Perhaps the doctor ordered you to give up cigarettes .......and everybody knows you don't inhale pipe and cigar smoke ...............or perhaps you are attracted by the pipe as an object …Well before you start, here is something you should know and that may shock you:
MILLIONS OF POOR PIPES LIE ABANDONED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DRAWERS OF PEOPLE WHO GAVE UP AT THE FIRST DIFFICULTY.
Smoking a pipe is not really difficult, but there are a lot of little secrets you need to know, and we have explained them all here, so you can get past the critical starting period and learn to appreciate the real pleasure of pipe smoking.
Let's start with what isn't true!
A) If your pipe goes out, just light up again – there is nothing to be ashamed of. The pleasure of pipe smoking is in the ritual, that goes from buying the tobacco to preparing the pipe and smoking it: there are no records to be broken.
B) The pipes on the market are ready to be smoked. No manufacturer puts pipes on the market that have to be prepared for breaking in by moistening the bowl, sanding it or soaking it with alcohol, etc., which would jeopardize the flavor and breaking in of the pipe.
Now that you have bought your PRIMA pipe we will take you step by step to its enjoyment. Now is the time to …
1) SELECT THE TOBACCO
Tobacco is the fuel for the pipe. If the tobacco has a good flavor, doesn't impregnate the pipe with persistent odors and doesn't get hot and burn your mouth, you are off to a good start. Smoking a briar pipe is comparable to eating a pizza baked in a wood oven. Briar, which is the root of shrub heather, transmits its special aroma to the flavor of the smoke and in turn penetrates the humors of the tobacco. It would be nice to own a different pipe for every blend, so as to enjoy its fragrance to the utmost, but it is simpler just to divide tobacco into 3 main groups .
a) mildly aromatic tobacco.
This is tobacco that is slightly flavored, for example with lemon, orange or plum. The difference in the flavor generally depends on the differentiated harvesting of the tobacco leaves: the tender buds give it the sharp aroma of lemon, the ripe leaves taste of orange and the broad leaves low on the plant taste of plum.
Black Cavendish (those dark bits in the blend) is made with special treatment that applies pressure and steam to ferment the tobacco, bringing out its saccharine substances .
b) strongly aromatic tobacco
This is tobacco flavored with essences, for example classics like mango, vanilla or pinewood, that release a strong, generally pleasant fragrance into the air. They are normally designed to perform best with a 9 mm filter in active carbon. They are especially favored in Germany but are gaining popularity rapidly in Northern Europe and even in Italy , especially in the north.
c) British type tobacco
This is Virginia tobacco enriched with Latakia (smoked tobacco), Perique (tobacco that has undergone prolonged fermentation with a yeasty flavor) and Kentuky. They are reminiscent of the horsey aromas of stables and the countryside. The pipe is generally smoked without filter or with an adapter. They leave a penetrating, unpleasant odor in the room, but are much loved by traditionalists among pipe smokers.
It is a good idea to start smoking your new pipe with a mildly aromatic tobacco (type a) and then go on to try the stronger aromas. The opposite route is not recommended.
Brebbia has developed fresh, balanced tobacco blends that above all will not damage the pipe with aromas that are too intense or persistent.
Now that you have your new pipe, and have chosen your tobacco, you are impatient to begin, but first you must...
Preparation
This, with the first lighting, is by far the most important and enjoyable part of the ritual.
With careful, correct preparation you will be sure to obtain a good result.
After selecting the tobacco, it is a good idea to check the moisture: if it is too dry it will burn like straw, without flavor, so it will have to be moistened (tobacconists sell special wafers or ceramic bottles, but the classic slice of apple will do just as well). If it is too moist or the package has just been opened, it will need to dry out a little.
Tobacco with too much moisture in it is hard to smoke, doesn't burn well and requires you to puff too frequently to keep it from going out, which will heat the pipe and burn your tongue.
Tobacco is sold in sealed packages and like a full-bodied wine, needs to be exposed to the air for several hours prior to use. With time, you will learn how to assess the moisture by touch: the tobacco should be soft and full, without leaving a damp sensation (if the tobacco is sticky, discard it because it will ruin the pipe).
Spread a little tobacco on a clean sheet of paper and crumble the larger bits, removing any stems and twigs, then puff a few times on the empty pipe. If the pipe has a housing for a filter insert it or close it with the ADAPTOR ® that transforms a pipe with a 9mm filter into a pipe without a filter. To insert it, push it into the space in the mouthpiece until it touches bottom. To remove it, pull it out by gripping the bottom with a pair of scissors or better yet with a dual blade cigar cutter. NEVER smoke a pipe with the 9mm filter housing empty because this will ruin the mouthpiece pin . Also, the empty filter chamber becomes an expansion chamber for the smoke and creates condensation.
Filling
Fill the pipe to the top with small pinches of tobacco without pressing it, then use a tamper to press the tobacco uniformly and rather firmly. Now see how it draws: it should draw exactly as it did when empty, otherwise you have to start over again. If it draws well, fill the pipe to 3 or 4 mm from the top of the bowl, press again but not so firmly. A last check of the draw THAT MUST BE PERFECT as if the pipe were empty, and you can go on to the next step…
Lighting the pipe
Lighting the pipe is the crowning moment of the preparation. If the job has been done correctly the pipe will light uniformly. Move the flame with a circular gesture over the tobacco while taking short, quick, rhythmic puffs without inhaling the smoke (this looks a little like the movements a fish makes with its mouth) until all the tobacco is lit (photo 4). By effect of the combustion the tobacco will rise. Continuing with short, rhythmic puffs, using the tamper, press the tobacco all around, gently, until it goes out, leaving a surface layer of blackened tobacco that will be very helpful when you light up again for the second, official time when you start smoking. Light the pipe with care so that all the tobacco burns uniformly, sit down in a comfortable armchair and enjoy it.
