Bay Briar Shoppe

Unless it changed in the past couple of months, the address here is wrong.
Correct address is (was) 2910 Daubenbiss Ave. Look for the mural of the old wood mill on the side of the florist shop next door.
Sharon and the Briar Shoppe are Soquel institutions. Sharon is a sweetheart, but not forward. But she is very knowledgeable and friendly if you take the time to interact with her. The shop is small, quaint and cozy. Not the biggest selection of anything, but a good variety of everything and some nice gift items. It’s an eclectic mix; she even carries a line of vitamins. I’ve purchased a few non tobacco items there, a wolf head cane, leather pocket cigar case and a silver & leather hip flask, come to mind. They even have a couple of tables, both indoors and out on the porch under a flowering vine covered trellis, where you are welcome to hang out and shoot the breeze and have a smoke. How many places still have that old school ambiance?
I don’t know what to make of the review that says the location is a bit «low rent.» Soquel Village is low rent? Where do you usually shop? Rodeo Drive? Go Google street map it and see. There is nothing low rent about it. Not posh either, but perfectly nice. The village is homey, a throw back to how America was when the local stores were owned by your friends and neighbors, not mega corps. Bike rack right by the shop, plenty of off street parking, a perfectly safe and friendly environment. And best selection of high quality cigars in town. Good selection of papers and pipes. Not a lot of head shop stuff, so a more mature and easy going clientele than some of the more youth oriented shops. And try Lety’s Taqueria hole in the wall burrito shop across the street for authentic Mex cheap while you’re in the neighborhood. Es muy bueno.

Not the best cigar shop ever, but certainly the best in town. They have a decent selection, and will order anything you want that isn’t in stock. The lady that owns it is really sweet also. I drive from the west side of santa cruz to get my cigars and pipe tobacco here.

Been going there off and on for years. OK selection, a little pricey. Staff has always been friendly.

I’m a pipe smoker and occasional cigar smoker. I have been in this place a few times now. As you will see this place does not stir an eloquent review from me, but I can provide some facts.
The place is a bit small and cluttered, it makes no effort to exude elegance (the way that many tobacconists who focus on pipe tobacco and cigars do).
It seems that they have very good prices on tobacco pipes, though I didn’t examine the brands. They also sell reconditioned pipes, which I thought was handy. I bought a couple in order to experiment with how I like different shapes.
The cigar selection is relatively small but seems fine (as I said, I’m not a huge cigar smoker), and I like the walk-​in humidor.
For whatever reason I found all of their pipe tobacco blends to be a bit on the sweet side for my taste, but if you like flavored tobaccos this place will probably serve you well. Lots of cherry and vanilla and all-​around fruity smelling blends. I wasn’t totally crazy about what I brought home but it seemed fresh.
Two things I didn’t like so much. One is that the overall location is a little too low-​rent. To lock up my bike I have had to kick garbage away from the rack and there’s altogether too much abandoned furniture strewn around. Am I the only one who notices this?
Secondly, the woman who runs the shop… she’s polite enough, but not friendly or helpful. I had the feeling, every time I was in there, that she’s just as soon see me make a purchase and leave than spend any time looking around or asking questions.