I remember once we got a kid straight out of boot camp aboard, at the age of 19. He already had been chewing tobacco long enough that he had pre-cancerous lesions in his mouth.
To paraphrase something I learned about surfing (the best surfer is the one having the most fun), the best pipe smoker is the one who is enjoying him/herself the most. I tend to smoke a bit fast and hot. So, I've gravitated to pipes with a long stem, so I can hold the stem and not the hot bowl. Also, in terms of relighting, I find it part of the enjoyable business of smoking a pipe. My recommendation is to get a pipe lighter that you love, then you'll enjoy relighting. I love my Zippo with a pipe insert. The sounds it makes, clicks and ca-chings, as you open, strike it, and close it have yet to lose their charm for me.
@AnantaAndroscoggin - I remember once while in boot camp, at the age of 19, I tried chewing tobacco for the first time from some of the southern recruits. I was sick as a dog for days. Felt like I was dying, did not care what was going on around me, just kept getting sick and ended up in sickbay until my stomach settled. To this day, I get a queasy feeling when I see guys chewing tobacco.
I’ll address the gurgle (i love an aromatic from time to time). I stick a pipe cleaner all the way down to the bowl (from the stem) and let it sit for a moment, then pull it out. It’ll absorb the moisture then let you keep smoking dry, it works every time! Plus it’ll free the draft hole if any ash or tobacco has made its way into there!
Boom not good when you're standing on/in the Bunker. We weren't allowed to photograph anything ever but they closed the place down and the Germans made it into a museum of sorts. These photos are from an acquaintance there. Abandoned crumbling (Bottom)Guard Tower,below; Main Watch and (middle) Big Badaboom Building. (Top) Choke and die or Nerve Gas Bunker,we were in/on or near them all. Cartoon from later guy posted there. A Tower Rat .
So, as it happens, I was looking for reviews of Mac Baren Vanilla Cream loose cut, and I stumbled across this lucid chunk of shared wisdom having nothing, really, to do with Mac Baren Vanilla Cream loose cut. I've edited out the actual review, which followed the words, "Ok, with that said, on to the real review," below. I wish I had this info available to me in 1964, when I first took up the pipe. "Drying" never occurred to us..... duh..... None of what follows is mine.
I always like to look at the negative reviews when I am ready to review a tobacco to see what experiences other people had. Many times, and there is no exception here, the qualities that people complain about are due to a lack of smoking experience and/or ignorance. I in no way mean to sound like an elitist, but many, many people simply do not know how to smoke a pipe, and especially virginias. I have been there, so let me tell you how to do it so that you can stop suffering and start enjoying more blends.
The two main complaints about this tobacco are that (1) it is very mild in flavor; and (2) that it produces tongue bite. With respect to the first issue, yes, this is a medium to mild tasting aromatic. Everyone tastes things differently, so some people may not be able to pick up on the subtleties of flavor that this blend offers, but the flavor, albeit medium to mild, is there.
Most likely they are experiencing a poor flavor experience because of the second complaint, which is the tongue bite. Let me state with absolute certainty that if you are smoking this blend at the correct humidity, and not puffing overly hard, that there is no tongue bite. Zero. Both puffing to keep it lit, and tongue bite, happen because people smoke their tobaccos, especially virginias, too moist. DRY IT OUT. DRY IT OUT. DRY IT OUT!!!!! This particular tobacco is not especially moist out of the tin, but I still let it sit spread out in an old milkglass bowl for 30 minutes or more. IF IT STILL FEELS MOIST TO YOUR TOUCH, IT IS FAR, FAR TOO MOIST TO SMOKE!!! I promise that if you let this dry out to the touch before you pack your pipe, you will (1) have no issues keeping it lit once you establish a good char from the false light, and (2) will not experience tongue bite, both because you have removed the excess moisture, and because you no longer have to puff like a madman to keep your overly wet tobacco lit. This is also an excellent test of what your tobacco has been coated with, because cheap blends coated in excess PG will never dry out (at least not within a reasonable period of time, less than an hour).
You do not have to take my word for it, put me to the test. If you have been bit by this tobacco, or any mixture, smoking in your regular way, spread a bowls worth out on a plate or bowl and let it sit for 2 or three times longer than you think is necessary, at least 20 minutes. When you go to smoke it you will find that even though the tobacco feels very dry (a sign of a quality blend not saturated with PG) the ribbons will still have plenty of spring and will not just crumble, meaning that they still have plenty of moisture for smoking purposes. Then literally, put it in your pipe and smoke it! Don't over-pack it, and don't make the packing process too complicated. Just put a pinch in, tap the side of your pipe a few times, and repeat until your within 1/8 inch or so of the top of the bowl. It will take a few false lights to get it going, but once you do you will find that the it burns readily, stays light without heavy puffing, and the bite is gone.
