Can't Taste Tobaccos

[bullet08]

been reading about this, but not finding the answer. been smoking pipe for 6 months or so. had no problem tasting tobacco flavors. last few weeks, been smoking english blends which was great. then decided to go back to va/per. i don't taste va/per like i used to. i don't detect sweetness nor peppery perique. not sure what's going on. should i stop smoking pipes for few days to see if my tongue reset itself?

 

[ashdigger]

You've gone Latakia blind. It happens. Keep smoking VaPers and it'll work out.

 

[npod]

I’m with you. It happens. For the past month every VaPer I smoke tastes like cigarettes. I’ve been at this a while for sure, and realize the cycles occcur. But darn, even my beloved Doblone d’Oro tastes bland and ashy lately.
Remedy. I switched back to cigars for a period. That usually does the trick for me.

 

[haparnold]

I switched back to cigars for a period.

 

[unkleyoda]

I had this exact thing happen to me. Deep clean all your pipes. Ream, draft hole brush, and alcohol soak with cotton balls in the bowl. I did that and all the flavors came back.

 

[johnbarleycorn]

What a drag.....dude......

 

[sablebrush52]

Virginias and Va/Pers tend to have a more subtle flavor profile than English/Balkan/Oriental blends. Stick with the Va Va/Pers for a while. Dry the tobacco until it's almost, but not quite, bone dry and smoke them slowly. Ease the smoke out through your nose. Pretty soon, you'll be tasting those flavors.

 

[loneredtree]

If none of the above good suggestions solves the problem, Note that some of us have a seasonal preference for VA & Va/Pr in the summer and Lat foreword blends in the fall and winter. This is because they taste better to us in those seasons. YMMV
So stay the coarse and happy pipe smoking. It is part of the fun.

::

 

[rdavid]

I noticed that smoking an easy OTC like Carter Hall, Prince Albert etc. for a day or two has a tendency to “reset” my tastebuds and I’ll often do this when swapping to a different family of blends. Especially after a heavy latakia/balkan binge.
Also, are you smoking Va and Va/Pers in the same pipes as the english blends? If so, then maybe a deep cleaning as mentioned above may be in order.

 

[workman]

Solid advice above. I'll repeat the advice of not smoking vas and va/pers in a latakia-ghosted pipe.

 

[bullet08]

i'll give a good cleaning to the pipes and see. and keep smoking va/per for a bit.

 

[pappymac]

I think your brain got used to "tasting" a English blends because that was all your were smoking.Then, when you switched to Va/Pers, your brain was still expecting English, so you didn't get the satisfaction from the smoke.

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

I tend to be all over the place with my tobacco choices, but typically I tend to follow roughly the same routine. I smoke many different style blends, so if I have several blends during the course of a day, I usually try to smoke them in what I think of as a light to dark flavor profile. I'll smoke straight Virginias during the day, for instance and save my latakia heavier blends for the afternoon/evening. I personally think of them like this:
Va > Va/bur = Va/per > Burley > Balkan > English > Lat Bomb Stuff.
That's how it works out for me, I've found. I don't usually ever try to smoke a Va after smoking an English or something with a very strong flavor. This has worked out for me, because I never really find myself smoking the same exact blend, bowl after bowl straight. I like variety and this formula works out for me. If I only get a bowl a day, then it doesn't really matter. Occasionally I toss in a good aromatic, but it depends on the type of aromatic as to where it falls. GH Rum Twist, for example, would fall further down the line due to how rich and powerful/flavorful it is. YMMV

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I can't help wondering were they old timers in the past(and today) tasting them tobaccies ,I mean those who primarily were smoking two to three codger blends in two to three pipes all over them years,,

But Yes this happens with me occasionally especially If I'm sticking too long period of time exclusively to Burley blends,

 

[brooklynpiper]

Another thing to think about - are you storing your tobacco in mason jars or leaving them in the tins?

 

[bullet08]

once a tin's open they go into a jar. today seems to be little better. was able to taste some sweetness off va/per. used relatively new pipe, maybe that helped.

 

[verporchting]

I'd try some Captain Black Grape. If you can't taste that abandon all hope. If you can taste that and enjoy it then really abandon all hope. :rofl:
Seriously though, take a break for a couple of days and use the break to thoroughly clean your pipes. Once you go back to smoking start on the light end and work up to the lat bombs like Carolina suggested. You might just have palate fatigue. It happens.

 

[kola]

dedicated pipes -------or clean them up.