Blending Periques, Why Do They Taste Different?

[hawke]

Blending Periques, Why Do They Taste Different?
I can think of several reasons why perique batches taste different but I was wanting to get feedback on this phenomenon from long time smokers.

 

[corncob23]

Well perique is personal a very power full tobacco that if abused in a blend will put you off to smoking a pipe. The characteristics is pepper with a hint of dark fruits, mostly in aroma but that flavor always lingers on the pallet.
Lets get to the point of the actuall question perique has to be blended to be ballanced and not one dimensional. You see every smokers opinion will be different on the tones of flavor they pick up on the pallet. Thats what makes any tobacco different.
Ive smoked for 30's years and blended my own tobacco for 12 of those years.

 

[corncob23]

Well perique is personal a very power full tobacco that if abused in a blend will put you off to smoking a pipe. The characteristics is pepper with a hint of dark fruits, mostly in aroma but that flavor always lingers on the pallet.
Lets get to the point of the actuall question perique has to be blended to be ballanced and not one dimensional. You see every smokers opinion will be different on the tones of flavor they pick up on the pallet. Thats what makes any tobacco different.
Ive smoked for 30's years and blended my own tobacco for 10 of those years...and let me tell you perique and latakia is tobaccos that have to be respected. Some people smoke tobaccos and never pick up on different flavors because there smoking pattern is not in the proper tune (meaning your smoking to hot).
The point is the amount of perique in a blend and smoking pattern, create the flavor changes of perique. I like perique in aromatics many times to change it up a bit but it has to be very very little, to still allow the aromatic tobacco come through.

 

[corncob23]

I apologize for the double post.

 

[skraps]

This might answer some of your questions, Hawke. I figured no point in trying to explain something that one of the experts can certainly do better.
http://www.talkingtobacco.com/2015/10/an-in-depth-look-at-perique/

 

[bigpond]

If all blenders are using acadian perique, and all acadian perique is processed identically, the results should be identical. Greg Pease once commented the constituents in a blend change the way we taste perique (very loosely paraphrasing here).

 

[jitterbugdude]

Perique changes from batch to batch because it is a fermented product. Much like wine, some years it's great, other years not so great. I also believe that each big blending house has certain things they do to their Perique as part of their business plan. One house might apply a 20% PG mixture to it while another house my apply a 40%.

 

[perdurabo]

I always buy Cornell and Diehl, no PG is added and its St James Parish. Have a problem with that statement?(For those with the attack switch turned on) Check out PublicPiper's Cornell and Diehl's Factory tour via YouTube. Mainly the question and answer session with Chris Tarlar and Jeremy Reeves for the skinny on their Perique.

 

[deathmetal]

Another factor seems to me to be the cut. Blending perique is cut into little shreds where the long-cut perique is in long strips. The latter seems to be less dry and more flavorful.

 

[warren]

In addition to all of the above, ones palate (Yes, this is the correct spelling unless you are writing about sleeping or warehouses or colors. Sorry, just one of those things which drives me to distraction. ) changes constantly depending on health, what was recently in the mouth, age, pipe, etc. I may smoke the same blend all day and experience changes in taste from bowl to bowl, especially after eating something, the incidental mosquito, a sandwich, or the like.

 

[misterlowercase]

Perique changes from batch to batch because it is a fermented product. Much like wine, some years it's great, other years not so great. I also believe that each big blending house has certain things they do to their Perique as part of their business plan. One house might apply a 20% PG mixture to it while another house my apply a 40%.

That makes total sense.
However,

I've never been a perique fan unless it's used in very discrete quantity, the "stewed fruit" variety of profile I can live with, but the pepperiness I'm very sensitive to and get a sort of "faux tongue bite" from it, like a numbing sensation --- I don't like spicy foods either, so my palate ain't accommodating to such stuff anyways.
Hawke,

how many and what specific brands have you used?
Just curious.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Other factors affecting the final outcome: even if exact same strain, field locations very- soil, water, wind. When it's cut makes a difference. These will affect taste, though imperceptibly in most cases.

 

[fluffie666]

I recently purchased a few ounces of blending perique from my tobacco shop. I forgot the brand name but the bag it came out of said St. James Peique. It's a ribbon cut and it has the elegant aroma of dirty sweat socks. I heard from several reputable resources that a lot of blending perique, by itself, smells god awful before it's blended. I'm hoping that after I blend, press and let it sit for a few weeks it will smell like chocolate. My question is, if I could somehow deconstruct the smell of chocolate, would it smell like dirty sweat socks? I'll keep you guys posted of my findings.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Hawke, I think that it would to know which ones you are comparing. This has me curious, but without knowing what tastes different to what and whether you are comparing them straight or just wondering how two VaPers can taste different, any of us is just wildly speculating. VaPer to VaPer, how much is in each blend, other leaves in the mix, and processing going into the Virginia can make different blends taste different. Blending perique to blending perique comparison, I would have no idea.
Jitter, I have a hard time believing that PG would be added to something that is supposed to be a catalyst loaded with microbes to react to the tobaccos would get PG added. PG, it would seem, would kill the microbes, but heck, why do companies do what they do? I wouldn't put it past them.
It seems that there are a few different sources for perique out there, and they all seem to claim to be the true perique.

