tobacco suggestions

blackwell921@gmail.com

Just bought a cheap Pipe and some captain black 'dark'. I love cigars and have been wanting to try a Pipe for awhile. Not a fan of this tobacco. I am an aj fan when it comes to cigars, is there anything comparable in Pipe tobacco? I like the smell of the aromatics, but can't handle the taste. Maybe I'm just not a Pipe smoker, don't know yet. The dark is my only experience so far. It seemed wet too, about like chewing tobacco. So the smoke seemed wet/humid too. Is this just the nature of Pipe tobacco, or are there drier tobaccos, more like cigars. Or do I just need to let it dry out a little. Sorry for sounding like a complete noob, but well... I'm a complete noob!

LiquidChaos66

as for tobaccos i cant give you any advice... i found a blend at my local B&M that only they carry. lol But as for the wet tobacco... put a handful on a paper towel and let it sit for some time until it dries out a bit... i check on it in half hour increments or less depending on how close to the dryness it is for my liking. helps reduce pipe gurgle and i feel it burns better. you will learn what your humidity level in your tobacco you enjoy. Dont give up... keep trying till you find your blend! Pipes are totally worth the work. Im newer to pipes too... I have a special love for both pipes and cigars on separate levels. Youve come across a great group of people here too. Stick around and enjoy the banter and advice! Welcome aboard!

J.S.

I don't like a lot of aromatics myself. You do need to dry it as indicated and that might help. You should still try a few aromatics before you just give up on them.

As far as similarities between pipe tobacco and cigars, I don't think there are a lot. It is a completely different profile and that is one thing I like about it. Sometimes you just need to take a break or slow down and not smoke as many cigars that is where the pipe comes in.

It is too early in your journey to know if we have similar tastes in pipe tobacco. However, I really enjoy Peterson's Sherlock Holmes and it would be a good starting point into a VA/Burley. There is a genre out there that you will like you just have to spend some time finding it.

mgk2020

Try Billy Bud from Cornell & Diel. It has cigar leaf in it. My advice is to try both aro's and non aro's of different tobacco types (Cavendish, Virginia, latakia, etc.) to get an idea of what's out there and what you like. Once you know that you can dig deeper into different ones. It'll also be easier to recommend for you if we know a few that you enjoy.

J.S.

mgk2020:

Try Billy Bud from Cornell & Diel. It has cigar leaf in it. My advice is to try both aro's and non aro's of different tobacco types (Cavendish, Virginia, latakia, etc.) to get an idea of what's out there and what you like. Once you know that you can dig deeper into different ones. It'll also be easier to recommend for you if we know a few that you enjoy.

Billy Bud is a good thought, it is a good blend. There are several blends that do use cigar leaf. However, IMO non of them have a cigar profile.

blackwell921@gmail.com

Thanks for the suggestions. This is a great forum and I need to spend a little more time in here learning about tobacco, technique, etc. I won't rule out aro's completely. I was hoping there was more to the humidity thing as the 'wet' tasting smoke and keeping it lit were my biggest issues. I'll dry some out and try it again. And I will definitely try the ones you suggested. Thanks again guys.

Amos Umwhat

read the posts on how to smoke the pipe as well. Just as with cigars, timing, lighting technique etc. can have a big impact. Oh, and welcome.

LiquidChaos66

My recommendation for keeping your pipe lit... This works great for me. Once your pipe is packed (whichever technique you use.... I use the 3 step pack child woman man technique most of the time. 2 pack for my churchwarden since its a shallow bowl. Lots of great instructional videos on YouTube if you haven't checked it out.) I will light my pipe on a loose tamping and let it burn a bit to build an ash layer. After you get ash on top tamp it down again evenly and relight it. Helps hold in the burn and keeps it from going out as quickly. Like I said... That works for me. But you will learn your own ways that work. Lol keep us posted on your progress!

mgk2020

blackwell921@gmail.com:

Thanks for the suggestions. This is a great forum and I need to spend a little more time in here learning about tobacco, technique, etc. I won't rule out aro's completely. I was hoping there was more to the humidity thing as the 'wet' tasting smoke and keeping it lit were my biggest issues. I'll dry some out and try it again. And I will definitely try the ones you suggested. Thanks again guys.

I'm not familiar with that tobacco, so I can't say for sure, but many (if not most) tobaccos seem to benefit from a little drying when you get them. Some tobaccos are excessively wet no matter what, usually because of the casing (more commonly aro's). Try drying, try some others, but not all tobaccos are like that. It's different from cigars, but not in that way; there are dry smoking pipe tobaccos. It could be your pipe too.

blackwell921@gmail.com

I'm sure the Pipe isn't helping. It's a cheap Missouri meerschaum hardwood Pipe. I wanted to see if I liked it before I bought a nice Pipe. I actually wanted to buy a kit and carve my own. Then I thought, I better just go buy something cheap and see if it's even gonna be for me. It does remind me of smoking grapevine as a kid. Lol. Hoping that flavor burns out after a couple bowls.

Mr.Fusion

The cheap pipe is a good idea tho you dont wanna drop 100 bucks on something you may not even like.

mgk2020

blackwell921@gmail.com:

I'm sure the Pipe isn't helping. It's a cheap Missouri meerschaum hardwood Pipe. I wanted to see if I liked it before I bought a nice Pipe. I actually wanted to buy a kit and carve my own. Then I thought, I better just go buy something cheap and see if it's even gonna be for me. It does remind me of smoking grapevine as a kid. Lol. Hoping that flavor burns out after a couple bowls.

Corn cobs are great temporary pipes for trying different tobaccos. I haven't any real complaint with them from a performance angle. Cheap briar pipes are a decent choice for trying out the hobby too, but you run the risk of it smoking poorly. Not all will, of course, but they can. Usually it results in a poor draw and/or moisture issues. That would be my fear with hardwood, plastic, etc. pipes too. I'm sure what you have is good enough to sample the hobby, but if your moisture issues persist across several tobaccos of various types, then it might be worth trying a different pipe.

catfishbluezz

My best smoking and tasting pipe is a MM cob lol. At least to me, everything tastes better in it and burns better n it. One thing I will recommend is this, the most important part of pipe smoking I found as a noob is tamping... Light, tamp, light, tamp.. No draw? tamp. Burning weird? tamp. bored? tamp... At times now I can light a bowl once and with proper tamping smoke the entire bowl.

J.S.

catfishbluezz:

My best smoking and tasting pipe is a MM cob lol. At least to me, everything tastes better in it and burns better n it. One thing I will recommend is this, the most important part of pipe smoking I found as a noob is tamping... Light, tamp, light, tamp.. No draw? tamp. Burning weird? tamp. bored? tamp... At times now I can light a bowl once and with proper tamping smoke the entire bowl.

Yeah, it just takes time but once you get the pack down if you are not distracted you can smoke all the way down with just one light. Some tobacco will take several charring lights before it really takes, however.

Cobs are great, but they will ghost badly. If you smoke too many types of tobacco in them they will ghost quickly. If you smoke several bowls and change blends back to back (i.e., more than just 2 or 3) it will ruin it very quickly. I do like them for what they are but I have found that clays are just as cheap (almost) they will not ghost you can put them in the oven and burn all the **** out of them and they are as good a new (just do it when the wife is not at home lol).