Inconsistent Smoking Experience - Help

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flake

Lurker
Nov 8, 2018
5
0
I hope this isn't to long winded...But, some background...I have been smoking a pipe on and off, mostly off for 8-10 years. I used to smoke a few times a month and with whatever bag of tobacco I had lying around from my local tobacconists' blends. The last couple of months though I have really gotten into the hobby and been studying about tobaccos, blends, and pipes. Along with acquiring more of each, and smoking a lot more. I am much more educated on the mechanics of smoking as well as the products available. I am primarily enjoying both English blends and VaPers.
My question is: Some specific blends (say for example GL Pease Gaslight) taste not so great one time and bite, and then the next time I smoke the blend it is like nirvana...can this be due to a host of factors like moisture, the pipe itself, my packing, etc.? Does everything have to line up correctly for me to enjoy a blend consistently every time? I am currently smoking 5 or 6 bowls a day as I am wanting to try so many different things, and admittedly my tongue is a little sore...likely due to my increased smoking. Anyway, insight? I just want to have a consistent experience and know what I like but it has been a moving target.

 

ophiuchus

Lifer
Mar 25, 2016
1,557
2,052
The reasons could be many. Others will follow with suggestions. I'm just curious ...
How are you prepping your Gaslight? Are you cutting it perpendicular to the layers like a flake? Or are you peeling the plug layer by layer?

 

chilllucky

Lifer
Jul 15, 2018
1,091
2,715
Chicago, IL, USA
scoosa.com
Pipe smoking is a dynamic exercise. Factors of biology (hydration, to take one), psychology, environment, and who knows what else influence every part of any given smoke.
If you're the type to do so, keep a diary and reference it often. You may eventually gather enough data to know that you'll enjoy a blend with more or less Latakia on Thursday afternoons in summer when the relative humidity is exactly 62% and you've eaten pulses in the last 6 hours.
Perfect consistency probably isn't available for this endeavor. But you might up your chance of success a little. Otherwise, just soak up the nirvana when it hits.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,248
108,339
Dry that tobacco out, pack lighter, and smoke slower. Sounds like your cadence may be a bit fast.

 

flake

Lurker
Nov 8, 2018
5
0
Thanks --
ophiuchus - I have been slicing against the grain, perpendicular. Then rubbing out.

 

dottiewarden

Lifer
Mar 25, 2014
3,053
57
Toronto
Perfect consistency probably isn't available for this endeavor.
The learning curve can be quite different from person to person, but over time enough experience is gained that you get a good sense of whether the tobacco is too moist and requires drying, of how to load your bowl, of how to keep the smoldering leaf from getting too hot, etc. As pipe smoking is done on auto pilot for most experienced smokers, we often forget how much trial and error went into mastering something as simple as smoking a pipe. This is because it only appears to be simple. I'll leave it to others to list all the most detailed scientific and pseudo scientific detailed variables, but the fact remains there are many complexities that go into how well you enjoy your bowl of tobacco. Even for experienced smokers, the same blend in the same pipe may taste fantastic one day and only so-so on another. We get used to this and just enjoy each bowl without much fanfare. The experience is for the most part rewarding, but once in a while all things come together for that smoke that reminds you of why you smoke a pipe in the first place.
Ahhh, for the love of the leaf, smoke on :puffy:

 

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
Many of us have days where every blend is just flavorless. Maybe it's a mental thing, maybe body chemistry. Where I live, weather has an impact as well, and I guess it does other places too.

 
Apr 2, 2018
3,112
35,187
Idong,South Korea.
If you’re smoking five to six bowl per day,you may be experiencing olfactory overload.Some times,it takes me all day to smoke through one bowl,one bit at a time,and not getting down to the dead ashes until the next morning,depending on the size of the chamber.I like this method.I rarely smoke more than two complete bowls per day,unless I am using a pipe with a small,shallow chamber.Try going with just one mixture,and stretch it out over the entire day,then,on another day,try it again with another mixture.It helps a lot to have different pipes designated for different

Tobaccos,also.Happy smoking.

 
Jan 28, 2018
12,952
134,578
66
Sarasota, FL
How many pipes do you have? What tobacco did you smoke in the pipe before you smoked Gaslight? What tobacco did you smoke before smoking Gaslight? There's lots of factors that can cause the experiences you're having. If you smoked the Gaslight in a pipe you mostly have smoked Va blends in one time and then in a pipe you mostly smoked latakia blends in the next time, you're going to have a significantly different flavor experience.
Slow down, it's not a race. You'll have time to smoke them all, more important to enjoy them along the way. Just remember the Old Bull, Young Bull story.

 

ophiuchus

Lifer
Mar 25, 2016
1,557
2,052
ophiuchus - I have been slicing against the grain, perpendicular. Then rubbing out.
Not presuming that there’s a right or wrong way; you’re already prepping as I would have recommended. :puffy:
Good advice all around ... dry it after you slice, pack loose because it expands a little while burning, smoke slowly. I’ve got nothing else useful to add. I tend to char-light when I smoke this.

 

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
I think Samuelgawith01 has made a useful observation. Maybe you are smoking too much. You need to get hungry before you eat, so to speak, in order to really appreciate it.

 
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