Mia culpa - I prefer aromatics
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shutterbug,
In my estimation there are probably hundereds of nice aro's out there. I have several in my cellar as blends such as Fribourg & Treyer Cut Virginia Plug and Special Brown flake, both have toppings to them. Peterson University Flake is an aro with a nice plum topping. Mac Baren Virgina Cream Flake and their Modern Virgina Flake are both nice aromatic flakes. I enjoy Sutliff Molto Dolce and Cult Blood Red Moon. That is 7 aromatics and certainly more than a handful and I am sure there are a ton of guys on the site who can list a ton more of quality aromatics.
I am not trying to be mean or trying to show you up about quoting you, I am just trying to show how any type of aromatic is something that any pipe smoker can enjoy and to me they are real pipe smokers.
I will beg to differ on that statement. Those OTC goopy aromatics are the top selling brands of pipe tobacco. Those OTC's out sell all the other types of blends combined. Now some of us on this site may not smoke them but there are many who do. Captain Black blends are some of the best selling OTC's in the world. I am not sure who you mean by a real pipe smoker. I had a neighbor that only smoked Captain Black Gold and he is still a pipe smoker in my mind as he smoked several bowls a day.
In my estimation there are probably hundereds of nice aro's out there. I have several in my cellar as blends such as Fribourg & Treyer Cut Virginia Plug and Special Brown flake, both have toppings to them. Peterson University Flake is an aro with a nice plum topping. Mac Baren Virgina Cream Flake and their Modern Virgina Flake are both nice aromatic flakes. I enjoy Sutliff Molto Dolce and Cult Blood Red Moon. That is 7 aromatics and certainly more than a handful and I am sure there are a ton of guys on the site who can list a ton more of quality aromatics.
I am not trying to be mean or trying to show you up about quoting you, I am just trying to show how any type of aromatic is something that any pipe smoker can enjoy and to me they are real pipe smokers.
Miller Light and Bud Light are the top selling brands of beer (in the US) but they're still goat piss.
It was a facetious reference to the mythical "real pipe smoker" who according to the internet smokes only non-aros.
That depends on the size of your hands, which as we all know is proportional to the size of something else. Just ask Donald.
I don't understand why you would call them goat piss if that many people enjoy it. I don't drink those but I enjoy a Corona now and again and some people might think that is goat piss. I like it especially between shots of Cuervo Gold which people who drink Patron turn their noses up at it. I like the burn of Cuervo and don't care what other people think of what I enjoy.
This attitude of superiority is something that just doesn't work in the pipe world as there are too many people who enjoy blends that you turn your nose up at. Maybe a little understanding that some people can only afford certain blends and they certainly should not be looked at as not real pipe smokers. Anyone who smokes a pipe is a pipe smoker and their choice of tobacco should not be a factor in my mind. I can afford any tobacco I want and any pipe I want, but I have friends here who are on fixed incomes and can only afford certain things. I would never look down on them because they cannot afford pipes and tobacco that I can.
I am becoming more and more glad I did my first 5 years of pipe smoking without being aware of forums for pipe smoking! Sure I learned a whole lot of technique around the hobby the hard way, but at least I did not have to think about what tobaccos were 'right' or 'wrong' to be smoking!
In any case(ing) enjoy your next bowl, and all others after it, regardless of what you are packing!
Isaac
In any case(ing) enjoy your next bowl, and all others after it, regardless of what you are packing!
Isaac
Nobody drinks Bud or Miller because they enjoy or appreciate the taste subtleties of beer, they drink them for a cheap buzz.
I don't turn my nose up at any blend. Although there are a few that make me wish I could close my nostrils like a hippo.
Seriously?! If the difference in price between a PG-soaked OTC pouch blend and a tin of something respectable is a dealbreaker, then the guy ought to quit smoking entirely. Because either he's teetering on the poverty line or smoking so much he's really putting his health at risk.
And another thing about real pipe smokers is we're mellow and have good senses of humor and don't take people so seriously. That's why people chainsmoke cigarettes, they read stuff on forums and it makes them all pissy.
Billkay to clarify, I am talking more about the strong opinions around good/bad, right/wrong tobaccos accumulated throughout many posts in many threads rather than responding to what someone specifically said in this thread.
Actually I find forums quite a difficult way to communicate, and I am realising just now that I probably need to make that level of clarification in any given thread if I am not responding to something someone has said specifically, slow learner I guess (slow is good/right for pipe smoking though eh? he he)
Isaac
Actually I find forums quite a difficult way to communicate, and I am realising just now that I probably need to make that level of clarification in any given thread if I am not responding to something someone has said specifically, slow learner I guess (slow is good/right for pipe smoking though eh? he he)
Isaac
I'm actually a little ticked off by the anti-aro snobbery because blends like 1-Q burn so well that if I hadn't been chasing mystical unicorn fart flakes all this time I might have actually enjoyed myself for the last two years instead of finishing every pipe feeling like I just drank a bottle of acid. It's the fancy "all natural" blends that tend to be just next to worthless because of the way they burn. I can't even smoke one bowl a week of that stuff because of how hard it is on my mouth.
