Different pipes for different kinds...

[beetlejazz]

I tried to look for old threads on this but didn't get lucky... so I'm posting my own.

So, as a still a rather novice of a pipe smoker, I have only 2 pipes. Planning to get more. So far I have designated the other pipe for virginias only, and the other for everything else.

But as I'm planning to get some more pipes, I'm wondering, is there any good rule of thumb about what things shouldn't be smoked in the same pipe?

I am thinking about a possible virginia only - blends with kentucky - blends with latakia -triad as something to aim at. Then there's the whole question about big and small pipes, pipes good for outdoors, pipes that accommodate well a certain size of flake (I've really learned to enjoy smoking a flake that fits the bowl well) to consider... argh I need so many new pipes! :lol:

But anyway, when it comes to different kinds of tobaccos... any thoughts?

 

[monbla256]

This is currently ( not when I started smoking, you had some pipes, you smoked your tobacco!) a BIG thing. WAAAAAY to big really! Unless you smoke nothing but OCT American/Danish style pouch aromatics, ( which tend to be highly flavored with stuff) smoking st. Va's, or Va blends or English/Balkans should really not be a problem in the same pipe. Some which are stronger in one type of 'bac might leave some "ghost" but I've not found it all that much to be concerned about. As far as a specific "type" or style of pipe for a type of 'bac, that really is up to what you have on hand and what YOU experience with whatever combo you use. EVERYONE has THEIR IDEA of what style smokes best with various 'bacs, but it is THEIR OPINION not some set in stone FACT No matter what someone says! For example, I like to smoke Va flakes and rub mine out usually and find they smoke best FOR ME in my bigger. wider bowled Pots and Bulldogs and Apples. Someone else will state that this sort of 'bac smokes best in a small chambered billiard style, the next guy says a medium Poker shpe works best and on and on. Since this might be a lifetime endeaver for you, take your time and try different combo's as you can so that YOU find what works for YOU the best Now, go load up a pipe, light it and ENJOY

 

[Brewdude]

And there ya go....


:lol:


(and fwiw I agree with monbla)



Cheers,

RR

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Monbla said it.

Though, I do practice a little contrary. I like some pretty heavy, strong plugs, as well as some pretty knockout strong Latakia stuff. I separate pipes into "Latakia" and "Non-Latakia." Also, I'm pretty into very subtle but worthy lighter stuff, and a couple of pipes are dedicated to just those tobaccos (they seem to like it "clean").

I have a particularly sensitive palate, and I can detect ghosting sometimes. It was solved by having specific pipes that do specific things. One conclusion I'm coming to is that generally, one size tobacco chamber seems to work great for all of my tobaccos. Might be the packing/smoking style more than the tobacco, but the jury's still out on that one. Bulldogs of medium size for some reason equip me with just what I need. However, there's some narrow/tall chambers work wonders, too. Depends on the flavor I'm going for.

Each pipe truly can be unto its own, and sometimes you have to decrypt the pipe, not play "match-up" until you're simply unsatisfied frustrated. Once in a while a "happy accident" can be repeated, and you get a rare smoke--over and over, without fail...and that's good stuff, right there. That's about all I have to offer that's sure-fire advice.

Carry on, sister.

8)

 

[Anonymous]

It used to be that a guy found the tobacco he really liked, smoked it, and that was that. Maybe tried this and that for variety, but stuck pretty close to home.

Now people seem to be on a mission to try everything under the sun, which I don't understand. Maybe they're afraid they're going to "miss something." ? That attitude used to strike people as so obviously funny that "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium" was a movie title (and comedy) that didn't need explained.

(Kids these days . . . :lol!: )

My advice (since you're soliciting it) : one pipe for Virginias. Only.

One pipe for English/Balkan Mixtures. Only.

Then some cobs to try VaPers, Burleys, Va-Orientals and whatnot. If you hit one you really like, then a briar pipe for that.

IOW, get oriented to what's "out there" and what ballparks various genres are going to be in. Then take it from there.

PS : My bad. Didn't look to see you were in Finland. Cobs can't be that available & cheap there. Sorry !

