Smoking 'English' blends in a pipe used for Virginia

[PipedJimmy]

Hey brothers, a quick question; I have come accross the supposed fact that English blends are blends that are said to be traditional of England rather than necessarily containing Latakia or an Oriental leaf as I belived. My question therefore, assuming this is right, is whether smoking blends with perique and such in them will affect a pipe that has been dedicated to Virginias?

Thanks very much guys!

 

[Sasquatch]

Jimmy, a long time ago, the split between "English" and whatever the other types of the time might be was more along the lines of Category X being tobaccos that had no added toppings of flavors, and category Y being tobaccos that did (ie, what we call aromatics, known in that parlance as Danish). So tobacconists catalogs of old had straight virginia, for example, listed as "English". Your "traditional of England" might have at some point reflected this.

Nowadays, most people will call something "English" or and "English Mixture" if it is a mixture predominantly of Virginia and Latakia, often with an oriental component, sometimes with a perique component, or other "condimental" tobacco (Basma in the case of Old Dubln, for example). So McClelland British Woods is an English, manufactured in America. Astley's Royal Tudor is an English manufactured in Germany. "English in Pedigree"?


To answer your question about perique, I don't find that perique leaves much in the way of funny tastes in my pipe, and I would not hesitate to smoke straight virginias and va/pers out of the same pipe.

 

[PipedJimmy]

Thank you Sasquatch! More invaluable advice from this forum, also I can add the word 'parlance' to my vocabulary lol which I'm very happy to do, thank you for the answer sir.

 

[ftrplt]

This question of English vs. Balkan vs. Oriental came up on the old Knox board IIRC! My retort then was to relate an explanation given to me by a GBD pipe rep when I was working in a pipe store in the 60's. To wit:

Virginia+Latakia=English

English+Oriental/Turkish=Balkan

Virginia+Oriental/Turkish=Oriental

Perique/Cavendish wasn't a player in the equation. These were just generalizations; none were intended to be "hard and fast."

I smoke English/Balkan/Oriental blends 95% of the time;I do not smoke aromatics or VaPers. When I do indulge a straight Va. (DH Light Flake, FVF, etc.), my pipes don't seem to mind!! :lol!: ipe: FTRPLT

 

[Anonymous]

I used to think the same thing for a long time. Whatever the term English derived from, it is now in reference to a blend that contains (VA +) latakia.

As to the perique question, I agree with Sasquatch. But, if you find a pipe that smokes VA/per well, you won't want to smoke anything else in it. I have a couple of pipes dedicated to perique blends (I.E. Escudo). One is the 2000 Tinsky Christmas pipe (which is the Rhodesian); I like it so much I bought 2. another is my Tinsky Cavalier (not the one with the removable bowl). These pipes seem to bring out the spice in perique, and I hesitate to smoke anything else in it. (not to mention that I have no shortage of pipes)

Here's another tip if you are a latakia lover: smoke a straight VA in your English pipes for a treat!

 

[Anonymous]

IMHO, Perique is the gift that seemingly never stops giving. Smoke enough of it in a pipe, and it becomes an all but permanent part of it.

:face:

 

[ftrplt]

T.O., good observation. Straight Virginias do come across well when smoked in a pipe accustomed to Lat-weed!! FTRPLT

 

[PipedJimmy]

Hey guys, I know what you mean about keeping a pipe for Va/per blend, I was sitting outside last night under the back porch, it was raining, I was drinking rum and smoking Flake Medallions in a Peterson Calabash and I've never enjoyed rain so much in my life lol

 

[DoverPipes]

IMHO, Perique is the gift that seemingly never stops giving. Smoke enough of it in a pipe, and it becomes an all but permanent part of it.

:face:

(Bowing) You Sir, are correct!!!!!
A truly wise statement Yak!

Sean

 

[DoverPipes]

Hey guys, I know what you mean about keeping a pipe for Va/per blend, I was sitting outside last night under the back porch, it was raining, I was drinking rum and smoking Flake Medallions in a Peterson Calabash and I've never enjoyed rain so much in my life lol

Ever have the Ron Zacapa Centenario 23 year old Rum?

