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What to try…

Enjoying niche hobbies in foreign countries can be tricky. Being in Japan my choices are very limited.

What I’ve tried:
Borkhum Riff Vanilla: no thank you, tongue bite none of the aromatic flavors I expected.

Aromatic sampler or somethjng Maple Rum: ok, but can bite. Got some sugary tastes.

Half and half: I have to revisit, but nothin to write home about. Any pointers on smoking his right?

Capt Black Original: you gotta TRY to hurt yourself with this one. I only got a little sting from pulling hard while lighting. Actually cleared some discomfort in my mouth. Gotta play more with this one.

Capt Black Royal: Bout the same as Orig but milder taste. Have to do side by side.

Want to try:
CB Dark
Something with an effective flavor but low bite

I’m really liking CB in my meer pipe. It actually feels COLD on my tongue.

Soooo….

Being in a foreign land I’m pretty much limited in my choices. There’s some assortments of Peterson and other STG brands or I can order from overseas. I don’t want to end up with a drawer full of unwanted mulch. Looking for guidance before I order when I get some CB Dark (they don’t sell it here).


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Hello, Sniperx,

I hate spending money on stuff that I may or may not like too. Plus stores here no longer sell anything but chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco cigars, and ciggies. Finding a box of Carter Hall at my grocery, the last one, was a surprise.

I've found that I like Half & Half more than anything else. Yes, it took a little while for me to get the hang of smoking it without tongue bite. Sipping at the pipe instead of puffing hard dealt with that, and I've been mixing another "codger" blend, Sutliff's Edgeworth Match, with it on occasion. That allows me the flavor of H & H while it reduces the chance of tongue bite. Maybe you could try your Captain Black with it? And there are Granger and Match Field & Stream, and the classic mild 'backy, Sir Walter Raleigh and its Aromatic cousin.

Others can tell you about Peterson brands; I haven't tried any (though I'm tempted by descriptions of Early Morning Pipe).
 

Kentos

B&B's Dr. Doolittle.
Staff member
What specific flavors are you drawn too? I’m not much of a aromatic guy and prefer straight tobacco flavors found in Va, Burley, Perique and Fark fired. I have a lot of Latakia blends cellared but I seem to have moved away from them for now. The CB blend are loved by many but it’s not really my thing.
 
What specific flavors are you drawn too? I’m not much of a aromatic guy and prefer straight tobacco flavors found in Va, Burley, Perique and Fark fired. I have a lot of Latakia blends cellared but I seem to have moved away from them for now. The CB blend are loved by many but it’s not really my thing.

I know what you smell and what you actually taste are pretty different things in this game. I don’t like cigar smoke at all nor cigarette.

When it comes to specific


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When it comes to specific species….I’m too new into all this and a lot of stuff isn’t labeled well here so I have no idea..


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Columbo

Mr. Codgers Neighborhood
Enjoying niche hobbies in foreign countries can be tricky. Being in Japan my choices are very limited.

What I’ve tried:
Borkhum Riff Vanilla: no thank you, tongue bite none of the aromatic flavors I expected.

Aromatic sampler or somethjng Maple Rum: ok, but can bite. Got some sugary tastes.

Half and half: I have to revisit, but nothin to write home about. Any pointers on smoking his right?

Capt Black Original: you gotta TRY to hurt yourself with this one. I only got a little sting from pulling hard while lighting. Actually cleared some discomfort in my mouth. Gotta play more with this one.

Capt Black Royal: Bout the same as Orig but milder taste. Have to do side by side.

Want to try:
CB Dark
Something with an effective flavor but low bite

I’m really liking CB in my meer pipe. It actually feels COLD on my tongue.

Soooo….

Being in a foreign land I’m pretty much limited in my choices. There’s some assortments of Peterson and other STG brands or I can order from overseas. I don’t want to end up with a drawer full of unwanted mulch. Looking for guidance before I order when I get some CB Dark (they don’t sell it here).


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You sound like you are just entering into the hobby. Welcome! We are all beginners to start.

If you are new to pipe smoking, might I suggest starting with some more simple non-aromatics, which will be more forgiving of a beginner's learning curve. If you have access to the STG lines, start with a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh (SWR). Just a pouch. This is a simple, but classic, Burley blend.

The key to pipe smoking pleasure is temperature, and mastering the draw, and they are related. And learning how to use your nose (some call this retrohale). Holding your draw in your mouth tends to force some up and through the nose. Once you are able to work your nose into the draw in this way, the flavors of the blend will reveal themselves better. Maintaining a gentle, mild draw will also minimize overheating your tobacco.

