Hello Gentlemen,
I have been reading posts from this forum for a while now, and I decided to join.
I started smoking pipes again after a short, 35-year hiatus.
My first experience with pipes started in a different era, on a different continent, in a waaaay different country, where you were considered a real connoisseur if you smoked Amphora or any of the Borkum blends instead of the available 1-2 domestic brands. My favorite at that time was Amphora Red (a.k.a. Full Aroma).
I am an aromatic smoker - I don't mind if the flavor of the tobacco comes through, but I am in it mainly for the aromatic taste. For me the "American Aro Blends" are the perfect ticket.
I am also aware of the health effects of pipe smoking, but in my personal opinion pipe smoking is still a medicine if one compares it with all the other foul effects we receive in our life - the over-processed, genetically modified, artificially produced, "it-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-real-stuff" food items ("organic" and "bio-", yeah, give me a break!), the electromagnetic wave bombardment we receive from the cellphone towers that are sprouting up like mushrooms everywhere, the "miraculously" appearing viruses, bacteria and other pathogens that we have never heard of before, the brain-numbing excrement fed to us by the media, the generally accepted constant lies from our politicians, the out-of-hand "political correctness" and all the "reality shows" on TV that have nothing to do with reality at all. I guess I left out some items but everybody can fill in the blanks...
In short, I consider pipe smoking as a perfect meditational aid with more positive effects than negative ones.
My current favorite tobaccos are listed in my profile, but I can list them here, too:
- Lord Methley's from 4noggins (I think Rich is an exceptional expert with his blends - I have tasted practically all of his aromatic blends and liked them all, without exception)
- Lane's 1-Q mixed with BCA in a 50:50 ratio
- Lane' Very Cherry mixed with Black Raspberry in a 50:50 ratio
- Three Blind Moose from 4noggins (I also mixed this with BCA; 50:50 - I like it better this way)
- I also tried Stanwell Melange, Connoisseur's Choice and Molto Dolce, but found the first two too strong for my taste, so I mixed them all together - it came out as a very nice mixture!)
Soon after I picked up the pipe again, I decided to have some nostalgia and get some Amphora Red again - just to see how I find it after all these years. I found an online "store" offering Amphora Red for a good price (something like 30 bucks for 5 pouches, shipping included), so I put in an order for it. As it turned out, the package came from Israel. The weathered-looking sealed pouches appeared to be original, but the tobacco was a disappointment even before I had a smoke from it. It was dried out like a clump of very dry straw (the color and the smell was somewhat similar to straw, too...). The aroma of the tobacco was completely gone, although upon smoking some from it, it tasted like the real stuff - without any aromatic casing or topping noticeable.
As I found this tobacco to be too strong (and nothing like what I remembered from my youth - although it may be because I have tried some really tasty aros before this "nostalgia" pack...), I decided to try to flavor it instead of throwing it out.
At first try I treated it with some dark Cuban rum (the 7 years old variety for that), but after drying the aroma was way too subtle. Then I tried wetting it with some nice French brandy. I spread the tobacco out and sprayed the brandy over it until it was really moist, but not dripping wet. (Something like 3/4 of a shotglass for maybe 5 ounces of tobacco).
After some drying, I jarred it up for a couple of weeks. After opening it again, the aroma coming from the jar was promising, but when I smoked it I still found it too harsh when trying to retrohale it.
Then, I bought some BCA from 4noggins (my only supplier, by the way) and made a 50:50 mix from it and the rum/brandy flavored "Amphora Red". And, once I was at it, for good measure I also applied about 1/4 ounces of pure vanilla extract (the real stuff, not artificial flavoring). The I put the stuff in jars agan - taking it out about once a week for some airing/drying.
To make this long story shorter, I can report to you that this concoction is near perfect now - I truly enjoy smoking it. It smokes and tastes like a really nice, factory made aromatic, with a sweetish brandy and vanilla taste, and a super room note. The harshness is gone - mostly thanks to the BCA, I guess-while there is still a nicely tolerable quality tobacco taste in the background).
The next challenge is already waiting for me: I recently ordered 1 tin each of Dan Tobacco's Sweet Vanilla Honeydew, MacBaren's Vanilla Cream and some Blue Note. To my utter disappointment after reading some very positive reviews, I also found these to be very strong. I guess I was expecting milder, American style aromatics, and what I got are rather strong European style tobaccos with hardly any noticeable aromatic flavor...
I am planning to call BCA to the rescue again - hopefully it will work out well this time, too.
(And now I am not sure what to expect from the shipment that is in the mail: 1 tins each of Sutliff's Taste of Summer, CAO's Eileen's Dream, Moontrance and Cherry Bomb... What do you guys think my impression will be with these?)
Sorry for the long-winded post - I promise I will keep it shorter the next time!