:face:

 

[kaiser83]

There was a fellow in Denmark, I believe, who ordered from MM and got his cobs inside a week. They are cheap even with shipping. Dedicate all you want to whatever you want. I only have a couple pipes dedicated to certain types (aros and lat blends). Monbla gives the best advice and I would take his experience and wisdom over opinions any day.

http://www.corncobpipe.com/product.php?productid=16207&cat=0&page=1

I am one of those youngsters who tries everything under the sun. It's not that I am afraid I will miss something just that I want to understand different tobaccos and the flavor they have. I love my FM and it is always nearby, but I also want to try other types. Just the experience and different tastes. Only smoking one is like coloring a picture with only a brown crayon in m opinion.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

It's probably a generational thing, or the fact we have so many darned tobaccos there's a push for simply getting a handle on them all. Not to mention the fervor for at-the-fingertips information via the Internet. It's not just a "walk into a store, buy a pipe and some tobacco" kind of world anymore.

I relate it to how coffee and small-batch beer/liquor is these days. People under 40 are simply used to being (wannabe or otherwise) connoisseurs with all that can be had. There's mind-boggling amounts of what people are doing in their own craft. "My favorite this week is..." followed by that of everyone else. Music? Same thing--so many small bands, genres, etc., the more unheard of or obscure, "underdog" or outrageous...it's a life of its own. It's an adventure partially fueled by boredom, expectation, and mass-understanding via amassed information.

So...understand it? I don't either. I do enjoy it, however. Spoiled, we are--that's inarguable.

Though I take a page from the "experienced" handbook as well--I stick with what I like, but I always find myself open to what new, personalized and inspired creation (insert hobby here) has in store for me today/this week/this month/this year.

It's the stuff I go back to that speaks volumes. 8)

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Only smoking one is like coloring a picture with only a brown crayon in m opinion.

BUT...it's what people do with it, being devil's advocate here: shading, contrast and approach, if you will accept that.

I can watch a film from 1935 and a digital movie from 2012, and all of the colors, CG, 3D, HD, whiz-bang, beauties, graphics and engineered sound in the world can't come close to the feeling and wonder of good costuming, dialogue, and story line of an old film.

There's good in all of it, by my vantage point. Then again, I get criticized for being a fence-sitter and "too agreeable" seeing all sides. The price of objectivity, I guess.

 

[Anthonyx2b]

I really like Kaisers idea with comparing it to crayons and painting a picture. That was a great way to put it! :cheers:

 

[gravel]

Only smoking one is like coloring a picture with only a brown crayon in m opinion.

BUT...it's what people do with it, being devil's advocate here: shading, contrast and approach, if you will accept that.

I can watch a film from 1935 and a digital movie from 2012, and all of the colors, CG, 3D, HD, whiz-bang, beauties, graphics and engineered sound in the world can't come close to the feeling and wonder of good costuming, dialogue, and story line of an old film.

There's good in all of it, by my vantage point. Then again, I get criticized for being a fence-sitter and "too agreeable" seeing all sides. The price of objectivity, I guess.

I share the same view Kyle. I smoked the same stuff for years and only recently started to look into other blends. I anticipate I will pare down in the future, only coloring with a couple of crayons.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

The color spectrum, ROYGBIV, can be narrowed down into a few limited presentations, like RGB, CMYK, etc and I'm often surprised what can be done with it, let alone regular B&W or sepia.

We can't see everything, but when limitations are lifted, we're inclined to try. It doesn't mean we will, though. *shrug* All's fair in love and tobacco.

8)

 

[Steveaux]

All's fair in love and tobacco.

8)

.... except pricing.

:twisted:

 

[monbla256]

The color spectrum, ROYGBIV, can be narrowed down into a few limited presentations, like RGB, CMYK, etc and I'm often surprised what can be done with it, let alone regular B&W or sepia.

We can't see everything, but when limitations are lifted, we're inclined to try. It doesn't mean we will, though. *shrug* All's fair in love and tobacco.

8)

Considering that ALL color printing is done with RYBC and BLK what more would you need

 

[Brewdude]

Have 2 pipes dedicated to Lat-forward blends. Pretty much everything else gets burned in what I fancy.

Have yet to experience a ghost when switching from a VaPaer to a VA in a given pipe.

I don't smoke in your face Lakelands so no worries there. Nor aros as a general rule, except for mild ones such as Sammy G's Firedance. And even there I can't detect any difference.

I do have some favorites when a specific blend is concerned, but that has more to do with how it burns and tastes. But even there I don't smoke just that particular blend in it exclusively.

So there ya go....



(the requisite monbla emoticon)



Cheers,

RR

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Considering that ALL color printing is done with RYBC and BLK what more would you need

Apparently eyes good enough to see a difference, or it might all just be a sham.

