How Many Open Blends?

[MrWillow11]

I have a case of jars (12) with different blends and some other bulk stuff jarred up for aging. Everything else is safely nestled in their tins and I wanted to ask…. When do you decide to crack a new tin as opposed to smoking through your already open selection? I so badly sometimes want to crack a tin to try a blend but can’t bring myself to because I feel I don’t need so many opened and don’t want ( for posterity as well as resale/trade value) open another new one . Anyway wanted to see what the community take is lol and start a little discussion

 

[JOHN72]

I have at least 25 open tobacco jars. And I have to finish all this, before starting with new tobaccos. Or I'll go crazy.

 

[Piping Abe]

You could die tomorrow. Crack that new tin.

 

[fireground_piper]

Now that I know what I really enjoy, I've been reducing my open tins purposefully. I've been revisiting everything random I have open to smoke a bowl or two and making a decision to smoke through the jar, throw it in the garbage, or set it aside to donate.

I don't sell anything. I'll occasionally trade. Most of the time it's smoke, trash or donate.

All that said, I'm getting closer to my target. I have maybe another dozen or so to vet.

 

[MattRVA]

Don’t be like me with 200 open jars… smoke through the opened stuff before dipping into the tins.

 

[PA Piper Mike]

Currently I have about 30ish opened tins. In terms of constant rotation, about 1/2 of them. I always have a case or 2 of 8oz ball jars lying around, which it perfect for a 2oz tin of tobacco. So when I come across a blend I really want to try, I crack it and put it in the jar. The only real question you gotta ask yourself is, "how many jars do you want to have to keep?" I will admit, everyone has a limit. I'm sure you don't want to be sitting on 50+ open tins, but I think you're safe to open a few more if you're sitting at 12.

I'm with Abe on this...and unless you have a storage issue, crack it. You never know what the future holds, and on top of that, what if that blend you picked up ends up being 1 of your favorites that you could have been smoking this entire time (and stocked up on)...

 

[MrWillow11]

I have at least 25 open tobacco jars. And I have to finish all this, before starting with new tobaccos. Or I'll go crazy.

That’s what I’m saying lol I know the 12 I have is a nice variety and I’m very happy with them but I’m in that mindset where I want to try everything lmao

 

[MrWillow11]

You could die tomorrow. Crack that new tin.

Facts , smoke em if you got em right? I most likely will crack a few more lol maybe the more ready available ones in case they turn into not so ready available! And I’ll save the oldies for special occasions.

 

[MrWillow11]

Now that I know what I really enjoy, I've been reducing my open tins purposefully. I've been revisiting everything random I have open to smoke a bowl or two and making a decision to smoke through the jar, throw it in the garbage, or set it aside to donate.

I don't sell anything. I'll occasionally trade. Most of the time it's smoke, trash or donate.

All that said, I'm getting closer to my target. I have maybe another dozen or so to vet.

That’s a great approach I don’t really have any local buddies to give to but some online ones I’ve made along the way that I do and have shared with but that’s what community is about

 

[MrWillow11]

Don’t be like me with 200 open jars… smoke through the opened stuff before dipping into the tins.

200!!!!! lol yea that is wild I cannot even fathom the trouble you must have deciding what to smoke lol

 

[MrWillow11]

I

Currently I have about 30ish opened tins. In terms of constant rotation, about 1/2 of them. I always have a case or 2 of 8oz ball jars lying around, which it perfect for a 2oz tin of tobacco. So when I come across a blend I really want to try, I crack it and put it in the jar. The only real question you gotta ask yourself is, "how many jars do you want to have to keep?" I will admit, everyone has a limit. I'm sure you don't want to be sitting on 50+ open tins, but I think you're safe to open a few more if you're sitting at 12.

