Pipe/Tobacco Pairing Opinions Sought

[jrpvr6]

Greetings to you all. Hope all is well with you and I want to first say that ive enjoyed checking out these forums without much participation on my part. I have definitely learned a lot, and I have subsequently gone and bought a few things to support this new found hobby i have.

For some background info ( sorry for this informal introduction without ever having done a proper one in the proper place) I picked up my cigar habit again, here recently, that I began in my earlier days. Bought A humidor and about 120 sticks or so all in all. Soon after this, my brother mentioned he wanted to break out his old Grabow for a smoke, and I had a forgotten Grabow at the time as well, and this moment fueled this pipe kick I have been on here recently. I got on this forum and started learning about pipes and tobacco, and I have since bought three different pipes and a few types of baccy.

So I want to ask for the opinions of those willing to contribute. My question is, if you were in my shoes, which types of tobacco would you dedicate to these three pipes, and my poor Grabow that I once again forgot (it really doesnt belong among these anyhow). My ideas are...

Savenelli Bent Pot - English blends, I have SG SL open atm and will use it for break in...

The Pete Donegal - My original thoughts were straight Virginia...But maybe I should dedicate this to Vapers or Burleys?

The Comoy's Virgin Pot- Originally I figured Vaper..but...?

My poor unpictured Grabow- Whatever I don't cover, either Burley or straight Virginia.

I have been smoking Vapers and English blends in cobs to get an idea of what im dealing with before making my pipe dedications...I have been smoking 5100 in the briars, except the brand new Comoy's, on occasion, but I havent really used any of them much. Once I make set plans for the dedications Im going to work on breaking all of these suckers in.

Sorry for the long winded email, and thanks for reading!!

Regards, and enjoy the beautiful fall weekend.

JP

[Requiem]

Hi and welcome to the active posting

IMO, you should first test all your pipes with a few bowls of virginia, which will not ghost them.
Virginias are particullary demanding as they usually smoke hotter then other blends, heating up the bowl. That means that some pipes can't handle VA's very well. Pipes with thicker bowls shouldn´t get as hot as pipes with thin bowls, but this theory is not rock solid, in my experience.
So, smoke VA's in all your pipes, a couple times each, and dedicate the one which handles it better to that variety of tobacco.
With time you may probably want to pair your favorite tobacco with your favorite pipe, or expand your collection, and you'll develope some kind of personal preferences on the pairing subject, so experiment and keep thinking about it, as this is one higly subjective matter...


Here's something I wrote a few months ago:
It appears that, even being a recent pipe smoker, I´m beginning to establish some personal preferences about what kind of pipe goes with a certain type of blend.
Latakias are getting the bigger bowl pipes, as that is my favourite type of tobacco and I enjoy long smokes of it.
Virginias and Vapers take the smaller bowls, some narrow (for the flakes) some wider. I´ve also read somewhere that Virginias tend to shine more in the final 1/3 of the bowl, so smaller bowls are a good option.
Also, thick walls are recommended, as those tobaccos tend to burn hotter. Long stems can also help with that, the experts say.
That´s the main reason I´m looking for a churchwarden and a poker, both destined to VA blends. It also happens I really like the look of those shapes...
The churchwarden is most probably going to be a Stanwell HCA, as I could well use the double-stem versatility, while the poker will be a Boswell, ordered as a celebrational pipe of another forum.
Besides the size of the bowl and stem, or the thickness of the walls, another thing I think about when dedicating a pipe to a certain kind of blend is related with my usual activity while smoking a type of tobacco.
For instance, I smoke virginias most of the mornings, by late-breakfast. A poker would be very welcome as, while reading the newspaper, zipping coffee and taking a bite at the toast, I can use a sitter. My little Hilson sitter has been getting a lot of use on those moments and needs a friend. ...

[Mister Moo]

I do what Req'em ses, letting the pipe decide.

When a pipe smokes a VA or VaPer without blistering my hand then that's that. If it burns too hot to enjoy VA I'll slide the pipe over to an english blend; if it sucks smoking english I'll clean it with alcohol, get the ghost out and try again with burley or an aromatic. When a pipe doesn't smoke any of these things it often ends up on ebay described as "lightly smoked."

After making a good call in the first cut (tobacco type) you may discover, over 30-50 bowls* in a certain pipe, it smokes a certain blend better than another. That's when you think, "I am only ever going to smoke [whatever blend] in this pipe from now on." It's a process guided by time and experience.

*as you break a pipe in it will slowly build cake, gradually smoking cooler and dryer. Some folks like starting any new pipe with burley to speed the initial process of cake building.

[RJpuffs]

For a new pipe, I do it a little backward.

