Perspectives from a Developing Piper
I've been tossing the idea around of blogging or otherwise posting about pipe smoking from a developing pipers perspective. After encouragement from my TPL brothers i've started this discussion to do just that. For this first post i'm just going to outline topics i want to discuss and encourage any on here to chime in and comment what you might want to discuss or get perspective on.
Future topics will include: developing your palate, pipe packing, beginner pipe blends, techniques in pipe tasting, cellaring and cellar development, tongue bite, the pipe community, pipe carving and restoration, pipe design, tobacco blending, and others.
I don't have first hand knowledge of all these topics and in those cases i intend to summarize the prevailing thoughts on those topics for my own and your consideration. If you are a new or old pipe smoker give this discussion a look see from time to time for some food for thought.
To cool smokes and few relights.
Future topics will include: developing your palate, pipe packing, beginner pipe blends, techniques in pipe tasting, cellaring and cellar development, tongue bite, the pipe community, pipe carving and restoration, pipe design, tobacco blending, and others.
I don't have first hand knowledge of all these topics and in those cases i intend to summarize the prevailing thoughts on those topics for my own and your consideration. If you are a new or old pipe smoker give this discussion a look see from time to time for some food for thought.
To cool smokes and few relights.
Comments
https://rebornpipes.com/2020/07/17/smoke-king-uk-tobacconist-beginners-guide-to-pipe-smoking/
Look forward to some good reading and thoughts from all...
One of the most frequent troubles expressed by new pipe smokers, and some veterans alike, is the inability to taste the kinds of things described on tins by pipe tobacco manufacturers or our good friend Jiminks on Tobacco reviews. Elegant descriptions of things like black currant, baking spices, hay, molasses, liquor, figs, etc. that for the average pipe smoker likely oversells and underdelivers especially in relation to the delectable smells coming from the tin. I myself have much to learn in this regard but have been able to discern more and more of these notes as my pipe journey has progressed. Sure, there is probably some confirmation bias going on but progress has been made of that i am certain. I also know that for some, they like a blend, or a few, or maybe even all the blends they smoke and that's what they can say about it. I like Carter Hall and that's what I like. If this is maximal enjoyment for you then more power to you. Best advice I ever received was smoke what you like and smoke it down until you stop enjoying it and then empty your bowl.
When that common question is posed, I see the same answers spouted ad nauseum on the forums back at those seeking just a bit more out of the tobaccos they're trying. Things like smoke slower, really sip the tobacco, dry more, dry less, try gobs of tobacco etc. Some of these recommendations I think are certainly appropriate, especially for the novice, but no one goes deeper than that. It's as if the basic tenants of pipe smoking are all you need to get maximal enjoyment. I'm not necessarily arguing that it isn't, but there's more, at least for me there is. Two things that I think can help anyone develop a better ability to taste pipe tobacco are first, to experience more flavors in all things taste related within and beyond tobacco and second, things you can actually do with your mouth and all its parts to change the way your tongue and mind receive/perceive what is going on e.g. "chewing the smoke".
So, with that said, let's discuss those two things in greater detail.
On the first point, there is no substitute for language and experience. Both equally as important and necessary to develop when going from this tastes sweet to this tastes like caramelized sugar, anise, and cocoa. My first recommendation is to just try as many tobaccos as your budget can stand. This is especially true for new pipe smokers. This is one of the recommendations i definitely stand behind when others give it as is often the case. You will most likely not be able to discern the finer points of a latakia tobacco if you hate the taste or if you've only ever tried Presbyterian mixture. In experiencing a wide variety you've accomplished multiple things in addition to developing an unhealthy retail addiction, like learning what it is that you like and don't like, developing a broad sense of what "blend types" are about and assigning those blend types into the most basic taste categories e.g. aromatics are sweet, burley is more earthy, latakia/dark fired is smokey etc. This quest to try new things doesn't stop at the tobacco front. You can't describe something as tasting like cherry if you've never had cherries before. You picky eaters out there will be at a disadvantage but the more flavors and tastes you know, the better comparison you can make for yourself and for others. With broadened tastes you'll probably also pick up a broader vocabulary for describing the food or tobacco at hand. Terms bandied about in the pipe tobacco community might include things like full bodied, silky mouth feel, syrupy sweet, etc. What does it all mean? I'll be surprised if many of you bother to read this far but i know for fact i'd lose you trying to define all the possible terms running around and so i'll spare you. However, even if you don't feel like you have the words to describe what you taste, use what you have. Maybe you're smoking a notorious rope tobacco and the only thing that it reminds you of is a creosote log being used as a parking black that's been baking in the summer sun, Use that! Somebody will understand exactly what you mean by it. Also, don't be afraid to say words that dont even sound like they belong in describing a flavor, even if its just for your own benefit. Maybe refrain from talking to yourself in public, but im not here to tell you how to live your life. If you're smoking a VaPer and it tastes "boggy" then use that as word and try to think through what that means to you. Maybe first try to decide what ingredient is pushing that flavor. In this instance i'd argue the perique. Is it a taste that reminds you of the way a puddle or some damp place smells? Does it seem round, sharp, full or some other shapely word? Does it remind you of a color like green? I've used that one many times for many things. Something about saying green evokes a smell or taste to many. In exploring the language and the breadth of flavor out there you will almost certainly pick up more of the tobacco flavors you're seeking and likely something not even on the label.
