Beginners Kit

Thinking about getting a Corn Cob Missouri Pride:
http://www.pipesandcigars.com/cocobmiprpib.html

50grams of MacBaren Vanilla Cream Flake:
http://www.pipesandcigars.com/mavacrflcut5.html

50grams of Solani X Sweet Mystery:
http://www.pipesandcigars.com/soxswmy50g.html

Really want to keep this all as cheap as possible for now but wondering if there is any other kit I NEED to have in order to enjoy my first few bowls.

Grab a pack of pipe cleaners, and either a Czech tool or a pipe nail to tamp with, and you'll be all set to go. Enjoy!

Commander Quan said:

Grab a pack of pipe cleaners, and either a Czech tool or a pipe nail to tamp with, and you'll be all set to go. Enjoy!

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I agree. I would also get a can of Prince Albert or a pouch of Carter Hall. Those cobs make OTC's.

Commander Quan said:

Grab a pack of pipe cleaners, and either a Czech tool or a pipe nail to tamp with, and you'll be all set to go. Enjoy!

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+1 both are necessary and inexpensive. A cob will clean pretty easily with just about any whiskey, rum or vodka you have laying about. Everclear is best, but not mandatory in a cob as they dry without swelling. If your not a drinker get an airplane sized bottle of 151 or Wild Turkey high octane stuff, should only set you back a couple of bucks and keep that cob clean a good while.

Savinelli University. Comes with a nice briar pipe, pipe tool and filters. I'd try the cobs out first, then move up to this if you like pipe smoking.

I wouldn't recommend a flake as a starter tobacco, and I wouldn't recommend tinned tobacco if you're trying to keep it inexpensive.

Get the cob
a pipe tool
some pipe cleaners
and something like this tobacco sampler pack which for the same price as your two tins will get you five different and very popular tobaccos to try, 2 oz each = 10 oz total.

By my calculation that's something like $33 for the entire kit, and you've got samples of all the major styles of tobaccos to try.

I agree that samplers are a great idea, but from my own experience, I only really started to enjoy pipes as much as I do when began to try flake tobaccos. There are many blends that I now enjoy, but flakes really opened the door for me.

mparker762's post does suggest a couple of good points. First in that flakes do require an extra effort to prepare. I would recommend that the novice rub them out fully. The MacBaren flakes do rub out really easily and are reasonably easy to lite and keep lit. I think they're a pretty good choice to start. Second it depends on what the OP is looking for. If the OP just wants an intro into pipe-smoking with minimal outlay mparker is spot on. If the OP is looking for a means of enjoying some of the best tobaccos in the world without spending hundreds of dollars on pipes and their assorted accoutrement like some of us (me) have, than stick with the top shelf tobac. From my point of view pipe smoking and wet shaving have a couple of things in common. An experienced wet shaver can get a decent shave out of just about any razor/blade/soap, and an experienced pipe guy can get just about any tobacco to burn well. There are good affordable options for both, but some of the cheaper tobaccos can bite and clump and make things difficult. P&C does offer some great tobaccos in bulk and sells them by the ounce so making up your own sampler is always an option. And Russ, their house blender, is a great guy who will help steer folks in the right direction in putting one together. Pipeworks and Wilke, and C&D are both great blenders who are happy to work with their customers to build samplers and are very accessible.

Good call on the Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe. I still have mine, out of posterity, even though it is all smoked out!

+1 on the MacBaren Vanilla Cream . . . I got the loose cut rather than flake. Very easy to handle, and burns slow and gentle. Great flavor and aroma both!

I've got to agree with James on the "top shelf" issue . . . Prince Albert is smoke-able, but as a relative novice (I recently came back to enjoying a daily pipe after 30 years of cigarettes) the "good stuff" is 100 times better! I found Davidoff Blue Mixture to be of the same flavor profile as PA, but a whole lot cooler and much more enjoyable!

