House of Calabash

Went back to House of Calabash this weekend to try another of Steve’s blends, this time his aromatic blend called «Grandfather’s Own» and HOLY SMOKES! Perfect! Quite literally the PERFECT aromatic. You can taste the quality and care that went into making this blend. Throw away that Walgreen’s bought, chemically flavored garbage and taste REAL tobacco made with REAL flavors. After trying Steve’s aromatics, I promise you that just about all else will taste like you were smoking air-​freshener. And Grandfather’s Own, at about $ 5ish dollars an ounce, is one heck of a great deal and worth every cent.
It’s a rare treat to be able to experience the the finest of any given thing, whether it be the finest cigars, wines, cheeses, beers, spirits, teas, coffees, etc. I am absolutely positive you will never find a better pipe tobacco anywhere else than Steve Books blends at House of Calabash. Once you taste and smell his work, it will be very hard for you to return to 90% of the other pipe tobaccos out there, and that remaining 10% is comparable at best.
If I sound a bit over-​enthusiastic about House of Calabash it’s because I am indeed just that. I may not be able to afford the finest wines, cigars, spirits, etc. But here in Portland, I am certain that I can indeed afford (and experience on a regular basis) the finest beers, coffees, and thanks to House of Calabash, the finest pipe tobaccos. That is something to celebrate!
(don’t forget too: if you’re into antique pipes and/​or antique smoking memorabilia You really ought to check this place out! Steve has several very special pieces, many of them in the calabash style, that I’ve never seen anywhere else. Also, if after seeing the Hobbit you feel the need to purchase a churchwarden and take up pipe smoking, Steve’s got you covered there too.)

Ye Olde Tobacco Shoppe from the turn of the century you could say this place is and it is owned by someone who is partly walking at that time. Steven Books– who you could guess could have come from the same era looking at his signature lamb-​chops and mustache is old school pipe tobacco blending as it was meant to be– blended by hand and by a craftsman.
My dad while he was in Medical School had to have his blend and when it wasn’t around, wow did he blow a gasket especially when the guy left.-«not like the old stuff, not like the old stuff» I heard every-​time he took that first puff on the pipe. This guy has been blending tobacco since he was 11,(FDA wasn’t around then obviously). He really knows his stuff and the blends are unbelievable. I have had quite a few of his blends, my favorite is 9VerPer, a virginia perique which is delicious. He had been employed for a number of years at Rich’s Pipe and Tobacco in downtown Portland blending tobacco’s for them for years and now he is on his own with his own proprietary blends. If you are a pipe smoker or even if you are a cigarette smoker thinking of changing it up you should check this place out. (I guess they have a neat starter kit including a what Steve calls the best buy in the industry-​a corn cob pipe. With a couple ounces of tobacco of a nice mild tobacco blend-​and tasting hands downthan that gnarly cigarette along with a pipe tool, you are ready to go for 12 bucks.
He carries even something he blended 50 years ago when he started out blending for a pipe tobacco blender here in Portland. Mr. Pipe Tobacco would be a great way to describe Mr. Books!
FYI They also carry a limited select of CIGARS as well!