Pipe smoking, a lost art.

[passedpawn]

That churchwarden is sick. If I wasn't scared of starting up a smoking habit I kicked a long time ago, I'd get me one of those. Love the smell of pipe smoke.

 

[Dan]

Funny thing about pipe smoking from my experience on and off is a good aromatic blend always smells better to the observer than it taste to the smoker.
You would not believe the pipe tobacco variations.

 

[Dan]

My newest favorite is really basic. Burley

 

[kh54s10]

Never was a pipe smoker. I like the smell from a pipe. I can handle the smell from cigars. I stopped smoking them because I hated the taste in my mouth the next day. I absolutely despise the smell of cigarette smoke. It smells like death. I'm glad I quit when they got too expensive. A tax went into effect and the price went from 35 cents a pack to 45 cents....... 1968. I felt I had better things to spend my money on.

 

[Dan]

Hello!
I’m stil smoking Ive goten my son smoking abpipe as well

My wife tells me nobody smokes thesr days a i say Sorry dearwe do

Love and Aloha to uou all

 

[Dan]

Oops typos Im not perfect

 

[cabron99]

I've always felt that any fool can smoke a cigar but it takes a little talent to smoke a pipe. This from a cigar lover, too.

 

[grampamark]

”A pipe gives a wise man something to do while he’s thinking and a fool something to stick in his mouth”.

I don’t know who that is attributed to but I thought of that quote often during the 30 or so years that I was a pipe smoker.

 

[Dan]

Curchwarden pipes are great! I have other onrs too.

 

[tommy24a]

Love my pipes!

 

[Dan]

Cheers!
Smoking some Crooner which so I’ve read was Bing Crosby’s tobacco. C&D made the mix again years later using the recipe of Bing’s passed on tobacconist. It’s a fine cut burley with deer tongue mixed in. A little on the expensive side but worth it

 

[Dan]

And it taste pretty good and burns cool. Then again I’ve been mostly smoking Missouri Meerschaums lately, corn cob pipes.

I was told a time ago briars are like standard transmissions. You have to learn how to shift, use a clutch, slow down, start on a steep hill... all kinds of stuff, challenges.

corn cob pipes are like automatic transmissions. You just get in and drive.
No worries.

The author also said you should learn to smoke on a briar ( manual transmission) And then move to something easy like corncob (automatic transmission)

I think that’s true. However that's just my opinion. Every pipe smoker develops their own style of packing, favorite tobaccos, and pipe smoking method.

Cheers!
Dan

 

[Dan]

Aloha! Happy New Years to you all. I’m enjoying my favorite briar right now. Straight stem allow bowl. Cost me 25$. Best smoking pipe I’ve ever had and I have a few exspenxive ones.
Breaking it in helps. This one was pretty easy to make itself my favorite

 

[CKuhns]

Thanks for the memories @Dan. Smoked a pipe for years, truly enjoyed the smell and flavor of good tobacco on a cold night around a fire.

Quit back in 1991 for health reasons. (Must have worked, I'm still around.)

 

[Sam_92]

Happy new years to you Dan! I've been smoking a pipe since I turned 18. I got a corn cob and then quickly got a briar straight stem. I still have that briar pipe though I've put so much tobacco through it I can barely fit a finger in to tamp it. All of my briar pipes have been in the $20-$40 range, I just never could justify spending more on one of the really expensive ones.

I keep a few pipes in my work van and I like to smoke between jobsites. I find it's difficult to be stressed out while you're smoking a pipe.

 

[Knox]

What a thread! Thinking of good tobacco brings forth all of these memories.

Last time I lit a pipe was when I was stressing at Uni. It seemed like it help me keep the stress at bay for just a moment to get back at it. On starry nights it felt extra peaceful. I used to smoke a cheapy my father smoked before me. That's the one with all the memories of him.

Now that I am on sick leave, I might light it again. Especially with these clear and cold nights.

Thanks for reminding me about the good times with this thread.

 

[Protos]

Another pipesmoker homebrewer here.
Today I laid my hands on Simpsons Heavily Peated Malt for the first time. I'm not into Whisky, so I wasn't aware what the peat flavour must be like (those few Whiskies I've ever had in my life were of the non-peated kind).
I'm amazed how similar to Latakia the malt smells! Now I want to brew me a peated beer that would taste if it's Latakia-flavoured.

