Pairing pipes and tobaccos

I have read a couple of times that certain pipe tobaccos work better in certain types of bowl. As a noob with limited experiences of both different pipes and different tobaccos, I’m still figuring out what works best and why. I thought it might be useful for me and other noobs to have a thread where our more experienced members can advise which bowls they find best for their flakes, aros, English ribbons, VaPers, twist, and shags. Wide and shallow for flakes and twists? Narrow and deep for shags and VaPers?

My only preference is smaller bowls for flakes. In all my years of smoking I’ve come to the conclusion that any weed can work in any pipe. With the caveat that sometimes a single pipe, for no apparent reason makes a particular blend shine. It’s nothing you can plan, it’s just something you use and enjoy when it happens.

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I don’t tend to dedicate pipes. Sometimes it takes a long time to discover what any given pipe plays best with. After years I have only singled out one particular pipe as having such a personality. An old estate Grabow pipe that likes burley blends and aromatics. There’s a Peretti pipe that’s showing some signs of preferring Virginias, but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten.

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I’ve been smoking pipes for about 16 years or so. I don’t dedicate a pipe to one blend for the most part. I don’t know about other people, but this is what I generally pair up: Twists go in smaller bowls Virginia blends and flakes go in narrow bowls Latakia blends go in wider shorter bowls Burley blends go in my cobs. Sometimes a certain blend goes in a certain pipe better for no rhyme or reason. I do have one pipe I only smoke two specific blends in that contain deer tounge. If I smoke anything else in them, they taste like crap due to ghosting by the deer tongue.

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I have  dedicated pipes to genres. A few for Latakia , 2 briar and cobs for Aromatics, everything else for , well, everything else.  I primarily smoke VA/VAPER/VABUR blends and tend to rub out flakes. I like U shaped bowls for Lat, conical cut for VAs. Most of my VA pipes are Dublins or Billiards, or variations thereof. 

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I have two pipes that are dedicated to a particular blend, other than that it’s pretty much anything goes depending on mood.

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I like a tall, narrow bowl for Virginias and wider and shallower the more components there are in the blend. I’m told the right briar/blend combo really sings, though I find everything smokes well in cob. I have a small-bowled Grabow billiard that often gets my evening Brown Irish, but mostly it’s mix-n-match cobs. A couple cobs see all my scented Lakelands and one gets the rare American aromatic. That’s to prevent ghosting, not due to chamber geometry.

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It’s all to personal preference, as far as I can tell.

It’s blocked at work, but search “Finding That Magic Fit Between Pipe and Tobacco”, and amongst the tons of links to forum discussions, there is a link to the Blog “A Passion for Pipes”.  It’s an interesting discussion on the topic, but gets into bowl shapes, and (potential) influences on smoke and flavors.

I’ve heard long time smokers say the exact opposite things about a shape and tobacco pairing, with equal zeal.  Shape influences flavor, but so does the cut, moisture content, packing, cadence, etc., etc., etc.

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Good stuff from @Direwolf. Another big factor that people like to avoid since they believe there’s some scientific method to all this is mood and mouth preparedness. There are occasions when my favorite tobaccos taste “off.”  I’m almost sure that’s attributable to these 2 factors. “What’s the last thing you ate/drank?” “What’s the ambient setting?”

Bottom line is folks would like to boil pipe smoking down to measurables, and it’s just danged hard to do that.

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Excellent posts here guys. Thanks for the input

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@Direwolf Unfortunately that blog is no more. I ran it through a search engine, and according to a number of pipe forums, the owner decided to pull the plug on it

No worries.

While interesting, it provided minimal answers to your question.

Experiment, and keep what works.  That’s the most definitive answer I’ve come across.

Sounds like a good plan to me :smiley: For what it’s worth, here’s my findings so far. Bear in mind I’m still a noob and haven’t tried many things. MM Country Gentleman Cob - Great with Commonwealth Mixture and superb with Squadron Leader. Shag burns too hot. Flake doesn’t burn evenly MM Washington Cob - Reserved for Ennerdale Flake and sweet twist, not smoked anything else in it. Can burn hot, even with cube cut flake. MM Ozark Cherrywood Bent - works well with everything I’ve tried. This is my “Old Faithful” MM Mizzou Bent - works well with everything, particularly dark shag tobaccos firmly packed MM Mini Legend - Shag tobacco, or a slice of pigtail with a shag topping. A very small pipe indeed. Mini Wellbent (Offbrand) - Pigtail or Squadron Leader. Shag burns hot, and the pipe can smoke wet. Molina Hobby 9mm - Cube cut 1792 or Commonwealth Mixture. Both burn well, and the filter tones it down a little without making it pointless. Cheapo offbrand churchwarden: Squadron Leader or Commonwealth Mixture. Flake is futile, shag burns too hot. That’s my entire array :"> I’ll get myself a nice mid range briar at some point, but these will do nicely till then

