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On this page you will learn more about pipes and pipe tobacco, including:
• Different types of pipe tobacco
• Tobacco pipes
• How to properly load your pipe
• How to light your pipe
• How to clean your pipe
Choose from our wide selection brands including Dan Tobacco, Mac Baren. We carry over 90 blends in flavors like Amaretto, Very Cherry, Cavendish and Vanilla. Whether you are an experienced pipe smoker or just starting out come in today and let our knowledgeable staff help you with all of your pipe tobacco.
We also offer a variety of lighters, cutters, and ashtrays specifically designed for pipes.
The Different Varieties of Pipe Tobacco
Aromatic – During the manufacturing process, casings are added to the tobacco. A casing is flavor that is added to the tobacco. Some of the most common casings are chocolate, vanilla, cherry, rum, apple, liquor, etc. Depending on the amount of casing used, a blend in this category can also be deemed “semi-aromatic” or “lightly-aromatic.”
Non Aromatic – A mixture that relies solely on the natural ingredients of the tobacco to derive its flavors and aroma. In many cases, the tobacco is specially aged or fermented, which increases its sweetness.
English Blend – Up until 1986, additives were not allowed in tobaccos made in England. For this reason, those tobaccos were referred to as English blends even though non-aromatic tobaccos were manufactured all over the world. Today a true English blend is considered to be any blend containing Oriental tobaccos, most notably Latakia. The most common English blend consists of Latakia, Virginia, and Perique. Depending on how much Latakia is mixed into the blend ultimately determines the overall strength of the mixture, described as a mild-, medium-, or full-bodied English blend.
Tobacco Cuts
Flake Cut – Tobacco packaged as large, flat flakes. Must be rubbed out to separate the flakes.
Ready Rubbed – A flake-cut tobacco that has been rubbed out before packaging.
Ribbon Cut – Tobacco cut into long, thin ribbons.
Shag – Tobacco that has been shredded very finely.
Cake Or Plug – Cake tobacco is soaked in honey, which acts as a bonding agent as well as a sweetener. The tobacco is then molded by packing it into round molds before packaging. This process is sometimes referred to as “spun-disc” tobacco.
Blending Tobaccos
The following list of tobaccos is the main ingredients found in all blends of pipe tobacco.
Virginia – Red / black / dark / lemon / orange / orange-red. The mildest of all blending tobaccos. Virginia tobacco has the highest natural sugar content, and is used in virtually all blends as it is a good burner and lights easily. It imparts a light, sweet taste, which naturally increases when properly aged before blending.
Bright – A very light tobacco that is grown in the Carolinas. Very mild flavor.
Burley – A naturally thicker leaf than Virginia, Burley has a soft, nutty taste that never bites. It also burns very slowly and is used for slowing down the combustion rate for many blends.
Cavendish – Cavendish is a curing and cutting method. Often mistaken for a type of tobacco leaf. Cavendish is actually a type of manufacturing process. This special heating and curing process will bring out the naturally sweet flavor of Virginia tobacco. The process also creates a tobacco that is quite mild, very light in taste, and easy to pack.
Black Cavendish – The natural process of heating and curing Virginia tobacco to bring out the natural sweet flavor.
Navy Cavendish – Aged naturally with dark Jamaican rum.
“Taste” Tobaccos
Think of these blends as adding salt and pepper to a meal. Most of these tobaccos are added sparingly to the mixture to create some unique flavors and aromas. Many of these tobaccos have very dominant flavors so only a small amount is required to taste the full effect of the leaf.
Perique – Grown in Louisiana, Perique is a very dark tobacco that is renowned for its very spicy flavor.
Brazil – A very dark tobacco that has a robust, sweet flavor.
Latakia – Grown in Syria, Latakia is a very full-bodied dark tobacco that gives off a smoky aroma that is similar to burning leaves. Latakia is a very overpowering tobacco that is primarily used in English blends.
Oriental – A generalized grouping of tobaccos including Latakia that is known for its unique “spice” flavors. The tobaccos in this category are grown in Western Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Macedonia, and Syria. Many times a mixture will include Macedonia as one of the ingredients. The different types of tobacco leaf grown in Macedonia are as follows … Xanthi, Komotini, Drama, Serrus, Samsun and Izmir.
Tobacco Pipes
For hundreds of years the pipe has been a symbol of relaxation and of simpler times in many cultures. Here at Cigar Club we carry on that tradition with our large assortment of quality brand name pipes & accessories in all of the most popular styles and shapes, and as always if we don't have it in stock we will special order it for you.
Just about everyone who has smoked a pipe for any length of time has found a pipe/tobacco combination that really works incredibly well together. Likewise, most of us have found a pairing that makes us want to throw both the pipe and the blend in the trash. What causes these occurrences and how can one predict what will work or not?
To look at this further, let’s just assume one principle as fact: wider, or more open chambers allow for smoke that has fuller flavor and that narrower chambers have a thinner taste. This is likely, to some degree, to be due to the open chamber just simply producing more smoke because more lit tobacco is exposed to the air.
How to Load Your Pipe
Although different types of tobacco are packed slightly differently, the general rule to packing a pipe is to do so in three stages.
1. Fill the bowl to the top and then press down on the tobacco lightly.
2. Fill the bowl again and press down on the tobacco more firmly.
3. Then fill the bowl once again to the top and then press down on the tobacco very hard.
After the third fill and the father’s touch, the tobacco in the bowl should be springy.
How to Light Your Pipe
Although different types of tobacco are packed slightly differently, the general rule to packing a pipe is to do so in three stages.
1. Fill the bowl to the top and then press down on the tobacco lightly.
2. Fill the bowl again and press down on the tobacco more firmly.
3. Then fill the bowl once again to the top and then press down on the tobacco very hard.
After the third fill and the father’s touch, the tobacco in the bowl should be springy.
How to Clean Your Pipe
Like loading your pipe, you should light your pipe in three stages. The first two lights, called “charring lights” or “false lights,” play an important role in how well your tobacco will burn and stay lit on your third light.
Use either a match or a butane lighter but do not use a torch lighter because it will scorch your bowl and rim quite quickly and ruin your pipe. If you are using a match, let the sulfur burn off the match tip before lighting to prevent a sulfuric taste.
Basically it all comes down to personal preference as there are arguments both for and against using matches, torches or lighters.
1. Take your flame and pass it very slowly and evenly over the top of the tobacco while puffing on your pipe. Once the top layer of tobacco is charred and has risen to the top of the bowl, stop and let the smoldering tobacco go out, then take your pipe tamper and tamp down the tobacco that has charred and risen.
2. Repeat this process one more time until there is a layer of charred tobacco completely covering the top of the bowl.
3. You are now ready for the third, and hopefully final, light. Slowly pass your match or lighter in a circular motion across the entire surface of the tobacco while gently puffing on your pipe. Once all of the tobacco on the top layer is again burning, set your match or lighter down, keep your tamper handy, sit back, relax and enjoy.