I'm with Abe on this...and unless you have a storage issue, crack it. You never know what the future holds, and on top of that, what if that blend you picked up ends up being 1 of your favorites that you could have been smoking this entire time (and stocked up on)...

agreed I have a few extra jars from an open case that I was using for bulk aging and a sealed case so I’ll just fill what I have I think and see how it goes from there lol

 

[fireground_piper]

That’s a great approach I don’t really have any local buddies to give to but some online ones I’ve made along the way that I do and have shared with but that’s what community is about

I donate to soldier programs. I donated a box of pipes and tobacco a few years ago to someone who ran a program to get pipes and tobacco out to deployed soldiers (lost contact with him). At the end of last year I donated a package to the free pipe project - The Free Pipe Project | The Pipery - https://thepipery.com/free-pipe-project

I'll likely do the same later this year as well as I put more things in the donate pile through the course of the year.

 

[PaulRVA]

Currently sitting on 12 open tins and 2 jars that I continually replenish and dip in to.

 

[Piping Abe]

Facts , smoke em if you got em right? I most likely will crack a few more lol maybe the more ready available ones in case they turn into not so ready available! And I’ll save the oldies for special occasions.

You can always gift/trade away some open blends so you will have less open and feel better about opening a new tin.

 

[sablebrush52]

These days I open a tin, smoke it until it’s gone. Then move onto something else. I got tired of having a bunch of jarred tins lying around.

 

[MrWillow11]

I donate to soldier programs. I donated a box of pipes and tobacco a few years ago to someone who ran a program to get pipes and tobacco out to deployed soldiers (lost contact with him). At the end of last year I donated a package to the free pipe project - The Free Pipe Project | The Pipery - https://thepipery.com/free-pipe-project

I'll likely do the same later this year as well as I put more things in the donate pile through the course of the year.

That is right up my alley ! I will check out the link thank you so much for sharing

 

[sardonicus87]

These days I open a tin, smoke it until it’s gone. Then move onto something else. I got tired of having a bunch of jarred tins lying around.

This is how I am, most especially with aromatics.

I have found most VA to be fine being open for extended periods, and English blends last the next longest, but most aros loose their luster when open too long.

I prefer everything fresh from the tin, particularly non-ODF burley. I have found, for me, that nothing improves with age as a general rule, just gets weaker in flavor or takes on a less than ideal flavor (though doesn't go stale like say, cigarettes would). But I have very few blends that are harsh and could benefit from some mellowing out.

I try to limit burley and aros to no more than 2 each open at a time, English no more than 3 open at a time, and VA no more than 4 open at one time.

Of course, regardless of genre, some things hold their flavor longer than others. Maple Shadows is an aro for example, and I've had that tin open since last November and it still tastes almost the same as when first opened, which is a shocker, never had an aro last so long open without going to crap. And don't get me wrong, that tin of MS has lost a little of it's topping since the beginning and the flavor isn't quite as strong, but it hasn't nose-dived in flavor the way other aros would have after being open for a month.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

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[Servant King]

This thread greatly speaks to me! I've had this issue ever since I snatched up a cheap "insta-cellar" off Craigslist back in the summer of 2020. Before that, the thought of cellaring never even entered my mind. To this day, I still can't precisely identify what caused me to go from one-tin-at-a-time to four dozen jarred blends and about as many sealed tins, but I'm nevertheless glad I did. It gave me a nice little springboard to start trying blends all throughout the spectrum, although this initial stash was heavily weighted toward aromatics.

Well here I am 3+ years later, with a solid arsenal of blends and blend types that I like (although these are naturally subject to change), and I've traded away a lot of the goopier aromatics that would take a blowtorch to get an ember going. I stocked up on some tins, a lot of bulk (mylar is a lifesaver), and I've whittled the four dozen down to about three dozen. Come a birthday, holiday etc., I can't resist cracking a new tin, but I think I've been pretty disciplined about it. I don't have a lot of storage space, and three dozen is overwhelming enough as it is. I'll never be one of those dudes who has two or three blends in a rotation though...I just love too many different varieties for that.

I suppose the moral of the story is, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't have done much differently. Feeling slightly overwhelmed once in a while staring at three dozen mason jars is still preferred over the feeling I think I'd have looking at a just a couple jars and wishing I had bought more variety while it was still cheaper and more readily available.

 

[warren]

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