall in-love with the hobby with flavors that easily appeal to you. It won't be a drudge through constant experimenting with things you don't really like. Once you've found your footing, you can then likely appreciate those lesser categories on some level. Of course, it's not a mandate that you have to smoke all categories of pipe tobacco, but if your curiosity grows to outside your wheelhouse, you'll have the smoking skills and developed taste to find value elsewhere.

I think we often give really poor advice to new smokers, encouraging them to try to leap over the learning curve with too many blends, too many pipes, quick to aging and cellaring, and too many options period. Pipe smoking isn't a hare. It's a tortoise.

Here’s a tip.

I’ve been smoking a pipe fifty years, but I mastered Half and Half first.

The giant, evil, wicked American tobacco companies have sold tasty, mild, fragrant pipe blends for a century. You’d have to get up early in the morning to find a better starter blend than the Carter Hall I just bought a tub of for $28, locally.





Carter Hall tastes like Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum only it smokes in a pipe.

It’s the only tobacco anyone really needs, but of course you’ll want others after you learn to smoke a pipe.

Your best teacher how to smoke a pipe is you.

 

[makhorkasmoker]

I tried many different blends in many different genres and sub-genres before I came to this conclusion: I do not like most commercial blends.

My breakthrough came when I stopped buying blends and bought some straight blenders: a white Burley, a dark burley, several straight virginias, a Turkish, perique, etc. With a little experimentation, I soon had a much clearer idea of what I liked, and what I didn't. I also understood that I didn't like most commercial blends simply because the basic components/proportions I prefer seem to be rarely offered in commercial blends. Suddenly the list of blends I wanted to try became much shorter, allowing me to focus on those.

 

[sablebrush52]

Capitals! See Rule 9, please. Edited for brevity.

Original: "How many blends did you try before you found what you really liked?"

I’m new to pipe smoking, my father pre-inherited me a nice collection of pipes that haven’t seen service in close to 50yrs. I remember him smoking pipes frequently when I was a boy in the seventies. I’ve got them refurbished, and between those and a couple cobs I picked up have been smoking for the past six weeks.
I’m curious how long it took y’all to find your groove on tobacco preference? I’ve bought quite a bit of 2oz blends to try and am leaning towards English/VaPers but I think I mentally lean that way from the learning curve of not having the hang of smoking/packing aros worth a darn.
What’s annoying is I’ll think I really like something after a bowl, then a couple days later not so much.
It’s getting better, I’ve found mixing in some Lane Black Rasperry or Sutliff Sunset Rum into leftovers of straight tobacco blends I’ve picked up at least lets them not go to waste (I mixed a tin of Barbados plantation into a few ounces of Haunted Bookshop my buddy gave me and that’s pretty good). Maybe non-cough syrup burley/cavendish aromatics are a direction to explore.

Am I doomed to just buying a ton of different small amounts for a long while and hope to hit on “the one” or is the never ending search the gist of the hobby?

I just don’t wanna go broke getting buried in little bunches of bulks hoping to figure it out.

Maybe my palate and technique need refining before I sweat it too much…

Wow, that’s a wandering post, but I’m gonna hit “post thread” anyway.

Cheers!

Welcome!
Something to remember is that your tastes are going to change, so don't be surprised that a particular blend, or some genre of blend, wears out its welcome. That's very common. And it's also common that you come back to that genre after a break. I used to smoke a few aromatics, and full English/Balkan blends. Now, it's 95% Virginias and their variants like Virginia/Perique, Virginia/Oriental, Va/Per/Bur, etc. Occasionally I'll smoke a semi ariomatic, or an English with a very mild Latakia presence.
Think of it all as a voyage of discovery and go with it. Some people do find their "the one". Most of us like variety. I've been smoking pipes for over 50 years and continue to discover new blends and more about smoking them.

 

[Briar Lee]

One other benefit of American over the counter blends, that cannot be discussed in advertisements today.

Young girls like a young man who smokes a pipe loaded with them.

People do not change.

So if you are on the chubby side, wear bow ties, and favor print sweaters and comic books, better get some pipe appeal.



They couldn’t have said it unless it was true, could they?

