Kyle Weiss
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- Sep 18, 2011
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I'm in a type-y mood, so I'm going to try out a few random tobacco-related articles to summarize (maybe) more interesting parts of what is going on. Contribute how you wish, or just read and hopefully enjoy.
I also haven't been trying anything as of late. Life here is changing seasons, possibly changing my living situation since my great downstairs neighbor and friend is moving to Texas to take a teaching job, and upcoming work has been on my mind. I'm still financially trying to dig my (our) family way out of a few things, and so...this has affected my smokes.
Seasons are one thing, but life's dynamics have a serious affect on my attitudes, which in turn, be it chemistry or circumstance, leaves my tongue craving different things. Greg Pease did an article on Pipesmag last Fall about such things, but that time of year for me is a relaxing respite from being cooked alive in the Great Basin. Tobacco choices for me get naturally-richer, stronger in nicotine and more dynamic in flavor to compliment the crisper air, approaching holidays and tend to suit the pace of a sleepier season.
Lately I've been smoking two tobaccos almost exclusively.
While I always have a Latakia and some non-aromatic, non-Latakia in the mix, the Latakia has been Balkan Sasieni. I reviewed it a little while ago, and it continues to be a wonderful, easy balance that requires no fussing, no special pipe and can be smoked as easily as I would expect--but still satisfy that moment we all search. It isn't a special tobacco, it's just working. Not much is written about it, it's been around in some form or fashion for a long time, and the modern version has a lot to offer. As my blood warms up in the evening or morning sun, I see myself naturally toning down the Latakia even more, away from stronger stuff pre-Christmas like Star of the East, and progressing past B. Sasieni to Early Morning Pipe, which will likely be with me until next fall.
The other tobacco has been my early morning smoke sans the Latakia, Patton's "Oriental Dusk." It had a popular push some months ago courtesy DrumsAndBeer, Blackhorse, and a few others of note, and I ended up getting about eight ounces of it to get me past the "trying" stage. It's a remarkable mixture. It has just enough punch to wake someone up at 5AM to head out into the sagebrush-laden hills, and does well in every pipe I try it in, large, small, cob or briar. The flexibility aside, the flavor is in just-right proportions, and fits the "easy smoke" category so well, needing very little to make it, and in turn, me, very happy.
Never mind the fact I'm being unknowingly rebellious, smoking Early Morning Pipe at sundown and Oriental Dusk pre-dawn.
Weather warming up, I'm going out and...*cringe*...socializing a bit more. These pesky human urges don't escape me, nor does the need to have some kind of buffer between me and the masses of naked apes I feel the urge to contend with. During winter, it's a lot easier to avoid, get all hermit-like and shelter in place. One can have time for more complex relationships with more complex (and fussy) tobaccos. Springtime, however, there needs to be something everyone can enjoy, even those who cast "that look" at you when they see pipes, a lighter and start rehearsing the lines in their mind of how to tell me off for daring to smoke so near to them. Carter Hall to the rescue. It isn't a brilliant tobacco. It's a processed, very mildly sweet Burley that, I swear, was created purposefully not to offend smoker and non-smoker alike. It has pleasant memories of my Pipe Mentor of years gone by, and can be puffed on effortlessly during baseball games chattering away on the radio, left aside as the pages of a great book get intense, and stuffed into just about any pipe with ease and the simplicity required.
If last year was any indication, a few more will be added to the starting lineup (can you tell I'm eager for Opening Day baseball?) as the season goes from early spring to early summer, work is more a scheduled event than piecemeal, people go from frolicking in the flowers to accepting the weather is always warm...Embarcadero for weekends, Storm Front for breezy evenings, and maybe something new to try.
In my realm, the dynamics of people and their reactions to seasons (and the dynamics of the seasons themselves) require a little more focus so as not to "add more to the pile." Adaptation aside, there's some wonderful tobacco out there that suits the moment, sometimes needing to adjust your speed and not wanting distractions, and sometimes wondering what to do and muckin' about with more persnickety pipeweed or trying something new.
For now, though, there's the solid, the reliable, the consistent, there waiting to help one achieve the balance of their hobby or daily lives with the pipe. Especially now that I have a great collection of pipes that are just as forgiving and enjoyable. It makes the other minor troubles and irritations seem far, far away, or at least watching them from a simple vantage point and taking that necessary moment of pause.
