OK, so I'm >2/3 thru a bowl in my Florian Dublin. The tobacco smokes much more easily and far quicker but it has lost a significant amout of body and richness, producing a dry rye type taste which I have not associated with this blend before. Overall, this preparation seems to prioritise convenience over taste, at least the way I did it.
Beginner Revelation Series: #2
- Thread starter cwpiperman
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Bowl now finished.
I'm feeling the nicotine hit from two full flakes of Old Dark Fired, but not in a nice, relaxing way and that cheek dryness continues. Tongue is fine. Overall,I do not feel....satisfied the way I usually associate with my pipes.
I'm feeling the nicotine hit from two full flakes of Old Dark Fired, but not in a nice, relaxing way and that cheek dryness continues. Tongue is fine. Overall,I do not feel....satisfied the way I usually associate with my pipes.
Yeah I know that. I'm saying it was not the same as previous strong doses.
It wasn't an overdose. It was a different effect. Like the difference between tequila and cognac.
It wasn't an overdose. It was a different effect. Like the difference between tequila and cognac.
As I only smoke out doors, I can't rely on sitting in a cloud of smoke and smelling it, to pick up the flavors of what I'm smoking. So I've spent a bit of time, effort, and money, to figure out what moisture levels bring me the most intense amount of flavor and I draw the smoke in and expel through my schnoz. Overwhelmingly, that moisture level is just shy of bone dry. I'm looking for tobacco that feels dry to the touch when squeezed twixt thumb and forefinger, no sense of the water in it coming to the surface while squeezed, maybe crispy at the ends, but still pliant. If it's crumbly, I'm not going to get a good smoke.
So it's not about length of time, it's about level of moisture. I don't own a gauge but I've learned what the tobacco should feel like to give me the most during a smoke.
Pack it so the draw is still easy and smoke it so that the cherry is barely going, just enough to simmer the tobacco surrounding it. I get the most intense flavors when the pipe is kept going on the verge of going out.
Let the smoke gently drift out through your nose to get more of the flavors.
Too much moisture masks the flavors in a blend. Some may prefer a blend with it's flavors masked by excess moisture. I'm not one of them.
Too fast a cadence robs you of the flavors in that blend.
So it's not about length of time, it's about level of moisture. I don't own a gauge but I've learned what the tobacco should feel like to give me the most during a smoke.
Pack it so the draw is still easy and smoke it so that the cherry is barely going, just enough to simmer the tobacco surrounding it. I get the most intense flavors when the pipe is kept going on the verge of going out.
Let the smoke gently drift out through your nose to get more of the flavors.
Too much moisture masks the flavors in a blend. Some may prefer a blend with it's flavors masked by excess moisture. I'm not one of them.
Too fast a cadence robs you of the flavors in that blend.
I do know how to smoke. Been doing it since The Eighties! Although I didn't know how to smoke then I admit.
My experience with today's experiment is that the flavour of the tobacco is changed and greatly diminished.
But since I didn't have an independent observer with a regulated hygrometer on hand, it's very much speculation. Perhaps I over-dried.
My journey continues....
My experience with today's experiment is that the flavour of the tobacco is changed and greatly diminished.
But since I didn't have an independent observer with a regulated hygrometer on hand, it's very much speculation. Perhaps I over-dried.
My journey continues....
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