Just a Couple Beginner Questions...

[rushx9]

I also find english/balkan blends sublime with coffee, but I find them sublime anytime with anything, haha.

Caught me before the edit! +1 on all day Balkans!

 

[bnichols23]

I also find english/balkan blends sublime with coffee, but I find them sublime anytime with anything, haha.

Frank, you're a nut.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Frank, you're a nut.

I accept that.

 

[subsalac]

1. I tend to get a chemical-type burning in my mouth quite often. With really any blend. Sometimes I have to have warm water to rinse my mouth with during smoking. Its not a temperature burn -- its like a hotness from a pepper. Anyone else have this ever?

So this could be several things. I get really bad bite or just a ... chemistry disagreement from all things MacBaren and Sutliff that I've encountered. I think the two are related as well(someone correct me if I'm wrong). There's the phenomenon of tongue bite, which could be heat combined with moisture, and then sometimes it also colludes with the third possibility-- baccy "juice". If you've ever had a smoke get wet enough that you suck a droplet of tobacco juice onto your tongue, you'll know that it can be very 'spicy' and tingly. Whether its additives or tobacco juice or hot steam or a combination is hard to say, but I think if you reduce as many of these variables as possible you'll have a better experience. Smoke tobacco which agrees with you, smoke slower, pack carefully, run a cleaner down when you notice moisture. These 4 things combined will minimize these unpleasant sensations.

2. Is there any real benefit to briar pipes over cobs? So far Ive only had cobs. From the bit I've read, it seems the main benefit of briars over cobs is perhaps longevity? No taste/smell benefit right?

I'm a big cob smoker I suppose out of necessity even though I do like the pipe itself. If I had unlimited funds I suspect I would mostly smoke briars simply for one reason: The bottom of the bowl. Cobs have one true flaw for me in that they have the wooden insert, which gives you an acrid burning taste when the cherry reaches the non-cob parts of the cob. I wish MM made cobs with the cheapest scrap briar inserts and charged a few bucks more, that'd be the dream for me. I personally put very low value on aesthetics(partly due to necessity as well), but for people where how a pipe looks, they generally prefer briar which can show off artisan elements. Cobs are mostly.... corn, wood, and plastic. :D

3. Are tinned tobaccos generally better than bulks?

Purely personal preference. There's something to be said for the fact that most bulk aromatic mass-produced pipe tobacco will be lower quality tobacco, it can't be high quality tobacco and be mass produced, there's just not enough creme de la creme leaf out there to make that much whiskey cavendish, heh. But I'm sure there are blends that are identical to the high quality tin contents out there. The main value of the tin is that it's hermetically sealed(hopefully-- tins have been known to leak sometimes for various reasons), which is great for aging.

4. I got a bulk ounce of haunted bookshelf the other day. Tasted great other than an odd "old cheese" smell. I dont men a perique type smell, but like if you had a scratch and sniff of a "bad cheese" scent...its that kind. Think this is just the blend, or perhaps its gone bad?

I can't offer much here since I've never had bookshop personally, dying to try it-- but as a fan of runny french style cheese, one man's bad cheese smell is another man's good cheese smell.

 

[mikefu]

So this could be several things. I get really bad bite or just a ... chemistry disagreement from all things MacBaren and Sutliff that I've encountered. I think the two are related as well(someone correct me if I'm wrong). There's the phenomenon of tongue bite, which could be heat combined with moisture, and then sometimes it also colludes with the third possibility-- baccy "juice". If you've ever had a smoke get wet enough that you suck a droplet of tobacco juice onto your tongue, you'll know that it can be very 'spicy' and tingly. Whether its additives or tobacco juice or hot steam or a combination is hard to say, but I think if you reduce as many of these variables as possible you'll have a better experience. Smoke tobacco which agrees with you, smoke slower, pack carefully, run a cleaner down when you notice moisture. These 4 things combined will minimize these unpleasant sensations.



