Confirmation Bias?

[cosmicfolklore]

I'm no marketing sheep. No one is going to tell me what to like or hate. I'm too smart for that. I only smoke tobaccos that everyone hates. ::

 

[newdave61]

I recently tried pipesmagazine.com and came away pleasantly surprised. The tin note was of woodsy, fresh-cut grass with a hay component. I would say the campfire overtones were a bit offputting if they weren't counterbalanced by the dark fruit and leather.
Al in all, a must-try.

 

[woodsroad]

Dark fruit and leather.

I got that, too.

 

[3rdguy]

If anything, some tool's self-important thesis of a review will make me avoid it instead of try it.

I would agree with this. If the review sounds like a medical test I have to laugh.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Confirmation bias may affect the perception of the first few bowls. For some, it could even last for most of a tin. That's why it is important to smoke a tin or two, in most cases, before deciding on a certain blend. I enjoy reading the reviews but I trust my own taste buds more for what I like. Most of the times, I use the reviews to rule a blend out, not rule it in. If the vast majority of the reviewers are essentially saying it sucks and give it 2 stars or less, seems highly unlikely I will find it to be a 4 star blend. Having them rate it 3.5 stars in no way guarantees it is something I will like. Pipe tobacco is so stinking cheap, if you see something you think has a reasonable chance of being something you'd like, buy a tin and give it a whirl. If you hate it, save a few tins up and then give it to someone else. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I think that reading reviews and discussing tobaccos with other people gives new smokers a vocabulary to discern flavors in the smoke—grassy, hay-like, dark fruit, leather, campfire, woodsy.

I believe this to be very true, and it helps you find the flavors yourself. If you don't have a very trained palette yet, find a tobacco, go to Tobaccoreviews.com and find the very first review... this usually happens to be Jiminks because he has reviewed every single blend ever created (someone tell me I'm wrong) ....and then while you are smoking that blend, try to find those flavors yourself. You may get it, you may not. You might get something else entirely, as palettes vary from one person to the next. Jim may taste coffee in a blend where I might detect cocoa... or Kentucky Fried Chicken (damn that sounds good right now!) To this day I swear I taste cocoa in McClelland Blue Mountain, but I don't believe I've ever seen anyone else ever mention it.

 

[dare66]

I'd like to think even after reading a flavor profile on beer, bourbon, tobacco or anything else that I'm still going to go into it with an open mind but keeping the info the I found in the back of my mind.

 

[bullet08]

not knowing much at all about pipe tobacco, i do read reviews and forum to decide on what to buy. but as to what i find after the smoke, i don't remember who said what on the review. but i do remember what kind of tobacco should have what sort of taste/smell and try to see if i can detect them.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Most of my preferences developed pre internet. Didn't even know about pipe forums or tobacco reviews until a few years ago. My buys are based on blend components, and often buy newly released blends just because they have what I like.

 

[npod]

This is a good topic. I am certain there is some bias in our relationship with tobacco.
Interestingly, the human brain has it's own bias and the heart wants what the heart wants. As an example, I tried very hard to love Lakeland tobaccos (confirmation bias). I kept at it and knew I would enjoy them eventually based on what I had read and thought I wanted. But eventually my heart told me to knock it off. The bias eventually wore off and I moved on (I hate full Lakelands and I freely admit it now).

 

[redone]

This is a good discussion. I’ve read tons of reviews and, like many, trust JimInks reviews. His tastes seem to be fairly close to mine, so that is good. But, I have found there are a few well liked blends that are not my favorites, so personal taste, for me, does take over at some point.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

As an example, I tried very hard to love Lakeland tobaccos (confirmation bias). I kept at it and knew I would enjoy them eventually based on what I had read and thought I wanted. But eventually my heart told me to knock it off. The bias eventually wore off and I moved on (I hate full Lakelands and I freely admit it now).

I've probably smoked four or five bowls of Lakeland tobacco. I wouldn't call it bias, disgusting is more appropriate. I decided if I felt the need to taste Lakeland again, I'd shove a cheap cigar up my dogs butt, wipe it down with dish soap and smoke it. Same taste result, cheaper.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I'd shove a cheap cigar up my dogs butt, wipe it down with dish soap and smoke it.

That poor dog... do you have to leave it there for any length of time, or is like swiping a debit card? umm... Asking for a friend. ::

 

[ashdigger]

Hoosier, so, you've just described how rope tobacco looks when it arrives.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Cosmic, the important consideration is to choose a small ring gage cigar. It's not an all day thing but you do need to leave it long enough to absorb an adequate amount of "essence".
Ashdigger ... Exactly. So you also achieve visual bias.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Damn. I can't "unsee" the above description.
When I first started reading and posting here, I was greatly influenced by discussions of what was superb in the posts of a given thread, and bought those tobaccos to try.
I read tobaccoreviews to find out the constituents of a blend, as well as posts by JimInks, Steelcowboy and a couple of other. I just can't taste half the stuff Jim talks about, which is fine, as I enjoy smoking whichever blend without those tastes.
Now I'm likely to try a tin without reading or hearing much about it, and then read up, to see if the other guy confirms my bias.

 

[foursidedtriangle]

What is in the tobacco, who made it, the cut take precedence over everything else. The reviews are there more as a way to narrow down from range I know I will like to a specific tobacco or two.

 

[bassbug]

shove a cheap cigar up my dogs butt,

I can just imagine the conversation now...
hoosier: the dog seems to be having issues in doing his business lately. Started right after the cigar incident
Veterinarian: Lets have a look...Hmmm...rectum
hoosier: Rectum????? Damn near killed him doc.

 

[tabakpfeife]

I was ruminating on this while writing a review on Blackpoint in TR. I think reviews, in general, are skewed upwards. My theory is that, given the expense involved, we tend to buy tobacco we think we would like. We open a tin, smoke it, and, shore 'nuff, we give it a good review. I, for example, would not buy Borkum Riff Cherry. Nothing against this blend (it was the first one I ever tried, burned the bejeezus out of my tongue. I feel the same way about Rum and Coke, albeit for different reasons). So, I will never buy this evil weed and give it a poor review. Consequently, most of my reviews are pretty high, because I preselect what I think would give me the most bang for the buck. Ergo, my reviews are skewed.

 

[rdavid]

As a newbie, I spend many hours reading reviews so bias has definitely been a factor. In fact, a large percentage of my purchases to date are based on reviews here and at TR.
I think the key here is to read between the lines and try to filter through the bullshit. It’s obvious there are some very well known reviewers: jiminks, pipestud etc. and they have had a large influence on my choices. To date, my technique is to read through 10 or 20 reviews and get the “big picture”. So far so good as I’ve only regretted very few purchases.
Lakelands are a perfect example. Based on the wide range of love/hate reviews, I simply had to try them. Started with Conniston Cut Plug and was horrified with the first bowl. Following the hard/fast rule of never giving up, I’ve smoked several bowls to date and am actually starting to like the stuff.
Anyway, without the internet and the reviews, I certainly believe that I wouldn’t have gotten this far in so short a period of time.
Flavors? Yeah... no. Not yet. Don’t even know WTF stewed dark fruit is anyway...