Aros Why?
- Thread starter phxrock
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Marty Pulvers once said on his site that he didn't understand why anyone would smoke aromatic tobacco. But again, I think you have to define your terms.
Think GL Pease Barbary Coast vs Lane HGL. Tough to categorize them both as simply "aromatic".
I think a traditional aromatic can be done very well. And even a black cavendish aromatic can be done very well (think
Wilke No.191). But there are certainly a variety of goopy tobaccos out there that don't actually resemble tobacco in any measurable way.
But hey- apparently aromatics account for the vast majority of pipe tobacco sales. So go figure.
Think GL Pease Barbary Coast vs Lane HGL. Tough to categorize them both as simply "aromatic".
I think a traditional aromatic can be done very well. And even a black cavendish aromatic can be done very well (think
Wilke No.191). But there are certainly a variety of goopy tobaccos out there that don't actually resemble tobacco in any measurable way.
But hey- apparently aromatics account for the vast majority of pipe tobacco sales. So go figure.
As soon as they figure out how to grow tobacco that tastes like gummy bears, pudding or mint, I won't have any desire to smoke aromatics.
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It's simple, I enjoy aros now and then, possibly because I'm not as discerning as so many of the members and simply desire a couple of blends that give me a simple, not unenjoyable experience. Some smokers enjoy searching out new tastes, prefer certain styles (even to the point of disdaining other smoker's choices now and then) of blends, or simply are unable to find a couple of blends they can enjoy pipe after pipe. Me? I'm one of those guys that prefer my diversions simple, no notes, no chase for ingredients, no thirst for discovery, no anticipation when a package arrives with blends untried.
An aside: The smell of newly uncapped or unsealed blend tells me nothing about what to expect when the leaf is ignited and tasted. I find, I stress I find, no connection at all. Probably just me.
An aside: The smell of newly uncapped or unsealed blend tells me nothing about what to expect when the leaf is ignited and tasted. I find, I stress I find, no connection at all. Probably just me.
It's sort of like a cup of coffee. Why do some people prefer it black while others take it with cream and sugar. I like my coffee nice and hot while my wife enjoys iced coffee. It all boils down to a matter of personal taste.
When I was a kid, my dad would scold me for putting A1 sauce on my steaks. He'd rant about covering up the taste. Then one day my mom tore into him. "If using a steak sauce kills a steak, what about those rims you put on your truck? Or that god awful cologne you use?" We all probably have something we enhance, whether it's milk and sugar in coffee or steak sauce. If smoking an aromatic means I get to smoke in someone's house while visiting or a stranger wants to set next to me a chat lured in by some memory of a granddad or uncle, so be it. I can always smoke my Virginias some other time.
Some aromatics are just plain delicious! Some are complex and some are not. Some are goopy with additives and some are not. There is a huge spectrum to aromatics just like all the other kinds of tobacco out there. Part of the appeal will always be in the room note for other people, but there are many flavors out there for you to personally enjoy.
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Lea and Perrins or A-1 for supermarket beef almost always. Young beef has no flavor to me so I need a sauce of some sort. Now a four year old with a lot of range time? That's a whole different animal from what I usually see in the stores. Longer cooking time and I can taste the grass. Wonder why I'm not so discerning with tobacco blends?
Ah, now the light goes on. The steaks I had growing up did not need A-1, HP or whatever. My dad usually bought the runner up at the 4H fair and had it butchered. Maybe went in with a pal. But our freezer, top loading 3 or 4 compartments, got filled in the Fall. I bet the beasts got a combo of hay and grass. No idea how old they may have been.
We also did our steaks Pittsburg style.
We also did our steaks Pittsburg style.
I was never a fan of A-1 sauce, I pretty much avoid it. What I will do is cover my steak in candied BBQ sauce instead (make sure to caramelize the sugar in the sauce).
Back to aromatics, if someone really needs convincing I think just saying "Frog Morton's Cellar" should be enough. It almost seems like Latakia and Whisky were meant to go together.
Back to aromatics, if someone really needs convincing I think just saying "Frog Morton's Cellar" should be enough. It almost seems like Latakia and Whisky were meant to go together.
Like others above, I smoke more than just one or two kinds of pipe tobacco. I prefer VA or VA dominant blends, followed by mild aros and English. I only smoke aros in the car or if the mood strikes me, also if I'm going to be around people who aren't seasoned smokers.
I smoke just about all types of available tobacco. Each type has merit, and some aros are simply delicious!
I think everyone who first starts smoking a pipe will try an aro first - mine of course was Lane 1Q over a year ago - and I love that stuff! But then I started trying englishs and Balkans, and enjoy those as well, but every night after supper, I love a big bowl of 1Q with my coffee.
Guys who are snooty about aros always remind me of the guys who are snooty in other arenas. Whether it's whiskey drinkers knocking mixed drinks, wine drinkers knocking blushes, or beer drinkers knocking light beers, my answer is always the same: if you have to be a snob about other people's preferences, you're probably missing the point of these "vices"; which of course, is pleasure.
Allow me my one area of snobbishness, I make my own jams, anything else is just grocery store swill. Ha ha. Nah, I enjoy a hint of conceit, sometimes. Like someone who is only into American cars, or a certain sportsball team. If done in fun, jest, with a note of self-depravity, then it can be hilarious.
But, we have to keep in mind that we on this forum are the smallest faction of pipe smokers, which is already a small faction. The majority of the world still prefers aros, and most of the pipe men that I see coming into the Briary, day after day, will have their one aromatic and they will only smoke that one aromatic, day in day out for the rest of their lives. These folks do not understand guys like us. It boggles their mind, probably more-so than they do us.
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