Inducing Myself and Big Order!!!

[dylanstaton2]

Hi everybody so after doing some research and being a cigarette smoker for 8 years I decided to pick up the pipe! It caught my attention when I was walking through the park and I smelt someone smoking their pipe. It smelt delicious and even my feance who does not smoke and complains how my cigarettes smell when I smoke then said it smelt good. So we got to talking and I decided to do a little research on it. It seems like a way better way to go on the money aspect of things which is a big plus. But what got me the most was the experimenting with different blends and pipes. So I placed an order online at pipesandcigars.com. After doing research I was trying to decide on getting a claw meershuem and a brair pipe. I know you shouldn't smoke brair pipes from pipe after pipe after pipe so I was going to get the meershuem for in between and plus they look cool! But after debating I decided to go with the old trusty MM corn cob. I ordered two first one was a straight diplomat and the other a county gentalman. I got these because I didn't want to buy a 150 dollar pipe and somehow mess up with it and ruin it so I got a couple cheap corncobs but heard a lot of good things from MM. Plus I wanted to try a bunch of different tobacco. So this is what I ordered for tobacco. 4oz dunhil early morning, 4oz dunhil nightcap, 2 2oz tins of HH blockhouse, 2oz of eggnog, 2 2oz tins Boston 1776, 2oz SG full Virginia flake, 2 2oz tins frogmortin cellar, and a sampler from lane tobaccos of 5 2oz bags. My order will be hear tomorrow and I will post back then and let you know how it gos!!!!
Welcome to the Forum! Fixed thread title, please see rule number 9. Pertinent portion: Please capitalize words in the thread titles. Thank you, Robert.

 

[ltstone]

Wow, I must say I think your off to a great start! That is a great all round variety of tobacco and those cobs are great too. I'd love to hear how it goes, be sure to post your experience.

 

[averagegent]

Congrats, a well-informed, good start! Dunhill's Early Morning Pipe was one of my first tobaccos, and one that I now love to smoke on summer mornings with a light coffee... *Cue a warm fuzzy feeling!* SG Full Virginia Flake is another beauty, and make sure you enjoy the Frog Morton Cellar because I can't buy that over here in the UK and am dying of jealousy atm! :wink: Enjoy yourself and keep us updated!

 

[dylanstaton2]

Yah I can't wait I've done a lot of looking around for different blends and the aromatics do seem good I waited some good Virginas to cellar for years to come. I've read that Virginas are one of the best to cellar. I really wanted to pick up some Christmas cheer 2015 but it seems to be out of stock everywhere. Next year I'm deff going to pick up some Christmas cheer 2016 though. But next thing on the list is either a stanwell or a Peterson. Both have great reviews will just have to see which company's had the right brair for me

 

[gtrhtr]

I think trying out a selection of blends and aro's is a good idea to start off. Soon you'll realized that blends are the way to go! :: Just kidding. Trying out moderate versions of each will help you focus your discovery process to both or between the two. Good luck!

 

[echie]

Welcome! It's indeed a nice selection. When I started smoking pipes I ordered a huge amount of samplers (like, 50 of them). Helped me understand my tastes - though I probably could do with a selection half that size. I guess I was just enthusiastic
Enjoy, and let us know the results of your sampling!

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Welcome to the forum.

It sounds like you're off to a good start Dylan.
As much as the excitement of trying new blends is warranted, I should suggest a bit of caution though, people new to pipes tend to take a while to adjust. Just make sure to temper your expectations a bit.

I don't have any experience with other kinds of tobacco products so I can't say what you should really expect, but I will say that this is mostly an art of subtlety. When you think of what to expect from a bowl, think hot, lightly flavoured tea, not Mountain Dew. Both in flavour and how you treat it with respect. The idea of "chugging" through a bowl of tobacco will burn you, it needs to be sipped lightly.

But I'm sure you've already read that. Just make sure to pay attention if your mouth is getting sore, take the hint and dial back your puffing cadence and maybe take a few days off if you manage to really cook your tongue at first like I did.

 

[dylanstaton2]

Yah thanks for the advice that was one thing I was worried about was smoking the bowl to fast and biting the bowl making it taste gross or getting touge bite. I will just have to find that middle ground and enjoy my tobacco instead of needing to as I was with a cigarettes. But that was also another reason I wanted to switch. I didn't feel like I was enjoying my cigarette anymore and was more of a chore. I think this may change it.

 

[dylanstaton2]

Does anyone know where to find xmas cheer or is that out of season? I'll like to pick up a few tins to cellar and smoke one

 

[prairiedruid]

Xmas Cheer sold out several months ago. Sometimes Pipestud has some aged tins for sale on his site (pipestud.com) but they sellout fast.
Welcome to the forum; it looks like you're off to a great start. It will take some time to find a packing method and a pace to smoking that works best for you so don't get discouraged if things don't go perfect right off the bat. A bottle of Biotene is handy for starting out; it helped sooth my tongue after some over eager smoking my first several times. I find it helpful to have a beverage like tea or lemonade to sip on while I smoke.

