Hello all. This month I've made my 1st year of pipe smoking. Prior attempts were made in times past, but i had always just set it aside. Honestly, it was because it wasn't pleasant at all for me and not worth the trouble to figure it out. Mistakes in technique were many and my initial tobacco choices were not suited for me. After tons and tons of reading last year, as well as an immense amount of knowledge shared on this site; i gave it another attempt and finally began to enjoy the pipe.
I had a slight revelation tonight, so I thought I'd share it in an attempt to boost the morale of beginner pipe smokers who are doubting their decision to embark on this smoky journey. So with your indulgence and perhaps some patience while i attempt to make this a coherent writing, I'd like to explain my revelation and the recent circumstances and tobacco rotations that delivered it to me. Also, i hope to impart my learning curves and thoughts to other beginners. Will they be gospel? Absolutely not! Simply trial and error and what works for me, because.....that's what it takes and that's the way you need to look at it when you get discouraged or irritated with the process.
Firstly, my revelation. I've been under the weather this past week and just got back to smoking yesterday. (Just sinuses and cold; Covid negative) My recent tobacco rotations have been several varieties of DFK, Old Toby on rare occasion (An aromatic from The Country Squire), Bag End (Labeled a Scottish blend from the Country Squire), Nightcap for the Latakia (Peterson 1yr old tin), and Kingsfoil ( The Country Squire, Virginia Base with Kentucky). Due to my cold, my current tobaccos just seemed to rough, not hurting me or anything, but perhaps just to strong of taste to compliment what i've been having to eat and drink. So, i fixed myself some green tea and thought about what i was looking for. Something light, sweet but not sugary....perhaps a Virginia, yes. A tad sweet with maybe some citrus to' it, or perhaps some dark fruits tossed in. Looking through my jars i stopped on some Peterson Elizabethan. I found this weird...I'm Perique sensitive, so i generally shy away from it, but I've also learned that if kept on low heat and sipped, I get the figgy dark fruit and bread flavors from it as well as the Virginia shows up for me in little bits of low sweet and the occasional citrus. VaPer's have been somewhat hard for me the past year, I haven't particularly cared for them, but have tried and tried methods to enjoy them and try to see what others love about them. I finally do, or at least much more now. This tobacco that was acceptable but not preferred by me, maybe not even repurchased, has now became something i will cellar some additional cans. There are several practices, techniques, and simply trial and error that brought me to this juncture to where tonight this tobacco was singing for me. I'll do my best to explain them in my next points.
The first point is one that pertains to the beginner. Try different blends as you can. I know pocket books can be hit hard in the tobacco world, but good bulk blends can be found reasonably priced and high quality. Don't let the allure of fancy cans or limited editions skew the point of exploration. Simply get different blends and try them as you can, get some jars/bags and cellar them and move to another. You can always go back and revisit it for comparisons. Naturally some company blends will be far superior to another of the same blend type, so it's all experimentation. If you have a blend that works for you, great, smoke it up, but have another to sample just to break the palate on occasion. It may even enhance you preferred blend. I've attempted to get at least the basic blends and ones that somewhat highlight a particular tobacco. Like MacBaren HH Old Dark Fired to get that Dark Fired Kentucky tast, Night Cap for the Latakia hit, Plum Pudding for Balkan taste, Elizabethan for a VaPer, John Cotton Double Pressed Virgina for a grassy, citrus taste, and variations for orientals which I'm currently planning to dive a little deeper into in the coming months. My approach has been to get the basic flavors and then begin to pick them out in blends, appreciate them in their nuances, if I could pick them up, (this takes time, so do not despair) which is still a big chore for me. Read a lot of the tobacco reviews here and on tobaccoreviews.com. They will help you phenomenally with noticing what flavors could be there for you!
