What Keeps Me Going

[sgh]

I've attempted to learn how to smoke a pipe a few times over the last 10 years, and there are two things that keep me going this time around:

1) I got lucky & had a fantastic smoke. Only 2 lights to the bottom of the bowl, loads of flavor, not a hint of bite, etc. The best part was the aftertaste, and how it lingered. It's only happened the once, and it was before it got cold, so I'm hoping I'll have better luck when winter is over.

2) I'm sure it's sacreligious to some, but pipe tobacco in a loose leaf herbal vaporizer will give you the tin note. I'd say it's like cheating at pipe smoking in terms of flavor, but unless there's latakia, you won't get any smoky notes (it's different). Don't take it over 360F or use aromatics, otherwise you'll gunk up the chamber with tar and/or aromatic goo.

Now that I've experienced how good a pipe can be, I have something to chase after.

Side note: I'm fighting the cold-induced gurgles by smoking 1/3rd of a pipeful at a time. So far so good; no gurgles and no wad of wet tobacco at the end of a difficult smoke.

 

[brian64]

It sounds like your tobacco may be too moist. If you're not drying it out before smoking, chances are this will remedy things more than any other single factor. It will also enable you to smoke slowly and lightly without it going out.

 

[Casual]

1) Thats also how golf gets you.

2) Sounds awesome actually. There are tin notes I like better than the smoke.

I’m also learning how to smoke in the cold this winter. It definitely changes the taste as well as the condensation.

 

[anotherbob]

dry herb vaped pipe tobacco is interesting. Snuff is better though. And great job at getting to that point where you get that golden smoke. The one where you think everything went perfectly. The travel time between that first golden smoke and that being just a smoke (happens most of the time and with little extra thought or attention) is much shorter then the time between picking up a pipe and that first golden smoke. Well typically.

 

[mso489]

Cold temps definitely affect taste. Just for examples, wine and cheese definitely have appropriate temperatures for serving, and these are decidedly different between individual cheeses and wines. Complex tobacco blends, for me, lose their complexity in the cold. A sturdy burley blend does well in the cold for me.

 

[Chasing Embers]

but pipe tobacco in a loose leaf herbal vaporizer will give you the tin note.

Dried out and smoked slow will give you the tin note as well.

 

[sgh]

Dried out and smoked slow will give you the tin note as well.

Ok then, the vape gives you the tin note without having to learn anything, which is good for newbies who need something to dream of :p

I'm still working out how far to dry my tobacco, and winter seems to make that lesson harder to learn. I look at it as smoking with weights; when winter is over I'll have better smokes because I've been training. At least, that's what I tell myself.

I've mainly been smoking GLP Embarcadero lately, and since it's mostly red Va it's good for learning how to slow down. I can finally smoke slow enough to feel the warning tingle of tongue bite and slow it down even more, instead of ruining the tobacco by overheating it. I still don't get the Va sweetness people talk about, but it doesn't taste like ash. Drier and slower, I suppose.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I still don't get the Va sweetness people talk about

Are you retrohaling?

 

[sgh]

dry herb vaped pipe tobacco is interesting.

Yes it is. It's very different from a real smoke, but it scratches that 'why doesn't it taste like it smells' itch with minimal effort. Of course, you're still inhaling stuff, but at least it isn't on fire.

The travel time between that first golden smoke and that being just a smoke (happens most of the time and with little extra thought or attention) is much shorter then the time between picking up a pipe and that first golden smoke. Well typically.

So I have less than 10 years to go, what a relief! :D

I'll probably have it mostly figured out by summer, which will be a great time to pop my tin of Key Largo.

 

[sgh]

Are you retrohaling?

Yes, especially when I think I'm doing a good job of not cooking my tobacco. It's just very smooth smoke, doesn't smell like much. The aftersmell is... clean? But it seems more like the absence of smoke than an actual smell.

 

[Casual]

Complex tobacco blends, for me, lose their complexity in the cold. A sturdy burley blend does well in the cold for me.

I have switched to burley with the occasional English. I agree that burley holds up in the cold. It also pairs well with the inevitable hot coffee.

 

[anotherbob]

Yes it is. It's very different from a real smoke, but it scratches that 'why doesn't it taste like it smells' itch with minimal effort. Of course, you're still inhaling stuff, but at least it isn't on fire.



So I have less than 10 years to go, what a relief! :D

I'll probably have it mostly figured out by summer, which will be a great time to pop my tin of Key Largo.

Good choice Key Largo is such a great one in my opinion.

 

[Lyle b]

I've attempted to learn how to smoke a pipe a few times over the last 10 years, and there are two things that keep me going this time around:

1) I got lucky & had a fantastic smoke. Only 2 lights to the bottom of the bowl, loads of flavor, not a hint of bite, etc. The best part was the aftertaste, and how it lingered. It's only happened the once, and it was before it got cold, so I'm hoping I'll have better luck when winter is over.

2) I'm sure it's sacreligious to some, but pipe tobacco in a loose leaf herbal vaporizer will give you the tin note. I'd say it's like cheating at pipe smoking in terms of flavor, but unless there's latakia, you won't get any smoky notes (it's different). Don't take it over 360F or use aromatics, otherwise you'll gunk up the chamber with tar and/or aromatic goo.

Now that I've experienced how good a pipe can be, I have something to chase after.

Side note: I'm fighting the cold-induced gurgles by smoking 1/3rd of a pipeful at a time. So far so good; no gurgles and no wad of wet tobacco at the end of a difficult smoke.

Hey sgh , i gave up the durries and have been smoking a pipe for the better part of 14 years now , best thing i ever did , but has only been in the the last 12 or so i feel i hav become one with my pipes he he and the few selected blends in which i indulge , it has taken time and alot of learning but for such a simple pleasure it has been a wonderful journey and not one thats by any means over , still learning every day . So keep at it , you will get to a point of knowing , your pipes and your weed and thats when the road really opens up and the journey begins . For sum its not so much a hobby as a way of life , the lessons learned and the thorts had while enjoying the moments of reflection that only time spent enjoying the time it takes for a nice toke are invaluable, religious even , sorry to rant , just know that anything worthwhile including life , takes time to learn and those moments of thort inbetween , shared with ya pipe , are sumtime the moments of greatest learning , 2 beers down he he , keep goin if pipe smokeing is sumthing you are drawn to and that couple of good smokes you had will pave the way to every moment spent with ya pipe being most enjoyable and rewarding . As for smokeing in winter , cold , wet , snowy or just plain miserable, i can only dream of wonderin around in that sortof weather , pipe in hand ,is always hot and humid here and recon cup of coffee and smokeing a nice pipe on cold shitty mornin doesn't sound so bad . Anyway , enjoy ya smokeing , it only gets better .

 

[bullet08]

nicotine is in my blood. not 'cause i smoke, that too but.. my father was a chimney stack. smoked all his life until he was 65 or so. he chain smoked all around me. my grandmother, aunts, uncles.. they all smoked. my older cousins, school teachers, martial art teacher, yeah they smoked. i started smoking left over ciggy butt when my father wasn't looking. start buying pack of cigarettes starting 12. nasty habit, but someone's gotta do it.

i remember my father trying to smoke pipe back around 1980. distinctively remember a pouch of half and half and what i remember to be dr. grabow pipe. didn't last long.

last year when my father was in a hospital, i picked up a pipe. didn't know it was his death bed. he's gone now, but pipe smoking didn't go away.