Barely got in 18 this morning before the bottom dropped out (near 20° drop). Relaxing now in my garage with some Sutliff County Cork in a restemmed Emerald MM cob... Life is good...
I bought this pipe as a beat up old estate pipe for ~$25 shipped several years ago. Someone had pilfered the gold band for scrap (my guess anyway) Bastard! I refurbished the pipe and sent it to Peterson in Ireland to have a new “solid” gold band made (I think it is .375 or 9 Karat). One of the skilled craftsmen at Peterson turned the gold band for it, and even stamped it with the original “Mark Twain Commemorative 1835-1985” nomenclature. They still had the stamp floating around the shop. This pipe is number 46/1000 in the Gold band Mark Twain 1985 Limited Edition. I didn’t get any of the ephemera, but that’s the estate breaks. Peterson sent a recent production new box and sock with it when they returned it👍🏻
Tonight I’m smoking it for the first time after my refurb. It’s loaded with Mac Baren’s “Royal Twist Deluxe Roll Cake” from this August. I’m starting to come around to the Dark Fired Kentucky in several of my recently smoked blends. Maybe Latakia is next….if I can bring myself to give them another try.
My intro into Latakia was Dunhill/Peterson Early Morning Pipe. I bought the tin by mistake and it collected dust for a couple of years. One morning I decided to try it and it became my main morning smoke. Now about 70% of what I smoke has Latakia.
@Beetleman Before the pandemic, I used to buy two or three estate pipes a month from antique junk shops and restore them myself. At first I de-ghosted all the pipes using rock salt and grain alcohol but sometimes that didn't work as well and I would have to repeat it two or three times. It was also challenging to pick the salt in the bowl and fill it with alcohol without the liquid leaking out of the shank or stem.
Then I read about using used coffee grounds (fresh dry grounds doesn't work and why waste coffee). The method is easy. Scoop the grounds out of your coffeemaker or K-cup and pack it into the bowl. Let it set for 24 hours and then rinse all the grounds out under running water. It doesn't hurt the briar.
For the airway, I usually just run pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol through the shank until it comes out clean enough.
"It's not something I invented but something I was learned from some older than me pipe smokers 20 or 30 years ago. Its an alternative to packing your bowl with rock salt and filling it with grain alcohol. Instead, you pack the bowl of the pipe you are cleaning with damp used coffee grounds and let it sit for 24 hours. "The PappyJoe (no joy) part is that I found that a used K-cup of unflavored coffee will fill most bowls with just a little left over.) "
"Not sure about the science behind it, but the theory is that the acid in the coffee ground will soften the cake and then the coffee will absorb the ghost of the old tobacco. It is double effective at sweetening a pipe if you do the salt/alcohol treatment first and then the coffee treatment. After 24 hours, you dump the grounds and wipe out the bowl. I also rinse out the bowl with running tap water and then let it dry for 24 hours. (Briar is wood. It won't absorb the running water and it won't hurt the pipe as long as you are not soaking the pipe in it.) "
"I have used the coffee grounds in meerschaum pipes also but skip the water rinse."
<<A pipe, properly cared for, will probably outlast its owner. Occasionally, however, a pipe may begin to taste bitter or "sour." Sometimes this is caused by not allowing the pipe sufficient time to "rest" between smokes; other times, no cause can be determined with certainty. In any event, such a pipe can usually be rejuvenated by applying the "Professor's Pipe-Sweetening Treatment," publicized by Dennis Congos.
First, find some salt (non-iodized is preferred, but not essential), some alcohol (preferably "Everclear," or some other form of near-pure, non-denatured ethanol), and a place to rest your pipe in a semi-upright position. Insert a pipe cleaner into the stem of the pipe so that it extends into the shank. Fill the bowl to the rim with salt and drip or carefully pour alcohol into the bowl until the salt is just saturated. Try not to get any alcohol on the pipe's exterior, as this may damage the finish; any spills should be wiped up immediately. Leave the pipe alone for a day or two. After this time the salt will have turned brown from the absorption of "tars" from the bowl. Thoroughly clean all salt from the bowl and set the pipe aside overnight to dry completely. Your pipe will now be revitalized, and all traces of bitterness should be gone.
