(no subject)

[mr_bad_example]

I felt fine last time I got a flu shot, then I spent the next two days feeling awful. I've felt horrible for the past week, then today I got a flu shot, and now I feel OK.

I dunno, you tell me.

* * *
There's an interesting article in this month's Rake about Lewis Pipe & Tobacco. I had a chance to check out the new location out a couple of weeks ago. I was a little disappointed to hear that they had to move from their Nicollet Mall location, because it was a nice space. But damn, the Rand Building is very very nice.

I think it's the weather that's causing it, but I've had a real urge to get back into pipes. I hadn't smoked anything for almost two years--not that it's a great idea for an asthmatic to be smoking in the first place, but it's not like I'm smoking a pack of unfiltered Chesterfields every day, come on--after I got my hands on a pre-embargo Cuban cigar a while back. I don't know whether it was because it was Cuban, or just because it had been aging in a warehouse for 40 years, but that was the Cigar of the Gods. A beam of light shot off of it when I unwrapped it. I smoked it down to the nub, and it satisfied my desire to smoke for two years. Actually, I still don't really have much of a craving for cigars.

So, pipes. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Fielding & Company up in Falcon Heights. I like them because they sell a bunch of stuff in bulk that's ordinarily only available tinned. I picked up an ounce of Dunhill 965. Of course, I only had the chance to smoke one bowl of it before I caught a cold, but that's just the kind of luck I'm having lately.

(Oh, and speaking of articles in the Rake, there's also an article about pugs that's titled "Like Petting a Packaged Ham." I approve.)

Comments

[fortunine.livejournal.com]

You know those... dunno what they're called. A little disc of ceramic in a perforated metal case, you dip it in water and use it to rehydrate your tobacco? What's your impression of using those? I had a house blend that smelled plenty sweet but there was a tear in the bag and the whole thing dehydrated. I dropped in a disc and how it feels nice and moist again, but I think it compromised the flavor substantially - it's very dry and bitter, not sweet at all. Does that sound likely to you? Admittedly, I never smoked it before it dehydrated, so I can't compare it against an earlier state.

[mr-bad-example.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried the little discs myself, but I was doing some searching around the other about rehydrating tobacco, and from what I gather, they work fine. G.L. Pease (http://glpease.com/FAQ.html#GENERAL) recommends just emptying the tobacco into a bowl and covering it with a damp towel. I think that's the technique I'm going to try; I just found a tin of their Samarra (http://glpease.com/Tobacco/Blends/Samarra.html) that I'd forgotten I had, and it's a little on the dry side.

I don't really know from pipe tobacco yet--I was always more of a cigar guy until recently--but yeah, it's possible that your tobacco might have been compromised. I know that when a cigar dries out and is rehydrated, it's never quite the same. The same thing might have happened with your pipe tobacco.