Changing Taste

[Relax62]

How many of you have had times when your taste, or likes change every couple of weeks or so?

I’ve been piping for almost a year now and have learned so much from all of you! Like most folks I know, I started with aromatics due to reviews of how great they taste and smell, only to find.., not my cup of tea, or not my bowl of tobacco. Almost gave up smoking a pipe completely. Then I tried Virginia blends and did stop for a bit due the severe tongue bite. Then started smoking English/Balkan blends and wow… I loved them (most of them), then I ventured into Lakeland blends and they grew on me pretty quickly. Then Kentucky and really enjoyed it as well! All of these lead to Perique blends, which I liked, however they taught me to smoke differently due to the spice on the tongue that reminded me of the aromatics.

Now that I’ve Learned so much from many posts here, and trial & error with my technique, I’m really enjoying Virginia blends, and even straight Virginias. They are amazing!

Now I find myself only liking one of the above mentioned tobaccos, for days or weeks, and then for some reason I jump to one of the others and want nothing else, until one day I’m ready for another change. This is getting expensive guys! Is this normal/typical? Im really enjoying the whole experience so much and finding that every bowl (whatever I may choose for that particular day) just gets better and better!

Anyway, just curious about the experience of others.

 

[LeafErikson]

I smoked SWR almost exclusively for a little over a year. I went to go light it up one day and it irritated the heck out of my mouth. Tastes change all the time so don't dump a tobacco you don't like because you may end up liking it years down the line.

 

[Relax62]

I smoked SWR almost exclusively for a little over a year. I went to go light it up one day and it irritated the heck out of my mouth. Tastes change all the time so don't dump a tobacco you don't like because you may end up liking it years down the line.

That is so true! I didn’t mention Burley in my post, but I almost trashed 8oz. Pegasus and C&D Burley flake… boy I’m glad I didn’t! I do enjoy them quite a bit (not as much as others I mentioned), but nice change of pace. Plus I think the time spent in jars (about 8 months) made a huge improvement!

 

[Relax62]

Also, not to digress from the topic, but my pipe collection has also grown significantly, as I’ve started dedicating certain pipes to different tobaccos. My wife just bought me a Savinelli 2023 Saint Nicolas bent billiard for my birthday and this week an Eric Nording Signature Freehand for Christmas, along with a tin of SPC Special Reserve 2023 Christmas blend. She enjoys sitting outside with me for morning coffee and at nighttime by the fire pit while I smoke. She like the aroma of most everything I smoke, but her favorites seem to be PS LBF and GLP Windjammer (one of my new favorites)!

 

[Ryan]

I have only been smoking a pipe for a little over two years, and I have jumped around a lot. I have tried many blends, and have way more mason jars of open tobacco than I ever would have imagined.

I find that I do keep gravitating towards certain blends though. I’m to the point that I have started stocking up my cellar with those blends I smoke the most.

Also, I have come around to liking some things I didn’t think much of at first, and conversely not enjoying some of what I liked in the beginning. And then started enjoying them again.

No rules to smoking, just smoke what you like when you feel like it. Sometimes certain things scratch the itch, sometimes they don’t.

It’s a good reason to have a diverse cellar.

 

[ThermionicScott]

This seems appropriate:

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

 

[Tate]

I started with EMP. I think since then I've dug most blends I've tried. Aros are the only blend I don't smoke regularly just because the nicotine is so low. Tastes do change when it comes to what I'm reaching for most often.

 

[LeafErikson]

I started with EMP. I think since then I've dug most blends I've tried. Aros are the only blend I don't smoke regularly just because the nicotine is so low. Tastes do change when it comes to what I'm reaching for most often.

Try out SWR aromatic. It's not a goopy aromatic and it has just enough nicotine. Any less and I wouldn't smoke it. It's almost a semi-aromatic like the rest of the codger blends. I actually get grassy VIrginia notes at times believe it or not among the other natural tobacco flavors.

 

[OzPiper]

The same tobacco can smoke differently in different pipes because of the dimensions of the chamber eg wide pot vs thin, narrow chimney.

And the bore - wide open draw vs tighter draw.

Materials the pipe is made of may have an effect eg cob vs briar vs clay vs meerschaum

I smoke Peterson’s Irish Flake in a gourd calabash as the air chamber of the gourd tames the Nic hit.

So many permutations. Which makes pipe smoking so intriguing.
And interesting.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I started with aromatics due to reviews of how great they taste and smell, only to find.., not my cup of tea, or not my bowl of tobacco.

Aromatics take much technique improvement to enjoy and its often way down the road for new smokers. I was over two decades in when I figured out how to smoke them.

The same tobacco can smoke differently in different pipes because of the dimensions of the chamber eg wide pot vs thin, narrow chimney.

I chased that notion for years and couldn't find any difference between pipes excluding duration of smoking between different chamber sizes.

How many of you have had times when your taste, or likes change every couple of weeks or so?

I often smoke the same two tobaccos for months though I can understand others needing a variety.

 

[yanoJL]

I always enjoy Virginias
I always enjoy Burleys

But Latakia...
I'll go months where I don't want to be in the same zip code as Latakia. And then, seemingly out of nowhere, I'll crave a Lat bomb; like Nightcap, Pirate Kake or Gaslight.

Pipe smoking is so interesting.

 

[OzPiper]

The same tobacco can smoke differently in different pipes because of the dimensions of the chamber eg wide pot vs thin, narrow chimney.

And the bore - wide open draw vs tighter draw

I chased that notion for years and couldn't find any difference between pipes excluding duration of smoking between different chamber sizes.