The next thing that helped me was tobacco packing preferences. I've tried different cuts and packing methods for each. Elizabethan is a ribbon cut. I tried the 1,2,3 method, loose, packed tight, the Frank Method, just all i could find for a ribbon cut. One way I found while reading here was a Codger scoop packed slightly with a pick ran through the middle. It worked the best for me but I've also been doing the Codger scoop and just medium packing on the top bit. The later was what i used tonight and it worked great. As you read all the knowledge in this forum; you'll find packing can cause many pains. Tongue bite due to heat, tobacco dryness, to firm, to loose, to many relights...... the list goes on. I encourage you to read and watch the videos provided in the sticky tabs on this site and explore all you can on the internet and try them out. It's the ride, the adventure and possible discovery you will need. For the different tobacco cuts i smoke I've found different packing methods for each, how often i tamp or perhaps dump ashes on some cuts where i won't for others. It's just all a big learning curve that will vary from one tobacco to the next and I hope you retain that adventurous spirit and find what's best for you.
Lastly, something to expand on from the last paragraph. Relights! As almost all on this site will tell you, DO NOT focus or worry about how many times you relight the pipe in a sitting. Only watch how hot you are getting the pipe from the relights. Like i said, it's a learning curve. Varying levels of heat brings you the blessed smoke we all are after, but excessive heat brings many pains to mouth, taste, and positive attitudes. Relight as many times as you need, if the bowl gets to hot, stop and let it cool. Try to take sips, slow down and try not to think about it. That has been a challenge for me and still very much is! You'll find some blends, cuts, tobaccos are more forgiving than others. Different drying times are required of different samples of tobaccos. If you think it's to wet, let it dry some and give it a go, maybe it'll be better and change the characteristics of your heat experience. JimInks' provides excellent reviews that generally has a sentence on how cool or not a tobacco was, so read some reviews and look for more forgiving blends that people agree on. With time your packings methods, tobacco blends and cuts will become more proficient and you'll find one day it takes less relights than it used to, but still don't overly concern yourself about it.
If you made it this far, I appreciate your time and patience. I hope I put everything into a coherent writing for you, as there is some many small things and I'm still a beginner myself. I've often wanted to post my experiences to lend a small hand to the beginners here. That's mainly because I struggled, but persevered. There is a wealth of knowledge to be learned from the members of this site; although I don't often post, I do hang in the background and read. I lean on these gentlemen quite often when seeking a better method of doing things. To sum it all up, don't give up and keep trying different things in all aspects of this new world and i know it will pay off for you.
Thank you to all the members here that reach out to help the less experienced and attempt to ease the transition into this great world of pipe smoking!
I had a slight revelation tonight, so I thought I'd share it in an attempt to boost the morale of beginner pipe smokers who are doubting their decision to embark on this smoky journey. So with your indulgence and perhaps some patience while i attempt to make this a coherent writing, I'd like to explain my revelation and the recent circumstances and tobacco rotations that delivered it to me. Also, i hope to impart my learning curves and thoughts to other beginners. Will they be gospel? Absolutely not! Simply trial and error and what works for me, because.....that's what it takes and that's the way you need to look at it when you get discouraged or irritated with the process.
Firstly, my revelation. I've been under the weather this past week and just got back to smoking yesterday. (Just sinuses and cold; Covid negative) My recent tobacco rotations have been several varieties of DFK, Old Toby on rare occasion (An aromatic from The Country Squire), Bag End (Labeled a Scottish blend from the Country Squire), Nightcap for the Latakia (Peterson 1yr old tin), and Kingsfoil ( The Country Squire, Virginia Base with Kentucky). Due to my cold, my current tobaccos just seemed to rough, not hurting me or anything, but perhaps just to strong of taste to compliment what i've been having to eat and drink. So, i fixed myself some green tea and thought about what i was looking for. Something light, sweet but not sugary....perhaps a Virginia, yes. A tad sweet with maybe some citrus to' it, or perhaps some dark fruits tossed in. Looking through my jars i stopped on some Peterson Elizabethan. I found this weird...I'm Perique sensitive, so i generally shy away from it, but I've also learned that if kept on low heat and sipped, I get the figgy dark fruit and bread flavors from it as well as the Virginia shows up for me in little bits of low sweet and the occasional citrus. VaPer's have been somewhat hard for me the past year, I haven't particularly cared for them, but have tried and tried methods to enjoy them and try to see what others love about them. I finally do, or at least much more now. This tobacco that was acceptable but not preferred by me, maybe not even repurchased, has now became something i will cellar some additional cans. There are several practices, techniques, and simply trial and error that brought me to this juncture to where tonight this tobacco was singing for me. I'll do my best to explain them in my next points.