 

[sablebrush52]

One other benefit of American over the counter blends, that cannot be discussed in advertisements today.

Young girls like a young man who smokes a pipe loaded with them.

People do not change.

So if you are on the chubby side, wear bow ties, and favor print sweaters and comic books, better get some pipe appeal.

View attachment 194305

They couldn’t have said it unless it was true, could they?

They might be saying PA means pipe appeal, but what they're selling is PA means pussy appeal.

 

[motorjon68]

I too am new to this and ponder the vast number of offerings. I’ve bought some codger brands and some tins that were available at local shops. Bless the inter webs and the ability to check out reviews. I look at it like my exploration of Scotch. Having a sweet tooth and liking bourbon, I went along that path. Now I love a Lagavulin 16 on a cold evening. But I had to ‘arrive’ at that point. In the meantime, my wife thinks I’m insane for having pipes and tobacco all over our medicine closet.

 

[Ray Popp]

No one has suggested this ... but go to a B&M and check out what they have on the counter.

 

[Sobrbiker]

No one has suggested this ... but go to a B&M and check out what they have on the counter.

I’d love to, but alas the greater Phx AZ area doesn't have the tobacconists it once had.
When I was young (seventies) every mall had a Stag Tobacconist and a Tinder Box, or at least one or the other.
Now we have cigar shops (very few that have much for pipe tobacco), cigarette shop, vape shops, hookah shops, and weed shops.
There’s one Stag left in Scottsdale, but I haven’t made it there yet.
Been smoking since thanksgiving and have ordered multiple times from P&C, MM, Tobacco Pipes, and 4noggins already.

I’ve begun buying bulks and mixing, and broadening my tin purchase.
Heck, I’m impatiently awaiting a tin of War Horse Green, Connoissiuer’s Choice, EMP, and more….

 

[Brendan]

@Oddball I've hesitated to ask, because I don't want to be impolite or rude... but is that a picture of yourself in your avatar? I mean, if you were born that way or recovering from some terrible accident... I totally understand, and it looks painful. Do you need help?

There he goes again, coming in with those negative waves man

 

[Egg Shen]

And the

Here’s a tip.

I’ve been smoking a pipe fifty years, but I mastered Half and Half first.

The giant, evil, wicked American tobacco companies have sold tasty, mild, fragrant pipe blends for a century. You’d have to get up early in the morning to find a better starter blend than the Carter Hall I just bought a tub of for $28, locally.

View attachment 194301View attachment 194302
View attachment 194303


Carter Hall tastes like Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum only it smokes in a pipe.

It’s the only tobacco anyone really needs, but of course you’ll want others after you learn to smoke a pipe.

Your best teacher how to smoke a pipe is you.

…and unlike Juicy Fruit the flavor last more than 3 minutes!

I’d love to, but alas the greater Phx AZ area doesn't have the tobacconists it once had.
When I was young (seventies) every mall had a Stag Tobacconist and a Tinder Box, or at least one or the other.
Now we have cigar shops (very few that have much for pipe tobacco), cigarette shop, vape shops, hookah shops, and weed shops.
There’s one Stag left in Scottsdale, but I haven’t made it there yet.
Been smoking since thanksgiving and have ordered multiple times from P&C, MM, Tobacco Pipes, and 4noggins already.

I’ve begun buying bulks and mixing, and broadening my tin purchase.
Heck, I’m impatiently awaiting a tin of War Horse Green, Connoissiuer’s Choice, EMP, and more….

The Stag in Scottsdale was great but I haven’t been in 25 years so who knows now. May as well check it out. They had a cool matchbook design with mesoamerican art, some Aztec dude smoking a cigar or something.

 

[Jef]

I like 1Q alot. I have been smoking it for about 4yrs now. However, I buy an ounce of another tobacco on most orders that I make just to try. Seems cavendishes are my favorites. Haven't found anything that I enjoy as much as 1Q yet.
My next adventure is to try cavendishes from other blenders.
jef

 

[sparker69]

Capitals! See Rule 9, please. Edited for brevity.

Original: "How many blends did you try before you found what you really liked?"


What’s annoying is I’ll think I really like something after a bowl, then a couple days later not so much.