As soon as the puffs of smoke get thinner, you need to press the tobacco down again with the tamper, taking short, frequent puffs to keep it going. The tamper is thus an indispensable instrument for smoking a pipe and should be used often.
ABOUT THE FLAME
To light a pipe you can use a match or a pipe lighter, with the flame adjusted to a height of about 15 mm. A pipe lighter is specially designed to be heat resistant and work upside down.
DO NOT USE TURBO (BUNSEN) LIGHTERS: the head of the flame, that is about twice as hot as normal lighters, will damage the pipe.
About the ash
The ash (white) suffocates the coal. You can eliminate it by turning the pipe over every now and then, without knocking it, before you press the coals down with the tamper.
The blackened tobacco can be relit, after pressing it gently with the tamper so as to bring the coals to the surface.
Remember to puff more quickly during this operation to revive the coals so they do not go out.
Use the tamper delicately to press the tobacco with circular movements so as to bring the coals to the surface uniformly.
ABOUT THE TOBACCO
Observe the cut of the tobacco.
Nowadays, certain cross-cut or stringy types are fashionable as they help to smoke “cool”. Stringy cuts require more oxygen which means longer puffs that heat the pipe (and your mouth) and create condensation. The same is true of flakes, that are compressed in small cakes and require careful preparation consisting of crumbling the cake before filling the pipe. Also, it is important to learn which types of tobacco are used to make a blends: from blonde Virginia to black Cavendish to dark Burley etc. You can create your own blends, but you should know that every blend on the market has been carefully studied by experts, the same as for coffee, to give you the maximum pleasure, although it is always a matter of personal taste. Don't be influenced and choose according to your palate. Among the many blends available you are sure to find the tobacco that suits you.
ABOUT THE CAMPER OR PIPE TOOL
The pipe tool is an indispensable accessory for the pipe smoker, and comes in many forms, but the important parts are: the tamper, the scraper (a round blade or scoop without any sharp edges that could damage the bowl) and the reamer (which serves to clean the stem, an operation that is also possible using pipe cleaners). Many modern pipes have a bent stem, and there are special pipe tools with flexible reamers.
Problems and remedies
PROBLEMS
REMEDIES
The pipe does not draw
Tobacco pressed too tightly
Tobacco overheated
Stem obstructed
Empty and refill without pressing the tobacco as much.Clean with a pipe cleaner
The pipe is sour
Poor quality tobacco or too strong
Change tobacco
After changing tobacco:
Let the pipe rest for 3 days and then smoke it again with light tobacco until it returns sweet
Pipe not well seasoned
It is a known fact that some brands are harder to break in than others or to ripen in flavor. This depends mainly on the seasoning. It should be sufficient, in any case, to build up a nice cake to insulate the bowl, possibly with the aid of a little honey left to dry first inside the bowl. That will sweeten the hardest pipe.
The pipe overheats
Tobacco too tightly pressed
Empty and refill
Tobacco too damp
Empty and refill without pressing the tobacco as much. Let the tobacco dry
Poor quality tobacco
Change tobacco
The pipe is about to burn
Check the walls of the bowl for any irregularity, try to save it by careful breaking in, possibly using honey to accelerate cake formation
The pipe gurgles
Poor quality tobacco
Change tobacco
Abundant salivation
Choose a straight pipe to prevent pooling
The pipe does not draw well or is clogged
Clean with the rough brush and check with an expert for any malformation of the draft hole or mouthpiece
The pipe keeps going out
Tobacco too damp
Let dry
The pipe was not filled and lighted correctly
Read the manual more carefully
The smoke tastes flat and the tobacco burns too fast
Tobacco too dry
Moisten (many tobaccos never regain their original aroma after drying). Don't let it dry.
The pipe does not satisfy
The shape of the pipe is unsuitable
Buying a pipe is a matter of taste. First of all, the pipe is one of the few masculine accessories that reveal the personality of its owner. However a tall, slim person will appear more elegant with a pipe that reflects his physical characteristics. The same is true of a stocky person, who will look better with a rather large pipe, or a short man who will look better with a small pipe, and so on.
The dimensions of the pipe are unsuitable
Ask for a mirror and a bag of test pipes to see how you look. A small pipe is convenient because you can have shorter smokes and can carry it around with others in a small amount of space, however the downside is that it has little to offer and you may quickly tire of it. Historically, pipes began to grow larger with the fashion of free forms in the Seventies. Now the process of miniaturization in personal electronic objects is influencing the design of pipes with a return to small ones. However from the point of view of the smoke, statistically speaking, the most widely sold pipes without filter are the ones in group 5 (with a bowl of the average capacity of 5 gr. of tobacco) or with 9mm.filter those in group 6 (largely because of the better esthetic proportions of the larger shank housing the filter and the head). Dimensions and filter are, in any case, always a subject of discussion and remain expressions of personal taste
Straight pipe, bent pipe
We choose a pipe the way we do a necktie. It is a matter of personal taste. Certainly a straight pipe is easier to smoke but harder to hold between your teeth because it applies leverage, especially if it is large. For this reason, the largest pipes are bent or semi-curved. However these shapes tend to pool saliva that inadvertently ends up in the mouthpiece and “gurgles” (the typical sign of a beginner, but it happens to a lot of others too)
