Pipe smoking, a lost art.

CornyKegs 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Since I've neglected my want to go to smoke shop so that I could go home and play with our new puppy... my buddy ran to the shop for me. Told him to get me a tin of whatever sounded good (and cleaners). Excited to see what he picked up for me tonight.
 
TheCADJockey said:
Since I've neglected my want to go to smoke shop so that I could go home and play with our new puppy... my buddy ran to the shop for me. Told him to get me a tin of whatever sounded good (and cleaners). Excited to see what he picked up for me tonight.
Click to expand...

I have to wait until Wednesday to get my stuff. I'm walking around looking like that coach in the bad lip reading video. "I want it now! I want it now! I want my pipe & tobaccy now!"
 
Billy-Klubb said:
I have to wait until Wednesday to get my stuff. I'm walking around looking like that coach in the bad lip reading video. "I want it now! I want it now! I want my pipe & tobaccy now!"
Click to expand...

I couldn't find a picture of a churchwarden egg, google just gave me 100 images of different pipe styles. I've seen churches posted here, but wasn't sure what the egg was about.

I'm excited, as long as the dude didn't get me some caramel apple vanilla captain black tobacco or something.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
Decided to freshen up my selections today and ordered the following;

Dunhill sampler, 4 tins, elizabeth, nightcap, mixture 965, and london mixture.
Escudo Navy flake
SG 1972
Dan Milonga

All blends I have never had before.
Click to expand...

These delivered yesterday. I couldn't resist opening them up to have a look and a whiff. Of the 7 tins the Elizabeth, and Milonga have the most pleasant aroma in the tin. Nightcap comes in a close second. (Whoops, meant to expand on this) Aroma is leafy/bready, honey sweet, and vanilla.

The others have a strong earthy, wet camp fire aroma.

And the SG1972 smells of decaying athletes foot, mixed with compost and chimney creosote. It is absolutely rank. Can't wait to smoke this one! :D
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
These delivered yesterday. I couldn't resist opening them up to have a look and a whiff. Of the 7 tins the Elizabeth, and Milonga have the most pleasant aroma in the tin. Nightcap comes in a close second.



The others have a strong earthy, wet camp fire aroma.



And the SG1972 smells of decaying athletes foot, mixed with compost and chimney creosote. It is absolutely rank. Can't wait to smoke this one! :D
Click to expand...


Both the Margate and Sasieni had that camp fire aroma in the tin.
 
Some Carter Hall in my trusty Grabow coupled with a Mother's Three Blind Mice.

Cheers, pipe people.

IMG_20151114_184403.jpg
 
My buddy picked up some supplies as I had requested, so I finally gave my pipe a decent cleaning. It tastes a lot better now, though I still can't seem to pick up a ton of flavors like he can.. my sense of taste is likely still destroyed from cigarettes. This is what he picked up for me:

pb-ptk.png


I do like it better than the viking gold so far. It seems a little more rich. I will definitely need to get myself something a bit more pricey though, so I can see what a decent tobacco is like.

This one in the tin seems to be really moist. Is that normal? I'm assuming I need to dry it out somehow. The one pack of it I had did burn very nicely, just feels damp. I may need to buy myself a new pipe after all, really enjoy it.
 
TheCADJockey said:
This one in the tin seems to be really moist. Is that normal? I'm assuming I need to dry it out somehow. The one pack of it I had did burn very nicely, just feels damp. I may need to buy myself a new pipe after all, really enjoy it.
Click to expand...

Moisture per tin is really blend/cut dependent. If it smokes nice and doesn't need a crapton of relights it's good.
 
Tried a few of the tins I bought recently.

First was the 1792. Blech! The smoke was nice, the nicotine level was decent. But the aroma and flavor were like smoking 9 day old gym shorts that had been soaked in a wet ashtray. Tried 3 bowls before I gave it up and pitched it in the mix bucket.

Next was the Escudo navy flake. A truely enjoyable smoke although I didn't pick up anything discernibly special about it in flavor or aroma. Very subdued, with a slight sweet note on the tongue and no bite.

