Greetings! I have been smoking a pipe for ten years now (from the day I turned 18) it has been on again and off again for the most part, but I have never been able to leave it. I enjoy the contemplative aspect. I love the fact that it takes an hour to smoke a bowl of good tobacco. The flavors and the dreams, and the conversations that flow out of time spent over a pipe. I love warm days in the sun smoking a pipe and tasting the mellow Virginias and burleys. I love the cool after after dinner nights when I have to walk to stay warm while I enjoy a nice bowl of a Latakia blend. Aromatics, English, Naturals, anything goes. I have even been known to go after a number of drug store blends and not complain.
Recently my life has turned towards the pipe in a deeper and more meaningful way. After viewing a number of videos on the YouTube machine I have found that there is a whole new world pipe smoking that I had missed. I had always known it was there, but have felt it was inaccessible to the uninitiated. Some of the channels I have benefited most from have been:
There are a number of other great channels. Then I stumbled upon a great pipe blog called The Briar Files and have really appreciated Alan's style as well as his informed view on Pipes and smoking. Alan has a deep and abiding love of Perique which I have little experience with. I'm looking forward to catching up and trying some Perique blends but this will have to be a bit further up the road.
The real revelation coming from this great dearth of information that the internets have provided me has been on the issue of technique. The videos I took in taught me a great deal about tasting the smoke and some keener insights on how to enjoy pipes and pipe tobaccos. Having delved a little deeper I find there is no one in my immediate circle who isn't incredibly sick of hearing me drone on and on about what I am learning regarding these subjects. So an outlet it must be, and that outlet is a little blog hidden in cyber-space where I can post my semi-informed reviews and experiences. Vive la pipe!
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