Pressed Tobaccos and Flake Pipes©
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InfoWell: Articles Pressed Tobaccos and Flake Pipes© |
As a lot of pipe smokers out there, when I first started smoking a pipe, I opted for flavored tobaccos (Borkum Riff, for example), and later, thanks to master blender Hans Schürch, I was introduced to natural mixtures with Latakia. After a few years of total dedication to the Latakia baccy, I got a little bored and I decided it was time to wade my way into different waters. So, naturally, I started to try and experiment with natural pressed Virginias, in all their possible forms. Once, I found my own technique and got over the tongue-bite and the frustration with combustion, I never looked back.
As you may know, I've been running my own online Italian pipe retail business for years now. Italian pipes in general tend to be quite large, and that used to be the case with Cavicchi pipes, which I have proudly carried for years. When I first started dealing with Cavicchi, he simply would NOT make a small pipe, and by small, I mean anything that it comparable to a Dunhill Group 4 and smaller. About a couple of years ago, I managed to convince him to make small(er) pipes, and I promised him success. He obliged, and I launched for the first time, a line of Cavicchi pipes that I named "Flake Pipes".
Why am I saying all this?! Well, the fact that I'm a dedicated pressed VA smoker and that it was I who launched the Cavicchi "Flake Pipes" has led a lot of people to assume that I'm a flake, and Flake Pipe, expert! One of these people is my friend, Martin Farrent, a distinguished pipe smoker, collector and journalist. Martin asked me recently if I would like to answer a few of his questions regarding flakes and Flake Pipes and told me that he would publish the interview on his website. I accepted.
I later thought of summarizing the answers I gave to Martin and re-writing them, with some additions and omissions, and turning them into an article, which is to have a permanent place on my site.
Any attempt to define the ideal pipe for flakes would tackle two main aspects of a pipe: Bowl size and shape.
Bowl Size:
First, size is quite relative, and "small" does indeed mean something to me, which is not necessarily the same as it is for someone else. Another point that I need to make is that we should be using the term "pressed tobacco pipe"; I know that it's my fault since I was the one who first introduced the term years ago when I launched the Cavicchi Flake Pipes. At that time, I was limited by the space and I needed a relatively simple and clear-cut term for people to use and to remember. So, yes, a flake pipe should NOT be large in size. Though I have repeatedly stated that I don't believe in the consistency in the use of the Dunhill size groups, I have to use them anyway, since they're the only ones people are familiar with (and confused by!). I personally see a Dunhill Group 3 as my own ideal size for a flake pipe. Having said that, I have a couple of *small* Group-5 Dunhill Lovats that I quite enjoy smoking pressed tobaccos in. I reserve other pipes that are as big as a real Group 5, and definitely those that are bigger, for unpressed tobaccos (mixtures). There are a few practical facts that have showed me over time that small(er) pipes are more suitable for pressed tobaccos. For example, pressed tobaccos tend to smoke a little hotter and more moist than unpressed ones; this means that the bigger the bowl, the more compromised the taste and flavor of the bottom layers of the tobacco may become and the more taxing the smoke may be on the pipe (as well as on the tongue). Also, they last a lot longer; an unpressed tobacco smoked in a particular pipe, let's say, would last 45 minutes; a pressed tobacco, on the other hand, smoked in that same pipe would last 60-75 minutes (I know that there are a host of other factors playing a role here). I don't know about you, but I almost never have 2-3 hours to smoke ONE pipeful. Finally, I'd much rather smoke two pipefuls in a row than one in a very large pipe. I believe this would make the experience a whole lot more fun and rewarding and also it would reduce the probability of unpleasantness.
Both the fact that pressed tobaccos come in a wide variety of forms and the fact that people smoke the same tobacco form (such as flakes) in different ways make it almost impossible to recommend a way over the other. However, and over the years, I have made a few general conclusions that you might find helpful. Pressed tobaccos can be rubbed out, broken, cut-up in pieces of a variety of shapes (with scissors, for example), or simply folded into a plug that is then inserted into the bowl. Every now and then, I would hear of an approach I never thought of before, and so, the sky is the limit. As you may know, pipe smokers have one heck of a fertile imagination!
There are many reasons why pressed VA tobaccos never cease to intrigue me; these reasons include:
It's sad that pressed tobaccos have been disappearing from the market, one after the other, in recent years. Having said that, it looks like the German and the American tobacco manufacturers do intend to fill the gap, as best as they can. Indeed there are some quality pressed tobaccos emerging from Germany (Dan Pipe, for example) and the USA (though sometimes, the tobaccos are made elsewhere, such as Butera's).
While we look back with nostalgia to tobaccos that have slipped into oblivion, we look forward with hope to others that can fill the void. That's an integral aspect of our noble hobby.