Advice Needed On Aromatics

[Ocqueoc]

Looking for advice on smoking aromatics, specifically Sutliff "goopy" blends, e.g. Chocolate Mousse, Creme Brulee, Mark Twain.

The missus agrees to me smoking in the house, provided I mix in some of the "good aromas", as she calls them. I do enjoy all three, but find them too wet to get past the halfway point in the bowl. I found the "Frank" packing method works best for me, but still have trouble keeping it lit.

Can other blends be mixed in to dry out the bowl? Should I be packing it looser? Should I hone my skills on other blends first? Any suggestions on a good beginner blend?

Thanks!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Pack them more loosely.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

Anything burns good if it's dry enough. I'd just focus on packing loosely, like embers said... and forget about the "packing techniques"

Even with all the times I've read about the Frank method.. I still don't know who he is.

 

[canucklehead]

You could mix them with something dry, I like C&D dark burley and bulk cigar leaf for mixing with aros. Sutliff Mello Peach mixed with some bulk DFK is something I enjoy also.

 

[JPremo]

Air pocket pack! I use it for all my Aromatics to nip the goopy bottom tobacco in the bud by just leaving that space empty. You'll still get goop in the bottom of the bowl but you won't be smoking it mixed in with tobacco.

The con of it is that your bowls will last much shorter than regular packing methods, but if you've got a few bowls on hand to rotate it's not a problem.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

My advice is to train your wife to enjoy smelling good tobacco.

 

[Ocqueoc]

My advice is to train your wife to enjoy smelling good tobacco.

That IS the long term plan.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The con of it is that your bowls will last much shorter than regular packing methods, but if you've got a few bowls on hand to rotate it's not a problem.

Not if most of your pipes have 2+ inch deep chambers.

 

[solideogloria86]

Cornell and Diehl autumn evening smells like aromatics, tastes like tobacco and isn't goopy. Gl Pease Virginia Cream is another one.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Cornell and Diehl autumn evening smells like aromatics, tastes like tobacco

All I taste from that one is maple.

 

[lukasstrifeson]

Looking for advice on smoking aromatics, specifically Sutliff "goopy" blends, e.g. Chocolate Mousse, Creme Brulee, Mark Twain.

The missus agrees to me smoking in the house, provided I mix in some of the "good aromas", as she calls them. I do enjoy all three, but find them too wet to get past the halfway point in the bowl. I found the "Frank" packing method works best for me, but still have trouble keeping it lit.

Can other blends be mixed in to dry out the bowl? Should I be packing it looser? Should I hone my skills on other blends first? Any suggestions on a good beginner blend?

Thanks!

Love mixing an Aromatic with something stronger like a full-bodied English or Va/Per - it'll definitely even out the wetness a bit if you're using a drier blend. But the real advise is to dry it longer, pack it lighter, and smoke it slower!

 

[solideogloria86]

All I taste from that one is maple.

It's funny because I don't taste any maple. I get some of the sugary casing but the bulk of the flavor to me tastes like a va/bur blend. Definitely get some maple in the retrohale. None on the palate for me though.

 

[cigrmaster]

When I am in a generous mood and want to make my house smell nice, I smoke either Cult Blood Red Moon or Sutliff Molto Dolce. The Cult comes drier than the Molto by a little bit so it needs less drying if you think you need it. I can smoke either blend fresh out of the tin and I have no issues with wetness.

I normally use my Willmer AAA Straight Grain pipes for my aromatics as these have inside bowl widths of around .82"-1". Inside bowl depths of around 1.5-1.8" and a bowl height of around 2"-2.25". An inside shank width of 4.0-4.5 helps keep it a drier smoke. I have tried using smaller group 3-4 flake pipes for my aromatics but the results were not as good as when I use my larger Willmers.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

My advice is to train your wife to enjoy smelling good tobacco.

This.

I bombarded my wife with lat bombs for a couple weeks, when I was trying a bunch of english blends. It's amazing how much better she tolerated my perique blends after that.

 

[lawdawg]

Agreed on packing looser.

Also, try some aromatic blends from Wilke and also from Boswell. They are in-house shop blends, so you won’t find them on other retailers websites. They are very good. I am especially enjoying Wilke 191, which is Wilke’s best selling blend. It’s a vanilla honey aromatic, not goopy, and the toppings blend well with the tobacco.

 

[redrooster1977]

A pipe with a filter helps, as does looser packing (as mentioned).

 

[chopper]

Looking for advice on smoking aromatics, specifically Sutliff "goopy" blends, e.g. Chocolate Mousse, Creme Brulee, Mark Twain.

The missus agrees to me smoking in the house, provided I mix in some of the "good aromas", as she calls them. I do enjoy all three, but find them too wet to get past the halfway point in the bowl. I found the "Frank" packing method works best for me, but still have trouble keeping it lit.

Can other blends be mixed in to dry out the bowl? Should I be packing it looser? Should I hone my skills on other blends first? Any suggestions on a good beginner blend?

Thanks!

I'm not a fan of moist aromatics.
Tobacco is way too expensive here to dry out [50g is over $110] so when I ordered a pound of Mark Twain and found it too moist and a bit too sweet, I blended in some D&R Windsail Virginia. Windsail comes rather dry and is not a bad smoke straight so it's just right for the purpose.

It doesn't lose as much flavour as drying will. The room note remains pleasant without it tasting too sweet.
Sometimes I'll mix Mark Twain with an English blend like London Squire.
Just the other day I mixed a large jar of 1/3 MT, 1/3 LS and a 1/3 straight Virginia. It's a lovely smoke that doesn't offend non-smokers.

 

[rajangan]

I'm going to assume the goopy tobacco wouldn't just dry out in Michigan in an open bag.

Therefore, I would take the couple grams of the aromatic you're going to smoke, and microwave it for ten seconds, stir, microwave again for ten seconds, then let it rest 5 minutes before smoking.

 

[hawky454]

I’d also like to throw out the recommendation of trying something from Dan Tobacco like Blue Note. It smells heavenly and it tastes great, comes dry and burns easy and smooth. Another good one is Autumn Evening from C&D (I like to cut it with a more stout tobacco) but this is a nice aromatic as well as far as wife pleasing aromatics are concerned.

If you’d like a list of wife repellent aromatics, I have a long list of those as well.

 

[hawky454]

Tobacco is way too expensive here to dry out [50g is over $110]

Wow! I don’t think I would smoke a pipe if it cost that much! Where do you live?