I started the day with GH Balkan Mixture in an MM Diplomat with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe on the side. Follow up; GH DVC in an MM Rory with Columbian coffee.
I’m relaxing and watching one of my favorite films - Sherlock Holmes in the House of Fear. I’ve seen this literally somewhere around a hundred times and I never grow tired of it.
And of course I’m not properly relaxing if I’m not enjoying some tobacco, and so I’m currently smoking Hunting Creek from The Country Squire. After I finish this pipe I think that I may have a cigar and then take a nap. I love my days off from work!
Man I’d love to have a bowl of Blackhouse right now but the Covid wrecked my taste. Had some White Knight two days ago and couldn’t discern anything. I still enjoyed the pipe but I hope something gives here soon.
Cold weather and all the Latakia talk made my give it another try. EMP in a Chacom. Still don’t like it and I don’t like this pipe either. Guess it was a bust all around.
My wife fed the animals while I slept in and the snow accumulated. I'm finishing the Charring Cross that's in my rotation. The open blends are out of control so no more refills or openings until I get below 6 choices!
Peterson Flake in an MM Morgan before dinner. The Shepard's Pie with turkey, peas and a squash puree topping was delicious with a glass of apple cider. Time for news and some C&D Yale Mixture in an MM Rob Roy.
Well I finally broke and had a bowl of JM Boswell Military Force in my JM Boswell. Fabulous to be able to taste tobacco again! Nice crisp day as well here in PA!
For a change of pace I had C&D Yale Mixture in an MM Diplomat. It claims to have some Latakia, good luck finding it! Now I'm enjoying GH Balkan Mixture in an MM Pride and a cup of coffee while watching the Pittsburgh/Baltimore game.
@vtgrad2003 Do you find that the flavor is sapped out of the tobacco with filters, especially the charcoal type? My guess is, probably not, it seems I have heard you speak of filters before? They do for me, just wondering.
I've been using balsa filters for a long time but this is the first bowl I've tried the charcoal filters, especially the Sav charcoal filters which are supposed to be "better" than other charcoal filters (I don't know why), that said, here is my experience with them and this is just how I see it, obviously everyone will have their own analysis/opinion as well. You also have to realize that I sometimes inhale--retro, through the nose, and directly; not always, mind you, but out of every bowl's worth probably 3 or 4 drags (I don't inhale aromatics though, only non-aromatics), so tar, especially, is of concern to me. I could care less about stopping any nicotine or anything else...I have way too many vices to be concerned about nicotine, and nicotine doesn't cause cancer.
Balsa filters:
Pros: There is certainly a reduction in the bitterness caused by the tar. Even though most say balsa filters are only good for moisture, that's a load of crap, especially when you pull one I'm using after only a few bowls and its jet black and covered in tar. Granted, it's not a 'mesh' or fiber filter like a cigarette filter, so some of the smoke and tar does go around the filter, but a lot of it does get trapped on it and to me, that's probably a good thing (less tar is always good).
Other than that, I notice zero change in the flavor of the tobacco itself, sans tar.
Cons: Some of the smoke does go around the balsa and therefore the smoke isn't "filtered" per se, and that is the reason for trying the charcoal filter. Balsa trees in Indonesia caught covid (they should have gotten vaccinated or wore masks ) so there seems to be a shortage of balsa right now.
Charcoal filters:
[Keep in mind that I've only smoked 4 bowls using a charcoal filter so far.]
Pros: Fits nice and snug in the tenon so all the smoke is being filtered. Greater reduction in moisture than the balsa. A "cleaner" tobacco flavor so to speak. What I mean by that is now nearly all the tar is gone from the smoke so all you taste is pure tobacco. By definition, then, the blend does taste different than before, but different in a good way or bad way would be in the eye of the beholder. To me, the jury is still out on that one--I'll have to smoke more bowls; it certainly didn't 'wow' me but also wasn't bad at all, just different. One effect I was not expecting was the ability to smoke through a gurgle. Some smokers smoke right through a gurgle without doing anything about it, I can't though mostly because to me, it changes the flavor of the smoke with all that moisture in it. Once my pipe starts to gurgle, I usually do something like slightly blow through it (without blowing the tobacco out of course) to try and clear it or use my poker to move the tobacco away from the draft hole. Last night, though, my pipe started to gurgle and I smoked right through it without any change in the flavor of the tobacco, which was odd I thought, but most likely related to the fact that the filter is doing such a good job catching the moisture, so the smoke is much dryer than it would be with balsa or none. The last unexpected thing I noticed was how cool the smoke was, and how cool my pipe was over all.
