Virginias- What Pipe to Use?

[Samuel Perez]

Title edited for caps, spelling and meaning.

Original: Virginias, witch pipe?

Hi, I was wondering if it is less classy for me to smoke Virginian tobacco on any pipe? Is it better for the pipe to be thick walls or thin walls or what? Thanks

 

[fireground_piper]

Smoke them in the pipes you like! No sense using a pipe that doesn’t make you happy.

 

[dcicero]

For me ive found thick walls and conical work, longer stem, work best.

 

[Briar Lee]

Hi, I was wondering if it is less classy for me to smoke Virginian tobacco on any pipe? Is it better for the pipe to be thick walls or thin walls or what? Thanks

Welcome to the forum.

Pipe smoking is classy, regardless of what you smoke.

It takes practice to become an accomplished pipe smoker, and I recommend a Cherry Cavendish tobacco to get started.

A straight Virginia tobacco might bite you, until you become experienced.

I’ve smoked a pipe for fifty years, and most days I smoke cherry cavendish around other people. It smells great, and tastes wonderful.

At home, I sip on and enjoy Virginia tobaccos.

I prefer a larger pipe, for Virginias.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I smoke a Virginia Flake about 90% of the time. I think bowl ID is most important in affecting flavor. 0.75 to 0.80" seems to be the sweet spot for me. A conical shaped bowl seems to favor the sweeter blends, especially Red VA. I haven't found bowl thickness has much to do with the flavor. I prefer a larger draught hole, 0.40 or larger.

Jack Howell drills as good as anybody, his pipes are constructed near perfectly.

 

[Grangerous]

Classy?

 

[JJ_JJ_JJ_JJ]

Title edited for caps, spelling and meaning.

Original: Virginias, witch pipe?

Hi, I was wondering if it is less classy for me to smoke Virginian tobacco on any pipe? Is it better for the pipe to be thick walls or thin walls or what? Thanks

The one you have that doesn't smell like the last chemical laden aromatic you smoked =-)

 

[bullet08]

Only German clay pipe with at least 12.5 cm stem. Narrow chamber with at least 4 cm height.

I don't have a such pipe since Peterson doesn't make them, but they look good in old paintings. I'm not even sure they were smoking Va. But those old fashioned clothing look in need for a good washing.

 

[anotherbob]

many of the things people say are proper things to do with pipe smoking often make a subtle difference that either you'll notice or not at all. And if you really care about it you'll know from experience. Example I agree with the conical chamber with VA however while I can tell that the bottom of the bowl does seem richer and sweeter it's not a big enough difference to make me chose one pipe over the others.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Hi, I was wondering if it is less classy for me to smoke Virginian tobacco on any pipe? Is it better for the pipe to be thick walls or thin walls or what? Thanks

Any pipe you want. Don't base your enjoyment of a pipe on that of others, you'll find yourself very disappointed.

 

[anotherbob]

If you have the experience to pick up on the nuances it's something you'll notice for your self (what pipes make for your happiest smokes with what blends), if you have to ask the difference is more then likely too subtle to make a difference for you yet. Though it is worth experimenting and using the things we say as a jumping off point towards you getting the most out of pipe smoking. The thing is many aspects of it are subtle and while this or that might make the blend richer the difference is going to be very small.

 

[mso489]

I've always heard a medium to slightly narrow diameter chamber, but fairly deep, is good for Virginias, as a generalization, but I've had good experiences with broader less deep bowls. I am more of a burley devotee, so i'm not the best source on this. But I do enjoy a good Virginia or Va/Per.

The thickness of the bowl walls seems irrelevant, and not just with Virginias. I have some Kaywoodie pipes with thin walls that insulate as well as my much thicker walled pipes. I assume it is something about the briar.

I've also heard a conical chamber favors Virginias.

 

[rmbittner]

Title edited for caps, spelling and meaning.

Original: Virginias, witch pipe?

Hi, I was wondering if it is less classy for me to smoke Virginian tobacco on any pipe? Is it better for the pipe to be thick walls or thin walls or what? Thanks

This isn’t something you need to worry about or even think about as a beginning pipe smoker. Pick the pipe you want to smoke, choose the tobacco, and bring them together without fear.

Some of us smoke everything in anything. Some of us don’t.

It’s true that some blends reveal their nuances in certain types of pipes. But that’s something for you to explore further along in your journey. Because you won’t be able to even recognize nuances until you have a base of experience.

 

[PA Piper Mike]

I tend to use a narrow bowl more often than not when smoking VA flakes, mostly because a nice fold will fit it perfectly, height and width.

 

[ashdigger]

Typically, I smoke Virginia’s in a device with two holes, or at least one continuous hole.

But, that’s just me.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Topologically, a pipe is equivalent to a doughnut.

 

[sablebrush52]

I've smoked Virginias in conical and cylindrical chambers, taller narrow chambers, shorter wide chambers, bulldogs, Dublins, pots, billiards, and they smoke well in all of those options. My personal experience suggests that moisture content determines a lot of what I get out of a blend, along with slightly different packing depending on the cut.

Virginias will school you. For optimal results I recommend smoking them as slowly as you can, sipping just enough to keep the blend barely simmering, at the edge of going out.

On the matter of thick VS thin walls, when I first got seriously into smoking Virginias after years of smoking English and Balkan blends I smoked them in the same way that I did English only to find that they really got hot very quickly. I was smoking Rattray's HOTW at that time and it would just suddenly get very hot, which affected the flavor in a negative way.

To better train myself I switched to using thin walled pipes so that I would become aware of the temperature as I smoked. Thick walls protect you, but thin walls reveal what is going on. Once I got my cadence, moisture, and packing worked out so that I could maintain the burn at a low temperature, I could smoke Virginias in just about anything and have an enjoyable smoke.

 

[OverMountain]

Welcome to the forum.

Pipe smoking is classy, regardless of what you smoke.

It takes practice to become an accomplished pipe smoker, and I recommend a Cherry Cavendish tobacco to get started.

A straight Virginia tobacco might bite you, until you become experienced.

I’ve smoked a pipe for fifty years, and most days I smoke cherry cavendish around other people. It smells great, and tastes wonderful.

At home, I sip on and enjoy Virginia tobaccos.

I prefer a larger pipe, for Virginias.

What’s your favorite Cherry Cavendish blend?

 

[pistolero]

Classy? You want a naked cob. Classy!

 

[renfield]

Choose a pipe that isn’t ghosted with aromatics or Latakia. Clean it with particular attention to the mortise. Smoke it slowly and attentively.

This will give you a better chance of enjoying the subtlety of straight Virginia blends.