I have another one now - a briar - and a couple more on the way. Unfortunately the disruption to international postal services has delayed my orders but I’m still healthy so I guess I should be thankful for that (I didn’t want to spend too much locally as the prices for most pipes are outrageous here).
My First Really Enjoyable Bowl
- Thread starter Eaglesgift
- Start date
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Musty old books sounds really good to me, actually!
I had my “A-HA!” moment with Balkan Sasieni, years ago.
Really happy to hear you’ve had your first good smoke!
I had my “A-HA!” moment with Balkan Sasieni, years ago.
Really happy to hear you’ve had your first good smoke!
Thank you - I'm defintely really glad that I decided to try a pipe. I haven't opened my Balkan Sasieni yet - I've still got that and Bayou Morning Flake sitting on the shelf waiting for me to try.
Congrats to you Eaglesgift! I like this thread as I'm also a complete noob (all of 7 bowls now as I only do it once a day at night) so I have yet to find anything that's really blown me away. I was OK with one (Lane Black Raspberry), kinda liked the Sutliff Vanilla Custard, and was reasonably happy with the Lane Dark Red which I guess is the best for me so far (Yes, i feel the eyes of judgement because of only aros, but I'm not a fan of strong tobacco flavor at this point and don't like cigars, or ass, which is what all the others tasted like haha.) but I figured I'd start with the Aros then branch out as I imagine most people do. The flavors are intriguing to me. I guess I'm trying to walk before running. Unlike you I'm not coming straight from Cigars/Cigarettes, although I was a pack a day smoker in a past life. I never smoked for the taste, but for the nicotine. I currently vape so my pallette leans toward sweeter stuff. I'm open for any and all suggestions any of you might have regardless of tobacco type. Trying new things and the massive variety is the biggest reason I started this. I've got some Eileens Dream, Devil's Holiday, and Cult Militia on the way...looking forward to trying them. Thanks to all you Codgers in here willing to help us noobs!
Thank you - I hope you find a blend that blows you away soon. I really like Early Morning Pipe - might be worth a go if you fancy trying a non-aro. If you smoke it slowly it has loads of flavour and isn’t too strong. I’ve tried the 7 Seas range but that’s it as far as aromatics go. I ordered some Peterson Hyde Park and Founder’s Choice though, that I’m hoping will turn up today, to see what heavier (or maybe not heavier?) aromatics are like. I’m not interested in being a tobacco snob or anything like that....I just want to find blends that I enjoy smoking in a pipe, and I’m having fun trying them all out.
Thank you for the suggestion! Early Morning Pipe is on my ever growing list of tobaccos to try. Think I may bump it up in the queue as I've read a lot of good stuff about it. The English blends kind of intimidate me at this point as I just picture them as blowing your socks off with smoke/spice flavors haha. I could be wrong, and I intend to find out! Like you, I really just want to find stuff I like, regardless of type. Trying all the different varieties is the fun part (well, that and my wife laughing at me and calling me grandpa when I smoke my pipe..prompting my 15 year old Daughter to giggle). Hope you find another perfect blend for you soon!
No one bags on Aro’s for beginners because of taste. It’s more a warning they are harder to smoke correctly. They can burn hot and fry your tongue. I’m fairly new at 3 years in and only 1 bowl a day. I found transition or crossover blends really helped me understand how to smoke a pipe and distinguish more flavors. A great one is Silem’s Black. It’s very aromatic but mixed with Latakia, so it’s smoky and rich. Doesn’t burn hot like your regular wetter aro’s. As mentioned ad nauseum, dry your tobacco too. Enjoy the journey.
My latest perfect bowl:
Fuller’s London Porter and Peterson Hyde Park
Fuller’s London Porter and Peterson Hyde Park
I wouldn’t feel too bad about it. Judging by the selection at danishpipeshop.com, there’s a lot of great blends you can buy in Denmark (and for less money than I have to pay).
When I first started smoking a pipe I had the same reaction when I had my first bowl of Balkan Sasieni there is something special about that blend, it remains a firm favourite of mine.
He's in The Far East.
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Thank you. I’m having a bit of a problem smoking slower, or at least I think I am when I read how long a bowl lasts others. I generally only take about 20-25 minutes to smoke a bowl in what I think is a medium-sized pipe. One of my problems is, I am trying to only smoke outside and after 20 minutes I am literally dripping with sweat so I’m not wanting to prolong a bowl much past that time. They taste good and not too hot most of the time but I do feel I could adopt a more relaxed cadence if I wasn’t smoking in an outdoor sauna. ?
I can only say that in this regard maybe only smoke half a bowl or only pack half a bowl. You can always put it down and come back. Which for me, is a great thing about a pipe versus either cigarettes or a cigar
I haven't had Hyde Park but I hear it is very similar to GHC Rum Flake which, aside fro the pain in the ass nature of Gawith flakess is actually something that I think would be a very good choice for beginners or those looking to cross over from aromatics to more "natural" tobaccos. Plenty of sweetness from the toppings and casings but you also get plenty of the underlying favors that are common in other Gawith-made flakes. I suspect the maple sugar casing is one they use on a lot of their VA and VaBur flakess in fact
It’s got a reasonable nic hit (for me anyway) and the taste is very pleasant. I really like the thick ribbons too. It’s like someone started rubbing out a flake but couldn’t be bothered to go all the way. I’ve started rubbing out flake tobaccos to match it as it burns so well.
Hyde Park and Warhorse Bar Red are so far the only two tins that I haven’t been able to leave alone after opening them. I was in two minds about ordering the Warhorse as I don’t like aniseed at all but I do like nicotine and as it happens I can’t taste any aniseed (I’m now sad it was the last available tin...seriously thinking about ordering from overseas). It’s a full smoke, good nicotine content and just full of flavour.
Thanks again! Seems like such an obvious solution, I’m kinda embarrassed I didn’t think of it myself.
If you're looking for nicotine (I'm an addict and seek out strong blends myself) Peterson Irish Flake is very good and strong choice as is HH Bold Kentucky if you have access to macbaren. Neither is particularly sweet or flavored but there is some sweet-ish ripeness fro the VAs that shines through on both
Thank you. I’m waiting at this very minute for a vendor to reply to my message about Bold Kentucky. Saw they got some in 3 days ago. I’m not sure if I can get hold of Irish Flake but I’ll definitely look out for it. I started off liking English blends the most but I seem to like strong non-lat blends, often with a topping, more now.
I’ve got a tin of University Flake that I’ve yet to try for some reason. According to the reviews it’s got a reasonable nic content and a plum topping so as I like Royal Yuck I should probably get round to trying that too.
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