The Art of Taste

SLCarrico

I just sent this question in to Beau and JD at the  Country Squire Podcast, we'll see if JD weighs in on it. I also wanted to ask the TPL community.
On the Art of Tasting, what are some tips and techniques on getting the highest quality flavor out of our pipes and tobaccos? How can we best draw out the complex and nuanced flavors as well?
I primarily smoke English and Non-aromatic blends and go for blends with medium to high strength and taste ratings. Aside from smoking for the pure enjoyment and relaxation of it, great taste is the next biggest reason I smoke a pipe.
Cheers!

motie2

I posted this elsewhere, but it bears repeating:

                                                                    ~ Author Unknown

JosiahWN

I agree a slow draw definitely helps enhance the taste. But if you really want to get the purest taste from one tobacco you have to have a clean pipe(think cobb, clay, or meerschaum) or a dedicated pipe(committing one pipe to one type of tobacco or even one specific blend). Over time the cake developed in a dedicated pipe brings out new and more nuanced flavors.

SLCarrico

@motie2 and @JosiahWN
Slow, and dedicate pipes to tobaccos - both good ideas. Thanks.
Any ideas for preparing ones palate? Sometimes my mouth just seems off?

Deadpool57

I personally like to keep a cold glass of water when smoking select brands of tobacco. With any type of consumption of anything, smell is a key factor in your taste.  If you draw your smoke slow and exhale through your nose a few times you really get a full feel for the type of tobacco you're smoking. The water doesn't add a flavor and allows you to enjoy your smoke thoroughly.  You'll hear some of the older heads talking about adding different liquors to "fulfill their taste buds needs".  As a younger buck that's been doing this for some years I will tell you; a cold glass of water can really give you an understanding of what you are smoking.  After understanding what you're smoking then try different liquors, tea, etc or whatever else you want to taste. 

It's the same when you're sick, if you're not tasting your tobacco while your sick; it's probably because you can't breath.  Certain foods can effect your tastes and smells as well.  I personally like to have crackers when I smoke and that actually cleanse your palate as well. 

Have a smoky night!

SLCarrico

Yes, I have found that retrohaling really helps me taste the flavors. I've become a retrohaling nut.
I'll give the water a try. I usually smoke without a drink, maybe coffee sometimes.

PappyJoe

I'm with @Deadpool57 on this. Over the years I have come to the point of usually having a glass of slightly chilled water next to me when smoking a pipe. I find it very helpful when smoking a new blend as it doesn't muddle the flavor of the tobacco with what I am drinking. I also have a clay pipe and some cobs that I use with the "new" blends until I think I have a full understanding of it. 

However, after a while, I will start drinking whatever I please with those tobaccos just as I start using pipes dedicated to either aromatics or other blends. 

I don't have an individual pipe dedicated to every single blend I have though. I can't afford that many pipes.

xDutchx

Some fantastic advice above. I'll add a couple more things that come to mind.

Pipe cleanliness is critical, especially so in the shank area. Take a penlight, and shine up inside your shank. You will notice an inside corner formed from the drilling in the front of the shank. When cleaning your shank with spirits and a scruffy pipe cleaner, give the spirit time to penetrate this inside corner, for around 15 minutes or longer if needed. Then take a wooden toothpick and gently scrape around the inside corner. Resist the urge to use any type metal tool, as over time that can cause a groove to form, which will allow more gunk to settle. If you stay on top of this area when you clean your pipe, it won't get out of hand.

If you are restoring or cleaning a pipe that has neglected, this area deserves special attention.

Another tip for increasing your ability to taste, is to take good care of your sinus cavities. I use a product called "Ocean Saline Nasal Spray." Instead of holding the bottle vertically and spraying against gravity, I will tilt my head back, and put 5 to 8 drops in each nostril. The saline solution will help to break up mucus that is not draining as it should. Not only will you improve your ability to taste and smell, you will also notice that you don't get sick as often. Sometimes I will go 3 or 4 years before I get a head cold, because using the saline solution twice a day, kills a lot of bacteria. Salt is a key ingredient in several natural remedies.

