Hi all!
I've been smoking for a few weeks, and was hoping to bounce my experience off a few folks. I think I've got my packing and temperature management to a serviceable place, but I'm confused by talk of "taste"/"flavour". Mostly I've been smoking RO Fire Storm , SPC Plum Pudding, and a small handful of other Englishes. I tend to point the bit into the middle of the oral cavity, i.e. neither at my tongue, nor at the roof of my mouth.
When I draw, I generally won't experience much taste (fundamental sensation on tongue) or flavour (taste + aroma in the mouth - "this tastes like X"). If I draw a little harder and there's a vinegar-like component to the leaf, I'll get some pleasantly-sour taste. If I draw too hard, I get the taste of acridity/creosote and start burning out my tongue.
If I retrohale, I get negligible pleasant/additional aroma and start frying my sense of smell very quickly (so I tend not to retrohale).
Side-stream smoke invariably smells like unpleasant chemicals, so I avoid it.
99% of the pleasant sensation I get from the smoke amounts to drawing smoke into my mouth with either a modest puff or two, or building up concentration with breath-smoking, then metering the smoke out of my mouth in small puffs and "sipping" it with my nose just enough to get it into my sinus at a diluted concentration. If I'm smoking too hot, it smells pretty generic (ash, and often a subtle anise-like note). If I'm smoking in a way I think of as appropriate/cool/slow, I get a bunch of pleasant aroma and aromatic flavours.
Is this aromatic sensation what is being referred to as "taste"/"flavour", and my terminology just disconnected from pipe-smokers' vernacular, or am I missing a fundamental part of the intended experience when smoking for flavour?
I've been smoking for a few weeks, and was hoping to bounce my experience off a few folks. I think I've got my packing and temperature management to a serviceable place, but I'm confused by talk of "taste"/"flavour". Mostly I've been smoking RO Fire Storm , SPC Plum Pudding, and a small handful of other Englishes. I tend to point the bit into the middle of the oral cavity, i.e. neither at my tongue, nor at the roof of my mouth.
When I draw, I generally won't experience much taste (fundamental sensation on tongue) or flavour (taste + aroma in the mouth - "this tastes like X"). If I draw a little harder and there's a vinegar-like component to the leaf, I'll get some pleasantly-sour taste. If I draw too hard, I get the taste of acridity/creosote and start burning out my tongue.
If I retrohale, I get negligible pleasant/additional aroma and start frying my sense of smell very quickly (so I tend not to retrohale).
Side-stream smoke invariably smells like unpleasant chemicals, so I avoid it.
99% of the pleasant sensation I get from the smoke amounts to drawing smoke into my mouth with either a modest puff or two, or building up concentration with breath-smoking, then metering the smoke out of my mouth in small puffs and "sipping" it with my nose just enough to get it into my sinus at a diluted concentration. If I'm smoking too hot, it smells pretty generic (ash, and often a subtle anise-like note). If I'm smoking in a way I think of as appropriate/cool/slow, I get a bunch of pleasant aroma and aromatic flavours.
Is this aromatic sensation what is being referred to as "taste"/"flavour", and my terminology just disconnected from pipe-smokers' vernacular, or am I missing a fundamental part of the intended experience when smoking for flavour?
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