Do I dislike smoking or my tobacco?

[iaindescribable]

I smoked my first pipe recently, a Mr Brog churchwarden with Captain Black Gold. It took a little bit to get the hang of, but I think I got the basics of the technique down. The problem is I didn't get anything out of it, save for a very sore tongue. All I tasted was smoke- and I got no noticeable calming effect from the nicotine. So my question is this; is this just a flavorless tobacco, and I should try something a bit nicer before I make up my mind? Or, does even CBG have some flavor, and I'm just not one for smoking, like how some people just can't enjoy fine drinks regardless of how good they are because they don't like alcohol?
If the former, I'll be in the Birmingham, Alabama area this month. I plan to visit a pipe shop there, The Briary, where I hope I'll be able to find more variety than what my local Kroger can give me. Is there anything you'd recommend to give me a better taste of what this is all about?

 

[jmill208]

You have to love yourself first. Go see a psychiatrist.
Or, go to The Briary. You'll be in good hands. ::

 

[macaroon]

I found the first few smokes to be pretty flavorless. Hot air and ash. Patient persistence could very likely yield more satisfaction over the course of another several bowls.

 

[cobguy]

CBG is a very moist tobacco with tons of PG (propylene glycol) ... dry it well or try a better quality tobacco.
Best advice though?

go to The Briary. You'll be in good hands.

+1 ::

 

[cigrmaster]

You should try either a quality aromatic such as Cult: Blood Red Moon, Sutliff Molto Dolce or a great tasting Virginia/Perique like Escudo. Captain Black is 35% PG and topping. It is not even allowed to be sold in Great Britain.
Don't give up before magic happens. None of us had great experiences when we first began. We stuck with it and now cannot imagine life without our pipes and tobacco.

 

[deathmetal]

So my question is this; is this just a flavorless tobacco, and I should try something a bit nicer before I make up my mind?

No, go back to technique. Captain Black Gold is neither excellent nor fecal, and you should taste something. If you are not, you are likely carbonizing the tobacco before you can taste it. Try sipping the pipe every ten seconds, packing less tightly, and cleansing the palate with some strong tea before smoking. This stuff is really hard at first but it gets easier. Good luck. We're counting on you.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Let me know when you'll be at The Briary. Or, tell Skip (old guy with beard) or Smokey Joe (young guy with no beard) that Michael or Cosmic sent ya, and they'll hook you up. I think it's both pipe and tobacco, but that's a let field guess.

Also, Monday night (tomorrow) at 6' we will be meeting there for our pipe club. It's an excellent time to kick back and talk tobaccos and pipes, and it's an excellent opportunity to ask questions of guys who've been smoking for a long time that love to share. I'll be bringing some tobaccos to sample, and sometimes guys will have pipes that they'd sell or trade.

We're a laid back group of guys that just like to talk pipes and swap tobaccos. It's always a good time.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

BTW, welcome to the forums. ::

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

The problem is I didn't get anything out of it, save for a very sore tongue.

This is perfectly normal, different tobacco won't change that part of the experience for a beginner. People who have been smoking other things for a while already might be able to pick out different flavours faster but if you're starting from square one then it doesn't really matter what you put in your pipe as long as it burns well. You need to acclimatise your taste buds to the base flavour of the smoke before the other flavours come through, similar to eating spicy food.

You will probably want to move on from Captain Black fairly quickly just for the sake of variety though.

The important thing right now is just to concentrate on getting your puffing cadence down to a sip. Pretend you're sipping on hot chocolate out of a straw, the volume of smoke in every sip should be very low, and you should only be sipping every five seconds or so.

Also make sure to drink something while smoking your pipe to help reduce alkalinity in your mouth (which is often responsible for soreness).

 

[iaindescribable]

Thanks for all the quick feedback guys. Seems I need to both try better stuff and work on my technique more. Perfectly reasonable- as of today I've only had two bowls, so by no means do I expect to be great at it by now.
Cosmic- Thanks for the welcome! I'm actually getting to Birmingham on the 29th of this month and staying for two days; I'm not sure on which I'll be heading out to Vestavia. I'm visiting my father so preferably I'll be spending most of my time with him and plan around that.

 

[deathmetal]

You're lucky. Cosmic is legendary around here, as is the Briary.
One other thought: might try a nice easy tobacco -- these are still good in my view -- like Carter Hall or Prince Albert.
There are some great OTCs out there.