I start with straight burley blends, get the pipe broken in and a cake started. After a month or two, depending on the behavior of the briar, I switch to VAs and try them all (several bowls each). If any one clicks, like the Moo sez, it sticks.

Then onto VaPers, try them all. If any fit, great, if not - oh well, I try to repair the pipe/airhole/stem, ream cake and start over. Worst comes to worst, it stays a Burley dedicated pipe.

[jrpvr6]

Alright thanks for the replies. So I smoked a full bowl of SG FVF in that Pete I have pictured while i was doing some homework reading. Wow, it was one epic bowl. I think i picked one of the bigger flakes and rubbed it out thoroughly. I packed it and smoked it after a couple hours of drying. It smoked well in the Pete, but I let it go out numerous times and relit, as I tried to stay forward in my reading.

IT seemed to be one of the most unending epic smokes ever. By the end I was glad it was done, and I had this crazy nicotene overdose feeling It did smoke pretty cool the whole time. Anyhow, I think the bowl is too big for straight VA. THink I will try some VA/Per in it.

[dmkerr]

Good advice here!

I basically go with RJPuffs suggestion by breaking the pipe in with a burley blend. For some reason - and this may be my imagination only - burley seems to cake a pipe quicker and the cake seems more robust.

Then I proceed as Moo stated by letting the pipe decide. Quite honestly, I approach 90% of my pipes with the idea that they will smoke VA's or VaPers, and go from there. I don't smoke a lot of English (latakia) or aromatics so those are the last two areas to get a new pipe, and it's only those pipes that don't make the VA/Vaper or burley rotation.

[Zeabed]

[QUOTE=Requiem;2693098] [...] Virginias are particullary demanding as they usually smoke hotter then other blends, heating up the bowl. That means that some pipes can't handle VA's very well. Pipes with thicker bowls shouldn´t get as hot as pipes with thin bowls, but this theory is not rock solid, in my experience.
So, smoke VA's in all your pipes, a couple times each, and dedicate the one which handles it better to that variety of tobacco.
With time you may probably want to pair your favorite tobacco with your favorite pipe, or expand your collection, and you'll develope some kind of personal preferences on the pairing subject, so experiment and keep thinking about it, as this is one higly subjective matter...[...] Virginias and Vapers take the smaller bowls, some narrow (for the flakes) some wider. I´ve also read somewhere that Virginias tend to shine more in the final 1/3 of the bowl, so smaller bowls are a good option. [...] [/QUOTE]

Excellent advice and spot-on points. I've settled on some narrow-bowled, thick walled Mastro de Paja Dublins and a Stanwell Majestic #19 with a slightly wider chamber but similar in other respects, for my Virginia flakes. I've found that these pipes handle the Va flakes best. For blends containing latakia, I choose a Savory's Argyll or GBD 5th Avenue bent pot. For English/Balkan blends with smaller amounts or no latakia, I choose Savinelli or Stanwell Canadians. Also this shape (but different pipes) for Va/Pers.

[wharfrathoss]

for me, VA's seem to be the most picky about what pipes they smoke well/taste good in. i'll start trying a new-to-me pipe w/VA's, running thru a # of different blends. if none of those hit the spot, i'll move on to VA/Per's, then burley, last english.

BTW, if a large bowl of FVF is too much nic for ya, you might want to try your VA/Per's in a different pipe too. perique is a high nic tobac so i they'd probably affect ya the same way.

[MarkC]

Originally Posted by wharfrathoss

BTW, if a large bowl of FVF is too much nic for ya, you might want to try your VA/Per's in a different pipe too. perique is a high nic tobac so i they'd probably affect ya the same way.

I was going to say something similar, but I thought it was just me. I never had any trouble with FVF in the nicotine department, but I remember a bowl of Anny Kake that royally kicked my butt! Shakes, cold sweats, I was in horrible shape! Admittedly that was only a month into my pipe smoking, and I'd quit ciggies ten years earlier, but I gained a quick respect for the leaf!

[MarkC]

You know, I'd better start listening to you guys more. I've wasted three months trying to make my Moretti stack an English pipe because I thought it was too big of a bowl for Virginias. I gave up the other night with a bowl of FVF. I smoked a bowl of Opening Night in it tonight, and that tobacco was never better. Fine, I give up; it's a Virginia pipe!

[commonsenseman]

Very good advice, great thread.

Sticky?

[Mad Hatter]

Personally I've found that my nicotene intake has a comfort level where it just feels right. I like stronger tobacco in a smaller chamber diameter pipe and weaker tobaccos in bigger chambered pipes. Pipes with shallow, narrow bowls are something of an exception. If anything fits them it would be an oddball tobacco I don't smoke very often or something with quite a kick. I reallybelieve its all about the chamber size.