I've only been smoking the pipe for a few years now, after years of cigar smoking. And I think what really hit me with pipe tobacco is the almost endless amount of blends. When I first started, I tended, to aim for certain styles/tobaccos so I could develop my taste - straight Virginia, orientals, Latakia, etc., to be able to pick them out in blends later on. That, I think is the first challenge.
As to the changing tastes - I've noticed that too. But I think that is part of smoking different tobaccos - ie. the same one over a period of time. Each time is a different pack, a different pipe, maybe some more age on the tobacco; just so many variables involved. The one that comes to mind for me is Cairo - one day - a sublime smoke, full of sweet and sour, raisin, figs, spice, and then another day, like an old cigarette. What was the difference? I'm not sure. But it's interesting to see that the tobacco can bring something different to the table each time.
There is a joy of exploring - there is so much to try. But I think as well that over time, you'll just naturally gravitate towards certain tobaccos without thinking too much about it.

 

[Seeleybc1]

I feel like your question is the essence of the hobby.

My list of "Favorites" is an ever-evolving list. But in the end, there are only three types of tobacco blends:
1. Blends I will buy and smoke
2. Blends I will smoke if you buy it
3. Blends I am not going to smoke

Once you find a blend that ticks all the right boxes, that can be your blend, and you can call it good. But if you decide to quest for tobacco nirvana, go ahead and clear off a shelf and apologize to your wallet and join us!

this is the exact way I feel about finding the perfect knife, the perfect rifle….
I can now see how people get into pipes and search their whole lives….never fully satisfied…
and certainly with tobaccos…I’m not there yet though, having too much fun with the pipes and figuring out how to smoke them lol

 

[OSOBUCO]

try samples of everything you can get your hands on. Variety is the spice of life!

 

[Sobrbiker]

this is the exact way I feel about finding the perfect knife, the perfect rifle….
I can now see how people get into pipes and search their whole lives….never fully satisfied…
and certainly with tobaccos…I’m not there yet though, having too much fun with the pipes and figuring out how to smoke them lol

Good analogy, I was explaining my excitement at my newfound aromatic mixture to my wife (1Q, Windsor 805 and Sunset Rum) to my wife, because I think I have a go-to aro now. She said “yeah, like you’ve found one caliber rifle…”

 

[Seeleybc1]

Good analogy, I was explaining my excitement at my newfound aromatic mixture to my wife (1Q, Windsor 805 and Sunset Rum) to my wife, because I think I have a go-to aro now. She said “yeah, like you’ve found one caliber rifle…”

LOLLLLL!!!! thats exactly right haha

 

[Ray Popp]

try samples of everything you can get your hands on. Variety is the spice of life!

This does not hold true for women ...

 

[ssjones]

Am I doomed to just buying a ton of different small amounts for a long while and hope to hit on “the one” or is the never ending search the gist of the hobby?

I just don’t wanna go broke getting buried in little bunches of bulks hoping to figure it out.

Unfortunately, yes - unless you find a local pipe club, members often bring blends from their collection to try out.
I did that with forum member lestrout. I counldn't find my blend, but after multiple meet-ups, Les introduced me to My Mixture 965 and that was it for me.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

I tried an exhausting amount of tobacco before I found what I liked. Unfortunately I got a lot of bad advice at some point and it threw me off. I was told repeatedly to "stay away from OTC/codger blends" come to find out thats what I like the most.

 

[FLDRD]

I find my new favorite just about every other new tin I open...
I thought I was trying to find my favorite, or a favorite few, but now I'm not certain of that.
I enjoy variety, and feel that for me, the varying of blends / flavors helps to prevent a kind of palate fatigue that would diminish my overall appreciation.
IOW, it seems for me that variability helps keep everything exciting, fresh and lively so I go with the flow.
If last weeks favorite isn't cutting it anymore, that's ok, I'll get back around to it.
6 or 8 weeks ago, MacBarens Mixture Scottish was "it", but well into my 2nd tin it lost most all of its flavor profile to me. A couple weeks without and it stands out again as a nice bowl.
In the meantime, I worked on some other open blends, opened some Plum Pudding, and gotten my hands on F&T Blackjack and found I enjoy both, a lot.
I like having so much quality to choose from.