 

[cigrmaster]

I cannot imagine hanging out with Cosmic, the thought of it makes me want to gag. To have to listen to him rant about how his cobs are better than a 500.00 Rad Davis pipe would be enough to want me to stick an ice pick in my eye.
Actually it might be kind of fun to hang with a sicko like the cosman. :nana:

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

No, go back to technique. Captain Black Gold is neither excellent nor fecal, and you should taste something. If you are not, you are likely carbonizing the tobacco before you can taste it. Try sipping the pipe every ten seconds, packing less tightly, and cleansing the palate with some strong tea before smoking. This stuff is really hard at first but it gets easier. Good luck. We're counting on you.

It depends on how long he's been at it. Is it a few bowls? A week? A month?
It was about a month between my first and second bowls of 1-Q (while trying a bunch of other blends between) and the second bowl was dramatically different. Other people starting here have noted that the flavour picks up naturally after a period of a few days of just smoking the same thing.
I really wish we could get some modern studies on pipesmoking, the transition a person goes through with their first few bowls would probably be worth a PHD.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Thanks for all the quick feedback guys. Seems I need to both try better stuff and work on my technique more. Perfectly reasonable- as of today I've only had two bowls, so by no means do I expect to be great at it by now.

Just concentrate on not burning yourself. The rest will come naturally.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Cig-master, I would never smoke a cob where someone could see me, ha ha.

That weekend is great for me. I can be down there at any time on Saturday. Not that Skip couldn't get you off to a start, but you have to be careful he doesn't send you home with a second or third mortgage and a brand new Eltang, ha ha.
Yeh, this is something that will come with time. You have to break in your pipe, and find your tobacco genre. This is where a sample pack could come in handy, and I could hook you up with that out of my rotation.
You need a pipe that you can love. And, I mean love. And, a genre of tobacco that makes loving that pipe so much easier.

By genre I mean, I mean either aromatics, Virginias, or Latakia based blends. Rarely does a guy just smoke one blend all the time, but a genre like Virginias has so many different subtle tastes that will keep you interested and excited to try the next one, or revisit.
It's a process. Like fishing. You don't go out and buy up a thousand lures and several rod and reels. You get off to a start with a few things to catch some fish, then within a few years you have the gear you need to fish in any situation. But, if you start off with the wrong lures or tobaccos, you're going to get bored and end up just skipping pebbles.

 

[shutterbugg]

I got no noticeable calming effect from the nicotine.

Are you a former cigarette smoker? It takes a lot of pipe-sipping to get as much nicotine as inhaling a cigarette. That's one reason old-time pipers used to smoke almost constantly.

 

[iaindescribable]

Are you a former cigarette smoker? It takes a lot of pipe-sipping to get as much nicotine as inhaling a cigarette. That's one reason old-time pipers used to smoke almost constantly.

No, actually. I just assumed the nicotine would have some noticeable effect. Correct me if I'm wrong there. Just to be clear, I'm not looking for a fix by any means. Wouldn't want to to come across as just being into this for the nicotine.

 

[deathmetal]

Getting the Nicotine is important.
It requires sipping slowly, and (consequently) keeping the smoke in your mouth for a longish time.
You'll master this.

 

[mortonbriar]

Yeah, it takes a bit of patience at first. There are thousands of blends you may ultimately enjoy more than captain black, but it will certainly do the trick while you are figuring out packing, lighting, tamping etc...Not a bad idea to stick to the one pouch till its gone so you get a feel for what it is offering too.
Isaac

 

[hawky454]

When I first started, all I tasted was smoke, until I tried an English blend. I know that sounds weird because it's a smoked leaf but it adds a lot of flavor to a blend. I would definitely switch up tobaccos before ya give up. Even with Virginia blends, at first, all I tasted was smoke, similar to that of a cigarette but I was determined to find out what all this talk was about and now I literally dream of VA tobaccos, they're heavenly. It takes time to understand what you are tasting. Full Virginia Flake was horrible when I first tried it, now I can't get enough of it. Someone described it on tobaccoreviews.com as tasting like buttered pancakes and I have to agree, as that's the closest anyone has come to describing what I get from the smoke. It doesn't literally taste like buttered pancakes, of course, but it conjures up that image every time I smoke it now that I have read that description. Anyway, we have taste memory and the more you smoke and smoke it carefully, the more flavor you will start noticing and you will enjoy it all the more. This is by no means an instant gratifying affair, one has to work for ones pleasure, which is why it is considered a gentle art (was just reminded of the song, Gentle Art of Making Enemies). Once you reap the fruit of your labor, you will, no doubt, be a pipe smoker for life.