From: ????????????????????????? (Steve Masticola) Subject: Get-together and a review system Dear pipe people, At Elias Mazur's urging, I'll be journeying into the Wicked City to attend the July meeting of the NEW YORK PIPE CLUB! Yes, I eventually did get around to calling Sailorman Jack and ascertaining that they were still happening, generally on the first Tuesday of every month. In July, though, the first Tuesday happens to be July 4, and the risk of igniting fireworks while lighting up is just too extreme. So it'll be held as follows: WHEN: Tuesday, July 11, 6:00 P.M. WHERE: La Bonne Soupe, 48 W. 55th St., New York. HOWMUCH: $2.00 plus Dutch treat dinner. WHATTOBRING: Anything you'd like to smoke or trade, any burning pipe questions, and any friends who are also interested in coming. WHATTOEXPECT: Dunno; I've never been! But there are a lot of people there that know a lot about pipes, so expect to learn some stuff and have a good pipe with some congenial fellow smokers. Hope to see you there! If you'd like to get together to check out some pipe shops in NYC beforehand, let me know and I'll carve an itinerary. Also, there is a lot of pipe club activity in other parts of the country; if you'd like further information, why not write in? ~\U Second thing: Rick Hacker says, in _The Ultimate Pipe Book_, that he keeps a small notebook with comments about tobaccos he's tried. Following in his footsteps (magnifying glass in hand and calabash in mouth), I'm playing around with a reviewing system for tobacco, and would like to share it with you and get your comments and suggestions (and hopefully your further reviews!). It's been fun to try to review tobacco; I've gone through Hacker's and Ehwa's books, and have learned a fair amount about how Toback is grown, processed, and blended, as well as what makes a mixture good. (It's often a matter of body chemistry, so your pleasure may vary!) I've also had fun smoking new kinds of tobacco and paying careful attention to their qualities. You can really get into tasting the tobacco, finding out what you enjoy about it (and what you don't), trying to describe it in writing, and just taking time to pay attention to the small things. (And who knows - maybe you'll find the Perfect Blend!) Try it -- you'll like it! I'm not presenting this system as The Perfect One; it's really a list of things to pay attention to. So feel free to use it, suggest changes, or throw it in the /dev/null. For me, it's a nice thing to do, and it seems to work! STEVE'S PATENTED TOBACCO REVIEW SYSTEM -------------------------------------- Ratings: **** Outstanding; I'll make this a regular for sure. *** Very good; a nice "rotation" smoke. ** OK, once in a while. * Not very good. Blank capsule review: --------------------- [ These are the things I note at the top of any review, to give a quick run-down on what the tobacco is like and how much I liked it. ] - Type: [ English, Danish, Cavendish, Gibberish... ] - Price: [ Preferably in florins per firkin ] - Cut: [ Long, cube, granulated, mangulated... ] - Strength: [ Wimpy, mild, medium, strong, vicious ] - Flavorings: [ If cased: vanilla, chocolate, Rocky Road... ] - Packaging: [ Loose, sealed tin, roll-up pouch, brown wrapper ... ] - Rating: [ * to **** on the Richter scale ] Other things to note: --------------------- [ I've been writing a paragraph or two about the tobacco, and trying to note these things. Sometimes, I succeed! ] - Place and date purchased. - Freshness. - Taste; guess at tobaccos used. - Pipe used, esp. bowl size. Be sure to use a clean pipe! - Burning characteristics: time, number of relights, ash produced. - Tounge bite or wetness. - Previous smokes, tounge bite, food, other factors that might affect the review. - Recommendations for further smoking. - Other general comments. [ An example review, for something you may be able to find in your local smokeshop. I'm slowly modifying the contents of the reviews as I do more of them. ] Dunhill "Royal Yacht" Mixture ----------------------------- Type: English. Cut: Long. Strength: Mild. Flavoring: None. Package: Vaccuum-sealed tin. Price: $0.75 for "trial size" (0.35 oz.). Rating: ** 1/2. Date: June 23, 1989. I bought this at the Highland Park tobacco shop, with a few other samples. It may have been on the shelf a while; there is no date code. I smoked it in a small, straight Savinelli which I cleaned well recently. My tounge was slightly burnt from smoking a few hours previously. I had not eaten spicy food for about a day before. It lights easily, burns steadily and cool. I think there is a bit of Turkish in it. Not wet at all. A bit harsh on the upper palate when blown through the nose. Mouth watered slightly at first. Core burns to a white ash, charcoal around the edges. Later taste was quite good, Turkish comes through. Base is probably Burley. Ash buildup put it out a couple of times. No bite to speak of; it actually helped form a coat on my tongue and cancelled the previous bite slightly. A half bowl lasted about 30 minutes. Moderate nicotine buzz afterward. I'd recommend it as a summer or morning smoke, or possibly for a beginning pipe smoker who is used to Turkish cigarettes. Good with a small bowl. Should probably retry with a fresher sample on a fresher tongue. [ And I will! But until then... ] Hope to see you at the NYPC on July 13 if you can make it! If not, why not sit back with a bowl of your fave smoke and write it up? Until next we meet, then, Smoke in peace, ~\U Steve. U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ | ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ) * * ) ( Pipe smokers will rule the world! * ?????????????????????? ( ) (if they don't run out of matches...) * Steve Masticola, moderator ) ( * * ( U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ U/~ | ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U ~\U
