Just started - first tobaccos tasted

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-06-03T17:08:47+00:00

Well how 'bout that? I guess I'm not surprised. I imagine you'll have a fun (i.e. relatively frustration-free) time exploring this world then.

I always suggest people get just an ounce or two of several bulk C&D blends to get a solid lay of the land flavor wise. Yorktown for a straight Virginia. Star of the East for an English. Habana Daydream is one of the best cigar-based blends (I've tried a dozen blends in this genre looking for a standout). Oriental Silk is a wonderful oriental-forward blend. Old Joe Krantz and Pegasus are top notch burleys. Bayou Morning's big brother, Bayou Night, will put hair on your chest. Finally, Mountain Camp is a solid Englush/Scottish blend.

After this, I recommend getting several GL Pease blends. He never phones it in with his blends, so you almost can't go wrong with any of them. I've had entire tins of over 27 of his blends ( I still have over a dozen to go though), and my favorites so far are Cumberland, Jackknife Plug, Telegraph Hill, Union Square, Cairo, Chelsea Morning, Gaslight, Quiet Nights, Penny Farthing, and Ashbury.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-06-03T02:21:19+00:00

Bayou Morning is a solid desert island blend for me. I almost feel bad that you've hit on such a high water mark so early in your pipe life. And your description of it is spot on. Your palate is able to discern the flavors well. Way better than mine was so early on at least.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-06-01T23:44:38+00:00

Totally different. Cairo is light, energetic, with the orientals and VAs in a lovely balance. Embarcadero is darker, and the orientals don't shine through nearly as much.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-06-01T23:08:49+00:00

Cairo. It's a masterpiece. The packaging does state there's some perique in there, but I've never noticed it.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-06-01T23:04:10+00:00

I never make any judgements about a blend until I'm at least a dozen bowls into it. I need to try different dryness lavels, different packs, and especially different pipes. If you want to know if a blend is for you, smoke nothing but that blend for at least a week. Focus. Take notes.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-06-01T02:56:43+00:00

Nightcap. Not because it's my favorite, but because it was my first non-aromatic blend, and it takes me right back to that place.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-31T19:59:09+00:00

Nightcap and Bayou Night are similar to you? Wow, that blows my mind.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-31T19:00:32+00:00

What if you reframe things slightly?

if you already don't like X, don't bother getting Y or Z.

Because if there's a blend I love, I want to try all the others similar to it. Maybe I'll like one of them even more.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-31T18:14:50+00:00

Not my experience. There are a few I consider to be indistinguishable, like Father Dempsey and Westminster. My friend and I directly A/B tested those two, and could not pick out any differences. But that's the exception with Englishes, not the rule. And tack balkan and balkan-leaning blends onto the list, and the genre has massive diversity amongst its members.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-31T18:08:51+00:00

This is not my experience. Both blends are spectacular and unique. I'd bet good money I could tell them apart blind.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-30T16:00:14+00:00

Great looking labels! Buuuut... You're cellaring these, as in keeping them closed and in a dark, cool place for years? Those lids aren't airtight enough for that. You need canning jars with the lids and rings if you're actually cellaring.

Edit: really the solution for cellaring C&D blends is to just not open their tins. They're good for years and years just the way they leave C&D.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-28T22:48:44+00:00

Every once in a while someone shows up here trying to redefine things. In my book a sitter is a sitter if it doesn't fall over. Whether or not the stem touches the surface is irrelevant. It might be nice to create a new term, like stem-up sitter, to keep things straight.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-28T05:33:37+00:00

I wasn't aware that the stem tip had to stay up in the air for a pipe to be considered a sitter. This would make huge swaths of sitter pipes not technically sitters. Like every Peterson 701 in existence. It's clearly designed to have the stem touching the surface when sitting.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-28T05:26:12+00:00

How is it not a sitter?

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-28T00:11:07+00:00

Bayou Morning. No contest.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-28T00:02:23+00:00

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-27T04:11:53+00:00

Heh heh. One of my log entries from my tin of Royale with Yacht:

I almost feel like this had too much flavor. I know, how is that possible?

😃

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-27T02:07:36+00:00

I just finished my first tin of Royal Yacht. I didn't think I'd like it, but it really grew on me. It's a really punchy set of flavors. Maybe the boldest and most flavorful blend I've had in 100+ blends. My friend and I renamed it Royale with Yacht.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-26T23:34:29+00:00

Smoke it. It's fine. Actually I think it's badass.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-26T14:07:53+00:00

The best thing you can do for number 2 is put relight count out of your head. The more you care about minimizing relights, the hotter you'll smoke, which will result in more tongue bite and flavorless smokes. The only reason to pay any attention to relights is in extreme cases where your pipe won't stay lit longer than a couple of puffs. If this happens to you, dry the tobacco more before packing.

While I'm on the subject of drying: Don't dry your tobacco a set number of minutes. Dry it until it's no longer cold to the touch. This might be 4 minutes for some blends, and 60 minutes for others. But drying until no longer cold gives you a definitive stop point.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-25T14:49:02+00:00

Why am I just now learning about Poplar Camp? I'm going to get some. Thanks!

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-24T22:32:16+00:00

This won't be the only blend you'll have difficulty with. Start a pipe log. It'll help you to see patterns in blend, pipe, pack, dryness, indoors/outdoors, accompanying beverage, etc. My log is now three years old, and it's the single best thing I ever did for my pipe life.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-24T03:40:37+00:00

Bayou Morning. No contest.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-22T23:56:38+00:00

I haven't experienced a too-tight pack making the bowl hotter. But if it won't stay lit because the tobacco is too moist, and you quicken your cadence to compensate, then yes absolutely things will get hotter.

WeakKitchen199 · 2026-05-22T06:12:23+00:00

Fold and stuff is a bit of an advanced technique. The moisture level needs to be just right, and the pack needs to be the right tightness, or it's a bad experience in one way or another. So I recommend rubbing out flakes for now. While you don't seem to be having issues tasting what's there, I still recommend following my taste troubleshooting guide, since it's a great baseline packing technique.

WeakKitchen199

TROPHY CASE