CO-Pipes

CO-Pipes is the joint brand of two makers working in Hamm, in Germany's Westphalia region. The workshop, which takes its name from this partnership, is run by Kelvin Pohler and Thorsten "Toto" Klemme; the pair have presented the pipes they produce under their own names since 2015. Both pursue pipe-making alongside other work, so production moves not in series but piece by piece.

The Danish Line

By the workshop's own description, its benchmark is the formal approach developed in Denmark; CO-Pipes is in this respect counted among the German followers of the approach known as the Danish school. The concrete expression of this is that, rather than fixed classic shapes, mostly freeform bodies are worked. In such production, the material is what decides: the direction of the grain revealed when a briar block is opened largely determines which way the body will extend and which surface will be brought to the fore. Every body thus remains a one-off.

Another point the manufacturer's texts highlight is that concern for form does not overshadow ease of use; accordingly, even a sculptural-looking pipe is expected to have balanced weight distribution, a comfortable bite, and a properly opened smoke channel. The workshop is said to have become recognized relatively quickly within the German community; this assessment currently rests on manufacturer and retailer texts.

Way of Working Together

What sets CO-Pipes apart from similar small workshops is that its division of labor is not organized as "your pipe, my pipe." Pohler and Klemme work on the same body sometimes in turns, sometimes together; rough shaping, sanding, fitting the shank to the mouthpiece, and final surface work all pass through both makers' hands. The resulting pipe carries not one maker's signature, but the pair's shared signature.

A Bond Built Through Tobacco

The brand name is also tied to two tobacco blends: in a collaboration with German blender HU Tobacco, blends called "The Bullet" and "The Swan" were produced. By the manufacturer's descriptions, The Bullet is a ready-rubbed flake dominated by dark Virginia, with a small amount of Perique and a spicy character. The Swan, meanwhile, is presented as an English-type blend with a pronounced smoky side, adding Cyprus Latakia, black Cavendish, and a pinch of Perique to the Virginias. According to the story told, the starting point for the two distinct blends was that the two makers' tastes in tobacco differ from one another.