 

[jitterbugdude]

I always buy Cornell and Diehl, no PG is added and its St James Parish. Have a problem with that statement?(For those with the attack switch turned on) Check out PublicPiper's Cornell and Diehl's Factory tour via YouTube.

Can you kindly point to where in that video he mentions not treating Perique? I looked at a similar video of a tour of C&D. Mr. Tarler points to a pile of tobacco on the floor and clearly states "We spray our tobacco with Microban... an anti-fungal"

Jitter, I have a hard time believing that PG would be added to something that is supposed to be a catalyst loaded with microbes to react to the tobaccos would get PG added

Cosmic, When Perique comes out of the barrel it is sopping wet. A prime condition for tobacco to mold. I would find it very hard to believe that there is any Perique product out there that has not been sprayed with something be it PG, microban or whatever.
BTW, The main microbe in Perique is Yeast.

 

[bigpond]

Perique changes from batch to batch because it is a fermented product. Much like wine, some years it's great, other years not so great. I also believe that each big blending house has certain things they do to their Perique as part of their business plan. One house might apply a 20% PG mixture to it while another house my apply a 40%.

As you well know JBD, eliminating crop specific variables and ensuring consistency is precisely why perique is blended prior to kegging. In this respect perique has more in common with kimchi than wine. What I don't know is whether Mark relies on native micro-flora to populate the keg or if he propagates a unique year strain. Anyone know?

Cosmic, When Perique comes out of the barrel it is sopping wet. A prime condition for tobacco to mold. I would find it very hard to believe that there is any Perique product out there that has not been sprayed with something be it PG, microban or whatever.

Totally agree. And thank you for the comment from Craig re: Microban. I've certainly found PG in their blends and it always aggravated me that they claimed otherwise.

 

[perdurabo]

Sorry, You are right there with the microban, Should not have said PG. C&D claims to not put any toppings on there tobacco, it's for the most part natural. So the perique that they use doesn't suffer from a house sauce that would change the flavor. Good call out there, Jitterbugdude, keeping me on my toes.

 

[pitchfork]

Shooting from the hip [insert wisecrack here], but I suspect that air is the main factor. Depending on how companies cut and store their perique, the flavor would change somewhat by the time the retail customer purchases a tin or baggie.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Cool, thanks, good stuff here.
I am still not sure whether Hawke was referring in the OP to perique in VaPer blends or actual blending periques.
If he meant VaPers, we missed a point. I equate the use to perique to a spice like cinnamon. If a little is added to a type of Virginia, it is sweeter, like cinnamon toast. If you add a lot, then it gets spicy hot, like those redhots and fireball jaw breakers loaded with cinnamon. Then there are infinite variations in between. Thus, the perique tastes different.
If we mean side by side blending periques, I've only tasted it from two places, McClelland's blending perique and C&D's version. I did not notice any differences at all. Both of these come from Mark Ryan, I believe. As far as comparing the vast blending periques available... I bow to your eminence "I am not worthy" if you have tried in taste tests, side by side comparisons of all of the blending periques available ...straight out of the tins or bags. Ohhhhh, I want a job that would let me sip straight periques all day. My mouth waters. I wanna wanna wanna.
Other than that, we are just guessing. We assume that all periques by each blender does taste different on a probable misinterpretation of the OP' intent. We assume that all periques do taste different by one single post, ha ha.

Yeh, yeh, I wouldn't be shocked if one of them added some nasty chemical to their Perique. I suppose in a poorly maintained factory with tons of tobaccos are being handled with an occasional batch of moldy tobacco making its way in... But, in dealing with my own crops, in a clean kitchen and sterile tools in small scales, I have not had the misfortune of ever seeing mold. And, even in dealing with my own cellar of over 125 pounds, over three years or so, I have not (knock on wood) ever seen mold. Actually, other than pictures on this forum, I've never seen any mold on tobacco at all.
As far as PG. This may be a thread derailing statement... It does amaze me that straight Virginias produced by some companies turns black after just a couple of years, and some seems to be suspended in an unchanging form for quite longer. GLP's and C&D's straight Virginias... has anyone ever seen one of theirs that had aged to a black color? My McClelland and some H&H Virginias turn black after just a year or so. Whereas I have opened tins of GLP's Virginias that have had over ten years on them to find bright yellow and orange leaf in the tin. And, GLP and C&D preach the agability of their blends quite a bit. Sorry, the thought just struck me.

 

[perdurabo]

Damn, great observation Cosmic. Maybe that statement will prompt Pease or Reeves to opine on that one.