Welcome to B&B and the BL, Jeff!
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Brown Leaf Newbie Check-In & General Chat
- Thread starter Boro62
- Start date
Thanks!
Thanks! Glad to see you're getting the system installed, take that baddies.
Nothing quite like putting your laptop on a table only to watch in horror as it falls off. Looks like I'll be hunting down a new screen soon... and cursing myself for not taking the insurance option on it.
Just wanted to take a moment to introduce myself to you fine folks. My name is Zack and I have smoked a pipe on and off for the past couple of years. I've smoked cigars more frequently. My favorite cigar available in the states would probably be a Padron 1926 Maduro Churchill. A little bit more affordable would be Arturo Fuente Short Story and the Padron 2000 series. I am not that well-versed with pipe tobacco. I've only tried a handful of blends, mostly cavendish. I was partial to a cherry blend, but have been smoking an Oriental Cavendish from a local shop and now find the cherry a bit too sweet. Any suggestions for a good aromatic/cavendish. I don't think I'm ready for the hard stuff yet. I have some Peterson St. Patty's Day on the way along with a Savinelli Bing's Favorite. It's going to be a great St. Patty's Day this year! Thank you guys for reading and I look forward to participating in this forum!
Welcome zakatk,
You are in the right place to get help (read enabled) with pipe smoking. I am a big fan of Savinelli pipes and you will like the Bing's Favorite. Don't be afraid to try something new. I smoked a lot of pretty rank stuff before I branched out to some really excellent blends. If you like sweet, try any of the Frog Morton blends. A new favorite of mine is Rattray's 7 Reserve.
You are in the right place to get help (read enabled) with pipe smoking. I am a big fan of Savinelli pipes and you will like the Bing's Favorite. Don't be afraid to try something new. I smoked a lot of pretty rank stuff before I branched out to some really excellent blends. If you like sweet, try any of the Frog Morton blends. A new favorite of mine is Rattray's 7 Reserve.
Ouch. I always skip the insurance too, been pretty lucky so far. This stinkin S5 is expensive to replace though.....
Welcome Zack! Those are all great cigars, big fan of the Padrons too.
Pipes are a lot more work, but can be very rewarding. Stick with it!
Thanks for the recommendations and advice! I will definitely be trying many tobaccos in the near future! I just sent in my Savinelli Porto Cervo bowl that I picked up at a thrift shop for 99 cents to get a new band and stem. Can't wait to add it to my rotation. Any thoughts/advice on sanitizing the pipe at home?
Get a reamer, box of q-tips, a ton of pipe cleaners, bristle pipe cleaners and/or a shank brush, a bottle of Everclear or any alcohol with a high % of your choice, and some salt.
First, use the reamer to get all the cake out of the pipe. You can take it down to the wood, just be careful not to damage the briar wood.
Next, use the q-tips and dip them in the alcohol and just go to town on the inside of the bowl. Get as much gunk out as you can.
Do the same thing with the shank, incorporating the bristle cleaners or shank brush as well. Finish it off with pipe cleaners until there's no gunk left.
Then you're going to want to fill the bowl with coarse salt and carefully drip alcohol into the bowl and salt. This is called a Salt and Alcohol treatment. Make sure not to get alcohol on the outside of the pipe, because it will strip the stain off of the pipe. You can leave the pipe like this for a day or two, and it will strip all of the old nasty oils out of the bowl, so that it smokes nice and fresh. Depending on how nasty it is, you may want to do another S&A treatment.
I would not name sweet as the defining characteristic of the Frog series, but it's definitely a major component.
I agree. I was just trying to recommend something with a sweet component that wasn't saturated with goopy topping like OTC cherry cavendish. The Frogs were the first really excellent blends i tried. Bought the 5 tin sampler of each FM blend. Loved them all and still do.
Hirsute
Used to have fun with Commander Yellow Pantyhose
Check out the Gentlemans guide to the leaf sticky. Lots of helpful info there on cleaning and refurbishing pipes. And ask any questions along the way! My biggest advice is go slow and be gentle, but to not be afraid of ruining a pipe--if you take it easy and take your time, there's very little chance of that.
Sounds good. Thanks! I've heard the oxidizer (?) process is the only way to completely sanitize the pipe. I just don't know if I can wait that long to ship it off and get it back!
I am looking to branch off from the really sweet stuff and get into some more complex flavors. I just don't think I'm ready for the really dark stuff. Smelled some Latakia at the local shop and almost choked! P.S. I see you're from the greatest little state in the union! I was born in Newport.
Where'd you get the sampler? That sounds like my next tobacco purchase!
Here ya go....
http://www.pipesandcigars.com/samplers/77366/froggy-went-a-courtin-tin-sampler/
Hirsute
Used to have fun with Commander Yellow Pantyhose
Some folks swear by ozone cleaning, but I've never done that, and I've purchased and cleaned probably 60 estate pipes. I usually just ream, do as many salt/alcohol treatments as necessary to clean the bowl and shank, lots of ever clear on pipe cleaners to clean the inside of the stem, clean the rim of the bowl with spit and qtips, and either use the Walker Briar Works stem cleaner or wet sanding with micro mesh pads to clean the stem depending on how funky and oxidized it is. Polish the stem with either obsidian oil or walker briar works polishing wax, and polish the bowl with either walker briar works polishing wax (for smooth finishes) or Renaissance wax (for sandblasted or rusticated finished).
But that's my method. Everyone does it a little differently, and depends on how aggressive you want to get, whether you want to go cheap/low tech, buy tools, or pay someone to do it, and how grossed out you are by putting someone else's pipe in your mouth.
The Frog Morton series is a good entry to Latakia blends, providing some mostly natural sweetness (not like a lame heavily cased Aromatic where sprayed-on sugar is the main event on top of the cheapest Burley) to go along with the campfirey Latakia, but if Latakia seems that wrong for you then there's probably no need to mess with any Frogs.
Thanks again gentlemen for all the advice. I can't accurately describe how invaluable this site is to newbies like me. I appreciate all of your comments and look forward to sharing this hobby with you all.
Just to introduce myself, I have been smoking a pipe for some dozen years or a bit more. I have slowly built up my rotation to 15 pipes including a few meerschaums that I acquired overseas. Started by a gift from my wife of a nice briar, encouraged by a 3.5 lbs of gifted tobacco from my father in law, and hooked by inheriting about half my rotation from wife's grandfather and my great grandfather.
I recently finished refurbishing five of the inherited pipes with a 1930s Dunhill straight billiard and a 1930s St. Andrew's straight bulldog as my favorites. I have also been working on my techniques for waxing the meerschaums with beeswax, and my smooth briars with carnuba wax.
Now shifting into trying some new tobaccos, and expanding my perspective there rather than smoking just whatever was available or given to me. Also looking at estate pipes for some deals, and trying to find a nice Nording in the process.
Between fixing old trailers, old razors, making beer, the pipes, not sure I can handle any more hobbies.
Cheers,
Matt
I recently finished refurbishing five of the inherited pipes with a 1930s Dunhill straight billiard and a 1930s St. Andrew's straight bulldog as my favorites. I have also been working on my techniques for waxing the meerschaums with beeswax, and my smooth briars with carnuba wax.
Now shifting into trying some new tobaccos, and expanding my perspective there rather than smoking just whatever was available or given to me. Also looking at estate pipes for some deals, and trying to find a nice Nording in the process.
Between fixing old trailers, old razors, making beer, the pipes, not sure I can handle any more hobbies.
Cheers,
Matt
