Bowl size; Aromatics vs Non-aromatics? Flakes vs other cuts?
- Thread starter EC Outlaw
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dshpipes
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As far as bowl size and shape go, I'll defer to Neil Archer of apassionforpipes.com. He practically wrote the online book.
Neil Archer Article
Greg Pease also wrote a great 2 part post on the subject:
Part 1
Part 2
Check out what those pros have to say and you'll be well on your way.
Neil Archer Article
Greg Pease also wrote a great 2 part post on the subject:
Part 1
Part 2
Check out what those pros have to say and you'll be well on your way.
Kyle Weiss
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Excellent, excellent articles!!! I love stuff like this. 8)UberHuberMan":angmwswr said:As far as bowl size and shape go, I'll defer to Neil Archer of apassionforpipes.com. He practically wrote the online book.
Neil Archer Article
Greg Pease also wrote a great 2 part post on the subject:
Part 1
Part 2
Check out what those pros have to say and you'll be well on your way.
Kyle Weiss
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- Sep 18, 2011
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This excerpt may or may not have anything to do with the discussion at hand, but I liked it and seems quite obvious:
Another conversation I had with the noted artisanal tobacco blender, Greg Pease, further strengthened my conclusion that tobacco flavor does not come from combustion, especially with respect to Virginias.
“The sugars that characterize Virginias - especially mature Red Virginias – must be solvated (dissolved) in water to reach the palate,” Greg declared. Finally I understood why Virginias that dry out are harsh and taste of burned sugar; there is not enough water present for the condensation zone to create an adequate steam component of the smoke stream in which the sugars will solvate. Greg further explained that because sugars burn at a higher temperature than tobacco, the elevated temperature can scorch the tongue and deprive the smoker of expected sweetness.
This might explain, as I'm evidently a very slow smoker with a preference for somewhat soft (as opposed to cracklin' dry) tobacco, I had such a good first experience with straight Virginias recently! It was one of Mr. Pease's, too. 8)
This also made sense:
If I had made a summary judgment about that pipe’s smoking quality - only smoking English blends - I would have pronounced the pipe a beautiful loser. I’ve made these summary judgments without exploration often in the past. When I do this, I’m not being fair to myself, the tobacco, or the pipe.
Similarly, I’ve tried new blends out in a favorite pipe and decided - after a bowl or two - that the tobacco isn’t a blend that I like. If I had filled another pipe, a pipe more amenable to the blend’s properties, I may have had a much better experience. This makes me wonder how many pipes and tobaccos have been slammed in reviews by pipe smokers who have jumped to conclusions. How many of those horrible reviews we have read on TobaccoReviews.com are artifacts of poor pipe-tobacco combinations?
I've found tobaccos I don't like as much are more appealing in a "narrow bore" tobacco chamber, wherein I have found when I dig something, a big-bore chamber enhances the flavor... did I do this consciously? No--just thinking in my head which pipes I reserve for which tobacco, and evidently, it worked! :lol: Thanks, subconscious!
Another conversation I had with the noted artisanal tobacco blender, Greg Pease, further strengthened my conclusion that tobacco flavor does not come from combustion, especially with respect to Virginias.
“The sugars that characterize Virginias - especially mature Red Virginias – must be solvated (dissolved) in water to reach the palate,” Greg declared. Finally I understood why Virginias that dry out are harsh and taste of burned sugar; there is not enough water present for the condensation zone to create an adequate steam component of the smoke stream in which the sugars will solvate. Greg further explained that because sugars burn at a higher temperature than tobacco, the elevated temperature can scorch the tongue and deprive the smoker of expected sweetness.
This might explain, as I'm evidently a very slow smoker with a preference for somewhat soft (as opposed to cracklin' dry) tobacco, I had such a good first experience with straight Virginias recently! It was one of Mr. Pease's, too. 8)
This also made sense:
If I had made a summary judgment about that pipe’s smoking quality - only smoking English blends - I would have pronounced the pipe a beautiful loser. I’ve made these summary judgments without exploration often in the past. When I do this, I’m not being fair to myself, the tobacco, or the pipe.
