Even my wife's taste in shoes doesn't change that often.
Changing Taste
- Thread starter Relax62
- Start date
I now have about a dozen different tins open at any given time.
My preference’s change by the hour.
I have been that way for over 30 years so I wouldn’t let it bother you.
Smoke what you want, when you want is my philosophy.
If you hate it today next week you'll love it!
My preference’s change by the hour.
I have been that way for over 30 years so I wouldn’t let it bother you.
Smoke what you want, when you want is my philosophy.
If you hate it today next week you'll love it!
Don't feel you're boring for just liking a certain tobacco. The main reason to smoke is to enjoy yourself. I have many tobaccos open but I usually stick to vanillas once I learned how to smoke an aro. I smoke different blends for different activities as well. Like I smoke english blends when I'm working.
I am pretty minimalist in most aspects of my life. I have a handful of blends that I like a lot and are my regular rotation. I do find myself caught in a quest for "better." So, I order my regular stuff and often add in something else in case it is "better"...and it rarely is but then I feel like I have wasted money. Meanwhile I have stocked up in what I already like so if I do find that elusive perfect blend then what the hell will I do with all of this other crap in my cellar?
G
Gimlet
Guest
If you don't try you don't know. Even favourite blends were an unknown quantity once. One problem is trying new tobaccos in pipes that have become acclimatised to other blends. You're never sure if you're getting the real taste of the newcomer. So I always buy 2 oz of something new and try it in various pipes to give it a fair chance.
And when I buy a new pipe I usually buy a tobacco I haven't tried as well so I can smoke it in a virgin bowl. It rarely turns out that I've picked the magic pairing straight out of the box though. In fact I don't think it's ever happened.
And when I buy a new pipe I usually buy a tobacco I haven't tried as well so I can smoke it in a virgin bowl. It rarely turns out that I've picked the magic pairing straight out of the box though. In fact I don't think it's ever happened.
After 12 years of smoking a pipe, my tastes have changed multiple times over the years. I started out primarily as an aromatic smoker, worked my way into OTC and burley blends, then on to English blends and Virginia blends. For the last 8-9 years I've been predominantly an English and Virginia smoker. I went long periods of not having aromatics and burleys, and then got back into aromatics and burleys for a while. Over the years I've acquired a decent size cellar of mason jars, so I have a good variety of blends on hand. I try to mix things up most of the time, but there are times I find myself sticking to just one type of blend.
I had the same experience with pipes too. Started off with several briars, then I really got into corn cobs and smoked only cobs for a long time, before smoking my briars again, and then I discovered meerschaum pipes. I then went down the meerschaum rabbit hole and acquired multiple meers and found myself only smoking meers for a long period of time before getting back to my briars and cobs. Now I try to mix things up, so I'm not neglecting any of my pipes.
I guess the saying "variety is the spice of life," does have some truth to it.
I had the same experience with pipes too. Started off with several briars, then I really got into corn cobs and smoked only cobs for a long time, before smoking my briars again, and then I discovered meerschaum pipes. I then went down the meerschaum rabbit hole and acquired multiple meers and found myself only smoking meers for a long period of time before getting back to my briars and cobs. Now I try to mix things up, so I'm not neglecting any of my pipes.
I guess the saying "variety is the spice of life," does have some truth to it.
I have been smoking a pipe for over 50yrs and still experimenting with tobaccos, love them all but not always, change them regularly and you will find your best experience, just keep at it.
I hope my tastes never change. I hope my favorites don’t suddenly bite. I have a deep cellar.
Honestly, I don’t believe they will.
Honestly, I don’t believe they will.
I'll be four years in April. I loved latakia mixtures first, Presbyterian and Nightcap. The latter was especially satisfying because it gave a good nic wallop, which was useful for me coming off the fags. Then I discovered lakelands, at which point I had thought I had reached the endpoint, and found the blends I would smoke exclusively, given they were the blends that my uncles had always smoked growing up. About two years in I discovered Virginias. When I say 'discovered', it is not to say I hadn't smoked them before that point. It just took me two years to understand them. That's pretty much where I have been since, although I am now starting to understand my preference is for red virginias. To complicate things, I now also like burley blends, such as Dockworker, MacB Navy Flake, and Solani ABF. The moral of my story, is that you think you've landed on a type of tobacco you love almost exclusively, only to find there are many others that you will love, that you just can't understand yet. Aromatics, I don't yet understand at all. I believe it when it is said these are the last ones a smoker truly understands.
I’ve gone through many different cycles over the years.
In the ‘70’s it was mostly English and Balkan blends, including Balkan Sobranie, 759, and State Express London Mixture. Later it was Captain Black White, Danish Delight, and other middling Aros. Then, it was a motley assortment of various things, Three Nuns amongst them. Then a return to English and Balkan blends and some real lat bombs. About 9 years ago I became nauseated by Latakia and switched to Virginias, Va/Pers, Va/Per/Burs, Va/Ors, and the occasional semi Aro, and occasional bit of Lat, which is where I’ve been since. I also love really aged Red and Orange Virginia, and the occasional Burley blend.
In the ‘70’s it was mostly English and Balkan blends, including Balkan Sobranie, 759, and State Express London Mixture. Later it was Captain Black White, Danish Delight, and other middling Aros. Then, it was a motley assortment of various things, Three Nuns amongst them. Then a return to English and Balkan blends and some real lat bombs. About 9 years ago I became nauseated by Latakia and switched to Virginias, Va/Pers, Va/Per/Burs, Va/Ors, and the occasional semi Aro, and occasional bit of Lat, which is where I’ve been since. I also love really aged Red and Orange Virginia, and the occasional Burley blend.
