Can Someone Explain

[bassbug]

What appears to be a not uncommon topic on the forum.
"I WANT to like blend xyz. I smoked 2,3,5 bowls of it and it made me sick to my stomach. I tried it again sometime later and it did the same thing, but I WANT to like it"
Isn't pipe smoking supposed to be pleasurable? Aren't pipe smokers "a breed apart"?
Why not just smoke what you enjoy without concern for what anyone else smokes? Aros, English...whatever. Sure, try a new blend or type, and if it isn't for you, move on.
I never hear "I really want to like brussel sprouts, or spicy food, or other things"

 

[jvnshr]

Here you go, I really want to like mushrooms (actually I like them, I just want to eat) but I can't, whenever I eat mushrooms I start vomiting. I can't even smoke Shortcut to Mushrooms.

 

[bassbug]

And that somehow makes everything right again?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Aren't pipe smokers "a breed apart"?

Not really, we're just tobacco users. As for the sickness, try again on a full stomach and see if that helps.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I want to like apple and cherry flavored aromatics, because it smells so good, but everytime I smoke them they burn my tongue.

I really don't see a problem with this.

I want to like wines, because it seems so sophisticated and aristocratic, but they taste like grape juice that burns and alcohol makes me sick. So, I try a sip occasionally, but as always,.. "IT BURNS!!!"

 

[pipestud]

I want to like my mother in law...

 

[bluegrasspipe]

I want to like my mother in law...

You can't like everything. :rofl:
I want to like some blends, although they never make me sick, usually it will be too much cavendish/sweet that I don't like, and I agree with not liking the fruity aros flavors. But I don't try to force anything too much, I might go back to a jar after a year or so as long as it isn't an aro that tastes like juicy fruit or something.

 

[jvnshr]

I want to like my mother in law...

:rofl:

 

[cortezattic]

Why not just smoke what you enjoy without concern for what anyone else smokes?

One of the things I like most about the atmosphere that Kevin has cultivated here in the Forums is respect for differing tastes -- in both tobaccos and pipe types. "Wanting to like something" makes me suspect that the person in question is trying to conform, when conformity isn't necessary or desirable.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

...is trying to conform, when conformity isn't necessary or desirable.

Or maybe the person likes the smell, but not the taste, or they like the blender, or they like the associations. But yeh, there have been times when everyone has gone nuts for a blend that I found to be awful, and I thought, "I want to like it but..." Especially if the blender is a contributor here,.. like GLP's Virginia Cream.

 

[cortezattic]

OK, I can see that. ::

 

[cwarmouth]

I'll take a shot at explaining it... Maybe they want to develop their palate beyond what it currently is. I don't see anything wrong with that. People ought to expand their horizons, whether it be with music appreciation, developing or learning a skill, becoming a better reader, appreciating a good Scotch vs. a cheap one, appreciating a good film vs. a Hollywood cookie cutter, etc. That's how it is with me anyway. Nothing to do with conformity. I recognize that there are nuances in pipe tobacco that I have not developed and I want to develop them. My $.02.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Or in my case, I buy ten tins or a pound of something in bulk, and I find that I don't like it that much, so I really wish...

 

[crashthegrey]

I think cwarmouth probably is close to as accurate as you can be about something so subjective. I also agree with Cosmic, sometimes it is an association. There's nothing wrong with loving the name or feel of a tobacco's branding, only to find that you don't enjoy the tobacco itself. Wanting that warm fuzzy feeling is cool.

 

[didimauw]

Yes I totally understand. I don't smoke Carter Hall because I Want to, persay. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the heck out of it, but its one of the very few blends I can smoke with out getting burned. Then again, it might also be partly my technique. I tend to smoke fast, so there's times that I forget I'm not smoking Carter Hall, and puff away like a mad man. By then it's too late...
But there's something about that nuttiness, that I just love. Everything else is just blah....
Can't complain, it's saving me money...

 

[Chasing Embers]

What is this strange word "conformity" which you all speak of? :mrgreen:

 

[olkofri]

Not everything is good for everyone.

 

[wyfbane]

I think the open dialogue on this site creates the push to expand our smoker's comfort zones. Plus, so many people have gone back and enjoyed a blend after changing technique or flavor proclivity that it leads one to wonder if a blend has somehow floated into our zone of comfort. I agree with those above that have given credit to the culture that is cultivated here among our smokers.
For me, I feel for people with an overly discerning palate who dislike a bunch of blends. I have been blessed with nothing resembling one. As a result, I may not get all the super nuances that Jim gets when he is able to dissect a blend, but I generally enjoy all blends. The only one I actively dislike is 1792. And as we are here in this group, I have learned that because three years have passed since I last sampled it, it's time to try again. Not as a means to conform or force a bond where there shouldn't be one, but as a source of simple curiosity and to see whether or not I should stock up on it.

 

[cortezattic]

By trying to conform I meant forging a sense of identification, e.g., an aromatic smoker wanting to like nuanced English blends, or a meerschaum enthusiast trying to channel his inner rustic by wanting to like cobs. Broadening one's horizons is probably a good thing, but it isn't required if you enjoy the local environs. But what cwarmouth says about acquired tastes is certainly true.

 

[tslex]

I want to like this thread, but. . . .