Can Tobacco Change For The Worse?

[yanoJL]

I have NEVER nor will i EVER use water on a pipe due to the war and mud slinging that incurred when that became a thing.

I stand corrected. I did not remember that accurately. It was not water, it was alcohol.

Ghost In a Meerschaum. :: Meerschaum Pipes

Definitely do not soak your bowl in alcohol.

pipesmagazine.com

I apologize for the error.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I stand corrected. I did not remember that accurately. It was not water, it was alcohol.

Ghost In a Meerschaum. :: Meerschaum Pipes

Definitely do not soak your bowl in alcohol.

pipesmagazine.com

I apologize for the error.

Here's the full one.

Using Alcohol and Cotton Balls on Meerschaum :: Pipe Repair and Maintenance

To prevent polluting another thread with progress reports I'll start this one. Too much hearsay turns into the gospel and phobias among pipe smokers. In another thread a while back it was stated as fact that wiping a meerschaum down with alcohol would damage it. I did it to one and it neither...

pipesmagazine.com

 

[MikeDub]

I’ve had the same thing happen to Ennerdale before. The first 5 bowls or so were amazing, and after jarring it up and letting it sit for a couple of months it was bitter and had none of the almond, fruity, floral goodness that I loved when I first bought it. I’ve tried it in 3 different pipes and multiple preparation methods and still get the same result. I’m glad you posted this as I hadn’t seen anyone else mention it before

 

[sardonicus87]

I’ve had the same thing happen to Ennerdale before. The first 5 bowls or so were amazing, and after jarring it up and letting it sit for a couple of months it was bitter and had none of the almond, fruity, floral goodness that I loved when I first bought it. I’ve tried it in 3 different pipes and multiple preparation methods and still get the same result. I’m glad you posted this as I hadn’t seen anyone else mention it before

Yes, it's actually why I started limiting the number of open aros at any one time to 2, and why eventually I basically when I open an aro, I pretty much smoke it exclusively until gone.

VA, Bur and English don't generally have this issue. Some aros haven't had this issue, but I don't want to find out which will or won't last once opened.

Just finished another K&K Caribbean Blue and I think I'll be done with aros for a little while, I need to get through a few of these open tins because my English and burley I'm waiting to try are getting as backed-up as the VAs have been since forever. Like I'm only just last month having popped the Sunbear Tupelo from last year, and I still have half my original Savinelli Brunello Flake I bought 2 years ago.

 

[Sig]

I've always been under the impression that it's mainly Virginia dominant blends that age well, burley definitely don't, all due to the sugar content in the leaf.

English blends with a lot of Latakia get more smooth and creamy and less slap you in the face bold also. I got an 8oz tin of some 11 year GL Pease Odyssey from a friend and it's different than any fresh stuff I've had. Not better, not worse, just different.

Some blends are better aged some are better fresh. I figure this is why the old codger burley blends were so popular, to my knowledge burley has a very low sugar content so aging it won't do anything but degrade nicotine.

Im currently smoking some C&D Pegasus from 2018.
Pegasus is just 3 types of burley.
Is this 2018 better than fresh?
I dont know, I fell for this blend years ago when it was "fresh" out of the bag.
It sure isn't any worse..... as far as I can tell.
At this point all my tobacco is aged.
I quit piping for 7 years.
I did buy tobacco during that time, I knew id be back. 2019 was the last time I bought tobacco.
I quit in 2015 and re-started last Spring.

 

[steelarts]

I’ve had the same thing happen to Ennerdale before. The first 5 bowls or so were amazing, and after jarring it up and letting it sit for a couple of months it was bitter and had none of the almond, fruity, floral goodness that I loved when I first bought it. I’ve tried it in 3 different pipes and multiple preparation methods and still get the same result. I’m glad you posted this as I hadn’t seen anyone else mention it before

That’s really interesting. The KC flakes are quite thick and they were not overly dry or moist. But when I opened the jar there was none of the delicious creaminess in the smell. I will give it another go shortly and see how it goes but it was so awful I don’t want to put myself through that again too soon.

 

[steelarts]

Thanks for taking the time to reply chaps, I really appreciate it. with regards to some of the comments, the pipe i used was different to what I I used before bur its still fairly new and has only been smoked 3 times. And I always clean my pipes after smoking them.

im wondering if it is me or my drink? I usually drink black coffee when I smoke and today i used a different pipe and baccy and drank coffee. I got a similar, though not as bad result. A real bitterness, and that was after a thoroughly cleaned the pipe. I switch out for 7 Up and the flavour profile changed to savoury and was much more pleasant. Maybe it’s the coffee beans starting to go stale? Anyway, I Will try again with a different drink and see if that makes a difference or whether it’s destined for the bin.

 

[ThermionicScott]

Try just drinking water, so you have less interference with the taste of the tobacco.

 

[bullet08]

Thanks for taking the time to reply chaps, I really appreciate it. with regards to some of the comments, the pipe i used was different to what I I used before bur its still fairly new and has only been smoked 3 times. And I always clean my pipes after smoking them.

im wondering if it is me or my drink? I usually drink black coffee when I smoke and today i used a different pipe and baccy and drank coffee. I got a similar, though not as bad result. A real bitterness, and that was after a thoroughly cleaned the pipe. I switch out for 7 Up and the flavour profile changed to savoury and was much more pleasant. Maybe it’s the coffee beans starting to go stale? Anyway, I Will try again with a different drink and see if that makes a difference or whether it’s destined for the bin.

Did you break down the pipe and clean out the mortise? Sometimes, things get stuck there and ruins the smoke.

And of course, different drinks will sometimes change you palette.

And I'm glad someone mentioned flushing with water. We haven't had a lively discussions in sometime x)