 

[cigrmaster]

Welcome to the forum. One of the blends you chose is Samuel Gawith Full Virginia Flake. A flake tobacco is a very different animal when it comes to smoking and loading your pipe. FVF is one of the most finicky of flakes so you will need to do some research. I am a big fan of FVF and smoke it often. I get the best results from drying it out for a while after I have cube cut it into small cubes. It can take a good 1.5 hours depending on how wet it came to you. I pack my cube cut flakes a bit firmly so they will burn consistently and not go out every ten seconds. When done right, FVF is one of the finest smokes out there and is regarded as one of the best Virginia flakes on the market.

 

[dylanstaton2]

Yah I thought that the flake may be a problem that's one of the reasons I got it in bulk form so that way I can practice. I did do some research on flake and found cutting it into cubes looked like the way to go. Also heard lots of good stuff about that blend. I'm a really fast learner because I do challenge myself when things like this. I need to do it to learn and that's why I ordered it

 

[dylanstaton2]

Just got my order in a couple hours ago. I must say that smoking a pipe is a lot more harsh then smoking a cig. I have only tried the lane iq so far and wasn't a big fan of that blend. It could have been I was packing right but I'd either get way to big of a hi of it would be out

 

[hawky454]

Man, you sure have done your homework! You're on the right path, think you will definitely enjoy most if not all of those tobaccos you bought and you did good by going with a cob. I always tell people to start out with a cob, that way if they don't end up liking it they haven't lost a large sum on briar or Meerschaum.

Welcome aboard and good luck to ya!
p.s. I agree with cigarmaster that cube cutting your Full Virginia Flake is the best method and don't give up after one or two bowls... it took me a long time to figure out that flake but it's well worth the patience and effort you put into it.
edit- Just saw your post above... Ya must give it some time, this isn't going to give you instant gratification, you may learn fast but don't let that make you impatient. 1Q is one of the more mild blends out there, so you must be really puffing hard and/or packing too tight. I suggest you try one of the English blends you ordered, it will give you a full flavor and that might be a bit more rewarding for you.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

If you haven't yet, watch these (Frank Method videos 1-3).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJP0JaNRw6Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9U5QbtyNxhA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMtHOAiO8CI
I love watching this guy for his personality as much as anything.
I still believe that "proper packing" is a very loose concept. If the tobacco is burning you're doing good.

That said, the Frank Method is good to try, it teaches some useful concepts. What Frank taught me that I've stuck with over the last two years is "the package", grabbing a bowl's worth of tobacco all at once and sort of shuffling it into your pipe. Basically my aim in doing so is to compress the tobacco horizontally rather than vertically. It can be a bit messy. I don't bother with putting tobacco in the bottom either, it works fine if you start with an empty bowl.
The only thing I know for sure about lighting is that you need a layer of ash on top before the tobacco will keep smoldering for more than a minute or two. Normally a pipe won't stay lit on the first try (unless you use way too much heat, which tastes awful. I tried using a propane torch a few weeks ago and it was truly horrible).

 

[dylanstaton2]

Yah I haven't tried the SG yet I've tried a couple different blends though. I don't really like the early morning pipe. It may have been the way I packed it but it didn't stay lit and was really harsh.

 

[dylanstaton2]

How to you post pictures

 

[jpmcwjr]

This is just one way to add photos to your post:
To get photos to load quickly and show in the post, you first have to upload the photo to this site.

1.) Login

2.) Go to My Account (may have hit Home button first) and mouse down to Album.

3.) Choose Upload Picture (navigate to photo you've given a sensible name to), be sure to then hit Upload.

4.) Go back to Album, click on thumbnail to open full size image. Right click (Windows); Control Click (Mac) and copy the URL, then paste same in desired thread, using the IMG tag in the compose window.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Just got my order in a couple hours ago. I must say that smoking a pipe is a lot more harsh then smoking a cig. I have only tried the lane iq so far and wasn't a big fan of that blend. It could have been I was packing right but I'd either get way to big of a hi of it would be out

While packing or loading a pipe is not unimportant, many blends are shipped too moist to get a nice smoke. Try drying the tobacco down significantly before loading. Good luck!

 

[dylanstaton2]

Yah it seemed like a really potent blend to. It was really strong. I liked most of the lane unlimited tobacco I have gotten this far though and all are aromatic. I haven't opened any of the tins yet. I plan on opened one of each eventually and saving one to age for a year or so or sell if I don't like them