Overheating your tobacco is the primary reason for 'bite' and other unpleasantness. Some blends simply burn hotter than others and take a more gentle, easy draw to manage. Unfortunately, many mass-market aromatics are so wet that they require a lot of attention. And beginners in particular will simply over puff them into a wet soupy fireball to keep them lit. These wet OTC aromatics are good for developing bad habits with beginners. They are difficult to keep lit, and burn hot. If you insist on one, at least let it sit out for a while to dry out a little.

Starting on a simple blend will be less unpleasant and much more tolerant of draw (and temperature) miscues. The worst that will usually happen if you overheat a bowl of SWR is that it will become tasteless. For the same reason, I would avoid some of the Danish blends to start out, as they will quickly bite you if you get too aggressive with them. You'll also find with these simpler blends a cleaner, easier to maintain pipe, with less wet goo to contend with. Especially in a meer, that is one less complication.

And once you master the basic blends, and hone down your technique, contending with all the others becomes much easier. A great first aromatic is by coincidence a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic. I think you will find that it is a cut above most of the other OTC aromatics you have been trying, and is lightly topped so that you can actually taste the tobacco in it. This blend will introduce you to a standard Burley-Virginia ribbon cut in a very nice way.

I picked those two because they are probably among the few that are still sold the world over, and in pouch quantities. They are easy to master, and once you do, their gentle flavors will emerge, and that is fun to watch with a younger smoker.

Once you have mastered those two, you can probably then wade into the broader variety of pipe blends with high confidence of avoiding troubles with them. And you'll enjoy them better, too.

Another thing I increasingly recommend to a beginner that is struggling or wants the easiest start is to use a filter, which will also absorb some early miscues. As you get more proficient, the filter will become less and less necessary to catch mistakes. The drawback of a filter is that some can also draw away a bit of the flavor, but that is a small price under the circumstances.

Good luck and hang in there! Many happy puffs on your journey.
 
What the Lieutenant said. Drying your tobacco for 15-20 minutes before smoking it can help tremendously. If the tobacco is wet, that water when heated by flame turns into, you guessed it, steam, and that is doubleplus ungood for your mouth and tongue.
 
You sound like you are just entering into the hobby. Welcome! We are all beginners to start.

If you are new to pipe smoking, might I suggest starting with some more simple non-aromatics, which will be more forgiving of a beginner's learning curve. If you have access to the STG lines, start with a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh (SWR). Just a pouch. This is a simple, but classic, Burley blend.

The key to pipe smoking pleasure is temperature, and mastering the draw, and they are related. And learning how to use your nose (some call this retrohale). Holding your draw in your mouth tends to force some up and through the nose. Once you are able to work your nose into the draw in this way, the flavors of the blend will reveal themselves better. Maintaining a gentle, mild draw will also minimize overheating your tobacco.

Overheating your tobacco is the primary reason for 'bite' and other unpleasantness. Some blends simply burn hotter than others and take a more gentle, easy draw to manage. Unfortunately, many mass-market aromatics are so wet that they require a lot of attention. And beginners in particular will simply over puff them into a wet soupy fireball to keep them lit. These wet OTC aromatics are good for developing bad habits with beginners. They are difficult to keep lit, and burn hot. If you insist on one, at least let it sit out for a while to dry out a little.

Starting on a simple blend will be less unpleasant and much more tolerant of draw (and temperature) miscues. The worst that will usually happen if you overheat a bowl of SWR is that it will become tasteless. For the same reason, I would avoid some of the Danish blends to start out, as they will quickly bite you if you get too aggressive with them. You'll also find with these simpler blends a cleaner, easier to maintain pipe, with less wet goo to contend with. Especially in a meer, that is one less complication.

And once you master the basic blends, and hone down your technique, contending with all the others becomes much easier. A great first aromatic is by coincidence a pouch of Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic. I think you will find that it is a cut above most of the other OTC aromatics you have been trying, and is lightly topped so that you can actually taste the tobacco in it. This blend will introduce you to a standard Burley-Virginia ribbon cut in a very nice way.

I picked those two because they are probably among the few that are still sold the world over, and in pouch quantities. They are easy to master, and once you do, their gentle flavors will emerge, and that is fun to watch with a younger smoker.

Once you have mastered those two, you can probably then wade into the broader variety of pipe blends with high confidence of avoiding troubles with them. And you'll enjoy them better, too.

Another thing I increasingly recommend to a beginner that is struggling or wants the easiest start is to use a filter, which will also absorb some early miscues. As you get more proficient, the filter will become less and less necessary to catch mistakes. The drawback of a filter is that some can also draw away a bit of the flavor, but that is a small price under the circumstances.

Good luck and hang in there! Many happy puffs on your journey.

Thanks for the very detailed information.

I’m not so fixated on aromatics, since I’ve got no one local to help with the things and at 12-15usd a pouch…I figure they’re a safer bet that I’ll find something I’ll like rather than cigar, cigarette, or hellfire flavor.

