[Ax]

Originally Posted by Kepa

Well, a pipe isn't for everyone.

Gurgle occurs when the smoke condenses and turns into moisture. It usually happens when smoking a pipe "hot", or puffing too much. It more commonly happens in a bent pipe. When/if it happens, you'll want to shove a pipe cleaner down the stem.

I don't think a pipe tool would make the experience better to the point that you forsake cigars and smoke a pipe alone.

I myself enjoy cigars more than a pipe, but I still enjoy a bowl of tobacco every now and then.

I'm on the other end of the spectrum here, I enjoy a pipe much more than I enjoy Cigars, though I love both. A pipe tool will only make tamping easier. I have a bent pipe and I've never had gargle. I clean my stem thoroughly after each use too.

If you can't get a blend to stay lit, it's either too wet or too dry. In your case it looks like it might have been too dry, as in it won't stay lit because it's burning too fast. The wetter it is the more smoke there is, though sometimes when it's too wet you have to light it twice to get it to stay lit.

And the little cigars with pipe tobacco are usually crap. There are exceptions but for the most part things like Black and Milds and Swisher Sweets have the most god awful tobacco ever in them.

[Jeffrey]

Originally Posted by Visirale

I finally got my pipe to stay lit this morning and I smoked a perique blend (can't remember which). Since it was little tiny shavings instead of big jerkey-like pieces, it was much easier to light and keep lit. Pretty good stuff. But right now the cigar is preferable to me... it's more of an experience.

Great choice! I love perique, straight or mixed with other blends.

Originally Posted by Visirale

Djarum Cherries are very good, haha.

I love 'em!

Originally Posted by Visirale

Hey, so what's the point of smoking a pipe if they make little cigars made of pipe tobacco?

Well, I'm the opposite of Kepa (he is male, I am a robot). Well, not quite opposite as much that I enjoy pipes more than cigars, but also indulge the latter from time to time.

But I can probably speak for Kepa and other pipe smokers when I list some of the really basic subjective virtues of the pipe:

1) the tactile sensation of holding something that stays with you. Cigars feel great in the hand, but are destined for the trash or furnace. A pipe is a solid piece of wood (or clay or meerschaum) that you cradle.

2) the freedom to regulate your smoking amount. The cigar tends to this as well, since you don't have to "finish off" a cigar like a cigarette. But if I'm the mood for just a pinch of tobacco, a pipe allows that.

3) the distinctive range of flavors and blends of pipe tobacco is more diverse than cigars. Cigars have diversity, but not like pipes.

4) pipe tobacco in those paper cigarrillos isn't the same (because of the burning paper).

5) watching a pipe show its age with its cake, its coloration (even its character in chips and nicks) makes it part of your heritage.

Also, it makes you look TEN YEARS OLDER. I think.

But if you prefer cigars, go for it! I'm sure as you get used to pipes you'll still keep to it, they seem to fit your constitution.

The very best taste to me thus far has been that McClelland's Navy Cavendish blend. It tastes very full and sweet... but I can't get the pipe to stay lit or get a lot of smoke to come out. The Black & Milds weren't even in the same league as it...

That's a good Cavendish blend. I loves me a good Cavendish, especially used to cut other blends.

[FTS]

Originally Posted by Chris

Agreed. You definitely do not want to go towards stouter beers if you're having problems with lagers. I suggest going for an India Pale Ale. Nice smooth flavour, I've heard good things about cream ale but have yet to try it.

Seeing as you're in Aussie, give Tui a go. You should be able to find it over there somewhere

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

But I can probably speak for Kepa and other pipe smokers when I list some of the really basic subjective virtues of the pipe: ... it makes you look TEN YEARS OLDER.

This is basically why I still smoke my pipe every now and then

[bread man]

Tui...I've never heard of it, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

I forgot to say before, but I stayed at my uncle's house last night after a concert and he had quite a few different drinks, so I tried some Bailey's. It was ridiculously nice.

[H.M. Murdock]

Originally Posted by Kepa

Gurgle occurs when the smoke condenses and turns into moisture. It usually happens when smoking a pipe "hot", or puffing too much. It more commonly happens in a bent pipe. When/if it happens, you'll want to shove a pipe cleaner down the stem.

