Idiot Question from a Veteran Smoker

[NightSkyFlash]

I’ve smoked a pipe for 30 years, but for some inexplicable reason, I’ve never, ever bought a tin until the Chicago Pipe Show a couple weeks ago. I’ve only ever smoked bulk tobaccos - usually Lane BCA.

But at some point, everyone grows up and starts acting like an adult doing what they should have been doing all along. In this case, that is exploring the fine world of tobacco tins.

Here’s my dumb question - should you keep this piece of waxed paper in the tin as you work your way through it? I assume it helps with maintaining humidity?

Your kind informative feedback is appreciated.

 

[krizzose]

I don’t smoke a lot in terms of volume, and I also like a lot of variety. I always put a tin into a jar when I open it, as it may take me months or even years to finish it. However, it should be fine for a up to a month in the tin assuming you don’t live in a dry climate.

 

[sablebrush52]

Keep the wrappers on. It will retard the contents drying out while you smoke the tin.

As for being content with bulks, or one main blend, why would that reflect on maturing as a pipe smoker?

I've been enjoying my pipes for over 50 years, and while I do have a number of blends that I enjoy, I've also had long periods where I smoked only one or two blends. Frankly, there are times when I wish I could go back to that simplicity and I just may do that.

 

[kcghost]

I smoke almost exclusively tinned tobacco. With open tins leave the paper in three-four weeks then transfer it to a better method of keeping the tobacco moist.

 

[blackpowderpiper]

If you think you'll smoke the tin in 3-4 weeks, I wouldn't worry about it too much. The paper insert will likely help keep the tobacco from drying out. If it will take you longer to smoke the tin, transfer the contents to a jar.

I love simplicity. I have several blends in my rotation that if that were all I had to smoke, I would have no problems.

 

[Chasing Embers]

But at some point, everyone grows up and starts acting like an adult doing what they should have been doing all along. In this case, that is exploring the fine world of tobacco tins.

How exactly is that growing up? Many tinned blends are available in bulk and 90% of pipe tobacco sales are bulk aromatics. Without those sales, the world of pipe tobacco couldn't afford to exist.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Wow, a real old time style pipe smoker! Are you lost? LOL

I get rid of anything that will retard the contents drying out. I want the tobacco to dry out. In fact, I normally open the tin and let it breathe for a week or three prior to smoking it. If it's a tin I'm only going to smoke from occasionally, I'll transfer the contents to a mason jar.

 

[NightSkyFlash]

How exactly is that growing up? Many tinned blends are available in bulk and 90% of pipe tobacco sales are bulk aromatics. Without those sales, the world of pipe tobacco couldn't afford to exist.

I have a habit of finding something I like and then failing to keep exploring. Then later, I find that I have missed out of something great due to that lack of pressing forward. Then I think, “Darn. Had I only kept going.” I think a part of maturity is a willingness to never settle, but then again, next week I may agree with @sablebrush52 and value my previous simplicity.

It’s just the phase I’m in at the moment.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I have a habit of finding something I like and then failing to keep exploring.

Nothing wrong with that! I find myself going back to things I enjoyed three decades ago that I had nearly forgotten about.

 

[RustiePyles CPG]

As others have stated, best to jar it up. But if I’m leaving it in the tin I keep all the wrappers and inserts in place.

 

[Grangerous]

Those wrappers are used to create pouches for chewing.

Others will roll their own with it.

I repurpose as coffee filters.

 

[warren]

I go through a freshly opened tin in a week, ten days at most. Drying out is never a worry. Inner paper gets tossed when I crack open a tin. It all depended on habits and how moist you want your blends.

 

[John_B]

I keep the card on top and transfer to a jar if its gonna be a while before its smoked. My jar of choice is the handy dandy jar that Doewe Egberts coffee comes in. Great seal on a jar that is literally free with my instant coffee.

 

[captpat]

I toss the inner paper when I open the tin to smoke it

 

[Green Hill Hermit]

I have a habit of finding something I like and then failing to keep exploring. Then later, I find that I have missed out of something great due to that lack of pressing forward. Then I think, “Darn. Had I only kept going.” I think a part of maturity is a willingness to never settle, but then again, next week I may agree with @sablebrush52 and value my previous simplicity.

It’s just the phase I’m in at the moment.

Give up dude, there giving you an out .

 

[username]

I always tossed it.

 

[anotherbob]

No clue. And as far as taking your time getting around to trying something new. Seems better then blowing through the whole catalog without ever really getting to know any particular blends at all.

 

[gamzultovah]

Keep the wrappers on. It will retard the contents drying out while you smoke the tin.

As for being content with bulks, or one main blend, why would that reflect on maturing as a pipe smoker?

I've been enjoying my pipes for over 50 years, and while I do have a number of blends that I enjoy, I've also had long periods where I smoked only one or two blends. Frankly, there are times when I wish I could go back to that simplicity and I just may do that.

This^

For years I only smoked 1Q and Proper English and was quite content…then I went off the rails and bought a tin of Davidoff Royalty and the long slide down the rabbit hole began. My cellar now is vast, wide and with a few exceptions, deep. But I’m still a creature of habit and find myself gravitating back to single blends, with GH & Co. Scotch Flake being my go to at the moment. As for keeping the wax paper, yes, I always keep all of the packing material intact when I decide to smoke through a tin. But as @hoosierpipeguy stated, I like my tobacco bone dry and will leave an open tin sit for months (maybe a year) as I work my way through it, with no ill effects to the tobacco that I can discern.

Back to simplicity, I can see myself heading back in that direction. I have had the great good fortune and ability to sample quite a bit of what’s out there. And the journey, while it has been fun, has made me realize that simple is not only better, but more enjoyable to me.

 

[sablebrush52]

I think a part of maturity is a willingness to never settle

That all depends on circumstances. There are plenty of times when compromise is the mature solution to an impasse.

 

[sablebrush52]

This^

For years I only smoked 1Q and Proper English and was quite content…then I went off the rails and bought a tin of Davidoff Royalty and the long slide down the rabbit hole began. My cellar now is vast, wide and with a few exceptions, deep. But I’m still a creature of habit and find myself gravitating back to single blends, with GH & Co. Scotch Flake being my go to at the moment. As for keeping the wax paper, yes, I always keep all of the packing material intact when I decide to smoke through a tin. But as @hoosierpipeguy stated, I like my tobacco bone dry and will leave an open tin sit for months (maybe a year) as I work my way through it, with no ill effects to the tobacco that I can discern.

Back to simplicity, I can see myself heading back in that direction. I have had the great good fortune and ability to sample quite a bit of what’s out there. And the journey, while it has been fun, has made me realize that simple is not only better, but more enjoyable to me.

Also, so many blends taste nearly alike. It's a very rare blend that is truly unique. At a certain point I realized that I have 15 variations of 20% gray and 20 variations of 20.1% gray. It's great for the companies that produce blends. They can take the same thing and either tin it 15 different ways, or make marginal adjustments and claim the result as something new in the world. How thin can one split that hair.