Pipe Night at The Hut - 5/3/13

Well, I was a little nervous that the The Tobacco Hut's first Pipe Night would consist of just me sitting there smoking a pipe. But, for the first event, it was pretty well attended. It was scheduled from 6-8 PM and I arrived first. At 4 o'clock. Well, I couldn't wait. And, I brought along the big gun to smoke so I would need more than an hour or two to smoke it. (There was some discussion during the evening as to what to call my new David Jones acquisition - see the 4/20/13 post for a pic. It is a rather large pipe and a bit heavier than normal. Some names offered were "The Judge", "The Persuader", "The Log", etc.).

It wasn't long before Rob showed up. Guess he had the same idea I did - wanting to get a good seat for the festivities. At around 6 o'clock Jimmy arrived. At least one person could tell time and show up at the appropriate hour! Jimmy's been in a few times now and is a recent convert to pipes. A few minutes later Kitty and her father Don H arrived. Some other folks came to make purchases, but didn't hang around. For most of the evening it was Rob, Jimmy, Kitty, Don, Pete, and me sitting around talking pipes. 

The sun is low and the pipes have been lit. L-R: Rob, Kitty,
Don, Jimmy. (Click to enlarge).

Don apparently has been a long-time customer of the Hut, and I noticed he was smoking a Crown Viking he had purchased from Lou some years ago. I myself have a few of my own thanks to Lou, and they are all excellent smokers.

Don's daughter Kitty is also an ardent pipe smoker. It's good to see not only young folks, but women as well, taking up the pipe. I think she said she's only been smoking for a couple years, but she certainly has the passion for it, and has a good eye for pipes. She brought several with her, including a nice Nording.

Kitty and Don were both eager to impart their experience with pipes to Jimmy and Rob, both relative newcomers to the hobby. Everyone took advantage of the Buy One/Get One tobacco discounts and the pipe discounts. I think Pete said at the end of the evening that he sold eight pipes!

L-R, Kitty's arm, Don, Jimmy. (Click to enlarge).

I was quite gratified that Searchlight was a crowd favorite, as I created the blend back in March. I took the existing Baker Street (which I helped Lou tweak a little, boosting the Latakia in it) and increased the amount of Latakia further, decreased the Virginia, and added a pinch of Perique. It's a robust blend, but very smooth and smokes nicely all the way to the bottom of the bowl. At the end of the evening, I dumped out nothing but fine gray ash.

Pete provided pizza, sodas, and beer, but Kitty had the right idea and made a Sangria run to Winn-Dixie. Too bad she only brought one glass back with her!

Toward the end of the evening, two of my co-workers, Alex O and John S arrived. Alex is a pipe smoker and John is a cigar smoker, but he took the plunge on Friday and entered the Brotherhood of the Briar. He picked up a nice bent sitter from the board and I steered him to Alaskan Gold and Baker Street. I'm a firm believer in starting new pipers out with English blends - this way they're getting the true flavor of the tobacco with nothing added. (Just my preference. In the end, it's all about what you enjoy. "Smoke what you like and like what you smoke.").

The sun has set and it's getting a little hazy.
L-R, Kitty, Don, Alex, John, Jimmy. (Click to enlarge).

Pete was kind enough to stay open an extra hour and then some while the eight of us sat around discussing mostly pipes, enjoying the last of the pizza and fishing the occasional beer from the cooler.

Congratulations to Jimmy who won the raffle. (Sorry to Alex and John, it was held shortly before you arrived). He used his $50 gift card prize toward the purchase of a very handsome looking bent pipe. Please let us know how it smokes, Jimmy!

Pete also announced the winner of the Name the New Tobacco Contest. The winning name is Calypso, as suggested by Ed F. Ed wins a free pound of tobacco, or the equivalent in other merchandise. Unfortunately Ed couldn't be with us on Friday as he was called away by work duties, so I accepted the gift card on his behalf and promptly spent it. Just kidding, Ed! Congratulations and hopefully you can make the next Pipe Night...see the next paragraph.

We all decided that we should do this on a monthly basis, and Pete agreed. So, look for another Pipe Night on Fri, June 7th. As long as participation stays strong, we'll do it the first Friday of each month. I'll send out notices via email blasts and Facebook to remind folks.

I had mentioned to the group an online pipe smoker's discussion board I'm active on and wanted to pass on the link to it here. It's called Smoker's Forums and has been around a long time. It has thousands of members and everyone is very friendly and welcoming, especially to newcomers. My "handle" on the board is Seneca77. It's free to join, of course, and I would encourage everyone to check it out. It's a great place to ask questions and share in the spirit of the pipe.

Final note to Kitty...I had referenced an artisan tobacco blender by the name of Greg Pease. He has an excellent website located here, and his tobaccos can be purchased at various online retailers. Once at his website, click on the Stockists link and you'll find a list of dealers that carry his tobacco. I recommend The Briary, out of Alabama. I've done business with them before and have always been well taken care of.

Thanks to everyone for coming for the Hut's inaugural Pipe Night, and hope to see everyone again soon.

 - Bob