New from nation’s oldest city

[Corncobcon]

Experiment with packing the pipe. I think you might have to pack it a bit lighter. Tobaccos that are heavier and/or wetter
need to be packed a bit lighter than others. When you open up the EGR
tobacco, give it a try. It's one of my favorites. Then put it in a mason
jar. Oh yeah, when you buy jars, make sure you let the cashier know what
you are using the jars for. You will get the strangest looks! I know!!!

 

[Jamcdon1961]

Thanks. I’ll do that. Will try to dry a bit more as well. How long will it tobacco keep in the jars?

 

[D.L.Ruth]

Thanks. I’ll do that. Will try to dry a bit more as well. How long will it tobacco keep in the jars?

I have some tobaccos that are years old in jars. Some folks use jars for cellaring and leave it for decades. Should be good indefinitely since Mason Jars seal air tight.

 

[Jamcdon1961]

I have some tobaccos that are years old in jars. Some folks use jars for cellaring and leave it for decades. Should be good indefinitely since Mason Jars seal air tight.

Thank you

 

[Timbo]

Another suggestion would be a full English blend if you're seeking flavour, it won't taste like a cigar but I find them very tasty.

Something like Pease's Quiet Nights or Westminster maybe some Rattray's Red Raperee.

D.L.'s advice is stellar too. Getting your groove on smoking a pipe takes a while, like riding a bike it will be second nature to you in time.

 

[Jamcdon1961]

Thanks so much!

 

[Aussiemike]

Welcome to BoB mate, great bunch here.

 

[Jamcdon1961]

Thanks so much!

 

[mosin1932]

Welcome to the forum, there's a wealth of information on here and a bunch of really nice guys. It's usually 20% or less humidity year round where I live so I try to keep my tobacco more moist than most people probably do but as mentioned, just throw your tobacco in a Mason jar and it will last forever. 2-3oz of tobacco in a half pint and I can get 4-6oz in a pint jar. If it's a 4 or 8oz tin I'm opening, I'll put it in 2 separate jars, one that can stay sealed and one that I smoke out of. Getting your pipe technique down is the single most important aspect to this hobby IMHO. Watch some videos and read a ton of articles, it took me close to 20 bowls to get my packing/lighting/tamping down to where I actually started looking forward to smoking a pipe and I'm still learning everyday! Enjoy the forum and don't hesitate to ask more questions because everyone is very welcoming and charitable with their time here!

 

[Jamcdon1961]

Welcome to the forum, there's a wealth of information on here and a bunch of really nice guys. It's usually 20% or less humidity year round where I live so I try to keep my tobacco more moist than most people probably do but as mentioned, just throw your tobacco in a Mason jar and it will last forever. 2-3oz of tobacco in a half pint and I can get 4-6oz in a pint jar. If it's a 4 or 8oz tin I'm opening, I'll put it in 2 separate jars, one that can stay sealed and one that I smoke out of. Getting your pipe technique down is the single most important aspect to this hobby IMHO. Watch some videos and read a ton of articles, it took me close to 20 bowls to get my packing/lighting/tamping down to where I actually started looking forward to smoking a pipe and I'm still learning everyday! Enjoy the forum and don't hesitate to ask more questions because everyone is very welcoming and charitable with their time here!

Thanks so much. I’m a bit frustrated with my technique at this point. My humidity ranges from 24% - 80% in my house. I’m on the coast. Most days it’s over 50%. Trying to figure out drying time is challenging. I’ve started experimenting with 9 second bursts in the microwave to get some consistency in humidity. Most bowls I have to relight every 4-10
Puffs, and as a cigar smoker (light and forget), i find it frustrating. I have been alternating among 4 tobacco’s. I think I may concentrate on 1 tobacco for several bowls to try to figure out the best technique for each one, as my tobacco’s are all cut different. Thanks again for the welcome and info.

 

[mosin1932]

Thanks so much. I’m a bit frustrated with my technique at this point. My humidity ranges from 24% - 80% in my house. I’m on the coast. Most days it’s over 50%. Trying to figure out drying time is challenging. I’ve started experimenting with 9 second bursts in the microwave to get some consistency in humidity. Most bowls I have to relight every 4-10
Puffs, and as a cigar smoker (light and forget), i find it frustrating. I have been alternating among 4 tobacco’s. I think I may concentrate on 1 tobacco for several bowls to try to figure out the best technique for each one, as my tobacco’s are all cut different. Thanks again for the welcome and info.

Concentrating on one tobacco is a good idea, I started with captain black white, like a lot of people. Because it was cheap and I didn't mind wasting some if I over packed the bowl, the nice thing is that it is naturally on the moist side so it's harder to smoke than a dry English, which I think helps get your technique down faster. Smoking cigars could also have given you some bad habits to bring over to pipes as far as puffing goes, so don't underestimate the time it takes to get the packing and tamping down! My only recommendation is to use a lot more heat and a lot more tamps than you think it should take and then work backwards, also try smoking in the dark so you can see the cherry developing and you can see what it needs, it should glow across the whole bowl just like a well lit cigar does. Everyone has their own unique method and pattern to smoking, I puff away and try to not let the pipe go out, 80% of my bowls smoke all the way down without a relight, some people relight 5 or 6 times. It's just about finding what you like most!