Maybe I am a dummy but it took me years to figure this out. Of course, some blends are going to take far less time to dry out. Any good non-aromatic blend should be ready to go in no more than 5 or ten minutes. And some blends do have a tendency to bite (but this is not one of them). Sometimes it is the condition of the leaf used, such as very sugary virginias, and sometimes there is a casing, such as any high sugar topping, that is going to create some additional bite potential. Regardless, by doing this I assure you that you will have reduced the propensity for tongue bite from whatever you are smoking by 75% or more, with a similar increase in smoking pleasure. If it dries to the point where it crumbles into dust when you rub it between your fingers, you have gone too far. Let my years of trial and error, and ignorance, be to your benefit!
Ok, with that said, on to the real review. [Edited out]
I sometimes look at tobacco reviews when trying to decide if I want to buy a new to me blend. Other times, I will buy a new blend and smoke five or 10 bowls before I review it and will look at other reviews to see what has been said.
And sometimes, I will go look for a review of a blend and there are absolutely no reviews because the blend isn't available in the U.S.
Comments
That's the ticket!
Abandoned crumbling (Bottom)Guard Tower,below; Main Watch and (middle) Big Badaboom Building. (Top) Choke and die or Nerve Gas Bunker,we were in/on or near them all. Cartoon from later guy posted there. A Tower Rat
.
I wish I had this info available to me in 1964, when I first took up the pipe.
"Drying" never occurred to us..... duh.....
None of what follows is mine.
I always like to look at the negative reviews when I am ready to review a tobacco to see what experiences other people had. Many times, and there is no exception here, the qualities that people complain about are due to a lack of smoking experience and/or ignorance. I in no way mean to sound like an elitist, but many, many people simply do not know how to smoke a pipe, and especially virginias. I have been there, so let me tell you how to do it so that you can stop suffering and start enjoying more blends.
The two main complaints about this tobacco are that (1) it is very mild in flavor; and (2) that it produces tongue bite. With respect to the first issue, yes, this is a medium to mild tasting aromatic. Everyone tastes things differently, so some people may not be able to pick up on the subtleties of flavor that this blend offers, but the flavor, albeit medium to mild, is there.
Most likely they are experiencing a poor flavor experience because of the second complaint, which is the tongue bite. Let me state with absolute certainty that if you are smoking this blend at the correct humidity, and not puffing overly hard, that there is no tongue bite. Zero. Both puffing to keep it lit, and tongue bite, happen because people smoke their tobaccos, especially virginias, too moist. DRY IT OUT. DRY IT OUT. DRY IT OUT!!!!! This particular tobacco is not especially moist out of the tin, but I still let it sit spread out in an old milkglass bowl for 30 minutes or more. IF IT STILL FEELS MOIST TO YOUR TOUCH, IT IS FAR, FAR TOO MOIST TO SMOKE!!! I promise that if you let this dry out to the touch before you pack your pipe, you will (1) have no issues keeping it lit once you establish a good char from the false light, and (2) will not experience tongue bite, both because you have removed the excess moisture, and because you no longer have to puff like a madman to keep your overly wet tobacco lit. This is also an excellent test of what your tobacco has been coated with, because cheap blends coated in excess PG will never dry out (at least not within a reasonable period of time, less than an hour).
You do not have to take my word for it, put me to the test. If you have been bit by this tobacco, or any mixture, smoking in your regular way, spread a bowls worth out on a plate or bowl and let it sit for 2 or three times longer than you think is necessary, at least 20 minutes. When you go to smoke it you will find that even though the tobacco feels very dry (a sign of a quality blend not saturated with PG) the ribbons will still have plenty of spring and will not just crumble, meaning that they still have plenty of moisture for smoking purposes. Then literally, put it in your pipe and smoke it! Don't over-pack it, and don't make the packing process too complicated. Just put a pinch in, tap the side of your pipe a few times, and repeat until your within 1/8 inch or so of the top of the bowl. It will take a few false lights to get it going, but once you do you will find that the it burns readily, stays light without heavy puffing, and the bite is gone.
Maybe I am a dummy but it took me years to figure this out. Of course, some blends are going to take far less time to dry out. Any good non-aromatic blend should be ready to go in no more than 5 or ten minutes. And some blends do have a tendency to bite (but this is not one of them). Sometimes it is the condition of the leaf used, such as very sugary virginias, and sometimes there is a casing, such as any high sugar topping, that is going to create some additional bite potential. Regardless, by doing this I assure you that you will have reduced the propensity for tongue bite from whatever you are smoking by 75% or more, with a similar increase in smoking pleasure. If it dries to the point where it crumbles into dust when you rub it between your fingers, you have gone too far. Let my years of trial and error, and ignorance, be to your benefit!
Ok, with that said, on to the real review. [Edited out]
Other times, I will buy a new blend and smoke five or 10 bowls before I review it and will look at other reviews to see what has been said.
And sometimes, I will go look for a review of a blend and there are absolutely no reviews because the blend isn't available in the U.S.
The Myth of Brand and Maker in Pipesmoking
by Dr. Fred Hanna, Ph.D
(This will sell a lot of Rattray’s Red Rapparee.)
https://www.themanual.com/culture/how-to-smoke-a-pipe/
https://www.tobaccopipes.com/blog/10-best-pipe-tobaccos-for-beginners/
Here are the best pipe tobaccos for beginners:
Pipe Tobacco – it’s not all the same