My tastes change now almost daily. I have always an English and a Va (with Perique or plain) tin open simultaneously. There are weeks where the English one gets smoked in a shorter time and times when it is the VA one. I just smoke what fancies me at any given moment, although I have acquired a taste for alternating: you can get the nuances better if you alternate, but, sometimes, I smoke one single genre through weeks.
When I started, the first tobaccos I loved where Englishes, then, I understood VAs and VA/PERS and I thought I had outgrown Englishes. I was wrong. Later on I discovered Kentucky's. Now I try to alternate, but I don´t mind if, for a few days or weeks, I stay on one side. What I have learned is that what you think is out of your taste today will be your nirvana tomorrow, especially if you return to it reluctantly (just to finish the open tin).
When I started, the first tobaccos I loved where Englishes, then, I understood VAs and VA/PERS and I thought I had outgrown Englishes. I was wrong. Later on I discovered Kentucky's. Now I try to alternate, but I don´t mind if, for a few days or weeks, I stay on one side. What I have learned is that what you think is out of your taste today will be your nirvana tomorrow, especially if you return to it reluctantly (just to finish the open tin).
I'm going through such a change myself. I used to be so sensitive to latakia that it was hard for me to enjoy even mild English aro blends. But now, I can enjoy them and medium strength lat blends. I don't care for lat bombs, but I am glad I enjoy something that I previously was unable to smoke.
The amount of variety in pipe smoking is incredible, and it is worthwhile exploring it all.
The amount of variety in pipe smoking is incredible, and it is worthwhile exploring it all.
@Relax62 what’s your definition of an Aromatic, and which ones did you smoke? Most people do not understand what Aromatics are.
A lot of people misunderstand Aromatics, new and even older smokers.
Basically you could say, there are Light, Medium and Heavy Topped Blends, my best guess, most are thinking about the heavy sweet, overly moist goopy, smelling like candy blends as only Aromatics.
Here’s a good article on Aromatics.
www.smokingpipes.com
TAD as it’s called around here is quite real, and a fun adventure to dive into all the many blends out there.
In the end, it’s all going to get down to your personal tastes, some people are always happy to hang out with the boys every Friday drinking Budweiser and eating pepperoni pizza every weekend and it never changes.
I don’t like eating the same thing all the time.
When it comes to blends, I’m more the VA/VaPer type, but I smoke different ones all the time, or rotate through what I have.
Have fun!
A lot of people misunderstand Aromatics, new and even older smokers.
Basically you could say, there are Light, Medium and Heavy Topped Blends, my best guess, most are thinking about the heavy sweet, overly moist goopy, smelling like candy blends as only Aromatics.
Here’s a good article on Aromatics.
Aromatic Pipe Tobacco | Smokingpipes.com
Learn more about how aromatic pipe tobaccos are made, including the differences between casings and top notes.
www.smokingpipes.com
TAD as it’s called around here is quite real, and a fun adventure to dive into all the many blends out there.
In the end, it’s all going to get down to your personal tastes, some people are always happy to hang out with the boys every Friday drinking Budweiser and eating pepperoni pizza every weekend and it never changes.
I don’t like eating the same thing all the time.
When it comes to blends, I’m more the VA/VaPer type, but I smoke different ones all the time, or rotate through what I have.
Have fun!
I think what we eat impacts on out tobacco regimen more than we realise and changes our palate quite quickly. We all have a very different diet around this time of year, richer and sweeter foods abound and we also alter our diet with seasonal change, heavier, spicy and more savoury foods in fall/winter. This can also be said of out tobacco’s
Couldn’t agree more! I should’ve been more clear!. There are some tobaccos that are considered light aromatics that I do enjoy on occasion, then there are ones that are heavy and smell wonderful, but taste nothing like they smell. Maybe I haven’t figured out how to smoke them, but I do give some a try every few months. We shall see, but for now, I have plenty of blends that I know I can and do enjoy even time.@Relax62 what’s your definition of an Aromatic, and which ones did you smoke? Most people do not understand what Aromatics are.
A lot of people misunderstand Aromatics, new and even older smokers.
Basically you could say, there are Light, Medium and Heavy Topped Blends, my best guess, most are thinking about the heavy sweet, overly moist goopy, smelling like candy blends as only Aromatics.
Here’s a good article on Aromatics.
Aromatic Pipe Tobacco | Smokingpipes.com
Learn more about how aromatic pipe tobaccos are made, including the differences between casings and top notes.
TAD as it’s called around here is quite real, and a fun adventure to dive into all the many blends out there.
In the end, it’s all going to get down to your personal tastes, some people are always happy to hang out with the boys every Friday drinking Budweiser and eating pepperoni pizza every weekend and it never changes.
I don’t like eating the same thing all the time.
When it comes to blends, I’m more the VA/VaPer type, but I smoke different ones all the time, or rotate through what I have.
Have fun!
Hadn’t thought of it that way, but makes perfect sense! Thanks for the input!
Not only that, humidity levels and temperature change how a tobacco is perceived, that is why some people change tobacco types with the seasons.
I get that totally! If true I seem to be backwards. I’m currently enjoying Va’/Va/Res’s, and Lakelands (various blends), and in the warmer months I was really enjoying English/Balkan, and some Burlely blends.