Can't find taste

[trouttimes]

I am returning to pipe smoking after a 25 year vacation. My pipe collection is about 15 new, vintage, Cobb pipes. The vintage have all been cleaned. I have tried about a doz. blend some and they all taste the same. My packing seems to be fine, it stays lit and has a good burn time. I sip and smoke slowly, but all the blends taste the same to me. What's up? I have been back smoking for about a month, usually two or three bowels a day. Ideas, suggestions?

 

[weezell]

I have been back smoking for about a month, usually two or three bowels a day. Ideas, suggestions?

Do they happen to taste like shit? Sorry, just had to... :D

 

[blackadderlxx]

This is what changed things for me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgMUfYhdHE8

 

[trouttimes]

<p>I have been reto Haleing and it doesn't change. I do get fleeting moments of taste but very fleeting and maybe it is my imagination.<br />
As you can tell my brain moves faster than my fingers at 63

 

[loneredtree]

What have you been smoking?

Outside or in a room?

::

 

[milehighpiper]

I am fairly new so take it for what is is worth. What threw my taste/smell buds into overdrive was smoking a mellow vanilla aromatic and studying that for a bit. A few hours later I smoked Pirate Kake which is a heavy latakia blend and studying that for a bit and comparing the taste/smell and smoke mechanics of each. Then I tried full cavendish, then heavy burley blends, and perique blends, throughout a week, and learned the different tastes between each blend. Now I get blind samples from my tobacco shop, try to pick out the different flavors/smells and then look at the tin to see what is in it and to try and guess everything in the blend. See if my crazy method works for you...

 

[trouttimes]

I have been smoking inside, outside, in the truck.

I have smoked 4 different Sutliff vanilla blends, a couple of different Lane's, all the old school like Borkum, Prince Albert. Just had some Trout Stream tonite. Smoked CD 968 I think this afternoon. I do drink a lot of coffee, could that have an effect? And just because I'm in Colorado, don't think I have any of that funny stuff in the pipe.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Ah, there's the problem. You're starting with extremely mild blends and aros. Try out a full bodied Latakia blend and see how it tastes.

 

[workman]

+1

 

[npod]

+2

 

[mikethompson]

I am returning to pipe smoking after a 25 year vacation.

this could also be playing a role, you need to send your palette back to school!

 

[trouttimes]

I though maybe too many years in the sandbox or in the saddle made my taste buds numb. Maybe like scotch, it is an acquired taste. I may not be sofisticated enough. I am at 8,500', would that have any effect on the taste?

Do any of you have a Latakia blend you could recommend?

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I would agree, try some different blend types. For Virginia/Virginia-Perique get some Escudo, Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake, Newminster 400 Superior Navy Flake, Sutliff's 407C Virginia Slices, Orlik Golden Sliced, Mac Baren HH Pure Virginia. For Burley blends try some HH Burley from Mac Baren, Solani Aged Burley, Newminster 403 Superior Round Slices, try the C&D Burley flake line. I'm not a fan of English blends, but I did enjoy John Cotton's Number 1 a bit.
I pretty much only drink water when I have a pipe, because it keeps the palate moist which brings the flavors out more and it doesn't impart any other flavors to the profile via the drink.
I will admit there are some times where I'll get in a rut and a blend that was glorious a month ago is just mundane for a tin or 2oz of it. Then I move on to something else for a while and once I revisit it the blend is back to singing like an angel again.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Latakia blends? Many to choose among, John Cottons No. 1; nos 1&3; Smyrna; Bengal Slices. GL Pease's Quiet Nights and maybe 7-8 others; Esoterica's Margate; Vintage Syrian; Luxury English Flake; most bulk English blends with similar names. I avoid only Dunhill blends.

 

[mso489]

I think 'embers is on the right track, but I'd sample around with small quantities -- one tin, one ounce bulk, a pouch. Save what you don't like in jars; it may taste good to you eventually. Don't try too hard. A bowl or two a day at most, until you get your footing. One or two of C&D burley blends might be worth a try.

 

[mikethompson]

I've never heard of elevation being a factor in taste, but it very well could. If your drying, packing, and breathing techniques are in order then I would just sample little bit here, little bit there.
It will return to you.

 

[ignaciojn]

Do you smoke cigarettes? That can interfere with the subtle taste of pipe tobacco.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

To me, aromatics are like candles. I cannot taste on my tongue anything from most of them, but I can smell them. It's like a candle in that I can smell them, but if I licked one, I would get that confusing sensation of getting no taste from something that smells great. However, the smell, adds to the illusion of flavor.
Second, +1 on cigarettes taking away your ability to taste the flavor of pipe tobacco. Inhaling tobacco smoke overwhelms your ability to taste, or at least to the majority of normal people it does.

 

[trouttimes]

<p>No cigs for me.<br />
Thanks so much for all the ideas. I'm not going to give up. Because I need something to go with my coffee and retirement

 

[olkofri]

Well, altitude might play a part, due to the changes in temperature that come with lower atmospheric pressure. Most of the info we find about this concerns cooking, but it's not unlikely it affects other things that burn.

At altitudes above 3,000 feet, preparation of food may require changes in time, temperature or recipe. The reason is the lower atmospheric pressure due to a thinner blanket of air above. At sea level, the air presses on a square inch of surface with 14.7 pounds pressure; at 5,000 feet with 12.3 pounds pressure; and at 10,000 feet with only 10.2 pounds pressure — a decrease of about 1/2 pound per 1,000 feet. This decreased pressure affects food preparation in two ways:
Water and other liquids evaporate faster and boil at lower temperatures.

Leavening gases in breads and cakes expand more.
As atmospheric pressure decreases, water boils at lower temperatures. At sea level, water boils at 212 °F. With each 500-feet increase in elevation, the boiling point of water is lowered by just under 1 °F. At 7,500 feet, for example, water boils at about 198 °F. Because water boils at a lower temperature at higher elevations, foods that are prepared by boiling or simmering will cook at a lower temperature, and it will take longer to cook.
High altitude areas are also prone to low humidity, which can cause the moisture in foods to evaporate more quickly during cooking. Covering foods during cooking will help retain moisture.