Can You Explain the Magic 7 Minute Mark?

[o2jmpr]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9)

I'd like to pick the brains of the more experienced here to see if anyone can explain this magical mystery I'm experiencing.

Background:
I love Prince Albert and smoke it exclusively (at least until I run out!). It doesn't matter what packing method I employ, how moist or dry the tobacco is, nor what pipe I use. I light, set a timer and ease into my super relaxed, tiny sip cadence. The tobacco is always tasteless (just "smoke") until I hit the 7:00 minute mark. Then, the retrohale instantly transforms into the magical Raisin Bran type flavor that I love and stays with it until the last puff.

Why, oh why, does this occur? It drives me insane and I feel like the first half if my smoke is just wasted tobacco. My only theory about is that possibly it takes 7:00 minutes for everything to heat up to a specific temperature where the tobacco just blooms it's flavor and then it's easy to maintain. I would like to get this flavor burst sooner and have tried this theory by purposefully trying to smoke a little hotter at the beginning but no dice. It's always 7 minutes give or take 15 seconds.

Thanks everyone for your input!

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

Interesting. I would like to hear the opinions of those more experienced than myself.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

After 7 minutes of smoking that crap, it numbs your brain and tongue to the point you may think it is good.

 

[o2jmpr]

I think after two weeks of struggling with this I've answered my own question. Maybe I just needed to type it out loud here in order to reflect more on it.

Now I believe I've been lighting too harshly. I'm using butane but would do a teasing charring light and then the true light would be flame over bowl and 3 or 4 medium-deep pulls of the flame into the tobacco without ever pulling the lighter away from the bowl to give it a thermal rest.
Wondering now if I'm not getting any flavor because I have to work down past the top charred and over-heated layer until I hit fresh, unmolested tobacco. I'm a creature of precise habit, so.... the 7 minutes could be indicative of my lighting consistency. I'll play around with matches and a softer light to see what happens.

 

[o2jmpr]

After 7 minutes of smoking that crap, it numbs your brain and tongue to the point you may think it is good.

Super unhelpful. Hope you feel better.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Super unhelpful. Hope you feel better.

Sorry, just my honest answer. I do think with just about any blend, the flavor kicks in a bit after the initial light and tamp. I always just assumed it took a bit for the ember to get fully going, the tobacco to warm up a bit and the draw to settle in. It seems kind of consistent so I never gave it much thought. Doesn't take 7 minutes though.

 

[mso489]

Never mind the blend or the lighter, it takes a certain amount of time for an ember to get burning and engage all of the tobaccos and flavoring in the flavor. It's true, some blends just burst with flavor from the touch of the flame, but in my experience, most take a few minutes to hit their stride. And it's true, lighting your pipe with a welder's torch is probably overkill.

 

[o2jmpr]

I do think with just about any blend, the flavor kicks in a bit after the initial light and tamp. I always just assumed it took a bit for the ember to get fully going, the tobacco to warm up a bit and the draw to settle in. It seems kind of consistent so I never gave it much thought. Doesn't take 7 minutes though.

it takes a certain amount of time for an ember to get burning and engage all of the tobaccos and flavoring in the flavor.

Ok, this IS super helpful. I think I got it under control better. I lit much softer and got into my rhythm. After a couple minutes I noticed smoke production was too weak and no flavor so I stoked the ember with fingers over the bowl a few puffs and got the good flavor by the third minute and finished the bowl in bliss.

Lesson learned was:
It's better to light soft and tamp/stoke the ember if required and then be patient until the blend "gives up the ghost" and releases its spirit.

Thank you both.

 

[maduromadness]

Yeah some blends give off instant flavor and others take a while to develop. Just to point fingers it probably boils down to quality of leaf and proper lighting...possibly even the amount of PG.

 

[karam]

Good point, I experience the same with all blends, have never smoked Prince Albert. I made a graph of it and am proud of my l33t MS Paint skills

 

[kcghost]

If you think it gives off a good flavor at some point in time that's all that matters. Personally, I have the same opinion as hoosierguy.

 

[bullet08]

Never noticed it before. Haven't smoked canned prince before. I don't notice lack of flavor, but do notice tobacco settling and smoothing out after about 1/4 bowl.

 

[LikeDadDid]

After 7 minutes of smoking that crap, it numbs your brain and tongue to the point you may think it is good.

Haha haha. Perfect description of life. But once you get to the "I think it's good" marker, I guess it doesn't matter how you got there.

 

[SoddenJack]

I’ve noticed it more with cigars than pipes. The first few centimeters of a cigar/the first few puffs of a bowl often tend to taste a bit dull and flat, even a little dry. I guess I assumed it had something to do with heat and volatizing the oils in the leaf or something. Never really gave it much thought.

 

[anotherbob]

I think after two weeks of struggling with this I've answered my own question. Maybe I just needed to type it out loud here in order to reflect more on it.

Now I believe I've been lighting too harshly. I'm using butane but would do a teasing charring light and then the true light would be flame over bowl and 3 or 4 medium-deep pulls of the flame into the tobacco without ever pulling the lighter away from the bowl to give it a thermal rest.
Wondering now if I'm not getting any flavor because I have to work down past the top charred and over-heated layer until I hit fresh, unmolested tobacco. I'm a creature of precise habit, so.... the 7 minutes could be indicative of my lighting consistency. I'll play around with matches and a softer light to see what happens.

that's my guess. After switching to matches, a pipe zippo, and occasionally a soft flame (for things like oh I have to pull the wick out further or smoking my tiny pipe) I found far less this happening. More instant flavor and less hot air.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Maybe why I prefer an old wooden match is being able to taste the Latakia immediately, if not sooner. Now, when you strike a match that little tip falls off. I let the match mature so that the pine is lit.

 

[mingc]

"Magic 7 minute mark"? What with all the locker room talk?

 

[eljimmy]

Super unhelpful. Hope you feel better.

Ease up a little. Hoosierpipeguy is always pretty straight up and brutally honest at times (in a funny way). But he knows what he's talking about.

 

[alaskanpiper]

Good point, I experience the same with all blends, have never smoked Prince Albert. I made a graph of it and am proud of my l33t MS Paint skills

View attachment 77461

You forgot the massive cliff at the very end

 

[Chasing Embers]

Now I believe I've been lighting too harshly.

That would be my guess.