I enjoy the learning process. Just realized the tobacco I bought might not be dry enough, after I smoked some I was gifted. It was bone dry, crumbly. Rehydrated it, but it was still drier than the other stuff I have. Best smoke I had so far, packed much more nicely, way fewer relights. (I understand it can be a difference in the tobacco to, but I'll be playing with one variable at a time)
Greetings from Romania
- Thread starter cragdhack
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This comment reminds me that Romanian is the only Latin-based Slavic language in the world (I believe). Also, it's a bit mutually intelligible with Italian. Sorry, language geek here.
Ooh, it's not slavic at all. It's a romance language, like italian and spanish.
Welcome from Oregon!
My father-in-law will be touring Romania in a few weeks, if he can still get in (I heard some countries are locking down again).
My father-in-law will be touring Romania in a few weeks, if he can still get in (I heard some countries are locking down again).
G'day and welcome from Oz.
If that Latakia Flake is your first introduction to pipe tobacco, then please don't let it turn you off pipes for life.
My first experience with Latakia was not so good. [I described the bag note of the Becks ol' Limey Bastard as 'asphalt, burnt rubber and butt'.]
It was an acquired taste for sure. Now I rather enjoy Latakia when it's used judiciously in a blend.
I've not tried RM Latakia Flake but it sounds way too strong for me. [Apart from the strong Latakia, I inhale so I choose milder blends]
If you find the Latakia is too strong, simply rub out a flake and mix it 50/50 with a straight Virginia, Burley or a mix of both. [Just the other day I smoked a bowl of Lancers Slices. Way too rich so I mixed some 50/50 with MacBaren Virginia #1 which produced a rather tasty smoke]
The one piece of advice I give to any newbie is to sample as many genres as possible.
Keep in mind that your tastes will change so do not ever throw out tobacco. Jar it. Shove it in a cupboard. In a few years time you might find you really like the stuff
[That just happened to me recently. AJs VaPer was not to my liking fresh so I jarred a pound and forgot all about it. With 3-4 years ageing it's now one of my favourite non-aromatics]
And don't be scared to ask questions. We can all look back and laugh at what WE didn't know when we first picked up a pipe.
Learning is part of the process, so the experience just keeps getting better until one packs, lights, tamps and puffs like ones on auto-pilot.
Oh, no worries there! I enjoyed it, though I think I was lucky for it to be just dry enough.If that Latakia Flake is your first introduction to pipe tobacco, then please don't let it turn you off pipes for life.
The other one I ordered, Rattray's Blossom Temptation, was a bit too moist, I reckon. I set it to dry, once am back home it'll be 16ish hours since I placed it in the pan. If it's a big improvement, I might make a post on the newbie forum section about it.
Please do.
Glad you liked the Latakia Flake.
I'm not fond of Lat-bombs or overly sweet, moist aromatics.
Two of the blends that I bought when I initially found U.S. tobacconists, was London Squire [a dry English blend that was a bit too astringent] and Mark Twain [which was too sweet and moist]
When mixed roughly 3 parts MT/1 part LS, it made a rather good 'all day' smoke.
Don't be afraid to experiment mixing a little of this with that.
Blending tobaccos like straight Virginia, Burley, Cavendish, Black Cavendish, Oriental/Turkish, Latakia and Perique, come in real handy to balance a blend to ones liking or just to experiment and have fun.
If you haven't found it already, www.tobaccoreviews.com is an excellent resource to help choose blends.
When I first started buying blends from the U.S., I really had no idea about different leaf varieties [except for Virginia, Burley and Black Cavendish] Tobacco Reviews was a huge help [JimInks reviews in-particular]
Yes, being latin based, the language isn't slavic. That was poorly worded, meant to mean that Romanian is the only Latin based language in the slavic/eastern european region.
Greetings from Colorado. My father was born in Bistritz (I've also seen it spelled Bistrita.) He was of the Siebenburger Saxon. I hope to one day visit the town. It seems Romania is doing well these days, at least compared to the days of that asshole dictator whose name I will not write.
Bistriţa is where some of my relatives live.
When you visit, climb the old church tower, for a good view. And visit the 'coffee workshop' (atelierul de cafea) for something special.
Bistritz is the german name for it. Nice to meet someone with roots similar to part of mine (romanian / german)
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