Pipe Smoking Around the World

[cosmicfolklore]

Wow, it's even better to see the matchboxes next to the actual place. I'm such a nerd for things like that. Thank you.

 

[jvnshr]

You are welcome. I have more matchboxes but they are mostly from local restaurants or cafes. Whenever I sit, I ask for an unused matchbox, I tell the waiters that it's for my collection and they bring me one happily.

Ohh, and I wonder if we could start a matchbox trade. I'd love to get hold of some of those boxes!

That's a good idea actually. We should do that in a very near future.

 

[oldreddog]

As most of you know in Dublin we have Petersons, decent shop and staffed by fellahs who will take the time to chat.
Also we have Foxes staffed by stickybeaks for stickybeaks.
To the chap who served me last Sunday, I wasn't there to plunder the place,no matter how much I enjoy a bowl of Black Frigate. Prehaps I should become a distance customer, I hear they do good over the counter to overseas.
On stranger tides there is this pearl, http://www.mcahillandson1870.com/. I would suggest a google image search of the place.
I get to the south of France a fair bit and a Tabac is just that. Most places have a decent slection of basket pipes and tobacco, even if they tell you that Amsterdamer is a popular traditional blend. Cube Gris sadly seems to have dissapeared.
In a homage to Catalonia, the tobacco Falange has not gained the upper boot. St Bruno and Capstan are big rock candy mountain cheap. As you leave the Tabaquero with the cuban that the nice lady behind the countuer has just clipped, clenched jauntily in your jaw and the jingle jangle of capstan tins in you pocket, be sure that an old Senor will tip you a fraternal nod.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Now,over the years I'm coming to conclusions countries with best traditional tobacco stores/shops are as follows, Germany, England and Ireland-at least so far,nevertheless as we all are well aware,continuous threat against them is ongoing all over the europe.

 

[oldreddog]

I'd sooner have the price and choice of High Germany than Eirè or Brian Brou's other Island. Particularly as the HU* door is closing.

*(Edit EU not HU)

 

[andvary]

After a couple of years I visited my local tobacconist (walking distance from my apartment in an older residential district of Moscow). Just as I remembered it: lots of cheap Polish pipes (good thing the drilling is visible through the glass cabinet, no need to even examine them), a shop assistant, who automatically reaches for rolling tobacco (I asked for MacBaren Original Choice, which comes in both pipe and rolling variants), and a price about 30% higher than buying the same stuff online. No wonder the floor-space was reduced since the last time I dropped by, they probably had to cut back on the rent. And the space they vacated is now occupied by the store selling plumbing equipment, of all the things.

 

[jvnshr]

Дорогой (dear) Andvary, we have the same problems over here. I don't know if it's good or bad that they had to reduce the space, but I wish they could just learn more and become very informative about what they were selling.

And the space they vacated is now occupied by the store selling plumbing equipment, of all the things.

At least the space is used for other pipes

 

[andvary]

I mentioned a guy who sells estate pipes, tobaccos etc. here in Moscow. Well, he doesn't have a store. If you want to purchase something or pick up your order, you make an appointment and come over to his apartment. And he doesn't force you out at once, mind you. I remember hanging out at his place, asking questions... I once asked him: "Doesn't that bother you? Having strangers in your place every day". And he replied: "I'm making a long-term investment. The more hospitable I am, the bigger the chance that you'll buy something next time".

I wonder if any store in Russia has a similar philosophy. If I find one, I'll sing my praises here.

 

[rodo]

My frustration has been the LACK of goods in some other countries. (And I count as lack availability when you can get it but at twice the price of what it would cost in the States.) Was in Italy this past summer, got to visit the Mastro de Paja factory. (Headache to get to but worth it. Nice people!) Picked up a nice pipe and was given a couple of tins of their brand of tobacco. Packaged in Germany. The "DaVinci" I bought in Florence was made/blended in Germany. No Italian tobacco. Paris? Some shops (la Civette, but mostly cigars and the freakishly odd L'oriental) but their tobacco also imported, and crazy expensive. (Priced a nifty tin of some special edition tobacco: E40 there, $18 here. That was two summers back, however.)
The best story was in Turkey. Was on an organized tour and turned out the guide was a smoker. We had a couple of good sessions after the rest of the group went to bed: cigars or pipes out by the pool overlooking the Med. He explained how while there are meerschaums there is no tobacco worth smoking. Any imports are subject to huge duty coming in. "But," he said, "sometimes there is a black market and you can find stuff. A few days later we are back in Istanbul and leaving a restaurant and I notice a small kiosk with some wooden (not briar) pipes. He says, "yeah, Turks are experimenting with making wood pipes." Then he looks at the chap behind the counter and asks him if he has any tobacco. Chap says "hayir." (No.) So he says to me, "See, just can't get tobacco." Then, I guess the guy behind the counter realizes the Guide is not a government agent, he has some words, they chat a second, and the chap pulls out a drawer below the one with pipes and it is stuffed to the rim with European tobacco packets. The guide just looks at me: "That is Turkey."
So after all of those fun trips, I want to know WHERE a pipe smoker can go to find reasonably priced quality tobacco in a culture that doesn't make one feel criminal. I have this fantasy in my head that it is Germany. Can anyone talk about travel there for pipe smokers?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I don't know, the American rebel in me finds buying blackmarket tobacco in a secret Turkish kiosk very appealing.