For a while I was finding little enjoyment from Penzance
The past couple of weeks I have been smoking back-to-back bowls of Penzance in various pipes eg pots vs chimneys, briar vs morta, morta vs morta

I have not completed my trials yet but so far my conclusions are
1). Penzance is better smoked in a narrower bowl
2). The flavour is more pronounced when the draw is more restricted

I’m a rather Penzanced out at the moment
When my palate recovers from the Latakia overload, I will look at more head-to-head taste-offs eg briar vs morta and briar vs briar (old Britwoods with narrow bone tenons vs newer Britwoods).
And other permutations that come to mind

 

[Chasing Embers]

For a while I was finding little enjoyment from Penzance
The past couple of weeks I have been smoking back-to-back bowls of Penzance in various pipes eg pots vs chimneys, briar vs morta, morta vs morta

I have not completed my trials yet but so far my conclusions are
1). Penzance is better smoked in a narrower bowl
2). The flavour is more pronounced when the draw is more restricted

I’m a rather Penzanced out at the moment
When my palate recovers from the Latakia overload, I will look at more head-to-head taste-offs eg briar vs morta and briar vs briar (old Britwoods with narrow bone tenons vs newer Britwoods).
And other permutations that come to mind

I just never noticed a difference in taste from one unghosted pipe to the next. Finding that out did thankfully free me from the chase though.

 

[logs]

I tend to become obsessed with a particular blend and it's all I want to smoke (lately it's Warhorse Green).
Unfortunately I can just as easily lose interest in blends... usually after I've just stocked up on it. I have ton of latakia blends I no longer care about in the slightest. Same problem with straight VA's, I have a huge stash of Ye Olde Signe and other VAs which I loved at one time and now feel indifferent towards. It's a real guessing game what I'll like in the future. So now I don't stock up, because what's the point? There's no predicting what I'll want six months from now.

 

[kcghost]

I smoked exclusively English blends for 30 years and then I had fairly sudden change in my tastes and switched to VaPers for ten year and then desire for English's returned, but it didn't affect my love of Vapers. So, I can smoke both of them with equal pleasure.

 

[Gimlet]

I usually have four of five different families of tobacco on the go at once:

An aro - the only one I smoke regularly is GH American Coffee and Caramel which is always my first smoke of the day. I've usually got a tin of GH Exclusive black cherry somewhere but I've gone off it a bit lately as I've turned away from the sweeter more artificial aros.

A pure tobacco VaPer/virginia - Petersons Elizabethan is my current favourite, also P Irish Cask, which is technically an aro but tastes more like a pure blend. Also GH Best Brown unscented.

A strong Kendal dark fired flake or plug - Coniston cut plug, 1792, Revor, Jamaican. If I can't get these and don't want to hit my credit card with an online order Petersons Irish Flake or 3Ps make good stand-ins.

A Lakeland aro - invariably Ennerdale flake.

And a pure Burley - I've found nothing to beat Solani Aged burley flake.

Occasionally I'll buy an English Lat blend. I'm not very keen on the pencil shaving taste of Latakia but do like the smooth way these blends tend to smoke. The best I've tried is the sweetish Petersons 965. I don't smoke it that often but every few weeks I'll buy a tin as an evening smoke.

Between that lot I find my palate never gets bored

 

[Relax62]

Aromatics take much technique improvement to enjoy and its often way down the road for new smokers. I was over two decades in when I figured out how to smoke them.



I chased that notion for years and couldn't find any difference between pipes excluding duration of smoking between different chamber sizes.



I often smoke the same two tobaccos for months though I can understand others needing a variety.

Good feedback… I’ll keep the few aros I have left and try them again later.

 

[Relax62]

I tend to become obsessed with a particular blend and it's all I want to smoke (lately it's Warhorse Green).
Unfortunately I can just as easily lose interest in blends... usually after I've just stocked up on it. I have ton of latakia blends I no longer care about in the slightest. Same problem with straight VA's, I have a huge stash of Ye Olde Signe and other VAs which I loved at one time and now feel indifferent towards. It's a real guessing game what I'll like in the future. So now I don't stock up, because what's the point? There's no predicting what I'll want six months from now.

Totally understand about stocking up on your “favorite” only to find it’s not your favorite! I have about 6 tins of Escudo that I’ll probably never smoke. It’s good, but several others I like much better (I.e. LBF, Windjammer).

So, what’s your favorite now?

 

[Tate]

Try out SWR aromatic. It's not a goopy aromatic and it has just enough nicotine. Any less and I wouldn't smoke it. It's almost a semi-aromatic like the rest of the codger blends. I actually get grassy VIrginia notes at times believe it or not among the other natural tobacco flavors.

Definitely on the list!

 

[Hutch Piper]

This has been my experience as well. I am two years in and my tastes change frequently. I’ve notice several over-arching trends:

I used to love Latakia. Not anymore. Can’t even stand the smell of it anymore.

I used to dislike burleys. Now I really enjoy them and smoke them often.

I used to really love a wide variety of aromatics. While I still enjoy them from time to time, they are no longer a regular part of my rotation.

Kentucky blends were too strong for me at first. Then after a year or so I really gravitated to them. But I can only handle them in small doses as I believe I have an allergy to them. For example, I have no issues smoking GL Pease Sixpence or Cumberland, but a 20 minute bowl of HH Bold KY or HH Old Dark Fired will make me allergic after 20 mins or so of smoking. It is a shame as I absolutely love those blends. But hey now I know and just pack a really small bowl, and I am set.

Pipe smoking really is an interesting journey. Thanks for sharing yours!