I have half a tin of St. James Flake sitting there, dry as a bone and smashed to bits, and it virtually refuses to burn. People say it's all about preparation. They're wrong. Some blends don't burn well and there's nothing you can do to change it.
I'm probably going to start using alcohol gel just to light my flakes, even then I'll probably be blending it 50-50 with Carter Hall (or 1-Q or Molto Dolce, anything else that actually smokes well).
For some people it's the "pure" and "natural" blends that are unbearable and the worst thing you could recommend.
I have half a tin of St. James Flake sitting there, dry as a bone and smashed to bits, and it virtually refuses to burn. People say it's all about preparation. They're wrong. Some blends don't burn well and there's nothing you can do to change it.
I'm probably going to start using alcohol gel just to light my flakes, even then I'll probably be blending it 50-50 with Carter Hall (or 1-Q or Molto Dolce, anything else that actually smokes well).
For some people it's the "pure" and "natural" blends that are unbearable and the worst thing you could recommend.
These days I have no problem keeping St. James Flake and others like it lit. These kinds of tobaccos take some time to understand and get to know. I've been smoking a pipe for 7 years and I am just now really starting to understand how to smoke them to get the most flavor. The reason why thes flakes are pushed so hard in the community is they produce a great reward for those who are determined to figure them out. St. James Flake is delicious.
BS, everything is made fun of.
Virginia smokers like me are know it all elitests with huge endowments.
VaPer smokers are nicotine junkies.
Lakeland smokers are the weirdest in that they like strong tobaccos that are flavored like dead little old ladies.
Latakia smokers have to smoke outside, because no one wants to be around one of them when their pipe is lit. You'll see them huddled in the garage in the dead of winter. And, they stink, all the time.
And, aromatic smokers are really sensitive people, so now we just say positive encouraging things to them. Way to go!! Yes, we all love a sugary berry blend every now and then. Keep it up!! We're all winners here!! Yeah!!! :wink:
Heavy sigh... you aromatic people make me sick! You and your vanillas, cherries, maples, hazelnuts, citrus, liquors... Never smoke what you eat, on the whole, it's just bad form... unless of course it's beef flavored...
The fact that I'm repulsed by aromatic smokers shouldn't bother anyone. I'm seriously self loathing, so treat others the way you want to be treated and all...
The fact that I'm repulsed by aromatic smokers shouldn't bother anyone. I'm seriously self loathing, so treat others the way you want to be treated and all...
It's only the guys who smoke apple flavors that make me angry. The audacity of those guys. It makes me want to punch them right in the face. All the rtest are OK, but... jeesh, those apple guys... can't stand them. :
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:Hawky:
Of course there are a lot of other factors, someone who just came off of chain smoking for 30 years might jump in like a fish to a pond, but there are a lot of people specifically trying this as an introduction to tobacco.
The only thing left that I could try is grinding the flake into powder. After running your flakes through the blender and leaving it to dry for a week, what more can be done to make them burn well?
On top of that, it doesn't taste the same dried out. It should be smoked moist.
At this point I'm confident that I'm never going to smoke a flake straight again.
If you've tried a blend and you're not having a good time then it may very well never work for you. That was my conclusion about Brown Ropes after one bowl... actually not even one bowl since I never managed to get a bowl of Brown Bogie burning in the first place. It's just taken longer for me to put flakes in the same catogory, and of course these things will be different for everyone. I just can't recommend people keep trying something that doesn't work after the first few tries when you're surrounded by perfectly good blends that behave so well.
And this isn't necessarily a comment on "natural blends" it's more about straight Virginia in particular, and especially flakes. Hearth and Home Black House burns perfectly straight from the tin. There are lots of blends that burn very well, but pure Virginia blends are generally not on that list.
Another point along those lines, Jet torches are the way to go. It takes loads of stress off your mouth. You won't burn your rim if you're careful, but the main point is that they push heat into the pipe for you, you can sip lightly and still get a good ember going.
I'm a special case, I know that, but one in a million still means there's 7,000 other people out there in the same situation at any given point in time.
When we're talking about people starting out from zero tobacco experience, forget about anything that takes skill or experience to get started. You want people to have fun with this, otherwise the whole group looks like a bunch of masochists.
OTC blends are given that label because they ship so much volume and at one point became so prolific as to become household names sold in every drugstore. Maybe that happens to be the case because the majority of pipe smokers never wanted to put up with all the fuss of the boutique blends that currently get promoted so heavily on the forums.
