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What Pipes or Pipe Tobacco did you smoke today? (2024-2025)

DaleB

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@DaleB that is some really nice looking flake! Is it all VA's or a blend?
If I recall correctly, it’s mostly VA with a small amount of Samsun thrown in there just for fun. It was very unscientific and I didn’t measure… I’d guess no more than 5-10 percent oriental. I misted the leaves with water and a smidge of molasses when stacking, I think. The next batch I press, I’m going to do pure VA with just distilled water to bring it into case, and another one misted with some Islay Scotch.

I just wrapped this stack in parchment paper and put it in a bench vise between two scrap pieces of particle board. Tightened the vise every couple days for 2-3 weeks.
 

Sid.Stavros

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Hello from Athens-Greece, sun with 62 'F here.

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G.L. Pease Abingdon.
 

Sid.Stavros

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'Dayyy from Athens-Greece, we have sun with few clouds and 45 'F here.

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The ''Hygienists'' in Winter - Part 3

I have analysed in previous posts the tricks that the ''Hygienists" play against us when there are 2-3 of them together, there are also some times when someone is alone. That moron he things that he can change the situation and apply his own rules, neither goes from the beginning and sits in the smoking area or comes later while there are already smokers sitting there. At first he starts to look at us askance, then he makes exclamations like Sighhh, then he starts to hit the pages of the newspaper or magazine (he supposed got angry). Other times he hits the cup on his coffee saucer or throws his cell phone with a bang on the table (he supposed can't stand it any more).
Of course we don't pay any attention to him and continue to smoke our cigar/pipe and this makes him furious. He expects for us to say "oh, sir excuse me, is my smoke bothering you? Is it making you fell uncomfortable? Oh i am so sorry. Do you want me to put it out? Do you want me to change position?" etc but because we don't say anything to him, embarrassed and defeated, that schmuck is forced to go indoors or leave the Café.
He lost and we won..AGAIN!
 
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Sid.Stavros

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Salutes from Athens-Greece, we have sun with few clouds and from time to time light rain with 45 'F.
Note: i forgot to mention in my previous post the 2 tricks that the ''Hygienists" use trying to intimidate us.
1) the pretend that they coughing (obviously fake) while they askance look to me
Answer: I peak a spot above their head and while have an ''ice cold'' look (i can do it easily, i served in the Army plus i am a Duty man) i keep smoking my pipe showing to him that i don't care.
2) sometimes they dare to provoke me ''hey, your smoke is bothering me".
Answer: ''here is the smokers area, you can move to the interior non-smoking area" or ''you cellphone is bothering me too, you speak in open hearing and you have it in loud when they call you, why you don't put it in vibration/silence mode?"
I both cases those scoundrels know that can not do anything more, even if they call the manager nothing will happen so they quit any further try because they know that they lost...AGAIN!

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Mac Baren Vanilla Cream Loose Cut.
 

DaleB

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Some of my first attempt at an English blend in the Everyman. This was the “Towers of Antioch” blend. Sort of. I used my home grown Samsun and un-sorted bright/red VA along with DAC, Latakia, and Lemon VA from WLT. I measured out 1 gram per part of each of the components, so ended up with about 16 grams total. Being a bit impatient, I tried it just a few hours after blending. It’s got some rough edges and seems a bit “bitey”, and I’m interested to see how some time to settle down and mellow will affect it. I also received the noodle press I ordered today, so I may compress it for a few days and jar it for a while. I may even mix up another 16 grams and combine it with this before pressing. I think it’s got potential.

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No woodworking tools were harmed in the blending or smoking of this tobacco.
 

DaleB

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Didn't get a picture, but last night and today I've been trying a variation of one of the Frog blends. About 2/3 Cavendish made from my 2023 VA leaves that has been sitting in a jar since then, and about 1/3 Perique. It's not bad, but a bit PQ heavy for my taste right now. After sampling it in my pipe, I tossed some of my pressed VA flake into the jar with he rest, gave it a spritz or two of bourbon to moisten it, and have it in the noodle press to see how that turns out. I figure it's now roughly 1/4 Perique instead of 1/3. I'll try that in a few days; until then I have the plug of English I took out of the press this morning after 3 days. It's solid as a block of wood right now, I'll crumble some off and try it later on.

But here's the weird part. I noticed this yesterday but didn't make the connection. When I smoke this new blend (the 2/3 Cav-1/3 PQ mix), I get incredibly hungry, even though I just ate lunch an hour or so ago. I'm not talking about a little hungry - I mean the ravenous, gnawing kind of hungry. Very odd, I don't recall ever having that kind of reaction to a pipe before.
 

DaleB

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Back to the Everyman. Today’s smoke is the same English variation on Towers of Antioch, but after three days in the noodle press and a day or so of rest in a jar. Wow, what a difference that made! The rough edges and bite are - gone. It’s smooth, creamy, smoky and delicious. I’ll smoke the rest of this over time and decide if I want to make any adjustments. I’ll almost certainly try it with Basma or Izmir in place of the Samsun, but this is about 85% of the way to where I want it already.

Bob, thanks so much for the recipe and the advice. I owe you.

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ProZachJ

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Post in thread 'ProZachJ's 2024 Grow Log' https://fairtradetobacco.com/threads/prozachjs-2024-grow-log.12249/post-223754

Tried it in my Celebimeerschaum. Tempted to call it "Apparition". The flavor was extremely mild, so mild that every time I thought I had a handle on a flavor, it would slip away. Some hints of bitterness, maybe a tad bit of cigarey aroma. Definitely my most successful home grown blend in that it didn't taste like any of the individual components but something all together different. About halfway into the pipe it started to maybe kick into a different gear but I couldn't stay outside in the cold any longer...too be continued.
 

ProZachJ

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It's too damn cold outside for a Texan. Don't risk your health and safety, wait for Sunday.
Extremely mild describes all my early, homegrown cigars.
Of course I did not wait. The second half of the bowl was a much better morning smoke than the first half was an evening smoke, thus the official name of this blend is "A.M. Apparition"
 

DaleB

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Last night I tried a bowl of my "second-ish" attempt at a VA/Per. See post #413 above. This one is roughly 50% Cavendish, 25% Perique, 25% my own VA leaf. I misted it with a little bourbon and had it in the noodle press for a couple days. Tried it last night and there were notable differences. The Perique is no longer totally in command, it's there but not overpowering. The first half of the bowl was "just OK"; quite forward tobacco taste, an occasional hint of - cigar? About halfway through it seemed to mellow out a bit but with still a pretty strong taste. I rubbed out the entire plug and will let it sit in a bag for a few days and see what happens. I'll take a different route with future blends, I think. I love Escudo and would love to make something similar. This stuff... I'm really just not a fan of the Cavendish I made and will keep looking for a way to use it. And I was mildly nut not ravenously hungry after smoking, so that's good.
 

DaleB

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Just a quick experiment today. I mixed up a little bit of 70% home grown pressed VA, and 30% Perique from WLT. I made a little 10 gram sample batch, just tossed it a baggie and mixed it up as best I could, and loaded a couple grams in a pipe. it’s not bad at all, but I can tell it would be a lot better after some better mixing and pressure. The bottom of the bowl is… not great. Not terrible, but the strength definitely kicked up a couple notches about halfway through. I’ll mix up a bit more and press it for a couple of days.

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