Brad Pohlmann

In June of 1975, Brad returned from a pipe pilgrimage to the United Kingdom visiting the many pipe shops and the venerable firm of Rattray's.  With his peaked interest in pipes and tobaccos, Brad toured New York City examining many of the pipe shops, and he happened upon a Danish Pipe maker producing pipes in a store window.  The gentleman's name was Finn Meyan Anderson, and he claimed to have worked in the Larsen workshop in Copenhagen.  After a nice chat with Mr. Anderson, Brad returned home in San Diego to pursue his own Tobacconist Store stocked with pipes of his own design, and a high quality standard.  After pouring over countless articles and literature of Pipes, including the Pipe Smokers' Ephemeris, Brad armed himself with information and a backpack and mapped out his route across country to pursue his dream of pipe making.  He walked out onto the ramp of Interstate 5, and extended his thumb to begin the adventure.  With many stories In-B-Tween, Brad finally ended up back in New York to find Mr. Finn Anderson, but Finn had left and was reported to be working in Vermont.  By the time Brad arrived in Vermont, Finn was long gone.  Fortunately he was able to join the team of The Briar Workshop, and he was able to learn the necessary skills as a pipe maker.  After a few years, he returned to California in 1980 to complete a 4 year Tool & Die apprenticeship.  Now he was armed with the knowledge and skills to build a fine Pipe Workshop and produce exquisitely crafted pipes, however, fate had other plans for Brad which led to a 16 year career in the computer industry.  During this time, Brad was able to work slowly to perfect his craft making pipes for friends and the occasional odd pipe repair.  Finally, in 2003, Brad created Pohlmann Pipes, combining the skills learned at the Briar Workshop with the tool and die training.  His pipes are very modern in design, and are produced with the most precise internal construction.  Brad's style is continuously evolving, and only the finest materials are used.