I’ll look for SWR, I MIGHT have seen that once near the train station. I KNOW no one nearby has it.


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If you stick with Capt Black and other aromatics, you'll want to dedicate a pipe or pipes to those blends exclusively - the ghosts of the aromatics will taint any non-aro you smoke in them. If you tried Half and Half in a pipe you've been smoking Capt Black or a maple blend in, it's no surprise that it didn't turn out well. And you'll need a third batch of pipes if you venture into heavy Latakia blends.

If you can source them, get a few inexpensive cob pipes to try the various offerings that may be recommended to you, so you can explore the tobaccos with the smallest investment in pipes until you find the type(s) of tobacco you want to stick with.
 
Captain black dark is decent. Not mind blowing but not bad. Captain black copper is pretty good too. I think royale is my favorite if I were forced to choose. Peterson blends are pretty good. I have had no complaints about any of their non aromatic blends. If I remember correctly they acquired many of the dunhill blends and they are excellent. Stuff like peterson flake, Elizabethan, early morning pipe, nightcap are all great blends. I like 3 P's and Irish cask too. Unfortunately the only way you will find what you like is to try stuff. Simple burley blends tend to be good for beginners too. Lots and lots of good stuff out there 👍
 
I’m thinking of placing an order in the US for some CB-Dark and EGR. Any other quick recommendations before I close out the order? I’m really like the Captain Black Original and tolerate Half and Half ok, nothing to get jazzed over though.


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brandaves

With a great avatar comes great misidentification
If the aromatics are your thing (which it sounds like they are) Lane 1Q is the best selling pipe tobacco around. If you like aromatic tobacco then you ought to give it a try.
 
I’m thinking of placing an order in the US for some CB-Dark and EGR. Any other quick recommendations before I close out the order? I’m really like the Captain Black Original and tolerate Half and Half ok, nothing to get jazzed over though.


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EGR is not a heavy Latakia blend. It's a sort of gateway tobacco for getting into English tobaccos, as I understand it. I like it, but don't smoke it every time I light up a bowl. It's sort of a change of pace smoke.
 
I’m thinking of placing an order in the US for some CB-Dark and EGR. Any other quick recommendations before I close out the order? I’m really like the Captain Black Original and tolerate Half and Half ok, nothing to get jazzed over though.


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If you like Captain Black, Mac Baren's 7Seas line may interest you. They seem to be going after the Captain Black market with that line, and available in bulk. Worth a look before buying anyways.
 
Well, I did it. Went with some Dark, EGR, and 1-Q. We’ll see what happens.

Now just to make sure I get and not my wife….still in the closet here…Itd be kinda nice if I could find something she would tolerate or even like. It’s make the discussion much easier..


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Well, I did it. Went with some Dark, EGR, and 1-Q. We’ll see what happens.

Now just to make sure I get and not my wife….still in the closet here…Itd be kinda nice if I could find something she would tolerate or even like. It’s make the discussion much easier..


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I'd think the Lane 1-Q is probably nice-smelling. Certainly Sir Walter Raleigh and his cousin the aromatic, and tobaccos like Carter Hall and Granger, are.
 

Columbo

Mr. Codgers Neighborhood
Well, I did it. Went with some Dark, EGR, and 1-Q. We’ll see what happens.

Now just to make sure I get and not my wife….still in the closet here…Itd be kinda nice if I could find something she would tolerate or even like. It’s make the discussion much easier..


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For the reluctant ladies, you want a great room note. For that, you want an aromatic. At least to start.

1Q is a long-standing favorite of many pipe smokers. I don't think your Mrs. will dislike it. You picked a good one.

If you want another affordable aromatic, that also has good tobacco taste for you, and will not burn your pipe down, then SWRA is also a good pick.
 
I took up pipe smoking after quitting drinking. Met a pipe-smoker in the parking lot of an AA meeting -- he said it helped him to keep from drinking. Also, it smelled fantastic! Brilliant, I thought and acquired a pipe & some *Sir Walter Raleigh Aromatic*, and I've been enjoying my pipe ever since. There is a lot of good information on the internet for beginners -- if anything, too much information! The whole point of pipe-smoking is to enjoy it, and worrying about technique as if it were a golf swing you were trying to master will often detract from that pleasure. Sounds like you are getting some good tobacco to begin with. I wish you great good luck with this new hobby -- a very pleasant and absorbing one.
 
Got my shipment yesterday and had a little party.

My feelings so far…

Captain Black Dark: I was kinda disappointed here. It was a little boring. I don’t know what makes something exciting, This just seemed kinda flat.

EGR: Not my taste. It had a burning rubber taste at times. On the plus side I really concentrated on detecting flavors. There are a lot of little nuances going on in there. I dunno how to describe them, one I can only describe as tasting like “purple”.

1-Q: This one is saved for another day.


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