Why Buy Tins?

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ziv

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 19, 2024
274
1,876
South Florida
Simple. Not every blend is available in bulk. Many are only available in tins. When a blend that I enjoy is available in bulk I buy bulk. When it's only available in tins I buy tins.
Can't you almost always find a bulk blend that's very close to a blend only available in tins?
 

sardonicus87

Lifer
Jun 28, 2022
1,401
14,216
37
Lower Alabama
I smoke 2-3 bowls a day on average. And if the same blend is available in bulk, why would I ever buy a tin? That's exactly what I'm asking. :)
Well then flip the question around... why buy 1 lb if you don't know if you'll like it? Now you've spent $50-100 on something you can't get rid of if you don't like it or your tastes change.

Or as others have mentioned, storing bulk takes up space, which not everyone has a lot of.

I'd rather have 100 tins of different things than 75 tins-worth of 5 blends from bulk.
 

ziv

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 19, 2024
274
1,876
South Florida
Well then flip the question around... why buy 1 lb if you don't know if you'll like it? Now you've spent $50-100 on something you can't get rid of if you don't like it or your tastes change.

Or as others have mentioned, storing bulk takes up space, which not everyone has a lot of.

I'd rather have 100 tins of different things than 100 tins worth of 5 blends from bulk.
How 'bout having 100 of 2 oz packets of bulk blends rather than 100 tins? It would cost you approximately 1.5 times less compared to tins. And I'm sure the storage issue could be figured out, given the purchase price difference?
 
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sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
21,018
50,369
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Can't you almost always find a bulk blend that's very close to a blend only available in tins?
Nope. Show me Criingle Flake in bulk release. Sometimes a blender produces a special version of a blend, like Watch City's Old Dominion, which can be bought in bulk.

In the case of the Old Dominion 25th Anniversary Flake, which was only released in tins, a limited amount of higher quality tobaccos that got very close to the original Hampton Roads version that featured McClelland blending components was used to create this version. Limited amount, released in tins.

Some years back, Russ Ouellette blended a series of Va/Pers that highlighted Perique from different parts of St. James Parish. Again, limited amounts of very special leaf and only released in tins. Nothing resembles those blends.

And there were single farm, single year releases like McCrainie Red Ribbon and Red Flake, made by McClelland.

There are numerous examples of unique blends only released in tins.

And, there are a lot of great blends that are available only in bulk, like the Sutliff Match series, of which I've cellered a goodly amount. McClelland 2015 was "The best Va/Per never tinned." 5100 was a bulk and an outstanding matured Red Virginia.

I buy what I like, and I dislike about 90% of what I've tried, in whatever form it presents itself.

Any "class warfare" statements are just plain horseshit.
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
45,301
119,548
Well then flip the question around... why buy 1 lb if you don't know if you'll like it?
Bulk is often available by the ounce.


storing bulk takes up space
As does tins but I put 1 pound of ribbon in pint jars with a caulk gun.


Id rather smoke something i really enjoy then something i kinda like just to save a few bucks.,
Though I enjoy the tins I have, my favorite blends are only available in bulk.
 

Steddy

Lifer
Sep 18, 2021
1,411
24,159
Western North Carolina
I have bought the same blend in bulk and in tins. The bulk tends to be drier but not always. If I’m building a cellar I want tins, they take up less space, are much lighter, and are easier to move. I have a lot of C&D tins and none of them have failed. I have had a couple of the regular round tins (the ones you need a coin to open) lose their seal. I just prefer tins for the convenience, the freshness, and the pleasure of popping them open.

I still buy bulk, specifically of blends not available in tins. I would never buy a different bulk blend that’s close to a tinned version to save a few dollars. That is just sad to me.
 

ziv

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 19, 2024
274
1,876
South Florida
I have bought the same blend in bulk and in tins. The bulk tends to be drier but not always. If I’m building a cellar I want tins, they take up less space, are much lighter, and are easier to move. I have a lot of C&D tins and none of them have failed. I have had a couple of the regular round tins (the ones you need a coin to open) lose their seal. I just prefer tins for the convenience, the freshness, and the pleasure of popping them open.

I still buy bulk, specifically of blends not available in tins. I would never buy a different bulk blend that’s close to a tinned version to save a few dollars. That is just sad to me.
Why is it sad?
 
Oct 19, 2024
12
25
New York
I buy a lot of tins because they are relatively cheap and I can sit and wait on them without any extra prep. Just buy, storage, and pop when you feel it's best. I just opened C&D's golden days of yore and a tin of their wintertime reserve scarlet cache. Which I plan on smoking for the month of December. I couldn't get it bulk and I could only get one by buying a new peterson pipe.
 

LeafErikson

Lifer
Dec 7, 2021
2,284
20,124
Oregon
Can't you almost always find a bulk blend that's very close to a blend only available in tins?
Sometimes but not all the time. A blend that comes to mind that is tinned without a similar blend in bulk is Windjammer.

If a blend is available in bulk that is what I purchase. I’ve recently started buying a pound of something I like in bulk, throwing it in Mylar, and throwing it in the cellar with a heat seal. Whenever I want it, I just rip the heat seal and smoke out of the zip-locked Mylar bag until the pound is gone.
 

Steddy

Lifer
Sep 18, 2021
1,411
24,159
Western North Carolina
Why is it sad?

I love Blend A, it’s $15 dollars.
I like Blend B, it’s $7 dollars.

I’m smoking Blend A, the one I love. Even the most expensive pipe tobacco is cheap in relative terms. So I don’t consider price when I’m trying different blends.

Maybe saving a few dollars and smoking a lesser blend is something people are interested in. Not me. Have at it.

It goes both ways, if I like a cheaper option better then that is what I would smoke. I don’t want to complicate pipe smoking by thinking about pocket change.
 
Jul 28, 2016
8,090
42,903
Finland-Scandinavia-EU
Whereas in good old europe, (UK aside) we don have bulk blends and roughly 70-80% of pipe tobacco come in pouches, and beacuse of this green new crap policies STG/Barens have announced that starting from 2025 onwards they would drop Gold foiled tobacco pouches out of production replacing them with these standard the standard plastic pouches like it was before