ProfessorPangloss
Amateur Kentuckian
I just put some loose tobacco in the pipe and then lightly compress it with my finger. I'll do this two or three times until the bowl is full and medium tight. Then I'll light it and take a drag or two and let it go out, then I tamp it down lightly with a tamper tool (8mm Mauser cartridge casing) after that initial burn off. After relighting, it should just take an occasional sip of the pipe to keep it going. I don't use cased tobacco or aromatics, just straight tobacco blends and I have it in low medium case.
If I'm just smoking a piece straight off the leaf, I tear a hunk off the leaf and wad it up, stuff it in the pipe as a wad and start smoking. I try to sample all the varieties by themselves in the pipe to see what they might bring to a blend, even cigar varieties.
Interesting! I've got some samples BrownThumb sent, and I've been meaning to try them on their own to see how they work and to train the palate. I'll have to try that leaf wad technique. Thanks!