It should also be noted that this is a problem that is much more common in humid environments. I, for example, can be smoking a cool blend very slowly- a small draw every thirty seconds or so, which is ridiculously slow for me- and still get gargle due to the fact that a) I live in an extremely humid area of the country and b) I smoke a bent pipe, which makes me an even more likely candidate for gargle. Someday I should look into finding a straight pipe that I like for smoking, but as it is, they just don't feel the same as a bent briar.
Humid environments are horrible for a pipe smoker, because his or her quality of smoke depends on their ability to keep their pipe lit at just the right temperature. In order to keep a pipe lit in humid air, it needs to be pretty hot, or it will just flare and go out. A cigar is pretty hard pressed to be put out in humid air, and cigarettes are made to burn no matter what, way back from in the day when the cork butt liner was invented to keep smokers from dissolving the paper and thereby getting a mouthful of tobacco. In Scotland- particularly the highlands- smoking lived a very short life before it was replaced by snuff (called "smeeshin"). Snuff and other smokeless habits were also wildly popular in Amerindian cultures because, really, keeping a pipe lit was impossible. Pipe smoking was a tool for the natives found in drier climates (the Iriquois, for example), and was transmitted to Europe (and subsequently the rest of the world) that way.

[/educational]

I don't think a pipe tool would make the experience better to the point that you forsake cigars and smoke a pipe alone.

I considered leaving my pipe behind for cigars, but didn't because I enjoy my pipe enough without so much as a reamer that cigars just aren't as appealing as they'd have to be to replace my pipe.

Originally Posted by Sean.thomson

Well, I tryed my first "Lucky Strike" today. I think it's safe to say I'll be sticking to Reds though.

I guess Lucky Strike's "green" never came back from war, eh?

If you can't get a blend to stay lit, it's either too wet or too dry. In your case it looks like it might have been too dry, as in it won't stay lit because it's burning too fast. The wetter it is the more smoke there is, though sometimes when it's too wet you have to light it twice to get it to stay lit.

Yes and yes. My very first pouch of tobacco was ridiculously moist. Which is to be expected- it was Captain Black. After letting it get some air and sun, though, it smoked as well as can be expected from such a horrible little blend.

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

Great choice! I love perique, straight or mixed with other blends.

Suggested brands? I am looking into a McClelland, but am wary of doing so without so much as a reccomendation.

Also, it makes you look TEN YEARS OLDER. I think.

We all know that that is why we smoke pipes. Just admit that you're on the bandwagon, boy. I mean, old man.

I am thinking about how nice a burley/perique blend would be. Sweet/spicy to the mizzax. I need to find some straight burley and perique (or latakia) and blend them to see if I am right on this. Thoughts?

[Jeffrey]

Originally Posted by H.M. Murdock

Suggested brands? I am looking into a McClelland, but am wary of doing so without so much as a reccomendation.

My favorite blend that employs perique is Dunhill Nightcap, but it's a strong English blend that is based around latakia. The perique adds a kick that puts it above most other English blends, in my opinion.

I buy perique straight from my tobacconist and smoke it straight (as did Aleister Crowley, though he'd soak it in rum first to make it a bit easier), or I blend it. That said:

I am thinking about how nice a burley/perique blend would be. Sweet/spicy to the mizzax. I need to find some straight burley and perique (or latakia) and blend them to see if I am right on this. Thoughts?

This is a good idea. A while back I mixed some burley and perique and enjoyed it. I added a light dusting of clove and a tiny bit of rum as well. It was interesting. I think perique would blend well with anything, if used in moderation (unless one is going for a perique-leaning blend, which is good, but sometimes it's best as an accent).

Experiment and let us know what you find. We may copy your methods quite readily.

[Visirale]

So that fact that I live in Florida and it is ridiculously humid all the time might have something to do with why I can't get my pipe to stay lit? Hmmm...

And Jeffrey, where can you buy straight cloves? Are they just the spices you buy in the grocery store? I'd like to experiment with making my own blends... haha, even though I know nothing as it is...