Tune in for part 2.
To cool smokes and few relights.
Cheers
Tasting Pipe Tobacco part 2 by whoispra
This second point is based solely on my own behavior while trying to find flavors in pipe tobacco. Do NOT compromise on all the most basic tenants of smoking a pipe "correctly." Smoke cool, pack your pipe right, avoid tongue bite, all of those things are the basis for all of the things that follow. Don't get me wrong I mess those up still but when I don't and I incorporate the things below I can get a lot of nuance out of my tobaccos. Let's start with a basic technique everyone should know and learn as a reference. The retrohale is a good technique to get additional experience and perhaps flavor out of your pipe tobacco. Simply put you pull smoke into your mouth and then force it out of your nose rather than back out your mouth. It's simple as that. I've heard that blends with perique will give that "spiciness" when you retrohale which has been true in my experiences probably more often than not. For the most part, everything I describe moving forward has no specific name and is probably not unique to me though I may provide it a name. Additionally this isn't specific to any one tobacco or blend type and i'll not describe any nuances I get while doing the behaviors because your mileage is sure to vary. I'm just attempting to put these techniques into words for the benefit of others. The "sip" is a technique where i'll puff my pipe as gently as possible. Pulling in very little smoke and generating very little heat often times not just once but a few times in moderate succession often right on the tip of my tongue. Opposite to this, and often early in a bowl after it is lit, i'll take a long exaggerated pull on the pipe when it is likely to present the flavors while "hot" at least relatively speaking. This can be augmented by some of the other behaviors described hear like doing this with a retrohale. Something else you might try is "chewing the smoke" at least as I define it. Take a puff, size may vary, and leave it to sit in your mouth. Move or swish your tongue and the smoke around while considering the flavors you are getting for an amount of time longer than perhaps you would smoking at your regular pace. Present the smoke to different parts of your tongue. This will happen naturally to some extent during your smoke or you can do so intentionally and with purpose. Another thing I do is "oxygenating" my puffs by not closing my lips off around the bit and allowing fresh air to mingle with the smoke while puffing. Doing these things in different parts of the bowl may yield new experience yet again. But go have a bowl, give this stuff a try and mix and match any of these techniques and I believe you'll get more flavors than you did before.
With all that said, pipe smoking is supposed to be a relaxing and contemplative hobby where you can slow down. Arguably, doing all the aforementioned things might take all the relaxation out of it for you and if that's the case skip it altogether. Although I think over the course of an hour, it isn't too much to ask. It has been in these peaceful hours that i've considered the jumbled narrative you just read and I thank you for taking the time to do so. Hopefully it was somewhat engaging and that maybe you even learned or considered something you hadn't before.
To cool smokes and few relights.
Cheers
I must admit, I am at a big disadvantage when it comes to detecting the nuances in pipe blends.
I was plagued with major sinus infections since the age of 9.
As you know, your sense of smell works with your tastebuds to acquire the FULL taste of anything. I only have about half of my sense of smell, so discovering those side notes others find in blends, I have to take their word for it.
I feel fortunate in that major components, like rum, caramel, chocolate, etc., I can detect. But all those side nuisances are all but lost to me.
Sidenote: experience all you can now. Your taste and smell senses won't get better with age...😔
I too suffer from sinusitis which sometimes makes it difficult to pick up the subtle nuances of some pipe tobacco. That being said, if I clear my sinus before smoking a pipe I can usually pick up most of the flavors in a blend. The ones I can't are usually ones I have no idea of what I should be smelling like black currants or are so light as to be unidentifiable.
There are a lot of blends where I sit and think, "What am I tasting/smelling?" To me, the flavors/aromas are muddled and indistinct.
What I have found though, is if I smoke a non-aromatic blend first and then smoke an aromatic blend, I can definitely taste/smell the different components of the second bowl better.
All that being said, I have found a number of blends which I can immediately taste and smell the toppings when I smoke them. The Untouchables is one of those because the cedar and rose geranium flavors are noticeable from the time I pack the bowl until I dump the ash. There are a few others that gives me the same experience - Exotic Passion (formerly known as Exotic Orange), Tillerman Flake and Rattray's Bagpiper's Dream. I can always get the full experience of flavors when I smoke them.
