Bad first pipe experience: Me or the tobacco?

Alright, I took some of the advice in this thread. Still messing with the Captain Black, I broke some up on my desk and let it sit there for 15 minutes. Then I packed the pipe, not to tight. The result is a remarkably different smoking experience then I had yesterday. I am getting good pulls off the tobacco, not just a bunch of nasty pipe air. I did require several relights, but thats way better then having to relight every time.

I did enjoy the overall character of the Captain Black, but its obvious I need a tobacco with more flavor. And I don't like the idea of this PG one bit. So its off the tobacconist I go, probably sometime this weekend.

I'll keep y'all posted as to my progress. Thanks again for your help!

[OLS]

Captain black tastes good, but it's not the tobacco you are tasting.
When you exhale and smack your lips together and flop your tongue
around, you get nothing. It is the smoke that goes into your sinuses
that seems to carry the flavor of the CB. If you like good cigars, your
mouth and tongue look for that FINISH. But you won't get it with CB
and to tell the truth, with a lot of pipe tobaccos. The stronger the blend
the more finish you get. And like you discovered, a properly packed bowl
of properly dried tobacco makes all the difference. I have been at about
6 months or less and I am just now starting to really enjoy it. I tell you
what makes for good technique...forgetting your lighter and only having a few matches in a box in your truck console. You get a good light, tamp
very lightly and before you think you need to, and puff at a decent rate.
And if you don't you are done for the day, lol.

[Commander Quan]

Just put of curiosity, did you take the paper filter out of the pipe?

Like others have said filling and smoking a pipe is an art form, and not every pipe or tobacco can be filled the same way. Stick with it and you'll develop a Spidey Sense of how best of fill and smoke a blend out of a certain pipe, but in the beginning filling is with less tobacco will help out. Also a pipe needs to be smoked at a faster pace than a cigar. A cigar you may only puff once or twice a minute, where as you pay puff on a pipe 4-10 times a minute.

Search youtube for the "Frank Method" of filling a pipe. Some people love this method, others hate it. I just know that it made my first couple months of serious pipe smoking much more enjoyable.

Originally Posted by Commander Quan

Just put of curiosity, did you take the paper filter out of the pipe?

Like others have said filling and smoking a pipe is an art form, and not every pipe or tobacco can be filled the same way. Stick with it and you'll develop a Spidey Sense of how best of fill and smoke a blend out of a certain pipe, but in the beginning filling is with less tobacco will help out. Also a pipe needs to be smoked at a faster pace than a cigar. A cigar you may only puff once or twice a minute, where as you pay puff on a pipe 4-10 times a minute.

Search youtube for the "Frank Method" of filling a pipe. Some people love this method, others hate it. I just know that it made my first couple months of serious pipe smoking much more enjoyable.

Thanks for the Frank Method tip. I just youtubed it, this will give me a good guide to getting started. Yes I did remove the filter.