Newbie to the pipe and the board with a few questions:D

[aingeil]

Hey all what's up, just started smoking pipes about a week ago to try and quit my cigarette addiction and am LOVING almost every minute of it so far. After starting out with a strong aromatic blend called "Carib" from the local smoke shop I'm still recovering form the tongue bite a week later heh Soon after though I replaced it with some captain black white which has been treating me kind so far, though definitely not as flavorful. Anyways on to a few questions hopfully someone can help me with

1: While I am still just learning how to pack my pipes properly, I have found lots of guides on how to properly pack a full bowl, but can anyone give some tips on how to properly pack a half bowl for those times when you only want half a bowl or so?

2: Just how slow IS slow when it comes to smoking a pipe. It seems no matter what I do I'm cursed with CONSTANT relighting. Either I can keep it burning and I get really bad tongue bite, or I get 2 or 3 puffs and it goes out constantly. I've tried packing loser and tighter and noticing like no difference whatsoever. And I realize relights aren't anything to worry about, but when it's every 2 or 3 puffs? I've tried tamping lots and not much at all, drying out the tobacco and so far nothing seems to have made a difference

3: How profound should the taste be when smoking aromatics particularly? I noticed VERY rarely when I was smoking the Carib I'd get a very strong and nice sweet taste when doing the false light but it seems the only time I can experience it since about 4 puffs after the false light the tongue bite sets in (even when smoking extremely slow), As for the captain black, it smokes much cooler and hardly to no tongue bite whatsoever, yet I also notice hardly any taste whatsoever other then just smoke.

4: When sipping a puff should you be able to feel the smoke at all? (like when smoking a cigarette/cigar the smoke is warm enough you feel it> or should it be close to/completely unnoticeable?

5: Does anyone know any website/companies based in Canada you can order tobacco from? My local tobacconist seems quite expensive (bulk 50 gram bag is $22, even the pouch of captain black was $21). I have found some in the USA that ship to Canada but the duty and taxes from customs is ridiculous (almost $100 in taxes on a $20 1 pound order of tobacco if tax calculator I found is correct)

6: Can anyone recommend any good aromatic tobaccos for starting out? I got the captain black white off recommendations I've read on the web so far, and am currently trying hard to track down some Lane 1Q but no where here seems to sell it Only local bulk mixes and imported tins/pouches you'd find in most drug stores.

7: Ever since I started smoking pipe I've noticed my tongue/mouth almost feels like it's coated in a thin layer of silk, is this just the effects of the tongue bite still? (it was pretty bad as I was determined to find the flavour the first 2 days lol) or is it a normal effect of smoking pipe, I've also noticed almost a constant sweet taste in mouth after the 3rd day or so which I AM enjoying but am curious if that is normal or not?

8: I noticed on these boards links for the Altadis sampler packs but they don't ship to Canada, so does anyone know of any Canadian companies/sites that offer samplers? I asked at the local tobacco shop but no one there seems to smoke pipe at all, and they don't offer samples of their mixes and I don't want to be spending $20+ for 50 grams of something I may end up not liking at all.

Sorry for the flood of questions but you all seem really knowledgeable and nice so hopfully someone out there with have some answers As for pipes, so far I've got an old seconds estate pipe, some cheap "chateu Italy" one which was $45 from the discount box at tobacconist, a cob I finally found for $10 locally at a small corner store but they only had 2 left. And recently won a Peterson Churchwarden off ebay for $30 which I absolutely love and can't wait for it to arrive.

1 thing I will point out is when smoking the cob I originally took the filter out (and do when packing it so I can get proper air flow to test the resistance) and noticed was getting some pretty bad tongue bite, after putting the filter back in I've noticed considerable less biting but a severe loss in taste as well I thought I would add this in in case it can help answer any of my earlier questions.

Anyways I look forward to getting to know you all better on these boards and hopfully many years enjoyment from the pipes. With all the problems I've had so far I STILL find it extremely pleasurable and am just so anxious to start getting it right and really enjoy it fully I do tend to notice though I spend too much time worrying about smoking right then I do on just enjoying it, though I've been working on that too heh.

 

[IgwanaRob]

When I started, I tried to follow what people were saying about packing and figured out one thing for sure - you have to figure out what works best for you. From packing, to keeping it lit - once you get into your own grove you can see what other's are saying, and that most of it won't make a difference since you're smoking style will most likely be different. Different types of tobacco smoke differently - and even the same baccy will smoke differently in different pipes. Just keep trying things until you find something that works, then try it with other brands/pipes/etc.

Aside from that - if the smoke is too moist to begin with (most aromatics are very moist), it will be harder to keep lit, and you will risk that sever tongue bite if you try smoking like a chimney to keep it lit.

Oh yeah - from what I've seen, aromatics seem to be a little less flavorful than most premium tobacco. I think of them as more of a crowd pleaser than something to relax with, but that just MHO.

 

[aingeil]

Thanks for the input At first I was just so frustrated it seemed absolutely nothing I could do was making any improvement whatsoever on my smoking. I've been experimenting a little more recently and am starting to find my own "groove". Seems a lot of my problem was really just smoking too slow so it would constantly be going out, then on the relight would bite my tongue like mad. After just getting fed up and not caring I managed to find a pretty decent method that's working so far and the tongue is thanking me

I am slowly learning what you mean by the aromatics not being very flavorful, Then I was lucky enough to get my hands on some Peter Stokkebye Vanilla Black Cavendish. While it is entirely too sweet to smoke all day long, it had that exact strong aromatic flavour/taste I was looking for. And surprisingly, for a wet Cavendish it smokes incredibly cool. I literally almost had to try in order to get any bite from it at all. So at least now I have a baseline to go by in terms of other tobaccos to try.

I'm still trying to find a good Canadian based supplier for my tobacco if anyone out there knows of any. I just hate the thought of spending $20+ every time to buy tobacco while still exploring different tobacco's. And I've come to the realization that a lot of the online reviews can't be something to go by entirely. Almost every review about this Cavendish said it was extremely weak flavour, though for me was the complete opposite. Was all the strong flavour ones that I tend to find extremely feint in flavour.

I also managed to get myself a beautiful unsmoked Peterson rustic churchwarden off ebay which seems to smoke 200x better then my current other 3 pipes (I picked up a cheap cob as well, which wasn't the best experience heh). Though I am very slowly taking my time to break it in because I don't want to ruin the briar or anything on such a beautiful pipe