New to Pipes, Already Learning from This Forum

[av47]

Hello Fellow Pipe Smokers,
My wife found 2 old MM corn cobs while cleaning out some old boxes last week and asked if I wanted them. She knows I've enjoyed smoking in the past but I dislike so much about cigarettes that I don't bother with them any more. Cigars are okay but so costly and hookah is jus to labor intensive for me. Naturally I asked her to hang onto the pipes and 2 days later I had picked up some pipe tobacco from a local cigar shop. I instantly enjoyed the experience more than any other method of smoking and decided to order some Captain Black based on the reviews and the low price. So far I've enjoyed the experience.
I find myself daily searching for pipe information on the internet in the hopes of mastering the various techniques and deepening my understanding of the process. It seems that 95% of the time I end up back to at this site so it seemed obvious that I should join the forum and start my membership by giving out a collective "Thank You" to the many helpful posters on this site. Particularly those that post with newbies like myself in mind.
As for replies to this post: I'd love for anyone who cares to share to give me a few of their favorite smokes. I tend to naturally gravitate toward flavors other than strictly tobacco, but any suggestions are welcomed.
Thanks -AV
Edited by jvnshr: Title capitalization.

 

[cortezattic]

Welcome to the forums, AV. :clap:

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

Welcome to the forum! The first blend that I was taught about as a newbie was BCAQ, which is Lane's BCA and 1Q mixed together at a 1:1 ratio. You can also do it with BCA and RLP and get a similar effect. I also recommend as a newbie to continue on your path through some of the OTC blends; Carter Hall, Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic, and Prince Albert are a few others that are cheap and accessible to try in addition to Captain Black. By the way BCAQ is pretty much Captain Black, in fact many argue that it is. I found the Blue to be pretty similar. Another aromatic that many have liked recently has been Cult's Blood Red Moon. It's a cherry chocolate thing. I've tried it and it's the best cherry I've tried, although it leaves my tongue with a weird coated feeling. Lastly, keep visiting you local B&M (cigar shop) and just try different blends and buy a couple ounces of those you like most. The most important thing is to enjoy yourself and have fun with it. ::

 

[philobeddoe]

Welcome to the forum Av47, this forum and the internet in general will assist you in accelerating the pipe smoking learning curve much faster than those of us who started smoking a pipe way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Take it slow and enjoy the journey of exploring new blends and new pipes.

 

[mso489]

Welcome aboard. As you're sampling around, try a few non-aromatic blends too. With aromatics (flavored) I like tobacco forward blends, the ones where the tobacco dominates the non-tobacco flavoring. For aromatics, I might suggest a few -- Edward G. Robinson blend, Iwan-Ries Three Star Blue, and Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic. I'd buy in the smallest available quantities for a year or two, since your taste will change. What seems great now might seem dull or "off" in six or eight months, if you are sampling blends regularly.

 

[oldmansmoking]

Dear av47

Welcome to the Forum.

My favourite tobacco is from E A Carey's "Desert Island mix" previous name "Mixed coconut"

I believe they ship to Europe and the USA

I also get a lot of tobacco from Havana House.

Love Gaelic mix and American coffee caramel.

My favourite pipes are Falcons. You can get them quite cheap on eBay.

Hope you enjoy your new past time and this collective group.

Let us know how things progress.

What part of this world do you live in?

Kind regards
George

 

[sumusfumus]

av47,
Welcome to the PM Forum....
I am also relatively new to this forum, and recently started smoking my pipes again, after having no interest, and no enjoyment in pipe smoking, for many years. So I got my pipes out of storage, and now, I'm enjoying the art of pipe smoking once again. Why? Because I learned how to smoke a pipe properly by reading throught all the instructional postings on this forum, and by watching You-Tube videos that explain all the hows and whys of pipe smoking. You-Tube especially will provide hour after hour of instructions, tobacco reviews, smoking techniques, tobacco storage, mixing, blending.....anything and everything when it comes to pipes.
Between both the forum and You-Tube, I have a renewed interest in using my modest pipe collection. I've even added some "new" estate pipes to my briar box.
Enjoy your new smoking experiences.... and enjoy this forum.
Frank

 

[pagan]

