The parallels between pipe-tobacco blending and artistic movements are quite intriguing to consider, and G.L. Pease's Zeitgeist Collection draws connections in striking ways. The fifth entry in this series, Metropolis, is now available on-site, paying homage to the Art Deco movement with an English blend. Today we will dive into the Zeitgeist Collection, from its inception to its final release.

Breaking Down the Zeitgeist Collection

The Zeitgeist Collection began in 2022, paying tribute to the avant-garde and rebellious themes of the modern era. Each blend evokes the spirit of a particular moment, place, and cultural movement, and is manufactured by Cornell & Diehl.

Bankside

Bankside was released in 2022 as the inaugural blend of the Zeitgeist Collection and is inspired by the Modernist art of London's famed modern art district, where bold architecture abounds. The label art is a nod to the defiant, forward-looking culture of this movement through an abstract depiction of the Tate Modern art museum, located in London's Bankside district.

G.L. Pease Bankside

• Components: Virginia, Latakia, Perique, Dark-Fired Kentucky
• Family: Virginia
• Cut: Flake
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The blend is a modernist reinterpretation of the archetypal Virginia/Perique flake. "Bankside is a fairly complex blend," says Jeremy, "with a base of high-sugar Canadian Bright leaf, a very small amount of Dark Fired, Red Virginia from 2023, pure St. James Parish long-cut Perique, and a smidge of Latakia."

"The Canadian Bright and White Burley play nicely with each other on the higher citrusy notes, but also creamy and subtly spicy notes," he says. "The Red Virginia, Latakia, and Dark Fired really come together to create a strong, darker base of flavor. It gives the higher fruitier and creamier notes some structure. Then it is all pressed into a flake."

Jeremy notes that the smoky flavors of the Dark Fired and Latakia complement each other nicely. "There are softwood campfire and hardwood barbecue notes mingled together, and to my taste, they don't really come together with a real, clear focus on Latakia alongside the Red Virginia, which comes to a place more like barbecue sauce. It's deep, smoky, and tangy."

géométrie

géométrie is the second entry in the Zeitgeist line, released in 2023, presenting a complex yet pared down blend. The label art is inspired by Proto-Cubism, "taking inspiration from folks like Cezanne and early Picasso," says Andy, with early Cubist paintings and sculptures by artists who pioneered the intrepid movement. The art on the tin depicts an abstract, Cubist design with geometric patterns and vibrant colors.

G.L. Pease géométrie

• Components: Virginia, Orientals
• Family: Virginia
• Cut: Plug
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"géométrie is a more pared down kind of blend," says Jeremy, "but just as complex in what it presents. It's mostly Red Virginia with a small amount of Thai-grown Oriental and a subtle touch of sugar and vanilla notes that come together from all of it." The Virginias within the blend are roasty and grain-like. "There's some molasses character there, and the Oriental just rides on top of it so beautifully with some floral and nutty notes, but also just that melange funk that Oriental can bring."

The blend is pressed together into a plug, spending 14 days on the holding press. "During that time, those flavors just meld together into a fermented version of their individual parts. Overall, the simplicity of the blend doesn't undermine how complex the flavors can be when there is long pressing and any amount of age in a tin."

Horizons Flake

Horizons Flake is the third entry from 2024, nodding to jet-age retrofuturism of the late 1940s and 1950s within the label art. It's heavily inspired by Streamline Moderne, which is an architectural style that emerged in the 1930s as a forward-looking evolution of the Art Deco movement.

G.L. Pease Horizons Flake

• Components: Virginia, Latakia, Orientals
• Family: English
• Cut: Flake
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"Horizons Flake is a deeper dive on Latakia," says Jeremy. "It showcases the flavor profile of our Turkish Latakia really nicely and is much more structured around the flavor profile of Latakia in this blend. There is also a bit of a heavier hand used of that Thai-grown Izmir." He notes that where Bankside leaned on the Canadian Brights, Horizons uses it on a more condimental level.

"The main thrust of the blend is actually driven more by the interplay between the Turkish Latakia and the Thai Oriental. Virtually every other aspect of this blend is in more of a supporting role. There's also a tiny touch of Black Cavendish, about 3%, in this blend. It helps to add some depth and body to the smoke, but it is definitely not a main player in the flavor profile."

There's a heat-treated Virginia component bringing tartness, acidity, and a bit of citrus. "If you took citrus and roasted it with, say, mirin, that kind of aroma and flavor melds beautifully with some of the richer notes that you're getting from the Red Virginia here, and of course the Latakia all comes together really nicely."

Ellipsis Flake

Ellipsis Flake was last year's entry into the collection and is inspired by Surrealism in art as well as musical tri-tones, which are intervals spanning three adjacent whole tones. The label art is a nod to a dream-like state, exploring the subconscious while maintaining sophistication.