What were the burning characteristics of the most popular blends a hundred years ago? Other than sailors, how many people throughout history actually preferred flakes? Maybe the sailors didn't even like flakes and only smoked them out of necessity?
Right, after seven years you're starting to figure out flakes. What does that imply in relation to beginners?
Of course there are a lot of other factors, someone who just came off of chain smoking for 30 years might jump in like a fish to a pond, but there are a lot of people specifically trying this as an introduction to tobacco.
The only thing left that I could try is grinding the flake into powder. After running your flakes through the blender and leaving it to dry for a week, what more can be done to make them burn well?
On top of that, it doesn't taste the same dried out. It should be smoked moist.
At this point I'm confident that I'm never going to smoke a flake straight again.
If you've tried a blend and you're not having a good time then it may very well never work for you. That was my conclusion about Brown Ropes after one bowl... actually not even one bowl since I never managed to get a bowl of Brown Bogie burning in the first place. It's just taken longer for me to put flakes in the same catogory, and of course these things will be different for everyone. I just can't recommend people keep trying something that doesn't work after the first few tries when you're surrounded by perfectly good blends that behave so well.
And this isn't necessarily a comment on "natural blends" it's more about straight Virginia in particular, and especially flakes. Hearth and Home Black House burns perfectly straight from the tin. There are lots of blends that burn very well, but pure Virginia blends are generally not on that list.
Another point along those lines, Jet torches are the way to go. It takes loads of stress off your mouth. You won't burn your rim if you're careful, but the main point is that they push heat into the pipe for you, you can sip lightly and still get a good ember going.
I'm a special case, I know that, but one in a million still means there's 7,000 other people out there in the same situation at any given point in time.
When we're talking about people starting out from zero tobacco experience, forget about anything that takes skill or experience to get started. You want people to have fun with this, otherwise the whole group looks like a bunch of masochists.
OTC blends are given that label because they ship so much volume and at one point became so prolific as to become household names sold in every drugstore. Maybe that happens to be the case because the majority of pipe smokers never wanted to put up with all the fuss of the boutique blends that currently get promoted so heavily on the forums.
What were the burning characteristics of the most popular blends a hundred years ago? Other than sailors, how many people throughout history actually preferred flakes? Maybe the sailors didn't even like flakes and only smoked them out of necessity?
Exactly, only a complete moron would smoke flakes!!
Snobbery? I'm so sorry that you feel that way. What can we do to cheer you up? ::
Snobbery? I'm so sorry that you feel that way. What can we do to cheer you up? :
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I've said it a bunch, everyone gets made fun of on a forum. That is 100% natural. Maybe it's just that the aromatic smokers have an innate sense of lower social stratum in the forums that makes them more sensitive. Sure, some people think of aromatics as "lower" quality. And, yes more people smoke aromatics, but how long do you think a forum full of aromatic smokers are going to last?
How many times can someone discuss vanilla flavorings? They generally hate to dry their tobaccos, or deviate away from whatever gives them the expected results, so what more can they discuss.
I also notice at the B&M, yes the vast majority of pipe guys come in and buy aromatics. They sell that shit by the pounds. But, not one aromatic smoker will want to set down and hold court with the cigar and non-aromatic guys. They buy their aros and go home. They don't seem to have interest in the social aspects of discussing tobaccos and varying techniques. Maybe, they feel that they don't know much about tobaccos, because they only know the taste of the flavorings. Maybe they are beginners that feel self-conscious. Maybe aromatics makes you hate people and get pissy at other smokers, imagining that everyone is putting you down. Maybe, the aromatic part makes you unable to take a joke? I don't know. I've smoked plenty of aromatics, and it didn't make me feel more sensitive. Maybe I should try smoking them for longer. It could be a steeping type thing, maybe it takes years blockage to get that level of bitterness to build up. ::
How many times can someone discuss vanilla flavorings? They generally hate to dry their tobaccos, or deviate away from whatever gives them the expected results, so what more can they discuss.
I also notice at the B&M, yes the vast majority of pipe guys come in and buy aromatics. They sell that shit by the pounds. But, not one aromatic smoker will want to set down and hold court with the cigar and non-aromatic guys. They buy their aros and go home. They don't seem to have interest in the social aspects of discussing tobaccos and varying techniques. Maybe, they feel that they don't know much about tobaccos, because they only know the taste of the flavorings. Maybe they are beginners that feel self-conscious. Maybe aromatics makes you hate people and get pissy at other smokers, imagining that everyone is putting you down. Maybe, the aromatic part makes you unable to take a joke? I don't know. I've smoked plenty of aromatics, and it didn't make me feel more sensitive. Maybe I should try smoking them for longer. It could be a steeping type thing, maybe it takes years blockage to get that level of bitterness to build up. :
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