Interesting observation concerning smoking a non-aro 1st, THEN an aro. Never tried that, but it does make sense, if for no other reason than the contrast.
Nice tip buddy. I'll give it a try...
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/rinsing-your-sinuses-neti-pots-safe
Works MUCH better. Now only have sinus infections maybe once a year, and the duration is much shorter...
Is tthat a battery powered rig like the NAVAGE advertised on TV.
If you do like I did you get overwhelmed by choice and you go with a name you've likely heard or seen even if you aren't a pipe smoker. I'm referring to those "codger" blends. Brands like Captain Black, Sir Walter Raleigh, Carter Hall and their allies. Codger blends are almost all burley and virginia in composition though dark fired kentucky, cavendish, and other tobaccos do make an appearance occasionally. I'd also argue most are cased or topped in some way to give usually a light sweetness. I personally went with Captain Black dark which is 100% steamed black cavendish and personally I didn't love. I think cavendish is fine. It was certainly easy-ish to smoke and had a light sweetness and nothing overly off putting. I think this is a reasonable way to go. Most burn relatively cool, are lower in body, and don't have any crazy bold flavors that might start you off on the wrong foot. My experience is they are a good moisture out of the package to all of which are valid for new smokers who are going to pack poorly, make little to no considerations to moisture, and will probably puff away like an overworked steam engine. However, to borrow a phrase from Jon David Cole from the Country Squire many would consider these blends to be worth little more than the bedding for a hamster cage especially considering the breadth of what is available.
Let us consider for a moment the two tobaccos I think a new pipe smoker should avoid without question: straight or pure virginia tobaccos and goopy aromatics. The former is high in natural sugars which lend themselves to burning hot out the gate and coupled with bad fundamentals and potential moisture issues this is a sure fire way to melt your tastebuds off. The latter is the bigger trap because most goopy aromatics, something like Sutliff's Molto Dulce (in my experience), is going to be heavily cased, smell like cake or other delicious things, and be just goopy wet. It is going to appeal to a wide array of beginners but that wetness and the sugary toppings again lead to tongue bite which is fundamentally the limiting factor to new smokers who are at least committed to the idea of trying out a tobacco pipe.
So, codgers are fine, easily available, usually cheap, and not often super wet or goopy. A viable option but perhaps lower on the quality end. I like some codgers so I wouldn't avoid recommending one. I would avoid trying wet aromatics and pure virginias until you've developed your technique. So get to the point. What do you recommend?
In a nutshell I think the following are best tobaccos for new pipe smokers: English/English Hybrids/Scottish blends, "dry" aromatics, and VaPers. Let me qualify this first by saying I'm not making any considerations for nicotine content. No one wants to be Nic Sick but i've not one time been so buzzed on nicotine that I felt offput by the experience and i've tried blends people said would put me in my seat and I didn't come from a heavy cigarette background.
English, English Hybrids, and Scottish blends which as judas post points out are not the same but similar and are usually dry, a blend of multiple tobacco types, cooler smoking, and easily accessible. Basically every major manufacturer offers multiple offerings in each category. They may or may not be cased or topped, tongue bite is usually minimal to none, and as long as it isn't a "Lat bomb" should be appealing to many assuming they don't hate latakia. Something like the country squires northwest trek, Peterson's my mixture 965 or early morning pipe, or JM Boswells countryside are also good options.
Dry aromatics are just that. Probably a blend of Cavendish, burley, and virginia with a light casing or topping that isn't wet, is lower in virginia content, and mellow enough to have mass appeal. While not for me, C&D's autumn evening I would say falls in this category. Other recommendations might be JM Boswells aromatics as a collective or something like Blue Ribbon from the Country Squire.
VaPers (virginia periques) are probably a gamble but hear me out. In my experience theyre much less prone to tongue bite than a straight virginia and they offer both the virginia tast profile as well as the perique profile which everyone should try. Good examples might be C&D's Kajun Kake, Escudo Navy Deluxe, or Peter Stokkebyes Luxury Bullseye Flake.
Final thoughts are that a new pipe smoker should cast a wide net on trying blends but to do so with caution. Pursue those offerings that will provide experience without discomfort and work your way into those spaces where novice technique might be punishing.
To cool smokes and few relights.
Cheers
Nice post. I agree about most aros, especially the majority of Sutliff blends.
To help combat tha "goopiness", I have found that spreadig it out on a paper towel and allowing it to sit for 24 hours, while shifting the tobacco around on the towel a couple of times helps to draw out some that topping. Sometimes I find the need to change out the paper towel due to excessive absorbtion.
It usually results in a dryer smoke, but some of the flavoring may be lost as well. It is a trade off I usually am willing to make when combating the "goopiness".
The first pipe tobaccos I bought were either Captain Black or Borkum Riff.