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Good ones. I love BRM and have some No Bite Delite in my cupboard right now. Do you stick mainly to aromatics?
Thats all I smoke. I've never had a non aromatic so if you have any recs let me know
Oh, man...I've been smoking pipes on and off for almost 20 years but it's only in the last 2-3 years that I've made a real effort to expand my palate.
There's nothing wrong with sticking to aromatics if that's what you enjoy, but if you want to get into Virginias, then Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Twist Flake is the best place to start. It's considered a straight Virginia blend but it's got enough of a aromatic topping (kind of a caramel/butterscotch flavor) to ease you into it. If you want to go further from there, there's a whole world of straight Virginia tobaccos you can pursue, or you can easily transition to Virginia/Perique blends (aka VAPers) with Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake or Luxury Bullseye Flake. The perique adds a little peppery spiciness. LNF and LBF are both very highly rated, but of the two I like LBF better.
Then there are English blends (generally speaking, a mix of Virginias, Orientals, and latakia). If you're not familiar with latakia, picture inhaling a mouthful of campfire smoke...but in a good way. English blends can be separated into light or heavy depending on how much latakia is in them. For a light English blend, LJ Peretti's English 110 or JM Boswell's Northwoods. On the heavy end of the scale, Peterson's Nightcap or GL Pease's Quiet Nights. My personal favorite, and the blend that I've smoked more of than any other, is Peterson's Old Dublin which sits fairly squarely in the middle of the range.
The two other blends nearest and dearest to my heart, and which my descriptions will not do any justice to, are GL Pease's Embarcadero and MacBaren's HH Old Dark Fired.
Ok so as a long time smoker can you tell me how often I should be using pipe cleaners on my pipes/stems? Should I really be doing it after every smoke? I bought a pack of Zen pipe cleaners but they have some sort of sharp plastic/nylon/metal spikes and it hurts my fingers to use. I've also ordered a fairly expensive(for me) Meerschaum that is coming in the mail tomorrow and I have no idea if my current pipe cleaners are going to fuck it up. I would ask this stuff on reddit but fuck them and for some reason dam near everyone on the pipe specific forums I've been too seem idk almost pretentious and gatekeeping about tobacco types.
First off, that is a nice looking pipe. I have a couple of meers and I love them. I'm sure you know this already, but one of the great qualities of meerschaums is that they'll absorb the oils from the tobacco and smoke and develop a rich, unique patina over time...but keep in mind it takes a looong time for that to fully develop. Years, not weeks. New meerschaums come with a light coating of beeswax that will soften and soak into the meerschaum as you smoke it. It's supposed to help draw in the tobacco oils and give a head start on the patina development, but it will also pick up the oil/dirt from your fingertips and any ash that topples over the top of the bowl while you're smoking. It's up to you how precious you want to get about handling your pipes, but I'd recommend being very careful about only handling the pipe by the stem for the first 10-12 times you smoke it, until the wax is fully absorbed, so you don't leave any stray smudges or marks.
On the pipe cleaner front, there are two main types: regular soft bushy ones and bristled ones, which is what you've got. (On a personal note, I prefer BJ Long cleaners because, in my experience, they don't shed as much fluff as other brands I've tried). You should also have a Czech tool or pipe nail for tamping down the tobacco and scooping out the ash afterwards.
When I'm done smoking a pipe, I tap and scoop out all the ash and dottle and then put it back in the rack to cool off. You never want to separate the stem from the pipe to clean it out when it's still warm, it can cause it to warp or crack and you won't get a good fit afterwards. When I'm ready to smoke the pipe the next time, I run a regular bushy pipe cleaner through the stem and around the inside of the bowl to flush out any remaining ash or remnants before loading it up again. After 5-6 times smoking it, I will take the bristle pipe cleaners dip it very lightly in some Everclear or other high proof, neutral grain alcohol, and run that through the stem and shank of the pipe. The alcohol will loosen any tar buildup and the bristles will give it a deeper scrub clean than a regular pipe cleaner. Alternate with a dry regular bushy pipe cleaner to soak up the excess alcohol until the bristle one comes out clean. You don't want to let the alcohol get into the bowl of the pipe too much, because building up a slight layer of carbon char in the bowl (called 'cake') is an important part of breaking a pipe in so it smokes it's best...this is more of a briar thing, but it's true to an extent for meershaums, too. I use the bristle cleaners on my meers and it's never done them any harm.
Tbh, I don't really care how the pipe colors or if it ever colors at all. I actually really like them when they are pure white, so if the coloring comes in in weird patches from handling, it's not an issue for me.
I appreciate the advice.
I'm happy to share the advice, it's clearly a topic I have opinions about. Some people like to get real fiddly or dogmatic about some aspects (only smoking certain tobaccos in certain pipes, this blend has to be aged for at least x years before it's any good, blah blah) but outside of a few hard rules (do not remove the stem while the pipe is still hot is a big one) there really is no right or wrong way of doing it and most things come down to personal preference. Like any hobby, the most important thing is how much enjoyment you get out of it, and you'll figure out what works best for you as you go.