The first point is one that pertains to the beginner. Try different blends as you can. I know pocket books can be hit hard in the tobacco world, but good bulk blends can be found reasonably priced and high quality. Don't let the allure of fancy cans or limited editions skew the point of exploration. Simply get different blends and try them as you can, get some jars/bags and cellar them and move to another. You can always go back and revisit it for comparisons. Naturally some company blends will be far superior to another of the same blend type, so it's all experimentation. If you have a blend that works for you, great, smoke it up, but have another to sample just to break the palate on occasion. It may even enhance you preferred blend. I've attempted to get at least the basic blends and ones that somewhat highlight a particular tobacco. Like MacBaren HH Old Dark Fired to get that Dark Fired Kentucky tast, Night Cap for the Latakia hit, Plum Pudding for Balkan taste, Elizabethan for a VaPer, John Cotton Double Pressed Virgina for a grassy, citrus taste, and variations for orientals which I'm currently planning to dive a little deeper into in the coming months. My approach has been to get the basic flavors and then begin to pick them out in blends, appreciate them in their nuances, if I could pick them up, (this takes time, so do not despair) which is still a big chore for me. Read a lot of the tobacco reviews here and on tobaccoreviews.com. They will help you phenomenally with noticing what flavors could be there for you!
The next thing that helped me was tobacco packing preferences. I've tried different cuts and packing methods for each. Elizabethan is a ribbon cut. I tried the 1,2,3 method, loose, packed tight, the Frank Method, just all i could find for a ribbon cut. One way I found while reading here was a Codger scoop packed slightly with a pick ran through the middle. It worked the best for me but I've also been doing the Codger scoop and just medium packing on the top bit. The later was what i used tonight and it worked great. As you read all the knowledge in this forum; you'll find packing can cause many pains. Tongue bite due to heat, tobacco dryness, to firm, to loose, to many relights...... the list goes on. I encourage you to read and watch the videos provided in the sticky tabs on this site and explore all you can on the internet and try them out. It's the ride, the adventure and possible discovery you will need. For the different tobacco cuts i smoke I've found different packing methods for each, how often i tamp or perhaps dump ashes on some cuts where i won't for others. It's just all a big learning curve that will vary from one tobacco to the next and I hope you retain that adventurous spirit and find what's best for you.
Lastly, something to expand on from the last paragraph. Relights! As almost all on this site will tell you, DO NOT focus or worry about how many times you relight the pipe in a sitting. Only watch how hot you are getting the pipe from the relights. Like i said, it's a learning curve. Varying levels of heat brings you the blessed smoke we all are after, but excessive heat brings many pains to mouth, taste, and positive attitudes. Relight as many times as you need, if the bowl gets to hot, stop and let it cool. Try to take sips, slow down and try not to think about it. That has been a challenge for me and still very much is! You'll find some blends, cuts, tobaccos are more forgiving than others. Different drying times are required of different samples of tobaccos. If you think it's to wet, let it dry some and give it a go, maybe it'll be better and change the characteristics of your heat experience. JimInks' provides excellent reviews that generally has a sentence on how cool or not a tobacco was, so read some reviews and look for more forgiving blends that people agree on. With time your packings methods, tobacco blends and cuts will become more proficient and you'll find one day it takes less relights than it used to, but still don't overly concern yourself about it.
If you made it this far, I appreciate your time and patience. I hope I put everything into a coherent writing for you, as there is some many small things and I'm still a beginner myself. I've often wanted to post my experiences to lend a small hand to the beginners here. That's mainly because I struggled, but persevered. There is a wealth of knowledge to be learned from the members of this site; although I don't often post, I do hang in the background and read. I lean on these gentlemen quite often when seeking a better method of doing things. To sum it all up, don't give up and keep trying different things in all aspects of this new world and i know it will pay off for you.
Thank you to all the members here that reach out to help the less experienced and attempt to ease the transition into this great world of pipe smoking!