I remember 20 years ago, being the budding tech-nerd I fancy myself today, talking with others on old online BBS systems (before the Internet), when monitors and graphics cards started reaching EGA 16 color...not 16 bit, but literally, 16 color spectrum. We professed in challenge, "...who the HECK would need more?" Then VGA came out, and gave us 256. We said, "Oh. I guess we need more." It all went from there, and now look us, probably staring at screens at this very moment that produce millions upon millions of "colors" all based on nearly-true spectrum, measured in resolution, not just simple colors any longer. The separation has become almost microscopic and mere mathematics (none of which I claim to know :lol

Coming to a pipe near you: 1080i HD and 3D tobaccos? :bounce:

8)

 

[beetlejazz]

Ohoo I love all the input! Thanks brothers! :cheers: Just having some sort of idea how other more experienced smokers deal with this gives me a bit more confidence at finding "my own way".

I am not generally afraid of "missing something", but tasting new tobaccos is just so darn fun. Just sticking a favourite in my pipe and concentrating on other things, like dozing off in my smoking chair and pretending to think something really deep, is one dimension. I love having favourite tobaccos and some becoming so familiar I really don't need to pay much attention anymore to anything but enjoying a long, relaxing smoke. But trying stuff out - that's another dimension, and I enjoy it too! And I am greedy, and want to have it all, if I can.


I guess my fear of ghosting comes from years of green tea fanaticism. Nowadays I indeed mostly drink only a few favourites, a new thing tossed in here and there, but even if I'm not chasing for that "perfect cup of tea" anymore, I would still be terrified if someone stuck black tea in my sencha pot or god forbid some spiced/aromatized tea in my yixing. :shock:

But good to know this is not such an serious issue, and I can safely let my tobaccos choose their pipes most of the time without committing some sort of ultimate transgression.


EDIT: Oh. Cobs. I've been meaning to get some, especially after reading from here they should do well in humid conditions (humidity is not a problem here most of the time, but I'm thinking about, say, autumn-time hiking/camping trips). And yes one can get cheap cobs from here too.

 

[user 2031]

I guess my fear of ghosting comes from years of green tea fanaticism. Nowadays I indeed mostly drink only a few favourites, a new thing tossed in here and there, but even if I'm not chasing for that "perfect cup of tea" anymore, I would still be terrified if someone stuck black tea in my sencha pot or god forbid some spiced/aromatized tea in my yixing. :shock:

I hear ya' brother. Only Pu-erh goes in my mouse shaped Yixing pot! :lol:

 

[gravel]

I guess my fear of ghosting comes from years of green tea fanaticism. Nowadays I indeed mostly drink only a few favourites, a new thing tossed in here and there, but even if I'm not chasing for that "perfect cup of tea" anymore, I would still be terrified if someone stuck black tea in my sencha pot or god forbid some spiced/aromatized tea in my yixing. :shock:

I hear ya' brother. Only Pu-erh goes in my mouse shaped Yixing pot! :lol:

Pssst. Sister.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Beetlejazz gets that a lot...she's cool, she can hang, even if she gets a li'l gender-bent by the brothers here... :lol:

...finding tobacco your own way, Beetle, is what it's all about. You could do combing research of the "top blends," find ten that get the top marks, and the thumbs-up from the all-knowing/all-seeing, but if it doesn't do it for ya, then...a lot of good that does. Yet, if you do find something good, it's a clue as to where else to go. "How good CAN it get?" That's a question for the ages (and aged, people and tobacco alike... :lol: )

Fun times we pipe smokers are living in, for sure.

8)

 

[beetlejazz]

I guess my fear of ghosting comes from years of green tea fanaticism. Nowadays I indeed mostly drink only a few favourites, a new thing tossed in here and there, but even if I'm not chasing for that "perfect cup of tea" anymore, I would still be terrified if someone stuck black tea in my sencha pot or god forbid some spiced/aromatized tea in my yixing. :shock:

I hear ya' brother. Only Pu-erh goes in my mouse shaped Yixing pot! :lol:

And only oolongs go into my yixing. Preferably Taiwanese. Cool to meet a person who takes tea seriously here. Somehow that doesn't surprise me. 8)



And I really don't mind the occasional experience of being "gender-bent" ( :lol: @ Kyle). Not insulted or anything, I know deep down inside boys are people too.