Pipe Tobacco Genres and Phases

[renfield]

Like many others have done I went through about 10 years of mostly blends featuring Latakia as the main rotation.

Then I got burned out on lat and craved more subtlety and nuance. It’s been years now with mostly Virginia and oriental forward blends with Burley offerings for variety. Lat blends are now the occasional treat.

 

[pantsBoots]

I'm only a year in, but have read the accounts of quite a few old timers who eventually grew to dislike Latakia. I love the stuff and want to keep it that way, so I try to smoke it sparingly and focus more on Virginia and Burley blends. Fortunately, I like them all.

 

[krizzose]

I think I’m an outlier as I have known since the beginning that Latakia was just not for me. And I smoked through 3 or 4 tins of various blends (one was Old Dublin, and I think Frog Morton) early on to make sure I wasn’t missing out. I gave it a good try, and I know that Latakia and my palate do not agree. It’s too bad, really, because I loved the way it smoked despite hating the way it tasted.

 

[GCW]

That's the thing about English/Oriental/Balkan blends. They're very forgiving, flavor bombs, and don't require good technique.

Virginias require good technique or they taste of nothing but hot air. The flavors are more delicate than English blends and it takes practice to draw them out to their fullest. Also, Virginias can heat up quite quickly and turn your pipe into a branding iron.

As I've said before, Virginias will school you. Once I started to understand how to coax Virginia flavors I explored other blends and ended up pretty much exclusively a Virginia smoker.

As far as VA and technique is concerned - is this specific to the cut? Are flakes more forgiving than shag or ribbon in this genre? Also, where does the pipe shape come into play when selecting VA blends?

 

[bullet08]

I'm fairly new. Read about getting tired of Latakia early on. To prevent that from happening to me, I rarely smoke Lat back to back. Being a bowl a day smoker, it might go few days before I would smoke Latakia again. If I want a second bowl on same day, it's usually OTC. VA is okay, and I enjoy it, but it's not exactly Latakia with oriental.

 

[GCW]

I'm fairly new. Read about getting tired of Latakia early on. To prevent that from happening to me, I rarely smoke Lat back to back. Being a bowl a day smoker, it might go few days before I would smoke Latakia again. If I want a second bowl on same day, it's usually OTC. VA is okay, and I enjoy it, but it's not exactly Latakia with oriental.

This is pretty much where I'm at right now. Only been piping since 2015 so I still have a ways to go. My technique with VA is in much need of refinement. Hopefully, one day I'll get there. From everything I've read on here it will be rewarding.

 

[Chasing Embers]

As far as VA and technique is concerned - is this specific to the cut?

It's the sugar content. Takes more heat to combust.

Are flakes more forgiving than shag or ribbon in this genre?

Each depend on their preparation, packing, and smoking cadence.

Also, where does the pipe shape come into play when

There really isn't one though some prefer tall narrow chambers.

 

[Chasing Embers]

My technique with VA is in much need of refinement.

Go bone dry.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I love the stuff and want to keep it that way

Those of us who got tired of it thought the same way.

 

[krizzose]

As far as VA and technique is concerned - is this specific to the cut? Are flakes more forgiving than shag or ribbon in this genre? Also, where does the pipe shape come into play when selecting VA blends?

I personally prefer a bowl diameter of .75 - .80 for any Virginia, particularly flakes. However, that’s purely subjective. You may find that something else works better for you, so keep experimenting.

 

[cshubhra]

I pretty much smoke all genre, all the time.

 

[bullet08]

This is pretty much where I'm at right now. Only been piping since 2015 so I still have a ways to go. My technique with VA is in much need of refinement. Hopefully, one day I'll get there. From everything I've read on here it will be rewarding.

I'm getting what I want out of VA. I can appreciate the sweetness and other notes. But, it's still comparing Indian and English cuisine. Jellied eel anyone?

 

[GCW]

I'm getting what I want out of VA. I can appreciate the sweetness and other notes. But, it's still comparing Indian and English cuisine. Jellied eel anyone?

Ah, the commonwealth (not the blend) crossover recipe!

 

[GCW]

Go bone dry.

And the pack?

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

There's three phases to my off and on pipe smoking journey. As I started, it was a vanilla Cavendish that tripped my trigger. Second phase started with Frog Moron and English blends but shifted to Virginias with McClelland being my primary Virginia picks. Phase 3 has been 70% Virginia while mixing in some VaOr, VaPer and VaBur blends. I rarely even glance at an English blend.

I like the sweetness of Virginia blends and I prefer smoking flakes. Seems like most English blends are ribbon cut which is another reason I don't find that genre very appealing. Anything is possible I suppose but I don't see me varying my present rotations by much.

 

[JimInks]

I have been smoking a pipe since I was 16 and now am 60. I did a couple of stints managing tobacco shops. I always seemed to have a variety of tobaccos available. I now have well over 400 blends and I can definitely state that, the way to avoid Latakia, or other, burn-out, is to smoke a variety. I try to avoid being a “tobacco hater”. Like many older, long term smokers, I probably enjoy a larger percentage of VAs and Burley flakes than I did in my younger days. I firmly adhere to “variety is the spice of life” when it comes to pipe smoking. @Jiminks and I are the same age and have been smoking the same number of years. I suggest younger (or newer) smokers follow Jim’s “What are you smoking” posts. There you will find true variety

Actually, I started smoking a pipe at 13, so I beat you to it by three years. As for smoking a variety of blends and genres, I started doing that by 1978, and the constant change has enhanced my smoking life.

 

[Chasing Embers]

And the pack?

Gravity fill to allow more oxygen into the chamber. Tightly packed for me makes it burn hotter.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Jellied eel

Don't like the texture. More of a stargazy pie sort of fellow.

 

[GCW]

Gravity fill to allow more oxygen into the chamber. Tightly packed for me makes it burn hotter.

and then just sip, right? No fast puffing on a VA is what I've read.

 

[bullet08]

and then just sip, right? No fast puffing on a VA is what I've read.

Passive smoking using breathing method works best.