8)
I also haven't been trying anything as of late. Life here is changing seasons, possibly changing my living situation since my great downstairs neighbor and friend is moving to Texas to take a teaching job, and upcoming work has been on my mind. I'm still financially trying to dig my (our) family way out of a few things, and so...this has affected my smokes.
Seasons are one thing, but life's dynamics have a serious affect on my attitudes, which in turn, be it chemistry or circumstance, leaves my tongue craving different things. Greg Pease did an article on Pipesmag last Fall about such things, but that time of year for me is a relaxing respite from being cooked alive in the Great Basin. Tobacco choices for me get naturally-richer, stronger in nicotine and more dynamic in flavor to compliment the crisper air, approaching holidays and tend to suit the pace of a sleepier season.
Lately I've been smoking two tobaccos almost exclusively.
While I always have a Latakia and some non-aromatic, non-Latakia in the mix, the Latakia has been Balkan Sasieni. I reviewed it a little while ago, and it continues to be a wonderful, easy balance that requires no fussing, no special pipe and can be smoked as easily as I would expect--but still satisfy that moment we all search. It isn't a special tobacco, it's just working. Not much is written about it, it's been around in some form or fashion for a long time, and the modern version has a lot to offer. As my blood warms up in the evening or morning sun, I see myself naturally toning down the Latakia even more, away from stronger stuff pre-Christmas like Star of the East, and progressing past B. Sasieni to Early Morning Pipe, which will likely be with me until next fall.
The other tobacco has been my early morning smoke sans the Latakia, Patton's "Oriental Dusk." It had a popular push some months ago courtesy DrumsAndBeer, Blackhorse, and a few others of note, and I ended up getting about eight ounces of it to get me past the "trying" stage. It's a remarkable mixture. It has just enough punch to wake someone up at 5AM to head out into the sagebrush-laden hills, and does well in every pipe I try it in, large, small, cob or briar. The flexibility aside, the flavor is in just-right proportions, and fits the "easy smoke" category so well, needing very little to make it, and in turn, me, very happy.
Never mind the fact I'm being unknowingly rebellious, smoking Early Morning Pipe at sundown and Oriental Dusk pre-dawn.
Weather warming up, I'm going out and...*cringe*...socializing a bit more. These pesky human urges don't escape me, nor does the need to have some kind of buffer between me and the masses of naked apes I feel the urge to contend with. During winter, it's a lot easier to avoid, get all hermit-like and shelter in place. One can have time for more complex relationships with more complex (and fussy) tobaccos. Springtime, however, there needs to be something everyone can enjoy, even those who cast "that look" at you when they see pipes, a lighter and start rehearsing the lines in their mind of how to tell me off for daring to smoke so near to them. Carter Hall to the rescue. It isn't a brilliant tobacco. It's a processed, very mildly sweet Burley that, I swear, was created purposefully not to offend smoker and non-smoker alike. It has pleasant memories of my Pipe Mentor of years gone by, and can be puffed on effortlessly during baseball games chattering away on the radio, left aside as the pages of a great book get intense, and stuffed into just about any pipe with ease and the simplicity required.
If last year was any indication, a few more will be added to the starting lineup (can you tell I'm eager for Opening Day baseball?) as the season goes from early spring to early summer, work is more a scheduled event than piecemeal, people go from frolicking in the flowers to accepting the weather is always warm...Embarcadero for weekends, Storm Front for breezy evenings, and maybe something new to try.
In my realm, the dynamics of people and their reactions to seasons (and the dynamics of the seasons themselves) require a little more focus so as not to "add more to the pile." Adaptation aside, there's some wonderful tobacco out there that suits the moment, sometimes needing to adjust your speed and not wanting distractions, and sometimes wondering what to do and muckin' about with more persnickety pipeweed or trying something new.
For now, though, there's the solid, the reliable, the consistent, there waiting to help one achieve the balance of their hobby or daily lives with the pipe. Especially now that I have a great collection of pipes that are just as forgiving and enjoyable. It makes the other minor troubles and irritations seem far, far away, or at least watching them from a simple vantage point and taking that necessary moment of pause.
8)