Everywhere Peated Malt is discussed on the board I see warnings to not use it more than 2% of the grist. Well, that may be right for a non-smoking Joe, who most probably would find Latakia Tobacco off-putting as well.
But what percentage is optimal, what you think, to a Latakia lover who likes Cornell&Diehl Da Vinci with its 75% dose of Latakia? And Balkan Flake with its 50%?
I'm sure fellow pipesmokers have already brewed Latakia-flavoured peated beers and might share some experience.

 

[Broothru]

Pipe smoking is certainly something I deem to call "One of the finer things in life." Unfortunately, I quit smoking tobacco almost 4 years ago. I was a heavy cigarette smoker and occassionaly lit up a pipe to relax around a campfire while backpacking with friends.

I often still think about smoking a pipe, but I'm a little nervous if I packed one up it wouldn't be the last...

I started smoking cigarettes and a pipe when I went away to college (it was cool in the 60s) and later in the Navy for about 10 years. Then one day I got admitted to the hospital for something totally unrelated to smoking or tobacco consumption. The charge nurse in Admitting was explaining to me where the smoking area was, when I suddenly interrupted her without really thinking and said, "I won't be smoking." That was it. No withdrawals or cold turkey shakes.

And just like Forrest Gump, I stopped, even though smoking had been a regular part of daily life for more than a decade. I had 'enjoyed' tobacco consumption, especially my pipes, but I never looked back or had cravings. The social aspect of smoking was changing by 1978, even in my military squadrons. Oddly what I did experience was an strange reaction to the smell of sulphur when someone would light a match. It was like a precursor sensory trigger that brought on a pleasurable, anticipatory endorphin rush of what a cigarette would bring. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug that permanently alters the pleasure centers of the brain, I'm convinced.

Today I have no idea where my pipes may be. My wife, a strong anti-smoker, no doubt threw them out years ago. I eventually got into the social groove of cigars on the golf course with my son, son-in-law and a few other friends. That ended abruptly about two years ago with a torn rotator cuff that kept me off the golf course, and I've never made a comeback to the sport. I've still got an expensive humidor on my Man Cave bar that's stocked with some very high quality 'sticks' that may never get smoked. I still check the humidity levels regularly and rotate them in the box, but don't have much motivation to burn one in solitude.

Still, an Aurturo Fuentes and two fingers of Jack Daniels on the patio by the fire pit might be an enjoyable evening diversion from the normal post-dinner routine. That is, until SWMBO banishes me to the Man Cave until I shower and decontaminate.

 

[Dan]

Just bought two pipes. Savinelli. Bing Crosby

goodpopes

 

[Dan]

Lol. Not good popes!
Good popes

 

[Dan]

Pipes

 

[Sam_92]

Very nice Dan! I have three that I rotate through on the regular but I'm always tempted when I go to the tobacco store to get another one...

 

[Dan]

Aloha!

Dan here
Been heading towards more real basic English blends. Some smoky Latakia. Not overpowering.
Got to say. Cool smooth smoke

 

[Dan]

Most recent little pipe stand I made for my son. It’s nothing fancy but made out of fondness for wood and love to my son

 

[Dan]

The wood was from some old pallet. I ran it through my son’s planer. It was a pretty quick project

in keeping with HBT theme. I drank a few of his home brews making this

 

[Sam_92]

That is really nice Dan! I love the grain of that wood. I've been meaning to make myself a pipe stand but I haven't got around to it yet.

 

[Genuine]

Looks great! Warmer weather is on it's way here and it's making me want to fire up my pipe!

 

[Dan]

I’ve been enjoying Stokkebye 17 English Luxury. I smoke it in my Savennili pipe styled after Bing Crosby’s long stemmed pipes.
The tobacco smell before smoked like autumn burning leaves. Some people say camp fire smoke.

“Made of bright Virginia, unflavored black Cavendish, white Burley and Cyprian Latakia, it allows the smoky flavor of the dark leaf to shine without overpowering the blend”

In my opinion. Very mild, cool burning and enjoyable. Not committed to smoking it everyday. But it’s pretty nice!

 

[Dan]

I'm ill at the moment. My son seems to have mostly recovered, and hopefully my wife is through the worst of it.

I hope I got past the worst of it on Tuesday, but I was hoping to be in better shape by now.

But I'm still functioning and I'm not in agony.

How about you, Dan?

Looks great! Warmer weather is on it's way here and it's making me want to fire up my pipe!

Thanks!
Amazing what a bench planer and router can do with old pallet wood. Pretty sure most pallets are made of oak

 

[Kent88]

Hey Dan,

Not really sure why you brought me into this thread, but it's nice to "see" you, anyway.