EITC Royal Challenge and Officers Club, might surprise you

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Av47, since you like the more flavor forward blends, I would suggest Sutliff's Queen Anne's Revenge. It takes a little extra drying time, but it's a wonderful, flavorful smoke... and it's got a cool name, and I don't care what anyone else says, cool names are important in pipe tobacco blends :mrgreen: Another one I'd suggest is Sutliff's Molto Dolce. I admit it doesn't have a super cool name... which is important... but it makes up for it in the flavor department so it gets a pass. This blend, strangely enough, just doesn't dry like other blends, so I would suggest letting it sit for at least half an hour just to be sure. It will still be quite moist and when you light it, you'll hear it crackling and popping and snapping like a certain popular breakfast cereal. But that's ok. I think they blended it like that on purpose. Once you get it going it's a great smoke. Of course I would have named it something much more cool... like, for instance, Pirate's Bloody Saber, or maybe Pirate's Skull And Crossbones Tattoo, or perhaps Pirate's Got Booty (hehehe!) Or Super Death Punch Bare Knuckle Brawling Super Charger Electric Guitar Viking Rock God! :mrgreen: Or maybe just a name having something to do with wizards and hobbits and such... Anyway, honestly those are both great blends. And welcome to the forums! :clap:

 

[Chasing Embers]

Or Black Frigate. :mrgreen:

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Black Frigate

:rofl: Aye, Cap'n.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Av47,Welcome to the forum,in search of full,tobacco forward floral&fruity taste I'd suggest to go for Amphora Full Red worldwide availability,offering good constant quality+value,though personally I prefer the brown original and Mc Baren Golden blend over the Amphora red,

 

[av47]

That's some information Gentlemen. I now have a good list of tobacco to start working my way through. I'm thinking it would be wise to start a tobacco log to rate my personal taste of each tobacco I try and make it easier to pinpoint my likes and disklikes. I constantly find myself surprised at the seemingly endless supply of various flavors of tobacco. I never would have guessed coconut or coffee caramel! Since I've enjoyed the two smaller cobs I was given I've decided to pick up an MM Country Gentelman in hopes of making my smoke last longer than 20-30 minutes. I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully I break it in correctly.
Thanks for the warm welcome!
Oldmansmoking, to answer you question I'm from Charleston, SC.

 

[cortezattic]

If you're going to start a log, be sure to list the components of each blend. This will apply more to non-aromatic blends. After a while patterns will emerge and help you identify what type of leaf to avoid, e.g., Latakia, Cavendish, Perique, specific Oriental varieties, dark fired leaf, stoved leaf, etc.

 

[av47]

Just tried the new MM Country Gentleman. I really enjoy the larger bowl and successfully had a no relight smoke! I don't expect to have no relight smoking sessions very often but I'll certainly make the most of them when I am lucky enough to have one. Very relaxing and last about twice as long as the little MM pony expresses.
By the way I've learned two new packing methods beyond the 3 layer method commonly taught. The first was the upside down twist method which (as I'm sure most of you know) involves twisting the pipe upside down on a pile of tobacco and gently tamping it down with the pad of the thumb until the bow reaches the appropriate capacity. I've found this method tends not to pack enough tobacco into the bowl.
The second method I've learned and the method I used tonight was the scoop method. Basically letting my tobacco dry in a little container and scooping it up into the pipe and packing it down gentle with my thumb. This seems to be the method that works best for me so far.
Thanks again for the suggestions on blends, I have quite the list put together now.
Happy Piping!

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

This seems to be the method that works best for me so far.

When I first began, and for a few years after, I was tried out various different packing methods, some worked better than others, and some worked better on different pipes than others. But lately, I've simply been loading some tobacco into my pipe without a care, tamp it down just a bit below the rim (I like to keep my rims looking nice) and lighting it up. Seems to be working great for me.

 

[didimauw]

Good choice starting with cobs! You said they were old, but also then used the word New. Where did the pipes come from? Old pipes never smoked? New to you estate pipes? Pictures are always awesome!

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Same here as Anthony74

 

[av47]

Anthony 74: I agree, it seems that one of the easiest ways to pack a bowl wrong is to over think it.
Didimauw: My MM country gentleman is brand new. The 2 MM pony express pipes were found in some boxes by my wife. One of her family members used them sometime in the last decade, they are in good shape but have been used for sure.
I've enjoyed cobs so much I don't see myself switching to briars anytime soon. $50 for one average briar or $10 for a cob that smokes beautifully... seems like a no brainer.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I must get me a good Missouri meerchaum as well