Lastly was Dunhill Nightcap. Given the raves about it I was expecting more from it. I didn't find it offensive at all. It has a good nicotine hit to it but it is very bland.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
Tried a few of the tins I bought recently.

First was the 1792. Blech! The smoke was nice, the nicotine level was decent. But the aroma and flavor were like smoking 9 day old gym shorts that had been soaked in a wet ashtray. Tried 3 bowls before I gave it up and pitched it in the mix bucket.

Next was the Escudo navy flake. A truely enjoyable smoke although I didn't pick up anything discernibly special about it in flavor or aroma. Very subdued, with a slight sweet note on the tongue and no bite.

Lastly was Dunhill Nightcap. Given the raves about it I was expecting more from it. I didn't find it offensive at all. It has a good nicotine hit to it but it is very bland.
Click to expand...

I always reccomend 1792 becuase the tonquin casing is pretty unique. It's a love or hate thing for most.

If you like Escudo, look into other Navy flakes and any Virginia / Perique blends.

Nightcap is an old standby and a good judge for how well you like smoky latakia flavors. If you like it, look into some Balkans and Orientals.
 
paperairplane said:
I always reccomend 1792 becuase the tonquin casing is pretty unique. It's a love or hate thing for most.

If you like Escudo, look into other Navy flakes and any Virginia / Perique blends.

Nightcap is an old standby and a good judge for how well you like smoky latakia flavors. If you like it, look into some Balkans and Orientals.
Click to expand...

I used to love the very robust blends. Was also very fond of the oriental blends too. Have had that Balkan sasieni. I recall it being very peppery but otherwise don't recall much about it.

The older I get I find i like the sweet virginia and or cased blends more and more. I also find I like the highly aromatic blends too as the room note adds much to the experience, imo.

As to the 1792 I was really looking forward to this based on the higher nicotine level. But was just put too far off on the aroma and the flavor. I was more put off by the aroma than the flavor actually. Too wet/sooty for me to enjoy on it's own. But I expect it will add a nice kick to the house blend jar so all is not lost. In fact, only after 1 night in the mix it's aroma has disappeared. The box I had the tin in for 2 days is another story.

At any rate, I am always happy try something new. And I will recommend this to anyone who is not put off by the strong sooty/musky aromas and dank flavors of some tobaccos.
 
So now I have smoked bowls from all the Dunhill blends I recently bought.

London Mixture = Latakia, Turkish, Virginia
Mixture 965 = Latakia, Cavendish, Oriental
Nightcap = Latakia, Perique, Virginia
Elizabethan = Perique, Virginia

and for comparison;

Escudo = Perique, Virginia

And I am a little underwhelmed. The differences are so subtle that had I not smoked each within such a short amount of time I seriously doubt I could have picked up any difference. Don't misunderstand me, I enjoyed each thoroughly. I was just expecting each to be more distinct from the other.
 
I am working through a tin of morning mixture. I also have an unopened tin of yacht club. If memory serves me right, it's a good deal stronger.

I smoke small travel pipes mostly. One bowl every morning! [emoji482][emoji482][emoji482][emoji4]
 
I've become obsessed with cleaning my pipe now that I have the wires to do so. Though now that I have started enjoying it a bit more, I have tried to get better packs and fill the bowl more... only to end up with really bad results. Won't stay lit and after only a few pulls it starts to gurgle. Even got a few "beads" of liquid that pulled through and hit my tongue, grossly acidic and foul. The first time it happened, I took it apart and brushed it out again, removing the ferrule (if thats what its called) and giving that a good cleaning this time before securing it in the pipe better. The second pack was the same result. Pulled and tasted better.. but ended up gurgling very quickly again.

Not sure if it is the nature of my pipe, the tobacco or how I try to pack it, but a full pipe isn't working. It's not the worst thing in the world. For now, it looks like I'll have to stick to just pushing a pinch into the bowl for a quick smoke. At ~1/3rd packed, it burns relatively quick but very nicely.
 