Best,
Las
I have been reading posts from this forum for a while now, and I decided to join.
I started smoking pipes again after a short, 35-year hiatus.
My first experience with pipes started in a different era, on a different continent, in a waaaay different country, where you were considered a real connoisseur if you smoked Amphora or any of the Borkum blends instead of the available 1-2 domestic brands. My favorite at that time was Amphora Red (a.k.a. Full Aroma).
I am an aromatic smoker - I don't mind if the flavor of the tobacco comes through, but I am in it mainly for the aromatic taste. For me the "American Aro Blends" are the perfect ticket.
I am also aware of the health effects of pipe smoking, but in my personal opinion pipe smoking is still a medicine if one compares it with all the other foul effects we receive in our life - the over-processed, genetically modified, artificially produced, "it-has-nothing-to-do-with-the-real-stuff" food items ("organic" and "bio-", yeah, give me a break!), the electromagnetic wave bombardment we receive from the cellphone towers that are sprouting up like mushrooms everywhere, the "miraculously" appearing viruses, bacteria and other pathogens that we have never heard of before, the brain-numbing excrement fed to us by the media, the generally accepted constant lies from our politicians, the out-of-hand "political correctness" and all the "reality shows" on TV that have nothing to do with reality at all. I guess I left out some items but everybody can fill in the blanks...
In short, I consider pipe smoking as a perfect meditational aid with more positive effects than negative ones.
My current favorite tobaccos are listed in my profile, but I can list them here, too:
- Lord Methley's from 4noggins (I think Rich is an exceptional expert with his blends - I have tasted practically all of his aromatic blends and liked them all, without exception)
- Lane's 1-Q mixed with BCA in a 50:50 ratio
- Lane' Very Cherry mixed with Black Raspberry in a 50:50 ratio
- Three Blind Moose from 4noggins (I also mixed this with BCA; 50:50 - I like it better this way)
- I also tried Stanwell Melange, Connoisseur's Choice and Molto Dolce, but found the first two too strong for my taste, so I mixed them all together - it came out as a very nice mixture!)
Soon after I picked up the pipe again, I decided to have some nostalgia and get some Amphora Red again - just to see how I find it after all these years. I found an online "store" offering Amphora Red for a good price (something like 30 bucks for 5 pouches, shipping included), so I put in an order for it. As it turned out, the package came from Israel. The weathered-looking sealed pouches appeared to be original, but the tobacco was a disappointment even before I had a smoke from it. It was dried out like a clump of very dry straw (the color and the smell was somewhat similar to straw, too...). The aroma of the tobacco was completely gone, although upon smoking some from it, it tasted like the real stuff - without any aromatic casing or topping noticeable.
As I found this tobacco to be too strong (and nothing like what I remembered from my youth - although it may be because I have tried some really tasty aros before this "nostalgia" pack...), I decided to try to flavor it instead of throwing it out.
At first try I treated it with some dark Cuban rum (the 7 years old variety for that), but after drying the aroma was way too subtle. Then I tried wetting it with some nice French brandy. I spread the tobacco out and sprayed the brandy over it until it was really moist, but not dripping wet. (Something like 3/4 of a shotglass for maybe 5 ounces of tobacco).
After some drying, I jarred it up for a couple of weeks. After opening it again, the aroma coming from the jar was promising, but when I smoked it I still found it too harsh when trying to retrohale it.
Then, I bought some BCA from 4noggins (my only supplier, by the way) and made a 50:50 mix from it and the rum/brandy flavored "Amphora Red". And, once I was at it, for good measure I also applied about 1/4 ounces of pure vanilla extract (the real stuff, not artificial flavoring). The I put the stuff in jars agan - taking it out about once a week for some airing/drying.
To make this long story shorter, I can report to you that this concoction is near perfect now - I truly enjoy smoking it. It smokes and tastes like a really nice, factory made aromatic, with a sweetish brandy and vanilla taste, and a super room note. The harshness is gone - mostly thanks to the BCA, I guess-while there is still a nicely tolerable quality tobacco taste in the background).
The next challenge is already waiting for me: I recently ordered 1 tin each of Dan Tobacco's Sweet Vanilla Honeydew, MacBaren's Vanilla Cream and some Blue Note. To my utter disappointment after reading some very positive reviews, I also found these to be very strong. I guess I was expecting milder, American style aromatics, and what I got are rather strong European style tobaccos with hardly any noticeable aromatic flavor...
I am planning to call BCA to the rescue again - hopefully it will work out well this time, too.
(And now I am not sure what to expect from the shipment that is in the mail: 1 tins each of Sutliff's Taste of Summer, CAO's Eileen's Dream, Moontrance and Cherry Bomb... What do you guys think my impression will be with these?)
Sorry for the long-winded post - I promise I will keep it shorter the next time!
Best,
Las