Similarly, I’ve tried new blends out in a favorite pipe and decided - after a bowl or two - that the tobacco isn’t a blend that I like. If I had filled another pipe, a pipe more amenable to the blend’s properties, I may have had a much better experience. This makes me wonder how many pipes and tobaccos have been slammed in reviews by pipe smokers who have jumped to conclusions. How many of those horrible reviews we have read on TobaccoReviews.com are artifacts of poor pipe-tobacco combinations?
I've found tobaccos I don't like as much are more appealing in a "narrow bore" tobacco chamber, wherein I have found when I dig something, a big-bore chamber enhances the flavor... did I do this consciously? No--just thinking in my head which pipes I reserve for which tobacco, and evidently, it worked! :lol: Thanks, subconscious!
Kyle Weiss
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...another cool bit (literally?) from GL Pease's http://glpease.com/BriarAndLeaf/?p=7 ...
Some pipes are sweet, some are earthy. Some have a bright taste, occasionally wandering into the territory of “sharpness,” while others are dark, sometimes to the point of being bland. Some have a tendency to add a nut-like taste to the smoke. Every pipe seems to color the flavor of the smoke in a somewhat different way. All of the myriad factors of wood and geometry come together when fire and leaf merge to produce a unique experience.
Wider bowls tend to provide more flavor intensity, with the wood playing somewhat less of a role in the smoke. This makes perfect sense, of course. There’s more tobacco smoldering, and the surface area of the ember increases with the square of the chamber’s radius, while the amount of briar in contact with the ember increases only linearly. Taller bowls result in an increase of the “filtering” action of the tobacco, softening the taste in the beginning of the bowl, and gradually building up greater and greater intensity as the tobacco is consumed. Tapered bowls exhibit somewhat less of this tendency, though if not packed very carefully, they can become so moist at the bottom as to be difficult to keep lit. Shallow bowls seem to hold a purity of the tobacco’s taste longer, if not as intensely.
There seem to be limits, though. A full flavored tobacco in a very tall bowl can build up too much intensity toward the end of the smoke, and can become tiring, or even acrid if everything isn’t just right. Too wide a bowl can yield too much of a tobacco’s nicotine content, if it is high to start with, especially to someone sensitive to its effects.
Lastly...
There’s a good reason Alfred Dunhill called it the “Gentle Art of Smoking,” rather than “The Hard Science.”
Some pipes are sweet, some are earthy. Some have a bright taste, occasionally wandering into the territory of “sharpness,” while others are dark, sometimes to the point of being bland. Some have a tendency to add a nut-like taste to the smoke. Every pipe seems to color the flavor of the smoke in a somewhat different way. All of the myriad factors of wood and geometry come together when fire and leaf merge to produce a unique experience.
Wider bowls tend to provide more flavor intensity, with the wood playing somewhat less of a role in the smoke. This makes perfect sense, of course. There’s more tobacco smoldering, and the surface area of the ember increases with the square of the chamber’s radius, while the amount of briar in contact with the ember increases only linearly. Taller bowls result in an increase of the “filtering” action of the tobacco, softening the taste in the beginning of the bowl, and gradually building up greater and greater intensity as the tobacco is consumed. Tapered bowls exhibit somewhat less of this tendency, though if not packed very carefully, they can become so moist at the bottom as to be difficult to keep lit. Shallow bowls seem to hold a purity of the tobacco’s taste longer, if not as intensely.
There seem to be limits, though. A full flavored tobacco in a very tall bowl can build up too much intensity toward the end of the smoke, and can become tiring, or even acrid if everything isn’t just right. Too wide a bowl can yield too much of a tobacco’s nicotine content, if it is high to start with, especially to someone sensitive to its effects.
Lastly...
There’s a good reason Alfred Dunhill called it the “Gentle Art of Smoking,” rather than “The Hard Science.”
