Crossover Smokes When Changing Blends

[Grovius]

EDIT : Fixed Capitalization in Title ( See Rule 9 )

Hi there.

Newbie question here. Context: last week, I had a bowl of SG's St. James Flake. After that, I've had 2 bowls of Old Gowrie in the same pipe (a MM Mark Twain cob), and about half of the flavours I am getting are those of St. James Flake. I've searched the forum and see there's quite a lot of different opionions on whether/how much perique ghosts. My question is: as I only had 1 bowl of SJF, how many of, say, a straight Va does it take before the carryover flavours go away?

Thanks in advance!

 

[wayneteipen]

It really varies based on the pipe, the strength of the ghosted flavor, and how sensitive your palate is.

 

[anotherbob]

cob shouldn't ghost much like that. As crazy as it sounds wipe the bowl out and make sure the stem and mortise are clean. That said ghosts don't really hang out in cobs that much even when they do show up.

 

[F4RM3R]

It depends but for something not ghosted too hard usually 5 bowls pretty much does the trick for me. I notice the ghosted flavour less in each smoke. Is it sort of dying down or still quite persistent after a few bowls?

 

[warren]

Cobs are a "soft" material and should soak up tars and such. A bowl or two of another blend should overpower whatever ghosting has occurred.

 

[Grovius]

cob shouldn't ghost much like that. As crazy as it sounds wipe the bowl out and make sure the stem and mortise are clean. That said ghosts don't really hang out in cobs that much even when they do show up.

That was also my expectation, but I did get like a 70-25 mixture in the first Old Gowrie bowl and 50-50 in the second (and I clean them after every smoke)

 

[Grovius]

It depends but for something not ghosted too hard usually 5 bowls pretty much does the trick for me. I notice the ghosted flavour less in each smoke. Is it sort of dying down or still quite persistent after a few bowls?

Yes, it went down but it is still noticeable. Seems reasonable it will be gone with a few more then.

 

[Grovius]

Cobs are a "soft" material and should soak up tars and such. A bowl or two of another blend should overpower whatever ghosting has occurred.

Not sure if it would even count as "ghosting", as it clearly went down, but it did surprise me (not a single shred of SJF and I was getting that [I guess] perique taste).

 

[musicman]

FWIW, Old Gowrie does indeed contain Perique, but it's not as prominent in the blend as in SJF. For me, I'd probably welcome such a ghost, since I love both of those smokes, and they are similar enough to me that it would be hard to discern other than noticing that the Old Gowrie might be a little more aggressive than normal.

 

[02Knight]

That is why I use my cobs for the aromatic type blends and my briars for my other tobacco. This way I have no ghosting in my briars which usually have good strong Kentucky's, which seem to overcome the ghost of the perique.

 

[Grovius]

FWIW, Old Gowrie does indeed contain Perique, but it's not as prominent in the blend as in SJF. For me, I'd probably welcome such a ghost, since I love both of those smokes, and they are similar enough to me that it would be hard to discern other than noticing that the Old Gowrie might be a little more aggressive than normal.

Sure, it was a nice smoke, sort of like SJF with some edge taken off it, but I would also like to change blends withoug having to go through too many bowls.

 

[Grovius]

That is why I use my cobs for the aromatic type blends and my briars for my other tobacco. This way I have no ghosting in my briars which usually have good strong Kentucky's, which seem to overcome the ghost of the perique.

So using Ky as a re-setting tobacco could be a solution here, I guess.

 

[FurCoat]

cob shouldn't ghost much like that. As crazy as it sounds wipe the bowl out and make sure the stem and mortise are clean. That said ghosts don't really hang out in cobs that much even when they do show up.

+1 wipe out the bowl with a paper towel after each use.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

If I smoke an OTC after smoking perique it really enhances the sweetness.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

No question, VaPer blends will slightly ghost a pipe, especially the peppery ones which SJF certainly is. However, OG has some perique in it. I would think there would be much of a ghost in a cob after only a bowl or two.

 

[workman]

Crossover flavors can also be the mind, playing tricks.
There are several blends I smoke where my mind will conjure up flavors of other similar blends.

 

[Grovius]

+1 wipe out the bowl with a paper towel after each use.

Yes, I do that and scrub the mortise and the stem, but I'm thinking of the coffee grounds when changing blends (unless I want a mixed smoke)

 

[Grovius]

If I smoke an OTC after smoking perique it really enhances the sweetness.

In this case, it added more richness to OG. Halfway through the bowl it became really figgy/chocolaty.

 

[Grovius]

No question, VaPer blends will slightly ghost a pipe, especially the peppery ones which SJF certainly is. However, OG has some perique in it. I would think there would be much of a ghost in a cob after only a bowl or two.

I'm intrigued about the third bowl now.

 

[Grovius]

Crossover flavors can also be the mind, playing tricks.
There are several blends I smoke where my mind will conjure up flavors of other similar blends.

In this case I'm pretty positive, although that has happened to me with foods and drinks.