Revisiting An Old Friend - Captain Black Gold
ghostsofpompeii
Master
A good many new pipe smokers are introduced to the hobby with the OTC blend Captain Black. Either the Regular, Gold, Royal, or Cherry blend because they tend to be readily available at most drug stores or supermarkets. And for my vanilla craving Captain Black seemed to be the best of the lot. But unfortunately it's also one of the most maligned aromatic blend by many experienced smokers. The vast majority of which are pipe smokers who made the transition from aromatic to non-aromatic and English blends; learning long ago to forgo the convenience of drug store blends to seek out quality premium tobacco products available only from brick and mortar Tobacco Shops or on-line companies.
And until a Tinder Box opened in my community my only access to tobacco was OTC blends from drug store and supermarket shelves. So it took me a bit longer to experience quality tobacco products. Yet I never made the transition to English blends, remaining a steadfast aromatic smoker, but with a bit more discriminating taste.
Lessons I've learned from both the on-line and YouTube Pipe Community helped me curtail many bad smoking habits which negatively impacted my smoking pleasure - mainly, puffing like a locomotive rather than sipping, which resulted in a perpetual case of tongue bite. All of which I attributed to bad tobacco rather than bad smoking habits.
So it got me thinking. Now that I've graduated from OTC blends like Captain Black to premium bulk and tin blends, is the smoking experience simply better because of the blends I'm now smoking - or because I've finally learned proper smoking techniques. As well as routine cleaning and pipe maintenance, which can be equally important?
So I pulled out a jar Captain Black Gold - a one time favorite now relegated to a back row in my cellar - filled my pipe, poured a cup of coffee, then sat in the backyard - reacquainting myself with an old friend. And a thought crept into my head. Captain Black Gold was the blend I smoked all the while I was working in the Steel Mill. And looking back at that time I was usually smoking the pipe during some stressful situation or while exerting myself. Puffing away like a steel mill smokestack. Pipe smoking was a means of getting me through the day - but never a source of relaxation. I was too busy to relax. But today I was completely relaxed, kicking back, and reflective as one tends to get while pipe smoking. And I was enjoying a bowl of Captain Black Gold with just as much pleasure as if I were smoking Molto Dolce or a more expensive premium tobacco.
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