Getting To Know Your Tobacco

northernneil · Jan 2, 2014

I have a question on the best way to understand the different components at play within a tobacco mixture. Basically, if an individual wanted to really understand, for example, what red VA tastes like in comparison to a yellow VA, would they be better to try the individual components on their own, or create a simple blend and either add or remove a component to see how the flavor is affected?
I'm sure the best practise would be to experiment with both strategies, but that is very time consuming. Any suggestions on the best learning practices?

yaddy306 · Jan 2, 2014

I'm certainly no expert, but it seems to me that the way a tobacco tastes can be heavily influenced by what you had to eat/drink, your mood, time of day, location, pipe, packing, and lots of other things.
If you want to control your variables as much as possible, I'd pack two similar pipes, in the same manner, each with two different blends, and smoke them at the same sitting. A sip of "A", then a sip of "B", then back to "A", would be the best way to do a proper AB comparison of blends. It should maximize your chances of discerning the differences while controlling extraneous variables.

jah76 · Jan 2, 2014

Thats a good question Neil. I always wonder what the exact taste difference between yellow, orange, and red VAs. Then comes the company factor it comes from... McCelland, C&D etc.

cortezattic · Jan 2, 2014

Hoo boy! This is what a broad experience in pipe smoking is all about. Not only do we have different varieties of Virginia (genetic strain, position on the plant, color and growing region); but they can be pressed, steamed, stoved, dark fired, aged (as in oak whiskey barrels), and flavored (usually with rum or liqueur). Then too, we have to consider the presentation (plug, flake/coin, cake, ribbon/shag or twist).
That's too much food to put on my plate. I'm content to just wander through the vast array of blends, sampling and remembering their characteristics as finished products.
I think we need an expert like Russ Ouellette or G L Pease to describe complex questions like this; but I'd like to hear everybody else's opinions too.

cobguy · Jan 2, 2014

Once, I spent an afternoon on a log in the woods going back and forth between CH and PA.

They are SOOOOOOO close! To my palate the PA is just a hair "sweeter".
Mostly, however, I just try to remember what the "forward" component of a blend is while smoking it.

thedudeabides · Jan 2, 2014

Sorry for a strange reference here to a comment in a prior thread I cannot seem to locate, but I think I remember reading an Adam Davidson comment in this forum where he recommended smoking the straight component, then a blend which included that component and the flavor then "jumped out" at him. I do not want to misquote or misappropriate the comment, but that sounds like a reasonable approach from someone who knows a few things about tobacco (and pipes!).
I think getting to know the ingredients first helps you to be a better chef. Smell the ingredient. "Taste" it (by smoking it - of course!). Then start to experiment with it with a known blend or base component. Just remember to keep a control variable - as in any type of experiment - or you will have a hard time keeping track of your changes. Having said all of that, I'm neither a blender or much of a chef!

northernneil · Jan 2, 2014

All great comments guys. Thanks!
I guess my curiousness is based on trying to understand pipe's and tobacco to the best of my ability. The concept excites me because of the millions of possibilities! Nonetheless, let me explain my situation better.
Basically, I've been collecting 'ingredient' tobaccos throughout the process of building my cellar. Now that I have hit my cellar goal, I am in the process of experiencing the array of tobacco's I've acquired, mainly manufactured. I am trying the understand the manufactured tobacco's a little more in depth, and I believe that playing with blending ingredient tobaccos will help me better dissect / understand manufactured tobaccos. I'm not trying to create sellable blends, even though that would be amazing, I just want to better understand these master blends with more knowledge!
I have found some recipies for blends, through this forum actually, and put them together and have been smoking them for the past year. Unfortunately, there is not enough similarities between the blends for me to really be able to distinguish the difference between the different components. I could very easily just smoke each individual component and see what happens, but I am hoping someone might know of a better way to do this!
If there is one thing I have learned about tobacco in my 2 years, that I think everyone can agree on, is that the only true way to know is to try it. Everyone is different and will experience similar activities differently. That being said, guidance can save a person a lot of painful trial and error

spartan · Jan 2, 2014

If you have patience and the spare coin I would start with a nice base tobacco. Something not too complicated but something you enjoy. Probably should be a burley of some sort.
Then add different ratios of some different leafs and see if you can pick out which leaf is giving off the different flavor than the base tobacco that you will get to know very quickly.
Smoking them all by themselves would be beneficial too. That would probably shed some light on the importance of blending.
I've only got 2 hears of making under my belt... so I pretty much know everything about everything.
And that shit sounds like a lot of work right? Just buy stuff and notate what's in the blend and you will figure out which tobacco gives off that sweet, grassy, plum-like, earthy, pungent but sweet, delectable, smooth, sharp, nutty, floral goodness.
And then you'll get a cold and wont be able to taste anything like you remember. And you will cry like a baby.

larrylegend · Jan 4, 2014

I imagine it would be similar to food or spirits. There are many ingredients that may not taste all that good on their own but mixed with others are wonderful. Then there are those that are great by themselves. I don't know many people who drink gin on the rocks, however, it is good mixed in a great many cocktails. Then you have whiskey which many people drink straight or mixed. I would think smoking each individual part would give you a baseline for the taste of that tobacco. Then if mixed with other tobacco they might taste somewhat different.

northernneil · Jan 9, 2014

Well, I decided to ask this question to Mr. Pease. Here is his response:
Hi Neil,
Smoking the individual tobaccos by themselves is invaluable. It offers the purest sense of what they are, how they taste, smell, what they contribute to mixture. But, it's only the beginning. Then, you combine them in different ratios, experiment with how they interact, what they offer to each other. Start with two, then three. It's not an effortless process, of course, but is anything that's truly worth doing? No one becomes an expert wine taster after drinking a few bottles! The bottom line is that the process is enjoyable, fun, enlightening, educational. It might begin with frustration, but over time, it will afford you with a deeper appreciation for the leaf.
Enjoy the process. And, if you don't, you won't have lost anything!
Cheers,

Greg

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