Cons: More expensive than balsa, but also more readily available. It not only catches the tar, but I can also tell that it catches a little (and I stress "little") of the casing and toppings, which makes sense (i.e., all the smoke is being filtered, unlike balsa). So the tobacco is slightly 'less sweet' if that makes sense. But the most noticeable effect is that the draw is reduced (which also makes sense). This gets some getting used to for sure, but I got over it fairly quickly and it wasn't really a bother anymore. But for those smokers that prefer a wide open draw, they may need to redrill their airways if they switch to these filters; I prefer a restricted draw though like with my cigars, I don't cut the end of the cigar, I punch it in order to better 'focus' the draw and smoke, so to speak.
That's my two cents. Again, let me get through a few more bowls of using these before I pass judgement on overall flavor--again, it is different, but in a good or bad way, I don't know yet.
Comments
Smoke what you like.
I hate Latakia, so I sympathize; I hate perique as well, lol. As they say, "onward and upward"
Good luck with that one!
Do you find that the flavor is sapped out of the tobacco with filters, especially the charcoal type? My guess is, probably not, it seems I have heard you speak of filters before?
They do for me, just wondering.
I've been using balsa filters for a long time but this is the first bowl I've tried the charcoal filters, especially the Sav charcoal filters which are supposed to be "better" than other charcoal filters (I don't know why), that said, here is my experience with them and this is just how I see it, obviously everyone will have their own analysis/opinion as well. You also have to realize that I sometimes inhale--retro, through the nose, and directly; not always, mind you, but out of every bowl's worth probably 3 or 4 drags (I don't inhale aromatics though, only non-aromatics), so tar, especially, is of concern to me. I could care less about stopping any nicotine or anything else...I have way too many vices to be concerned about nicotine, and nicotine doesn't cause cancer.
Balsa filters:
Pros:
There is certainly a reduction in the bitterness caused by the tar. Even though most say balsa filters are only good for moisture, that's a load of crap, especially when you pull one I'm using after only a few bowls and its jet black and covered in tar. Granted, it's not a 'mesh' or fiber filter like a cigarette filter, so some of the smoke and tar does go around the filter, but a lot of it does get trapped on it and to me, that's probably a good thing (less tar is always good).
Other than that, I notice zero change in the flavor of the tobacco itself, sans tar.
Cons:
Some of the smoke does go around the balsa and therefore the smoke isn't "filtered" per se, and that is the reason for trying the charcoal filter. Balsa trees in Indonesia caught covid (they should have gotten vaccinated or wore masks
Charcoal filters:
[Keep in mind that I've only smoked 4 bowls using a charcoal filter so far.]
Pros:
Fits nice and snug in the tenon so all the smoke is being filtered. Greater reduction in moisture than the balsa. A "cleaner" tobacco flavor so to speak. What I mean by that is now nearly all the tar is gone from the smoke so all you taste is pure tobacco. By definition, then, the blend does taste different than before, but different in a good way or bad way would be in the eye of the beholder. To me, the jury is still out on that one--I'll have to smoke more bowls; it certainly didn't 'wow' me but also wasn't bad at all, just different. One effect I was not expecting was the ability to smoke through a gurgle. Some smokers smoke right through a gurgle without doing anything about it, I can't though mostly because to me, it changes the flavor of the smoke with all that moisture in it. Once my pipe starts to gurgle, I usually do something like slightly blow through it (without blowing the tobacco out of course) to try and clear it or use my poker to move the tobacco away from the draft hole. Last night, though, my pipe started to gurgle and I smoked right through it without any change in the flavor of the tobacco, which was odd I thought, but most likely related to the fact that the filter is doing such a good job catching the moisture, so the smoke is much dryer than it would be with balsa or none. The last unexpected thing I noticed was how cool the smoke was, and how cool my pipe was over all.
Cons:
More expensive than balsa, but also more readily available. It not only catches the tar, but I can also tell that it catches a little (and I stress "little") of the casing and toppings, which makes sense (i.e., all the smoke is being filtered, unlike balsa). So the tobacco is slightly 'less sweet' if that makes sense. But the most noticeable effect is that the draw is reduced (which also makes sense). This gets some getting used to for sure, but I got over it fairly quickly and it wasn't really a bother anymore. But for those smokers that prefer a wide open draw, they may need to redrill their airways if they switch to these filters; I prefer a restricted draw though like with my cigars, I don't cut the end of the cigar, I punch it in order to better 'focus' the draw and smoke, so to speak.
That's my two cents. Again, let me get through a few more bowls of using these before I pass judgement on overall flavor--again, it is different, but in a good or bad way, I don't know yet.