WARNING: Many people swear by this process, but the procedure is not risk-free. Some people have had pipes crack after this treatment, particularly when they allowed the salt and alcohol mixture to enter the pipe's shank and/or when they left the mixture in the pipe for several days. Any pipe with significant monetary or sentimental value should be sent to a professional pipe repair person.>>
Ok, I had 2 different peach blends that were getting low, so I combined them. For some reason, the peach acquired a little bite, so I added a little black cavendish to mellow it out.. it worked. Doing it in a FE.RO Certezza...
What are the two peach blends? I reckon one is the Sutlif Private Stock Taste of Summer. The other? I ask because my first bowlful in 1964 was Middleton John Rolfe Peach Brandy. Smelled nice.
We just finished dinner, duck breast and roasted butternut squash. For an after dinner smoke I'm enjoying BriarWorks Pete's Beard in an MM Pride, it has a depth of flavor that complements the duck.
Preparing to load a Peterson Rua Spigot XL02 with my home grown (2016 crop) home cured, home steamed, home pressed, home sliced tobacco plug. The steamed “cavendish” was cased with Meyers Dark Rum and pressed into a plug. The cured burley/Virginia was cased with Malibu Coconut Rum and pressed into another plug. I then cut the cavendish plug in half and the burley/Virginia plug in half, then stacked/layered one of the burley plugs between two cavendish plugs like an Oreo cookie. I trickled a little (either Meyers or Malibu or maybe Evan Williams Black Label bourbon) between the layers and pressed the combination again. I think I pressed each plug for a week, maybe two, so the final plug had been pressed for at least three weeks, probably more. It has been resting in a mason jar since 2017 with myself occasionally partaking of it.
A trip down memory lane. Anytime someone mentions Cherry blends, I reflect back to my younger years of pipe smoking. Back in the late 60s and early 70s, most of my pipe time was spent with Middleton's Cherry or Flying Dutchman. Although this blend is not Middleton's, it is cherry. Hence the nostalgic trip... Doing some VG Cherry Cavendish in a RONA freehand sitter...
After lunch I loaded a Davidoff Flake Medallion in an MM Morgan but didn't finish it before the wife picked me up to do errands. I packed some Balkan Mixture into another Morgan for the ride, now I'm switching back and forth while the chicken roasts. I'm not sure what smells better but I'm ready for the chicken chip, roasted neck skin!
@Balisong - how funny…. I just lit up a bowl of Davidoff Flake Medallion and was about to post the pic when saw yours. I guess talking about this blend last night at pipe club made us both “hungry” for it.
@jfreedy Flake Medallions for me is a nice middle of the road smoke, nothing to ponder, nothing to dislike. That looks like the 313 you showed us last night. Did you modify the p-lip?
Just sat down for a break with a bowl full of G&H Balkan Mixture in an MM Rob Roy.
A short term warm snap here so taking advantage by doing my last mowing of the season and putting out Christmas lights. Break time now. Doing some Sutliff Christmas Spice in a @Corey562 artisan pipe...
Comments
Cute, huh🙂. Small pipes are good for some tobaccos👍🏻
Three Balkans I can recommend despite being a primarily aromatic smoker:
Balkan Sasieni
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/1068/scandinavian-tobacco-group-stg-balkan-sasieni
H&H White Knight (a Balkan Sobranie tribute by master blender Russ Ouellette)
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/7995/hearth-home-whiteknight
H&H Magnum Opus (a Balkan with Perique; Ouelette's best, according to Ouellette!)
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/4298/hearth-home-magnum-opus
Cool man. Thanks for the links. Maybe I will add some to my Christmas list 😁
Relaxing now in my garage with some Sutliff County Cork in a restemmed Emerald MM cob...
Life is good...
To be followed by G. L. Pease Charring Cross in a new Rob Roy.
The pie rates a “Be still, my heart……”😛😋
My intro into Latakia was Dunhill/Peterson Early Morning Pipe. I bought the tin by mistake and it collected dust for a couple of years. One morning I decided to try it and it became my main morning smoke. Now about 70% of what I smoke has Latakia.