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I’m a big MM fan; I must have two dozen in regular use, mostly Legends. All those cobs are great smokers. I have a couple of the Ozark “Cherry” bents. They smoke well, especially after the bottom of the bowl cakes up. They are about $4 here, so I wouldn’t care if I damaged one. I give them a beating and they stand up to it, though. When I thought I was moving up, I bought a basket briar for about $30. I hated it. I have a couple other basket briars that are a little better, but the only briars I use regularly are a Kaywoodie and three Dr. Grabows. That first briar that I thought was going to open up a world of new tobacco experiences sits on a shelf, having gurgled through fewer than 20 bowls in half as many years. I think the wide open draught of the cobs is very forgiving of technique, therefore more likely to deliver a good experience to someone new. They are easier to keep lit without puffing until one has a gurgling blowtorch in one’s mouth. That said, it can be quite satisfying for me when I smoke a bowl perfectly in a briar. It was a long time before I could do that consistently. I’m glad I learned good technique when tobacco was cheaper!

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MM are excellent, and I’d certainly like a few more when the income recovers. I’d still like a nice briar though. The styles that appeal to me are volcano/table pipe, horn, and curved dublin. I expect I’ll get one of each eventually.

Some folks are turned off by MM’s fit and finish. They aren’t always pretty and sometimes need a little work with a craft knife at the shank/bowl junction or in the bowl proper. Really, though, a Legend is under $5, Washington and Country Gentlemen are under $10, and they are made out of organic materials. I never had one that didn’t smoke well. I have heard plenty of folks complaining about rather expensive pipes that just don’t smoke well. So, I don’t mind a rough-looking, good-smoking cob at five bucks. I would be downright unhappy to have shelled out hundreds for a beautiful Dunghill that smoked hot and wet. I would understand that the variable nature of briar burls is not 100% apparent visually. Even an expert will pick a block that’s a dud once in a while. I’d still be unhappy as a consumer. Maybe that’s why I’m loyal to MM.

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I just wasn’t prepared to spend good money on a pipe I might ruin as I was learning the art. Since then my income got hit, so buying new pipes isn’t an option anyway. As to performance, I can’t fault the MM offerings in any way. They have served me well, even if I haven’t necessarily been as kind to them :wink: Now that I’m getting the hang of it, I’d like a nice pipe or two to take out and about with me (I’ve only really smoked a pipe at home so far), but I’ll certainly continue to smoke the MMs at home, even when I do finally add a nice pipe to the array. I suppose the MMs are like a comfy pair of slippers to me, and are great for relaxing at home, I just want something a little dressier for elsewhere when funds permit - even if it isn’t as “comfy” as the MMs

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I love my cobs. They smoke great. And if you lose them oh well, get another one for 5-10 dollars. Luckily I’ve only had 2 pipes not smoke well. That was when I first started and bought cheap pipes not knowing what to look for in a pipe and sub $30 pipes.

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I suppose one of the purposes of this thread, was to help shorten the learning curve when I do “upgrade”. I don’t want a vast array of expensive pipes, and would rather avoid having to buy half a dozen “proper” pipes before finding one that both fits in terms of style and performance. It seems the overwhelming feeling here is that you won’t know until you try it, and it depends on your technique. In which case I think it’s a case of pick a bowl size that isn’t too large on diameter, and just go for it. If I can find a nice table pipe/stable sitter, and a nice horn/zulu/curved dublin that appeals to my tastes, I’ll be happy. It’s all academic at the moment anyway, until the financial side changes :stuck_out_tongue:

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I understand the con$traints. I would probably have some bulldogs, Rhodesians, princes, Lovats, and Dublins if my financial situation were different. My social activity is limited, but I bring one of three decent looking briars if I’m out in a situation where I’m more formally dressed. If I’m just out and about, I don’t care what I look like with a blackened cob in my gob. I’ve been told that Peterson, Stanwell, and Savinelli are the brands that won’t disappoint at the entry level. I’ve also heard Peterson’s quality control has slipped in recent years, too.