I'm a big cob smoker I suppose out of necessity even though I do like the pipe itself. If I had unlimited funds I suspect I would mostly smoke briars simply for one reason: The bottom of the bowl. Cobs have one true flaw for me in that they have the wooden insert, which gives you an acrid burning taste when the cherry reaches the non-cob parts of the cob. I wish MM made cobs with the cheapest scrap briar inserts and charged a few bucks more, that'd be the dream for me. I personally put very low value on aesthetics(partly due to necessity as well), but for people where how a pipe looks, they generally prefer briar which can show off artisan elements. Cobs are mostly.... corn, wood, and plastic. :D



Purely personal preference. There's something to be said for the fact that most bulk aromatic mass-produced pipe tobacco will be lower quality tobacco, it can't be high quality tobacco and be mass produced, there's just not enough creme de la creme leaf out there to make that much whiskey cavendish, heh. But I'm sure there are blends that are identical to the high quality tin contents out there. The main value of the tin is that it's hermetically sealed(hopefully-- tins have been known to leak sometimes for various reasons), which is great for aging.



I can't offer much here since I've never had bookshop personally, dying to try it-- but as a fan of runny french style cheese, one man's bad cheese smell is another man's good cheese smell.

Oui. "Smell zees cheese. It smells like zee feet of angels.”

 

[gamzultovah]

1. I tend to get a chemical-type burning in my mouth quite often. With really any blend. Sometimes I have to have warm water to rinse my mouth with during smoking. Its not a temperature burn -- its like a hotness from a pepper. Anyone else have this ever?

I’ll speak to this one as I have a unique issue with alkaline vs. acidic tobaccos. For the most part, I have no issues with heavily cased blends if I smoke them slow and make no attempt to smoke the last third of the bowl. The last third of the bowl is where heavily cased blends tend to bite me.
Latakia blends give me no issue at all.
Virginia blends (for me) must be taken on a case by case basis given the constituent tobaccos, always dried properly, and smoked slowly.
And, for me, straight Burley blends are a No-No! My mouth chemistry cannot handle straight Burley nor can it handle Burley dominant blends because of their high alkalinity. Once I learned this about myself, I knew which tobaccos to avoid.

Here is a good article on tobacco chemistry: Why Does My Tongue Hurt After I Smoke My Pipe? - Clark Davis - https://clarkdavis.me/2018/01/21/tongue-bite/

I hope this helps.

 

[bullet08]

keep the bottom of chamber wide open. this will allow smoke to drift into your mouth without any effort. once you get it set up right, you can control the flow of smoke however you would like. or that's what i'm finding of late.

 

[Seeker81]

As already mentioned. Meerschaum pipes are another option you can consider. I'd also like to add that you can look into metal pipes.
Falcon pipes are very popular. I have two Alco pipes, Alco are a sub-brand of Falcon, and I love 'em ha ha

 

[yaroslaw]

Latakia blends give me no issue at all.
Virginia blends (for me) must be taken on a case by case basis given the constituent tobaccos, always dried properly, and smoked slowly.
And, for me, straight Burley blends are a No-No! My mouth chemistry cannot handle straight Burley nor can it handle Burley dominant blends because of their high alkalinity. Once I learned this about myself, I knew which tobaccos to avoid.

Here is a good article on tobacco chemistry: Why Does My Tongue Hurt After I Smoke My Pipe? - Clark Davis - https://clarkdavis.me/2018/01/21/tongue-bite/

I hope this helps.

Thanks for that info and a link!
I thought it was only a matter of technique, now I'll look into less alkaline blends as well.

 

[anotherbob]

yes the falcon helps with tongue bite. It doesn't eliminate it, but it takes more work to make it happen which means less work to prevent it from happening. A very good beginners pipe. If a new piper asks for my recommendations I say get a cob or a falcon, neither cost too much and both are just enough more gentle to be perfect for getting ones pipe legs.

 

[Parsimonious Piper]

Unlike some, I consider cobs permanent pipes

Ditto. I collect a particular brand of briar pipes for a variety of reasons: esthetics, rarity, etc. But I don’t fool myself into thinking briars smoke “better” than cobs. A good cob is a good pipe.