Before the pandemic, I used to buy two or three estate pipes a month from antique junk shops and restore them myself. At first I de-ghosted all the pipes using rock salt and grain alcohol but sometimes that didn't work as well and I would have to repeat it two or three times. It was also challenging to pick the salt in the bowl and fill it with alcohol without the liquid leaking out of the shank or stem.
Then I read about using used coffee grounds (fresh dry grounds doesn't work and why waste coffee). The method is easy. Scoop the grounds out of your coffeemaker or K-cup and pack it into the bowl. Let it set for 24 hours and then rinse all the grounds out under running water. It doesn't hurt the briar.
For the airway, I usually just run pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol through the shank until it comes out clean enough.
@PappyJoe’s Coffee Treatment
"It's not something I invented but something I was learned from some older than me pipe smokers 20 or 30 years ago. Its an alternative to packing your bowl with rock salt and filling it with grain alcohol. Instead, you pack the bowl of the pipe you are cleaning with damp used coffee grounds and let it sit for 24 hours. "The PappyJoe (no joy) part is that I found that a used K-cup of unflavored coffee will fill most bowls with just a little left over.) "
"Not sure about the science behind it, but the theory is that the acid in the coffee ground will soften the cake and then the coffee will absorb the ghost of the old tobacco. It is double effective at sweetening a pipe if you do the salt/alcohol treatment first and then the coffee treatment. After 24 hours, you dump the grounds and wipe out the bowl. I also rinse out the bowl with running tap water and then let it dry for 24 hours. (Briar is wood. It won't absorb the running water and it won't hurt the pipe as long as you are not soaking the pipe in it.) "
"I have used the coffee grounds in meerschaum pipes also but skip the water rinse."
Salt and Alcohol Treatment
https://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_care/cleaning
<<A pipe, properly cared for, will probably outlast its owner. Occasionally, however, a pipe may begin to taste bitter or "sour." Sometimes this is caused by not allowing the pipe sufficient time to "rest" between smokes; other times, no cause can be determined with certainty. In any event, such a pipe can usually be rejuvenated by applying the "Professor's Pipe-Sweetening Treatment," publicized by Dennis Congos.
First, find some salt (non-iodized is preferred, but not essential), some alcohol (preferably "Everclear," or some other form of near-pure, non-denatured ethanol), and a place to rest your pipe in a semi-upright position. Insert a pipe cleaner into the stem of the pipe so that it extends into the shank. Fill the bowl to the rim with salt and drip or carefully pour alcohol into the bowl until the salt is just saturated. Try not to get any alcohol on the pipe's exterior, as this may damage the finish; any spills should be wiped up immediately. Leave the pipe alone for a day or two. After this time the salt will have turned brown from the absorption of "tars" from the bowl. Thoroughly clean all salt from the bowl and set the pipe aside overnight to dry completely. Your pipe will now be revitalized, and all traces of bitterness should be gone.
WARNING: Many people swear by this process, but the procedure is not risk-free. Some people have had pipes crack after this treatment, particularly when they allowed the salt and alcohol mixture to enter the pipe's shank and/or when they left the mixture in the pipe for several days. Any pipe with significant monetary or sentimental value should be sent to a professional pipe repair person.>>
VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8If9ml6HqI
Doing it in a FE.RO Certezza...
What are the two peach blends? I reckon one is the Sutlif Private Stock Taste of Summer. The other? I ask because my first bowlful in 1964 was Middleton John Rolfe Peach Brandy. Smelled nice.
Tinderbox Peach Melba
Covington Peach Rhine Rag
(buddies private blend)
I know some guys that would tell you to forget the tobacco and just give them the rum...
😏
Back in the late 60s and early 70s, most of my pipe time was spent with Middleton's Cherry or Flying Dutchman.
Although this blend is not Middleton's, it is cherry. Hence the nostalgic trip...
Doing some VG Cherry Cavendish in a RONA freehand sitter...
Just sat down for a break with a bowl full of G&H Balkan Mixture in an MM Rob Roy.
Break time now. Doing some Sutliff Christmas Spice in a @Corey562 artisan pipe...
Sweeeeeet!