One Pipe, One Tobacco!

[serkazong]

As a few of you know, I'm newbish to pipe smoking.
How important is it to smoke only one tobacco type in one pipe? Is it different for clay, briar, corncob types? I think I'm getting the flavor of my last tobacco smoked when I smoke now.
I have 5 pipes so I'm trying to only smoke one type in each pipe now. They are all briar, except one $5 corn cob. But so far only one tobacco I've tried is a "keeper." I think I'll be bouncing around trying all kind of different flavors till I find a couple "standards" that I stick with.
As I eliminate tobaccos that I dont want to repurchase (such as Edwards Black Raspberry) how do I clean out my pipe to prepare it for another test tobacco?
Thanks in advance.

 

[fshu2]

i smoke whatever in whatever pipe i want and i do not notice it much. that being said i smoke like tobaccos. i have a friend who smokes a lot of areos and his pipe smokes my blends different so it will ghost but as long as you keep like tobaccos together you should be fine.

 

[sixmp]

This article is a very good read and will probably answer many of your questions on dedication
Article.

 

[jchaplick]

The answer to your question depends on a bunch of different things.
What: what type of tobacco you smoked eg aro, VA, english
How often: how often or how much did you smoke it, 5 bowls or 500
What next: what type of tobacco are you going to smoke next, aro VA or english.
If you smoked an aro or english, they tend to ghost pipes, so you may want to do a salt and alcohol treatment. However if you plan to smoke another aro or english, it doesnt matter much.
If you only smoked a tobacco a few times, it doesnt matter much either.
Another way to get rid of a ghost is to smoke it out. Use a non ghosting tobacco (Prince Albert has working wobders on cleaning pipes for me) and smoke it a dozen or so times. A member suggested PA to me for de ghosting pipes a while back, I havent heard it suggested again, but it works so well for me I use it alot, and it works well, also helps build a cake well.
I hope I helped a little, if you have any questions, feel free to pm me, if I cant answer your question I know several people who probably can

 

[hawk60ce]

I smoke whatever in whatever

 

[judcole]

I keep a latakia rotation and a virginia rotation. Different things work for different people.

 

[whitebriar]

since i smoke 99.9% one genre, i don't do anything but grab pipe and pouch and go ahead--

if i smoke an aromatic; (if), i will be careful about which pipe i smoke it in--

a bit of latakia ghost doesn't bother me at all--

 

[elwin]

Since I tend to mainly smoke cobs, I tend to dedicate pipes to a tobacco type.

(They're cheap enough that I can easily buy a dozen cobs for the price of a so-so briar.)

So I have cobs for aros, cobs for lat blends, cobs for lakelands, etc.

And, if they ghost to that flavor - hey, no worries.

In my briars, I tend to smoke blends that are less likely to ghost like mild Vapers, burleys and the like.
Your mileage may vary...

 

[ghost]

I never used to dedicate one pipe to one tobacco, but over the years it sort of happened with a few of my pipes. Not so much about ghosting mind you, for example I have two that seem to do well with flakes. (Folded) In other words it was from having good smokes with them, so I stuck with the routine.

 

[daytonsean]

I have a single pipe for my regular aro's, which is about 4 or 5 blends. I have a pipe for heavier stuff, like my Old Dublin and other lats. And I have a handful of other pipes for various things that I try. I don't have a large pipe collection, nor do I want one.

 

[ruggierm1]

I think as you acquire more pipes, you'll naturally start dedicating certain pipes to certain blends.

 

[doctorthoss]

This all depends on whether you want the "pure" flavor of a particular tobacco or type of tobacco to come through. Everyone's different.
Some people (myself included) dedicate pipes to certain blends or genres of blends, i.e. briars are dedicated to latakia mixtures, virginias, aromatics, etc. The reasoning behind this is that if you smoke a virginia after an aromatic or latakia blend then you will taste both blends together instead of just the Va. Sometimes I dedicate a specific pipe to a specific blend if I really like the tobacco and it's a particularly complex/nuanced blend. The more naturalistic burley blends (PA, CH, Aged Burley Flake, etc) can be smoked in pretty much any pipe without "ghosting," so I use them in whatever is handy.
Some people, however, don't care about this "ghosting" effect at all.

 

[serkazong]

Thanks for the article sixmp, that's a great summary.
flyfishin Tony, I loved your last line there. Part of the draw to pipe smoking for me so far is the technicalities of different pipes, packing, different tobaccos & cuts etc. There's a lot to learn if you want and that appeals to me in any hobby. BUT . . . like you said, I find I enjoy the actual smoking most when I'm not concentrated on it, I'm just relaxing, enjoying being outside and the smoking is an afterthought.

 

[sixmp]

No problem. It is a great article. It really helped me decide how to best use my pipes. This place has many well written and helpful articles covering practically everything you need on this great hobby.

 

[clyde]

There was a time I occasionally went the dedicated route. Now it rarely matters (probably fried taste buds) but if ghosting becomes objectionable it gets a thorough cleaning with special attention to the shank with a brush and light cake reaming. After a weeks rest smoke a burly based blend such as PA in it and it's always good to go.

 

[numbersix]

A lot of good info here.
So far I do not dedicate, but there are some tobaccos that ghost more than others, so it may depend on what you smoke.
Also, it may depend on how educated your taste buds are. There are people who can't tell the difference between a $5 bottle of wine and a $50 bottle, or the difference between a craft-brewed beer and a can of Schlitz (not that there's anything wrong with that!)
Right now I am don't sense a great deal of difference in flavors due to mixing tobaccos, but it's possible that my taste buds have not learned the subtle nuances of various tobaccos. I may change my tune over time.

 

[shaintiques]

I only have one dedicated pipe dedictaed to one particular tobacco, its my experiment in that regard, only problem is when you run out of that tobacco and your pipe just sits till you get more. But it does get better and better every smoke.

 

[dochudson]

several of my larger bowl pipes I generally use for aero's. I have a Pete tankard that I use mostly for 1792. I don't smoke a lot of VA so I don't pay much attention to what else get smoked in what pipe. I pretty good at cleaning the pipes of the day before putting them away in the evening so most don't get much build up and they do get a nice rest. I may go 2 or 3 days just smoking PA or CH in some cobs.

 

[keith929]

I smoke whatever in whatever

+1. I don't dedicate my pipes to specific blends. Whatever pipe is next in my rotation gets smoked with whatever I have a taste for.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

I think it really depends on the tobacco you're smoking. I have a pipe that started off as an aeromatic pipe, but now is used for Latakia blends mostly. I have one that's dedicated to English blends and one that's dedicated to aeromatics. The rest are just for whatever I feel like smoking in them.