[Nate]

We should really split this thread. I have no interest whatsoever in tobacco (well, not NO interest... but very little), but I love discussing booze. It's tough to try to carry on two discussions in one thread. The two really aren't that related, I don't think.

[H.M. Murdock]

Originally Posted by Visirale

So that fact that I live in Florida and it is ridiculously humid all the time might have something to do with why I can't get my pipe to stay lit? Hmmm...

Yes. If their is water in the air, it's pretty simple to deduce that it would hamper your ability to keep something as finicky as a pipe lit. I get my best smokes in low pressure air movements, when it is cold and relatively dry. High pressure air is just disaster for a truly good bowl.


Haha. I typed "bowel" at first. *kicks dirt*

And Jeffrey, where can you buy straight cloves? Are they just the spices you buy in the grocery store? I'd like to experiment with making my own blends... haha, even though I know nothing as it is...

Yes and yes. Jeffrey will know about how to incorporate them, but the djarums that you've smoked were what is known as "kreteks," which is a cigarette containing tobacco and cloves (and, arguably, other flavorings).


On perique/whatever blends: My experience with perique is straight (yum) and blended with two stout varieties of Virginia a la pipesandcigars.com's brand that has a perique blend (Louisiana Red). General experience tends to say that a spicy tobacco is usually blended with other stout tobaccos, which is wasteful to me. Some people say that it creates some complexity, but to me it's just a blanket flavor that actually lacks complexity. It would make more sense to blend three types: a sweet and mild (burley, or maybe harken back to the old days of cigarettes with an Egyptian weed of some sort), a spicy (perique), and a very very small portion of something that is just dark and powerful (latakia? Virginia?). I am thinking two parts burley, one part perique, half part latakia/virginia. Or, failing a third tobacco, would cloves be an advisable substitute in great moderation? I've never smoked anything with cloves, you see.

[bread man]

Probably. I tried the Pure Blonde that you suggested. I liked it a little more than the Corona, a little less than the Crown, but still not enough to finish it.

All of my friends who have recently turned 18 all drink beer. I don't know if it's because the first time I ever had alcohol was on my 18th birthday and they have been drinking with their parents, or otherwise for a while. I don't know if that's the case or not, but it seems that everyone else I know had a much easier time getting into beer. A friend of mine who is a couple of years older said that he doesn't think beer will ever be my thing and I should just drink other stuff.

For some reason I really want to like beer, otherwise I wouldn't keep posting about it in here. My friend wants to go to a pub with me tonight, but I think I'll just stick with bourbon and coke.

[Role Modlin]

Originally Posted by bread man

Tui...I've never heard of it, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

I forgot to say before, but I stayed at my uncle's house last night after a concert and he had quite a few different drinks, so I tried some Bailey's. It was ridiculously nice.

Bailey's...mmm...mmm...good.

[Role Modlin]

Originally Posted by bread man

For some reason I really want to like beer, otherwise I wouldn't keep posting about it in here. My friend wants to go to a pub with me tonight, but I think I'll just stick with bourbon and coke.

I like amber beers. That's just me.

But...I think I'd pick bourbon and coke over any beer.

[FTS]

Originally Posted by Lee

But...I think I'd pick bourbon and coke over any beer.

Same here.

One of my friends just can't drink beer. He goes all red and gets nauseous. Spirits are fine though. Another of my friends hates beer (prefers spirits), but will drink it if there's nothing else.

Maybe you will never really like beer. Or maybe Guinness actually IS your beer.

[The wirerat]

I am possibly interested in starting cigar smoking. a couple of quesions:
1. Is cigar smoking as harmful than cigarettes
2. What is a good brand to start out with
3. What do I need to get started

[Role Modlin]

Originally Posted by The wirerat

I am possibly interested in starting cigar smoking. a couple of quesions:
1. Is cigar smoking as harmful than cigarettes
2. What is a good brand to start out with
3. What do I need to get started

1- It has harmful side effects. I don't think it's as bad as smoking cigarettes but it isn't completely safe either.

2- I like Romeo Y Julieta cigars.

3- Wood matches, a cigar guillotine/cutter, and a cigar.