So I had tried pipe smoking after enjoying cigars for quite a while, but all pipe tobacco tasted the same...like earl grey tea. No offense to earl grey tea, as I like it, but it was not what I was expecting or what people had been raving about. And the bowl! Wow it got hot! But after some reading, I decided to let my tobacco dry for only 15-20 minutes. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I can tell the difference between different blends, and all of them have this great sweetness, or nuttiness. Not at all what I had been tasting before. And I feel I am better able to control the heat of my bowl. All of this has been with non-aromatics (I really have no interest in them). Can't wait to smoke more! I may now like pipes more than cigars...
Had a pipe smoking epiphany...
- Thread starter Pipes Cigars Straights
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Nice! What a great turnaround.
After your get your technique down where you can smoke a bowl easily and pleasurably after drying your tobacco, try an experiment and dry each bowl a little bit less each time and see what happens. You will have to pack wetter tobacco a bit looser than the dried one, but I am curious to see what you discover. Of course sopping wet tobacco like SG needs drying, but after doing the experiment myself I find I like my tobacco a bit less dry than before.
I was an avid cigar smoker too. I still enjoy my cigars, but now I prefer pipes. At it is exactly the same reason you stated above. Oh sure, there are complexities you can get from a cigar that you can't get from a pipe blend. And that is why I still smoke cigars.
What draws my interest more into pipe smoking is the shear volume of the different complexities and nuances you get from a wide range of pipe blends. Plus when aging pipe tobacco, they synergistic flavors out weigh the value of aging cigars, IMHO. If you love a blend fresh out of the tin, age it for a year, two, three, five, or ten years and you will see how the flavors intensify, minimize, or magically appear. That is something I haven't been able to replicate in a cigar.
Plus as an added bonus, spend $15 on a premium cigar, and $15 on a pipe blend. Then calculate the number of satisfying smokes you get from each. It's all in the math.
What draws my interest more into pipe smoking is the shear volume of the different complexities and nuances you get from a wide range of pipe blends. Plus when aging pipe tobacco, they synergistic flavors out weigh the value of aging cigars, IMHO. If you love a blend fresh out of the tin, age it for a year, two, three, five, or ten years and you will see how the flavors intensify, minimize, or magically appear. That is something I haven't been able to replicate in a cigar.
Plus as an added bonus, spend $15 on a premium cigar, and $15 on a pipe blend. Then calculate the number of satisfying smokes you get from each. It's all in the math.
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Plus as an added bonus, spend $15 on a premium cigar, and $15 on a pipe blend. Then calculate the number of satisfying smokes you get from each. It's all in the math.
Truer words never spoken. $15 gets me half a tub of PA or SWRA. And that's a lot of pleasant bowls.
I still like my fire sticks in the summer, though. It's an outdoor ritual.
Depending on the blend and toppings, you can even go a lot longer than that in drying them down. A heavy, soggy cheaper aromatic can sometimes benefit from 3-4+ hours, IMO. Someone hand the Captain a towel.
Most pipe tobacco is packaged too wet, even the better blends. I always tell beginning pipers to let their packed bowls rest for a while to dry down a bit before lighting them. I think it's also better for some briars as well. Go mix your drinks while they mingle at the ashtray.
The flavor of most pipe tobaccos won't suffer from drying until you go out at least a couple of days. Don't ask me how I know this.
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- #6
Thanks everyone! Such a great community. I still have a long way to go, so I’m still experimenting. Now I have to get the packing down...
I reached this epiphany last night. For a properly dried sample, fill the bowl to the top. Give your tamper 2 thumbs up, then tamp with those 2 recently identified tools. Do that once more, or twice more if needed. I didn't use the tamper until after it was lit and the only time I had to relight was returning to it after heeding a call from nature.
Experience. After piping for a few years, you know things you didn’t even know you knew
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
The sceptic in me assumes that they do it to boost profit margins. The wetter the tobacco, the less leaf they have to use for a 50g tin. Has anyone ever weighed a tin of the wetter tobaccos, once it's dried down to usable levels?
I can't believe I'd never considered this for the goopy blends...
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
Sadly, I reached that conclusion quite early. If I'm buying a 50g tin of tobacco, I want 50g of tobacco. Having to evaporate 20% before I can smoke the remaining 80% or whatever, is something I'm somewhat irritated by.
Hirsute
Used to have fun with Commander Yellow Pantyhose
Cornell & Diehl and Daughters & Ryan blends are very much on the dry side, so if you want to buy more tobacco and less water, you may want to consider those. Especially Daugthers & Ryan. And BTW, it's a not-so-secret secret that Daughters & Ryan supplies tobacco to many blenders, so their tobaccos are a great starting point for making your own blend if you're so inclined. Don't know about availability on your side of the pond, though.
On the other hand, it is easier to dry tobacco than it is to rehydrate.
Just a note- not all tobacco will benefit from drying. Samuel Gawith tobaccos definitely need it. MacBaren’s HH line appears ready to smoke- I have never had a wet bowl. With more experience, you will develop a feel for what needs it and what doesn’t.
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- #15
I found that if I dried Peterson nightcap it burned too hot, so I just load that and smoke. But the Mac barren HH I find I need to dry. Irish flake was definitely better aired out a bit.
I will likely post this link somewhere else in response to cob pipes. It is a well written resource. The author is John Patton. He has some bulk blends on 4noggins that are good, and I believe he knows what he is talking about.
Anyhow, he seems to agree with your "cynical" assessment of moisture content. "These blenders explain why their blends are packaged with much more moisture than other blends, which doesn’t mean much per tin, but add up to extra profit when multiplied by many 1000s of tins sold. I find it both amusing and frustrating that the tobacco used for my blends comes from one of these Boutique Blenders who weave their magic spell on the average pipe smoker."
The Complete Corncob primer - Pipedia
This is what reminded me of the article. Patton comments on Mac Barrens.
"I’m an advocate of fairly dry tobacco, as anyone who has tried any of my blends knows. Maybe that’s why I’m such a fan of Mac Baren blends, which come as close to being at what I feel is the ideal moisture level as any blends I’ve smoked."