G.L. Pease Ellipsis Flake

• Components: Virginia, Perique, Burley, Orientals, Black Cavendish
• Family: Virginia
• Cut: Flake
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"Ellipsis Flake is a blend that really has a lot going on," says Jeremy, "but the main tobacco of the blend is that Canadian Bright leaf. There's a different flavor profile here." Supporting tobaccos in this blend are small amounts of Tennessee light air-cured White Burley, Pennsylvania, vintage 2013 and 2023 Virginias with baser sweet and grainy notes, a tiny addition of Cigar Black Cavendish, a similar quantity of Perique and a finishing touch of Thai Oriental.

Those Virginias, Orientals, and Perique join together to create these tri-tones of flavor, with supporting roles of the other tobaccos adding strength, body, and a luxurious mouthfeel. Ellipsis is medium-bodied and subtle in aroma, yet complex in flavor. It's naturally rich with sweetness, spice, and a bit of nuttiness, delighting Virginia and Oriental enthusiasts alike.

Metropolis

Metropolis is the newest addition to the Zeitgeist Collection, evoking the world of Art Deco — cityscapes, monuments, and machine-age ambitions — pulling from a wide range of influences, including ancient Egyptian art and the Chrysler building.

This aesthetic in particular defined the interwar years, born from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris, 1925. "The movement fused ornament with industry," says Andy, "luxury with geometry, and ancient motifs with machine-age ambition. The name Metropolis is drawn from Fritz Lang's landmark 1927 film, a masterwork of the era, and a word that captures the soaring vertical ambition, glamor of the Jazz Age, and electric optimism of the Deco world at its height."

The label artwork evokes the world of Art Deco, pointing to the era as well as the golden age of the city. "The movement is monumental," he says, "soaring ambition, electric glamor, and refined pleasures of the interwar world at its most brilliant. The artwork is a microcosm of Art Deco at its most alive — sophisticated, diverse, charged, and sensory."

G.L. Pease Metropolis

• Components: Virginias, Dark-Fired, Perique, Latakia, Semi-Fired Kentucky
• Family: English
• Cut: Flake
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The blend is defined by layered Red and Bright Virginia grades, offering a bright, natural foundation, a touch of Turkish Latakia, lending depth and mystery, and Italian Dark-Fired and semi-fired Kentucky, which grounds the blend in something older and more earthbound. It's all pressed and sliced into flakes, and the result is complex and balanced. It's a richly textured experience with notes of clove, leather, and subtle florals.

"Metropolis has lots of different ingredients used to great effect together," says Jeremy. "There is no one tobacco that is the driving force. It's a really metered collection of higher sugar Bright Virginia and three Red Virginia grades, one from '19, one from '23, and one from '21." The blend combines condimental tobaccos like lightly fire-cured leaf from Kentucky from '21, Italian Dark Fired from crop year '18, and just a hint of Latakia. The blend plays with Dark Fired and Latakia as a match-up, but adds more versions of Dark-Fired leaf in smaller quantities to the mix.

"It is really nicely structured, but it is densely dark in its base flavors. Then all of the lighter notes add sugar to these base notes and citrus or floral character to these base notes. I think that the blend and the artwork done for the label are surprisingly related. They fit together really nicely. It's another installation in a line of tobaccos that really focuses on using the same kinds of ingredients and showcases how different a blend can be with subtle changes."

Greg Pease also shared a few of his thoughts on Metropolis: "It's really nice, especially as young as it is." Speaking for the Beyond the Burl podcast, he said, "Metropolis is a blend I've been playing with for a while. In a way, it was inspired by Silver Jubilee. This is really nothing like SJ, of course, but the Italian Dark Fired played so nicely with the Red Virginias that I wanted to do more with it." Adding Latakia offered bass notes without being heavy, and the semi-fired has a nice effect in concert with the deeper smokiness of the other Dark leaf, Perique adding dimension without dominating.

He places it around medium in body with a pleasant sweetness throughout from the Red Virginias. "There's a little treble from the Brights, and the darker, earthier notes holding up the low end. I really like the way it develops in the bowl, too. Even young, there's a lot to hold your attention." He is excited about this addition to the series. "Any new release is exciting. But this is something rather different for the Zeitgeist collection. I think it's a fun one."

What Unifies the Zeitgeist Collection

The Zeitgeist Collection is inspired by artistic and cultural moments, and each tobacco is unique yet utilizes similar components. "Really across all of these very unique flavor profiles," says Jeremy, "we are using the same ingredients, just in different quantities or with different counterparts. I think this line really shows a lot of the way that tobacco can be different. Just like the art styles that each of the names and all of the artwork references, what holds these very different styles of artwork together is that they are all art and that they all involve materials like paint. It's the same with tobacco."

Although using the same ingredients, the effects are very different. "That's kind of the thought process underlying the whole line; all of these styles are art, but they are all distinct and different. Sometimes in pipe tobacco, we are totally focused on what category this fits into. I think this collection is alluding to the truth that what style the blend is isn't as important as whether or not it is successful as a blend and whether or not it brings something new or unique to the table."

Be sure to check out the entirety of G.L. Pease Zeitgeist Collection, with all five blends available now in 2oz tins on-site. Let us know in the comments which is your favorite, and we hope you enjoy the latest addition, Metropolis.