 

[PipedJimmy]

No but it sounds damn good, its one year younger that me though and I've always been misstrustful of youth

 

[Winslow]

From a recent LePipe e-mail;



There are basically three different categories of pipe tobacco; aromatic, Virginia and English. Each has it's own characteristics. As each is smoked they will impart it's unique flavor into the porous briar and cake of the pipe they are smoked in. The more the given tobacco is smoked in the same pipe the more of it's flavor will linger behind. When a different type of tobacco is smoked it will be influenced by the tobacco previously smoked. This effect can last for the next 5 - 10 bowls and in extreme cases the pipe will have to be thoroughly cleaned to remove the previous flavors. A pipe that is used to smoke many different types and blends of tobacco will eventually become very bland tasting. If you have the luxury of several pipes it would be a good idea to dedicate a pipe or two to each type of tobacco to avoid tainting your smoking experience. There are some pipe smokers that will go so far as to dedicate a pipe for each brand of tobacco. While this may be extreme, it would be great to have at least 1 pipe dedicated to your absolute favorite tobacco blend. By doing so you'll experience the taste of the tobacco in it's purest form.

Winslow ipe:

 

[PipedJimmy]

Hey Winslow thanks for the info, I get the impression I'm going more and more towards vapers rather than straight virginias or aromatics so have dedicated a couple of pipes to them, only thing is apart from one other pipe I use to smoke aros, other pipes in my collection aren't all that great, guess I'll have to buy more lol cheers

 

[Eulenburg]

I still go by the old idea that an English blend is any Virginia-based blend that isn't aromatic.

So an English blend could be 100% Virginia, so long as it isn't artificially flavoured.

I never smoke aromatics, so I do not "dedicate" pipes. What really stays in a pipe is the chemical gunk of aromatic tobacco. Avoid that, and you have nothing to worry about.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

I prefer to categorize tobacco as:

straight VA
VA/Perique
English = VA plus latakia
Balkan = Oriental + latakia (although there are those who believe that latakia is an Oriental)

I find the definition of an English cited by Sasquatch to be too broad.

As regards the ghosting of Perique, I've never found this to be true. Once I asked Mark (from Knox) about this ghosting-that in essence Perique can't be gotten out of a pipe-and he said it wasn't true. Nevertheless I do keep my VA/Perique pipes separate from my straight VA pipes, and latakia pipes separate from all other pipes.

Although separate, going from a VA or VA/Perique pipe to a latakia pipe is an easy transition, and going from a latakia pipe to a VA or VA/Perique pipe only a matter of 2 or 3 smokes.

 

[Anonymous]

When I first tried latakia, it reminded me of the incense that the voodoo people burn in the swamps of south Louisiana.

HOWEVER, somewhere around the line, I found that it has a soothing effect on me, much moreso than other tobaccos. So I would smoke it even though I found the flavor as you guys do, a combination burning trash and weeds. Since then I have developed a taste for it. I find it quite delicious.

When I crave latakia, nothing else will do. It's like a glass of ice water on a hot Texas day. My favorite thirst quencher is pirate kake.

 

[PipedJimmy]

Out of interest, are there many voodoo dwellers out there?

 

[Anonymous]

Out of interest, are there many voodoo dwellers out there?

I'm not sure if I count as one. I don't really practice it, but some of my family on my dads side did. On my mom's side, there was a history of witchcraft (including people being able to take over other people's bodies). Seen some scary **** in my time.

I found this stuff really interesting, but was too stupid to understand it, let alone practice it.

 

[PipedJimmy]

Fair enough, there is definitely something mysterious about it all that makes the subject a curiosity, kind of like ghost stories, I think Plato said something like, 'Good men only dream of what evil men do' lol yep he knew a lot did Plato

 

[Kapnismologist]

Gentlemen,

We have a lurker on this here board ...

http://christianpipesmokers.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=12193

(Oh, and Rusty why don't you join us?)