Preserving Flavors

jfred · Oct 8, 2018

I've been smoking pipes for 7-8 months now, aquired several nice pipes and enough tobacco to last me several years at my current rate.

I love trying new tobaccos, and rarely tries a blend I really don't like. This leaves me with a current selection of 20-25 "favorites" for my rotation. Now, I could try to limit myself to a few blends at a time, but right now I really like the variety and continue to try new blends : puffy

:

This leads to my question:

Will a blend stay tasty in a mason jar if opened once every one or two months to fill a pipe? Will it be ok for years or even decades? I know some interesting aging processes will probably stop, but I'm mostly looking to preserve flavor.

I do have some blends I jarred 4-5 months ago, that tastes great, but as my rotation grows I'm curious if this will go downhill at some point.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

bluto · Oct 8, 2018

Something I wonder about also ..
Is it wise to finish up the opened jar , or resealing is ok ?

smittyd · Oct 8, 2018

As long as you have a good seal on your jars, the tobacco should last for years. Some blends like Aro's or Latakia blends will lose some of their flavor over time though.

seanv · Oct 8, 2018

Very important to keep a good seal as stated above. Also store the jars in the most temperature and humidity neutral area as possible.

cosmicfolklore · Oct 8, 2018

Some blends like Aro's or Latakia blends will lose some of their flavor over time though.

Unless you plan to keep the jars for 10, 20 or so years, I wouldn't worry about that. The short answer is yes, the flavors will be fine until you can get the whole thing smoked. If you are curious about loooooong term storage in a cellar (I took it that you weren't interested in this) then it gets tricky.
Jars are fine. Enjoy without worry.

pipesmokingtom · Oct 8, 2018

Yeah I have 92 (at last count) "open" blends varying in age from a couple months to 7-8 years. They get opened from time to time, mostly because sometimes I have an urge just to crack the jars and enjoy the aromas.
The older aromatics MAY have faded some, but not enough to annoy me. Even the oldest Englishes haven't "faded" to any appreciable degree, and I'd say the changes that have happened to the blends were for the positive anyway, even if the latakia is less potent. I don't believe it to be, though.
You're all good.

jfred · Oct 8, 2018

Thanks for the great replies, guys.

I will continue my tobacco tasting bonanza then : puffy

:

Yeah I have 92 (at last count) "open" blends varying in age from a couple months to 7-8 years

I thought I was going overboard, but now I see, I still have a long way to go :D

pipesmokingtom · Oct 8, 2018

I thought I was going overboard, but now I see, I still have a long way to go

I only have very few of significant quantity, though. I went through a phase where I went wider than deep trying to find tobaccos worth stocking up on. Very few made the cut, so most of what I have is 2oz of this or that, minus a couple bowls.

jfred · Oct 8, 2018

I guess I'm going through that exact phase now. I did try 3-4 blends, that I find exceptionally good, and I make sure to stock up by adding a tin or two of these, when I pick up new blends to try.

I suppose my taste buds will settle down at some point, but right now most everything tastes good... or at least interesting.

erhardt85 · Oct 8, 2018

I have about 20 cases of ball jars filled. Until recently I bounced around between blends like crazy, smoking a few bowls and then putting it back into storage and moving on. Having polished off numerous jars. If there's a loss in flavor, and most times the difference is negligible, I liken it to an LCD TV. When brand new, it is luminous and colorful,but as time passes the brightness dims and the color fades a little. However, we never notice it really. Like I said before I rarely notice a loss of flavor, but even when I do it's slight and usually near the very bottom of the jar/tin. Or course, like you said, opening jars like that usually alters aging permanently. I've been making an effort to confine my smoking choices to a dozen or so blends to allow my treasures to age well.

cosmicfolklore · Oct 8, 2018

My advise, take it for what it’s worth... finish off those jars. Don’t open any more. Then when you know your daily rotation, then only keep one open per genre. For example, I know I like one bowl of an aromatic with my morning coffee, one Virginia for all day smoking, with a VaPer alternated between bowls of Virginia. Maybe a Burley for the eving walk. Then a strong blend or twist in the evening before bed. So, I keep an aro, a Virginia, a VaPer, a burley, and a twist open. A few days before I run out of one of these, I open a new one to dry out before replacing one of the mentioned.

This keeps my roatation in check, with no forgotten tins or jars floating around. I still go through Virginias and VaPers more often, but in the winter I will substitute a Latakia blend or Balkan into the rotation.

sablebrush52 · Oct 8, 2018

I have a few jarred blends that I only smoke a few times a year. So far, I haven't noticed any loss of flavor, but these jars only last a few years at most before I've finished them.

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