Home Sweet Home

[pstlpkr]

Hey Guys,

Birmingham0irish posted a new blog.

Raymond has described The Briary in loving detail.

Kevin said it would be his "home away from home".

To us locals it really is.

And most of us have been loyal customers and friends for years.

I know The Briary doesn't actually qualify as a pipe club but it is "near and dear" to us who call it our home.
I thought it would be cool if you guys could tell us about your "local" shops.

Here is the link to Raymond's post:

Due Dilligence

 

[admin]

Sadly, and perhaps ironically, I am lacking a standout local shop in St. Petersburg that caters to pipe smokers.
I do have Central Cigars, which is a beautiful, richly appointed cigar lounge with full liquor bar, billiards and tons of cigars, but no pipes or pipe smokers. I can walk there in five minutes.
There is also Edwards Pipe & Tobacco, which does cater to cigar and pipe smokers alike. However, that is a drive across the bay to Tampa with a small seating area.
There is also a shop in St. Pete, but I have only seen cigar smokers there, and it too has a very small area to sit and smoke. It's more of a store, and not so much a lounge.

 

[admin]

If they did a radio or TV ad for The Briary, they could use "Sweet Home Alabama" as the jingle.

 

[hobie1dog]

I hope to make it down there one day with a pocketfull of cash and have a field day saying, "I'll take some of that too" about 20 times.
Thanks for the link, that was fun to read.

 

[pstlpkr]

That would be cool Marty.

Let me know when you head this way, we'll put some dents in those comfy chairs.

 

[cortezattic]

re. Due Dilligence
That was a great blog post! Not only a personal, if virtual, tour of the premises, but an exciting 1st person account of the contest. You wouldn't think something so absorbing could be written about a pipe smoking duration contest.
Now, spare me from wading through the UPCA official rules and please explain why one marks the yellow paper with his tamper.

 

[pstlpkr]

Now, spare me from wading through the UPCA official rules and please explain why one marks the yellow paper with his tamper.

I can answer that for you.
If you dump your ash from the pipe, during the competition, and some unburned tobacco falls from the pipe, you are not permitted to put it back into the bowl.

One can remove the "white" ash from the bowl because it will adhere to the tamper.

You simply wipe/mark the paper with the tamper, thus cleaning it, removing unwanted ash, and you don't lose any unburned tobacco. Believe me... a couple a pieces of tobacco can cost you valuable combustion material thus duration, just as not removing the "white ash" can become problematic in the later stages of the competition, by inhibiting your ability to control the temperature and airflow again costing you valuable time. This is one very valuable tip I picked up from Raymond.

 

[hobie1dog]

So, you can lick your tamper to get the ashes to cling to the tamper better?