On Technique and Taste (and a Bit of Tolkien)

[lawdawg]

Overthinking can also wreck a good smoke.

If I just want an easy reliable uncomplicated smoke, I go with burley in a cob. That’s probably half of my smokes.

I think it’s pretty undeniable that some smokes are just better than others, even with the same pipe and same tobacco. I think we can also account for most of these variables, figure them out, and repeat those perfect smokes more often than not. If getting there takes some effort and attention to detail, then that effort is well worth it. Hell, it’s not a whole lot more effort than just having a smoke in the first place, and once the pipe is lit, you can just enjoy it all the same.

 

[olkofri]

Overthinking can also wreck a good smoke.

Isn't pipe smoking s'posed to catapult you into the stratosphere of pensiveness and introspection? ?

 

[renfield]

For me the best smokes are when I have the time to really relax, be mindful and “become one with the pipe”. Easier said than done, but once the basics of prep, packing and lighting are in hand, that’s all there is to it.

Channel your inner hobbit after a hearty second breakfast.

 

[bullet08]

Drier then? The Virginia smokers seem to really favour drying to crisp. I don’t think that works as well with other types of blends, aros specifically. You might just be stuck in that trade off with aros.

Va seems to be very forgiving as to over drying. But, if I detect any good flavors, I prefer it right before being crispy. Then again, everything at that before turning crispy point seems to work best for me.

 

[lawdawg]

Va seems to be very forgiving as to over drying. But, if I detect any good flavors, I prefer it right before being crispy. Then again, everything at that before turning crispy point seems to work best for me.

Agreed 100%. Pre-crispy, but dry enough that the tobacco is no longer cool to the touch when pinched is the ideal humidity for Virginias. I like my Latakia blends just a tad wetter than that, dried just past the point where the tobacco stops sticking together when pinched, but still slightly cool to the touch when pinched. IMO ideal dryness varies within these parameters by individual blend as well, of course.

We gettin this art of pipesmoking down good

 

[BROBS]

PIPECASSO

 

[lawdawg]

PIPECASSO

If you mean “disjointed and all over the place”, then yes

 

[weezell]

Overthinking can also wreck a good smoke.

In the end, "It's just a Smoke"...

 

[lawdawg]

In the end, "It's just a Smoke"...

If anyone believed that, we’d all be smoking cigarettes and gas station cigars

 

[brian64]

If I smoked as much as Jim, I would be doing nothing but cleaning pipes all day!

I just assume he's got a full time personal assistant who does all the pipe maintenance.

 

[JimInks]

I just assume he's got a full time personal assistant who does all the pipe maintenance.

That's why all my briars are straight.

 

[Mis Pipas]

After breakfast a taste Mac Baren Golden Extra, 2 year old, in Peterson System

 

[bigbeard]

I think it’s pretty undeniable that some smokes are just better than others, even with the same pipe and same tobacco. I think we can also account for most of these variables, figure them out, and repeat those perfect smokes more often than not.

As a new pipe smoker (since April of this year), I've found this to be very true.

Same tobacco (stored in mason jars), same pipe, same cleaning regiment, same packing procedure. 1 week apart and it's a whole different smoke. Sometimes, the best smoke of my life. Sometimes, kind of unappealing.

I've also noticed that my palate shifts regularly. Sometimes a Virginia Perique tastes best. Other times, it tastes not so good but an aromatic tastes wonderful.

So I struggle with consistency but it is improving.

The pipe certainly is an art and I'm still a novitiate. But, dang, is it ever enjoyable!

 

[pappymac]

OK, then:

Which “The Lord of the Rings” Race Are You? | BrainFall

Are you a dwarf, elf, Hobbit, human, or the old wizard? Do you think of yourself as dour and reliable? Or noble and wise?

brainfall.com

A scam to get you to take the survey at the end to get an answer that has nothing to do with your responses to the questions.

I'm apparently an Ent.

 

[BROBS]

A scam to get you to take the survey at the end to get an answer that has nothing to do with your responses to the questions.

I'm apparently an Ent.

I am a race of Men.
so I took the survey to find out I am a human.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

When what you have is 12 hours shifts and mostly behind the wheel theres no too much time left for meditations nor concentrating on the smoking techniques ,try to get your tobacco dry enough, stuff it in the bowl somehow and puff away when ever you can'simply as that

 

[lawdawg]

When what you have is 12 hours shifts and mostly behind the wheel theres no too much time left for meditations nor concentrating on the smoking techniques ,try to get your tobacco dry enough, stuff it in the bowl somehow and puff away when ever you can'simply as that

I think most of us have a few easy go-to smokes, and for me it's mostly OTC codger burleys, but this post is not about that type of smoking. Besides, you're just lucky you can smoke while working!

 

[Chasing Embers]

If I just want an easy reliable uncomplicated smoke

What is a complicated smoke?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Isn't pipe smoking s'posed to catapult you into the stratosphere of pensiveness and introspection? ?

For a hobbyist maybe, for a smoker, not really. It's just tobacco in a pipe.

 

[Chasing Embers]

In the end, "It's just a Smoke"...

Exactly.?