Keep in mind that the prices you see on websites in America are wholesale, not what we pay in B&Ms. Those are not the true price. Yeh, we buy them, but at the cost of putting the B&Ms out of business here. We are losing B&Ms at an alarming rate. My own favorite B&M has been debating for years about no longer carrying tobacco, because of the jerks that come in and make the owner feel like crap for charging a rate that will keep the lights on. He already doesn't make profit on the tobaccos. Real estate and commercial utilities are outrageous. In spite of the FDA, our own greed is killing our hobby (in the long run) more so than the government. Man, it is nice to pay what the B&M does wholesale to stock up my cellar, but when I no longer have a B&M smoking lounge to hang out in, I'm not sure that I can keep my own passions for the hobby going. When the time comes, I'll just have to see.

But, don't let those online prices deter you from supporting those entrepreneurs that are giving you guys an option.

 

[hmhaines]

Lots of awesome info here. Thanks to our international members for sharing!

 

[andvary]

Man, it is nice to pay what the B&M does wholesale to stock up my cellar, but when I no longer have a B&M smoking lounge to hang out in, I'm not sure that I can keep my own passions for the hobby going.

Well, one solution is to make the smoking lounge a chargeable service. Sure, it will turn away some of the customers (ones who like free stuff), but a good place to smoke has a value in itself.

I don’t know about the US, but in Russia there are the so-called anti-cafes, basically places to hang out with hourly fee for stay, as well as free stuff (basic tea/coffee/cookies, boardgames, an Xbox etc.).
I have a somewhat related story. Due to the influx of people from the Caucasus and the former southern USSR republics, the recent fad in Moscow and central Russia was smoking a hookah (or sheesha, or whatever you want to call it, the “Arab-smoking-thingy-with-a-hose”). Many restaurants and bars hopped to it and included hookahs in their menus. Then came the new law for “protection of public from tobacco smoke” and all the catering establishments were obliged to be non-smoking. It hit the business hard, some places actually closed down. All the smoking patrons are now crowding the sidewalks and boy do they look miserable. Enter the anti-cafes! The trick is - technically they are not “catering venues”, so they can allow smoking inside. Some are beginning to focus on smoking customers, be they hookah-smokers, cigar smokers or pipe-smokers.

There’s a saying in Russia, “the severity of Russian laws is compensated by the optionality of compliance”. Or in this case - copious loopholes.

 

[jvnshr]

Being from Caucasus, I know how hard it is to find a place to sit without smelling the hookah smoke. Fortunately, smoking is still allowed almost everywhere here, so we don't have any anti-cafes right now. Even a girl promoting cigarettes offered me to buy a cigarette and get a free lighter yesterday while doing some grocery shopping. I said unfortunately, I don't smoke cigarettes.

 

[Dutch Pipe Smoker]

So after all of those fun trips, I want to know WHERE a pipe smoker can go to find reasonably priced quality tobacco in a culture that doesn't make one feel criminal. I have this fantasy in my head that it is Germany. Can anyone talk about travel there for pipe smokers?

In my opinion in Western-Europe Spain and Germany. Spain is still cheap as far as tobacco goes, also see this blogpost of mine: Springtime in Seville – Part 2. Also the culture helps, I saw a lot of people smoking. As far as smells go Seville was a mixture of orange blossom/jasmine and dark smoke.

Germany really has a pipe-smoker feel for me. Almost every bigger town and city has a decent tobacconist. And you are being appreciated as a pipe-smoker (as long as you don't smoke a horrible smelling blend). For some reading see Christmas time in Cologne, Marvellous Motzek, Luxury tobacco from Lauenburg, Amazing Aachen, Christmas time in Düsseldorf and Heavenly Heinrichs.