 

[Balisong]

Keep your experimentation fun! It's easy to end up down a rabbit hole. Back in the '80s I was met a doctor who was a pipe smoker. I was curious because his profession was adamantly opposed to and kind of smoke including second hand smoke. He told me that if you're going smoke don't smoke cigarettes, if a cigar or pipe don't inhale, and a pipe is the least dangerous. He smoked a cob because he felt the bowl was capable of absorbing some of the tars and when the bowl got junky is was cheap enough to thow away and replace. I continued with my briars for many years before I came across this article, The Complete Corncob primer - Pipedia which set me off in a new direction. If moist tobacco is a problem, try finding a manufacturer that uses little or no humectants, the most widely used is propylene glycol otherwise known as antifreeze. Unfortunately Lane tobaccos and blends from Scandinavian Tobacco Group, their parent company, seem to contain a lot of it as is true of most "goopy" tobaccos. Smokingpipes.com has told me that Cornell & Diehl blends only use mineral water. I find that Mac Baren and Kohlhase & Kopp are on the "less" side of the spectrum.

 

[Ranger107]

You might consider some of the Country Squire blends. Their aro blends are very good if you like aromatics and they are way better than Captain Black, lol. I usually get through a big bowl of Choctaw or Rivendell with one or two relights. Just noticed you're in St. Augustine. I grew up in Jacksonville and spent a lot of time in St. Augustine. Just take it slow and it will come in time.

 

[Blackhorse]

You might be packing your bowl too tight. I’d think about moving beyond the Capt. Black level of blends to bigger and better things.

Go over to the Tobacco Reviews” site and check out the advanced search thing. You can specify ingredients in a blend and search for corresponding blends. VERY useful!

Lots of blends with cigar leaf…among my favorites are John Patton blends available only at 4 Noggins online. Very, very highly recommended.

https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/Search

 

[Jamcdon1961]

Concentrating on one tobacco is a good idea, I started with captain black white, like a lot of people. Because it was cheap and I didn't mind wasting some if I over packed the bowl, the nice thing is that it is naturally on the moist side so it's harder to smoke than a dry English, which I think helps get your technique down faster. Smoking cigars could also have given you some bad habits to bring over to pipes as far as puffing goes, so don't underestimate the time it takes to get the packing and tamping down! My only recommendation is to use a lot more heat and a lot more tamps than you think it should take and then work backwards, also try smoking in the dark so you can see the cherry developing and you can see what it needs, it should glow across the whole bowl just like a well lit cigar does. Everyone has their own unique method and pattern to smoking, I puff away and try to not let the pipe go out, 80% of my bowls smoke all the way down without a relight, some people relight 5 or 6 times. It's just about finding what you like most!

Great info. Thanks so much. I tried captain black first. No flavor. Loved the smell, but needed something stronger.

 

[The Pimlico piper]

Hello, there everyone. Pimlico piper here from Dublin Ireland. I am brand new to the piping world and quite literally have just smoked my 3rd bowl of tobacco about a half hour ago and I can positively say that I am hooked. Though I am brand new to pipe smoking, it is something I have pondered over doing for quite some time. I quit smoking cigarettes 22 years ago when my youngest son was born but have always loved the idea of smoking a pipe. The memory of the aromas that pipe tobacco give from when I was a child have always stayed with me and now that my kids have all grown and I am now nearly 50 I decided to give it a go. And I must admit I am not disappointed. I am looking forward to hearing lots of advice and tips from seasoned pipe smokers like yourselves and I hope my journey into the pipe smoking world will be long and enjoyable.

 

[Ranger107]

2 suggestions. Stronger but still very smooth, McB H&H Old Dark Fired. For much stronger, Old Joe Krantz. I didn't care for the original, but the OJK Red Label is quite tasty.

 

[Jamcdon1961]

Might try some C&D Billy Budd. Has cigar leaf which gives it a fuller taste but still pretty mild. I find it quite enjoyable. Just don't pack it too tight.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have been enjoying Billy Budd.

 

[Jamcdon1961]

Concentrating on one tobacco is a good idea, I started with captain black white, like a lot of people. Because it was cheap and I didn't mind wasting some if I over packed the bowl, the nice thing is that it is naturally on the moist side so it's harder to smoke than a dry English, which I think helps get your technique down faster. Smoking cigars could also have given you some bad habits to bring over to pipes as far as puffing goes, so don't underestimate the time it takes to get the packing and tamping down! My only recommendation is to use a lot more heat and a lot more tamps than you think it should take and then work backwards, also try smoking in the dark so you can see the cherry developing and you can see what it needs, it should glow across the whole bowl just like a well lit cigar does. Everyone has their own unique method and pattern to smoking, I puff away and try to not let the pipe go out, 80% of my bowls smoke all the way down without a relight, some people relight 5 or 6 times. It's just about finding what you like most!

Thanks so much.

 

[Jamcdon1961]

You might be packing your bowl too tight. I’d think about moving beyond the Capt. Black level of blends to bigger and better things.

Go over to the Tobacco Reviews” site and check out the advanced search thing. You can specify ingredients in a blend and search for corresponding blends. VERY useful!

Lots of blends with cigar leaf…among my favorites are John Patton blends available only at 4 Noggins online. Very, very highly recommended.

https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/Search

Great suggestion. Thanks