THE TYPICAL PIPE SMOKER

Who smokes a pipe? The picture of the typical pipe smoker immediately appears: It is a man.

A mature and sensible man, resting in himself. He sees the broader perspective, he is thoughtful, distinguished. And this characteristic is really not that strange. Because smoking a pipe is usually described as a laborious ritual requiring attention and equanimity. A world of its own reserved for connoisseurs with special knowledge, lots of time - and lots of money for expensive pipes and silver accessories. But this is, of course, not how it really is. Calm and peaceful? General MacArthur smoked a pipe. Serious? Bill Cosby smokes a pipe. And who says that it has to be a man? Greta Garbo smoked a pipe. Completely different types of people smoke a pipe and they each do it in their own way.

Most people would not expect to find a young pipe smoker behind the bar of the Copenhagen night club NASA where the Spice Girls, Aqua and other pop stars hang out when in town. The chalk-white interior was taken straight from a science fiction film and the club is packed with the young, the rich and the beautiful - and the wannabees.

They all smoke cigarettes, but not Sune Hjorth, 25 years old. He is holding a black Stanwell and is enjoying a fill of his preferred mixture while mixing a Grasshopper - mint liquor, cocoa liquor, cream and crushed ice which he shakes well and serves with a mint leaf on top, voila!Sune feels about tobacco the same way he does about drinks: "Smoke a pipe, then you get more out of the tobacco. It is no big deal, you just need to try and get started in the right way. And the enjoyment is so much greater: Enjoy the smell, the different tastes, the round and natural aroma. It is just like other good things in life - the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. There is nothing wrong with a well-drawn draught beer, but why not enjoy a Singapore Sling or another cocktail once in a while? Have a bit of fun!"

Sune swears by the mild blend of Virginia and Burley tobaccos in Original Choice: "It is the ultimate mixture, I think. Along the same lines as the ultimate dry Martini. Do you know the story? Originally, the Martini was very moist - two parts vermouth, one part gin. Gradually, the proportions became the other way round, two parts gin, one part vermouth, and in the end the bartender almost just held the cork over the gin. They were competing about who could mix the driest Martini. At one point, someone claimed that he had isolated the vermouth molecule so his Martini had to be the absolutely driest. But no, one bartender in Chicago told them that he had placed a bottle of vermouth in the Bikini Islands before the nuclear tests - and split the vermouth atom. Now, it would be enough to hold the glass outside the window: the ultimate dry Martini!"

This must be a story precisely to the taste of Bing Crosby - another pipe smoker with a sense of the good things in life. And perhaps this is the truth about pipe smokers: the people who smoke a pipe are completely different, but they all enjoy life. Whatever group of pipe smokers you belong to, you are sure to be in good company.