I was frozen with analysis paralysis and never ended up placing my order with pipesandcigars. Kept reading tobaccoreviews and couldn't make up my mind

Anyway, I was in Walgreens the other day and found a nice Missouri Meerschaum corn cob pipe and a White pouch of Captain Black tobacco which promptly found it's way into my shopping cart.

I found the pipe to smoke very easily considering it was my first but did have a few problems with having to relight every 10 minutes or so. Nothing that some leasons in packing shouldn't take care of. No tounge bite that I could tell, overall it was pretty enjoyable.

I found the tobacco to smell delicious but the taste was very bland and chemical like even compared to cigarettes which I have been smoking for more years than I care to admit.

My next tobacco purchase will be a more highly regarded aromatic, I'm thinking butternut burley. I would also like to pick up a nice non-aromatic and was hoping for a good recommendation for a beginner pipe smoker who is used to smoking cigs.

If you are used to smoking cigarettes you may enjoy a tobacco that is a little more full those aromatics which tend to me mild in flavor and body. A light English like Frog Morton pay be what you are looking for.

I was a heavy cig smoker when I came to pipes and I would definately recommend flakes and other rich tobaccos. Many aroes will seem bland to you and may not satisfy if hit with a craving.

non aromatics I would recommend

C&D Old Joe Kranz
C&D burly flake #3
Peterson's Irish oak

English
Dunhill 965
Dunhill Nightcap

Aromatics
G&H Rum flake
G&H Chocolate flake

If you are not a moderate smoker(half a pack or more a day), some of these may seem pretty rich and the butternut burly, Frog Morton, and the MacBaren vanilla flake as well as their navy flake are all excellent tobaccos that I enjoy and recommend good burning and good flavor. But they may not help the cig smoker who's missing his fix, at least that was my experience. There are several great blends from Samual Gawith that I would like to recommend but supply has been hit or miss and I don't want to frustrate you with finding them.

A cob will cost you $7 to $10...spend another $5 to $10 and buy a real pipe....no I am not anti-cob...but to get the real enjoyment from smoking a pipe, get a briar...basket pipes can be great smokers...and you can get one, see if you like it...nothing smokes as well as a real briar pipe...I have always considered cobs a novilty

Thanks for the further suggestions gents.

Before I even read your replies yesterday I remembered that there was a cigar store down the street from where I work (Diplomat Cigar) that also carries pipe tobacco. They didn't have a ton of selection but I did fall in love with the description on the tin of Peterson's Deluxe Mixture (Honey, Vanilla and Walnut) and purchased it promptly. Fired it up as soon as I got home and was very impressed with it compared to the Captain Black. It actually tasted like tobacco with flavor instead of tobacco with chemical It was mild and enjoyable and even further encouraged me to look into something non-aromatic.

Good glad to see your finding things you like, that tobacco is on the mild side of medium, so you would probably be well satisfied with Frog Morton and the MacBaren selections. There are so many great things to try, enjoy the process!

Placed an order for some new tobacco last night.

Dunhill Deluxe Navy Rolls
Cornell & Diehl Habana Daydream
Scottys Butternut Burley



Now I need to look for a decent cheap briar

To keep costs at a bare minimum, you can always get estate pipes off the bay pretty cheap. Take a look at the GE sticky to see if the restoration clean up is something you want to get into, if it is than that is a good way to get good pipes for minimum outlay. If you have a good tobacconist nearby you can find some no name briar that are good smokers, but I would only buy those if you can check them in person. Some have massive fills, or poor drilling. Check the pipe carefully and see that it passes a cleaner and the hole is centered at the bottom of the bowl. If you want a new pipe and need to order online its hard to beat the Savinelli naturals available at Pipes and Cigars.com or the Irwin Ries branded pipes made by Benton.

gaj90027 said:

I would also like to pick up a nice non-aromatic and was hoping for a good recommendation for a beginner pipe smoker who is used to smoking cigs.

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I enjoy MacBaren Navy Flake. It takes a little practice to pack well in my opinion, but I absolutely love the stuff.