Another product called a Neti Pot will work even more effectively than the Ocean saline spray, but it is a bit more time consuming. I usually only use a Neti Pot about once every 2 or 3 months.

Oh, and one other thing that will improve your ability to taste, is to brush your tongue with your toothbrush, when you brush your teeth.

SLCarrico

Great advice guys. I really appreciate it. Some new things to do and some encouragement to continue with others.
I think I should clean my nasal passage regularly simply for good hygiene. 
I do notice that when I'm fighting off a cold ( which is often Oct. - Marchish, because I have four kids) my ability to taste drops significantly. It can really ruin a good smoke.

bluespiper

I cannot agree more about the water. If I ever go without some cool water when I smoke I find that by the end of the bowl my taste buds have become muddled and an ashy taste can form (some tobaccos are obviously worse than others about doing this). The water can help keep your mouth cool and your palate clean. I find that coffee and tea are also enjoyable during a smoke but when it comes to tasting the flavors of your blend aqua is the best.
And as always sip slowly!

motie2

A cup of fresh roast Sumatran or  two fingers of rum.

motie2

.... or three ....

Woodsman

I'm really surprised about the cold water, I always have it handy but never thought of mentioning it. Second nature I guess.

pwkarch

I have picked up slight salty notes (in particular) on various tobaccos. I have not seen this discussed very much on this or other forums. I think it actually adds to the full dimension of flavors in certain blends. It is not by any means overpowering or a bad taste. Having read somewhere how different "tastes" are picked up by differing taste receptors in various locations within the mouth and nose, any note that we pick up that others do not could be the result of where the pipe stem sits while smoking (lips, teeth toward the front, teeth towards the rear, etc.) and how the mouth / nose airway is configured in each of us. Also, we probably all have varying amounts of sodium within our own personal ecosystem that could possibly affect how we perceive a salty taste. In terms of sweetness, we certainly all have varying amounts of sucrose in our systems as well.

This is just my own theory of which I could never prove, but I am interested if anyone else.has experienced this. Does this make sense to anyone? Is our individual chemical makeup and the location of the pipe bit relative to given taste receptors the possible reason that many of us have different takes on what notes we perceive with any given tobacco blend?

I have always wondered why there are often such variations in pipe tobacco reviews, not in the like / unlike statements, but in the perceived "flavors" that are often described in detail.

motie2

Again, I think it has to do with pH..... of the pipe, the tobacco, and the smoker.

<<Do you know your pipe’s pH, is it acidic, neutral or alkaline? A pipe has pH like any organic substance.  It can vary from 0 – really acidic – to 14 extremely alkaline.  The soil the briar grew in and the water in it determine it. It doesn’t change when they boil the blocks.  Your tobacco also has pH. If your pipes is a low pH and your tobacco is a high pH that is not likely going to be a happy combination, unless they neutralize each other, a very big maybe.  This I am sure is the reason why a tobacco will smoke great in one pipe and badly in another, assuming similar size and briar origin. You can determine the pH of the tobacco but it's very difficult to do on the pipe.>>

An individual's pH varies throughout one's life, which -- along with age -- accounts for my smoking only aromatics after decades smoking English blends and VaPers.

motie2

<<Pipe smoking, like so many things that are worth pursuing, is a deceptively complex system of the variables we know, and those we don’t. Paraphrasing J.B.S. Haldane, eminent 20th Century biologist, not only is the art and science of pipe smoking stranger than we suppose, it’s stranger than we can suppose. Many have tried to proffer theories, some of them quite scholarly, on ways to increase the likelihood of great smokes, but for every well reasoned argument, there will be a scoffing gang of hooligan pipes, working equally hard to prove the theory inadequate. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t continue to try to find the answers, at least as long as the questions are interesting, we don’t take the task too seriously, and the hunt remains enjoyable.>> ~ G.L. Pease at http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/out-of-the-ashes/its-not-that-simple/