TheCADJockey said:
Not sure if it is the nature of my pipe, the tobacco or how I try to pack it, but a full pipe isn't working. It's not the worst thing in the world. For now, it looks like I'll have to stick to just pushing a pinch into the bowl for a quick smoke. At ~1/3rd packed, it burns relatively quick but very nicely.
Click to expand...

Some pipes "gurgle" easily. But it is mostly due to too much moisture in the tobacco, and can be compounded by packing the bowl too full.

After packing the bowl, and before attempting to light, draw through the pipe. If the draw is too tight, use a poker and loosen the pack up.

I loosely fill my pipes and then tamp them down until the draw goes from nothing there to just noticeable. And then I false light. This will loosen the pack up and open the draw back up. After I get a nice char over top, I re-tamp the bowl, lightly, until the draw is just right for me.
 
GilaMinumBeer said:
After I get a nice char over top, I re-tamp the bowl, lightly, until the draw is just right for me.
Click to expand...

Thank you. This is definitely the case. I tried doing it the way my friend does. He fills his bowl over the top and then packs it down, three times. It wasn't so hard to draw, but think it was way too tight for the new, moist tobacco I have. It felt like it had dried out a bit since last time and I really wanted a smoke, so I packed the hell out of it. Counter-productive and wasteful instead.
 
TheCADJockey said:
Thank you. This is definitely the case. I tried doing it the way my friend does. He fills his bowl over the top and then packs it down, three times. It wasn't so hard to draw, but think it was way too tight for the new, moist tobacco I have. It felt like it had dried out a bit since last time and I really wanted a smoke, so I packed the hell out of it. Counter-productive and wasteful instead.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I tried that method too. Always felt like I was trying to suck an ice cube through a straw. What works for me is to sprinkle until the bowl is full and then I take a 3 finger, 1/3 bowl pinch, to the top and roll it in lightly with my thumbs. This method keeps it loose for me. When the bowl is full I check the draw. If it is too tight I loosen it up with a poker. If it feels like nothing is there I go for the false light. And then tamp down until the draw is right.
 
TheCADJockey said:
False light? Just light it and let it go out?
Click to expand...

Light it, while gently puffing, to char everything on top and then tamp it down, which snuffs it. Then re-light. to the point you get slow long draws with plenty of smoke.

The false light tends to loosen the bowl up and causes the tobacco on top to fluff up until it's charred.

PS: Gurgling and a hot bowl means you are puffing too rapidly to keep it lit. Either the draw is off or the tobacco is too moist.
 
Order placed for a straight ebauchon blank. It may actually get worked on this winter, or it may get forgotten on my workbench. We shall see.
 
BrewinHooligan said:
That is too cool. Actually been eyeballing this myself:
http://www.mancrates.com/projects/pipe-carving-kit
Click to expand...

TheCADJockey said:
Oh man. I might need to get that. Really not a bad price for something from Man Crates. Reviews aren't bad either.
Click to expand...

I had looked at that, but figured I already had most of the tools needed. The few files/rasps I may need could be picked up from HF for very cheap. The briar kit I purchased was $26, including shipping, from Vermont Freehand.
 
Have heard great things about Vermont freehand. Pipe makers emporium is also a good place to pick up supplies. I currently don't have any of the tools so the kit from man crates is appealing to me
 
Obviously it will all depend on the shape of the briar that arrives, but when ordering, my goal is a straight rhodesian. Something like:

002-458-0117_4.jpg


I really like the shape of the bowl on the rhodesians. It may come out looking completely different, but that's what I'm envisioning going into this project.
 

Similar threads

Protos
Washing Dirty Malt?
Replies
20
Views
1K
Brewdog80
B
yourlastchance89
It's been a journey...
Replies
4
Views
953
GoodTruble
G
KeizerBrewr
Hello from Oregon!
Replies
7
Views
289
Sailingeric
Sailingeric
gunhaus
Time can do amazing things
Replies
2
Views
564
JimRausch
JimRausch
gunhaus
Beer - Science, or magic . . .
Replies
15
Views
885
deks77
D
Yakima 300

Latest posts

Back
Top