Advice on tobacco for a pipe smoking beginner.

[zenbamboo]

Hey everyone,

I have never smoked a pipe but I am interested in trying it to relax and enjoy occasionally.
My question is: what kind of tobacco should I choose? I'd like to start by something light and pretty natural. What would you recommend?


I've tried searching online but there is so much variety that it is difficult to make a choice.

 

[DerrickYoung]

Everyone is different and likes different things. The first few tobacco's I enjoyed and smoked were
Peter Stockaby Nougat
Captain Black White
Carter Hall

Carter Hall is more a pure tobacco with no flavour additive. At first I enjoyed it as it was easy to load and burned easy in the pipe. The other two are light aromatics with some flavour additives and were nice too.

Probably your best bet if ordering online is look at some of the starter kits that have a pipe, a couple of tobaccos, pipe tool and pipe cleaners. From there you can start to explore the tobacco world based on what you liked in the samples

 

[Hunter]

^ +1 great advise,

I would also check out your local tobacconist, they will be able to help out with your actual smoking of the pipe along with loading and cleaning it.

 

[michiganlover]

I am a 3 month old newbie myself. My newbie take, is that there is no reason to spend a large amount of money on this hobby until you are sure it's something you will enjoy.

Therefore pick up a Missouri Meercshaum Corn Cob pipe, or a Dr Grabow Briar pipe from your local drug store (Rite Aid/ Walgreens), and one of the respected over the counter blends (Prince Albert, Cater Hall, Half and Half, Sir Walter Raleigh, Captain Black).

Sure, these may not be the absolute best tobaccos, but they are consistent. The differences between tobaccos will likely not be noticed by your palate until you develop your technique anyway.

You can get started if you go this route for as little as $10-$12.

 

[Hunter]

I am a 3 month old newbie myself. My newbie take, is that there is no reason to spend a large amount of money on this hobby until you are sure it's something you will enjoy.

Therefore pick up a Missouri Meercshaum Corn Cob pipe, or a Dr Grabow Briar pipe from your local drug store (Rite Aid/ Walgreens), and one of the respected over the counter blends (Prince Albert, Cater Hall, Half and Half, Sir Walter Raleigh, Captain Black).

Sure, these may not be the absolute best tobaccos, but they are consistent. The differences between tobaccos will likely not be noticed by your palate until you develop your technique anyway.

You can get started if you go this route for as little as $10-$12.

+1 Yup, our hobby isn't an expensive one until you let it be. If you find you don't like it so much you aren't out much money, if you find you love it... we are here to enable... I mean help! We are here to help!

 

[zenbamboo]

Thank you for all the good advice! I didn't know I could find that stuff at Walgreens. Pretty cool. I'll check it out. And I didn't know that I could get a pipe from there too so I ordered one online yesterday for about $40 which is ok because even if I don't like smoking it, I still like the object itself. I just think it's a neat thing to have at home. Very decorative. So in both cases I'll be winning

I'll make sure to check out those tobacco brands that y'all advised on getting.

 

[michiganlover]

And I didn't know that I could get a pipe from there too so I ordered one online yesterday for about $40 which is ok because even if I don't like smoking it, I still like the object itself. I just think it's a neat thing to have at home. Very decorative. So in both cases I'll be winning

What pipe did you end up picking up? $40 sounds fair, as long as it's not a Chinese made pipe; as I understand it nearly everything they make is absolute garbage!!

 

[Fkread]

Thank you for all the good advice! I didn't know I could find that stuff at Walgreens. Pretty cool. I'll check it out. And I didn't know that I could get a pipe from there too so I ordered one online yesterday for about $40 which is ok because even if I don't like smoking it, I still like the object itself. I just think it's a neat thing to have at home. Very decorative. So in both cases I'll be winning

I'll make sure to check out those tobacco brands that y'all advised on getting.

Still don't local past your local shop. I've found that the prices are reasonable -- even better than Walgreens. Also their price for loose tobacco is at most only slightly more than the OTCs.

And what Justin said. It's not expensive unless you let it be.

Kelly

 

[the_edski]

Great advice above!

Check these out if you haven't already

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/332339-Recommendation-list-for-those-just-starting-out

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/179878-Gentleman-s-Essentials-for-Pipe-and-Cigar

 

[The Dean]

Still don't local past your local shop. I've found that the prices are reasonable -- even better than Walgreens. Also their price for loose tobacco is at most only slightly more than the OTCs.

And what Justin said. It's not expensive unless you let it be.

Kelly

+1 The local shop probably won't be more expensive than the drug store. And you can buy small amounts of different things to test what you like. At the drug store you have to buy an entire bag of something you may end up throwing away.

This is all so personal, it is hard to advise someone on what they might like (which is one reason for trying small amounts of several things). When I started I typically like something with just a touch of vanilla. But I tried a number of different tobaccos and ended finding several (mild and strong, flavored and straight) that I liked.

I'm thinking about starting up again. But I don't have "pipe money" these days.

 

[nortac]

+ 1 on Carter Hall. Avoid the aromatics at first, the Captain Blacks are mildly aromatic and good to try as a next step. Better tobacco is to be had at a true tobacconist or online if you find this hobby is for you.

 

[El Mysterioso]

Lane 1Q. A good aromatic bulk vanilla tobacco. Look for it on-line.

 

[zenbamboo]

+ 1 on Carter Hall. Avoid the aromatics at first, the Captain Blacks are mildly aromatic and good to try as a next step.

Are there different types of Carter Hall, like there are different types of Captain Black?

I'll go to the store soon and pick up one of the two. How expensive is pipe tobacco usually?

 

[Shave_Rat]

There's only one version of Carter Hall. Pipe tobacco is usually pretty inexpensive, depending on your state taxes and such. Here in NY it's not so much on the inexpensive side, but we have a 75% tax on tobacco/tobacco products...

 

[The Dean]

Carter Hall?

"The chicks are back. Pass the word the chicks are back!"

Or was that from Sir Walter Raleigh?