Does Perique Add Anything Other Than Spice?

[ArtAraya]

I've recently tried a couple of blends which contain perique. I definitely get the pepper-thing. I don't particularly enjoy that and it doesn't always pair very well with the beverage I'm drinking. I think I'd rather avoid it.

I'm new to VaPers having recently tried a couple. I like them! But can do without the pepper. Does that mean I should try a straight Virginia? Or is the perique in the VaPer adding flavor or other characteristics to the smoke which are contributing to the overall enjoyment of the VaPer?

 

[smokiespipesmoker123]

I find it adds a figgy fruity character

 

[pantsBoots]

I don't care for the peppery Perique nature, but love the figgy/pruney Perique. I don't care for SG St James Flake, for example, but love Peterson Deluxe Navy Rolls, Escudo & Orlik (where it's barely there).

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

There are different Perique types. Some are peppery, some are more fruit and fig. I prefer the latter.

 

[samuelgawith01]

Nicotine,and a funky,dirty socks taste and odor that I happen to like.

 

[spicy_boiii]

YES. Like has been said before by Hoosier, there are different perique types. And even within the same "Type", there are different organizations that can sauce or store their perique in different ways that greatly affect its presence and influence on a blend. Perique is also a variable product, and differences in temperature, time, and other factors can affect the flavor compounds that the anaerobic bacteria has on the fermentation period.

I get a strong glutamate affect and salt taste and influence from adding it to various blends. Aging blends with more fruity perique can bring out a plummy and dark almost red-wine-reduction type flavor. Gregory Pease has noted it has a similar salt-like influence on his blends.

Some are sensitive to the spice element of perique. Some Perique has little to no spice element. I'm not sensitive to it all and hardly notice it unless it's pretty extreme and of the spicy variety.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

Perique is one of those chameleon leafs. It does different things to the blend at different concentrations.

 

[Seamaster]

If memory serves, perique is very alkaline, which is said to increase the effect of nicotine.

 

[ArtAraya]

YES. Like has been said before by Hoosier, there are different perique types. And even within the same "Type", there are different organizations that can sauce or store their perique in different ways that greatly affect its presence and influence on a blend. Perique is also a variable product, and differences in temperature, time, and other factors can affect the flavor compounds that the anaerobic bacteria has on the fermentation period.

I get a strong glutamate affect and salt taste and influence from adding it to various blends. Aging blends with more fruity perique can bring out a plummy and dark almost red-wine-reduction type flavor. Gregory Pease has noted it has a similar salt-like influence on his blends.

Some are sensitive to the spice element of perique. Some Perique has little to no spice element. I'm not sensitive to it all and hardly notice it unless it's pretty extreme and of the spicy variety.

Thank you for the very informative response!

 

[LOREN]

The smell is figgy/fruity to me and the taste is along the peppery line to me. I like it quite a bit.

 

[mso489]

Like other condiments, I think Perique is done best when it brings up the base tobacco, like Virginia, in a pleasing way both by harmonizing and contrasting. When that's done just right, it can be wonderful, otherwise, not so much. Orlik Golden Sliced supposedly has Perique, but few can taste it, and that may be one of OGS's secret appeals.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Chemically, perique has been fermented into more complex molecules that is no longer nicotine, but they act as an acid to help your body ingest the nicotine of the leaf it is blended with. It is a little more peppery, due to the acidity, but depending on the perique and the leaf it is blended with it can take on a more malic acidy taste as you'd find in cider or even a stewed fruit taste, depending on how long it has been blended with the surrounding leaf.

But, since most pipesmokers prefer VaPers, being Virginias and Perique, the increase in the amount of nicotine is just slight. If you add in a pinch of burley or dark fired, the nicotine is/can be even greater.

 

[JPremo]

Man I never believed that whole "spicy" descriptor until I tried a heavy perique blend and I gotta say it works with some things but definitely not a regular smoker for me!

I haven't come across this fruity/figgy version though, anybody have a source for a good blend of it?

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I haven't come across this fruity/figgy version though, anybody have a source for a good blend of it?

Try Peter Stokkebye Luxury Navy Flake.

 

[danimalia]

I've recently tried a couple of blends which contain perique. I definitely get the pepper-thing. I don't particularly enjoy that and it doesn't always pair very well with the beverage I'm drinking. I think I'd rather avoid it.

I'm new to VaPers having recently tried a couple. I like them! But can do without the pepper. Does that mean I should try a straight Virginia? Or is the perique in the VaPer adding flavor or other characteristics to the smoke which are contributing to the overall enjoyment of the VaPer?

Perique is really interesting in that it varies depending on the particular type and what it's mixed with. It can have a dried fruit sweetness or sometimes a musty chocolatey type flavor. Most blends use Acadian Perique which is a mixture of true perique leaf and burley, processed in the traditional manner.

My understanding is that the majority of true St. James Perique goes to the Santa Fe Tobacco company for their American Spirit cigarettes. That said, Russ from P&C and Mark Ryan collaborated on a project a while back that featured different perique varietals. If it's still available, might be a good way to discover how different it can be. And definitely try some straight VAs too, which will give you a better idea of what perique can add.

 

[Ahi Ka]

It adds balls to a smoke

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My understanding is that the majority of true St. James Perique goes to the Santa Fe Tobacco company for their American Spirit cigarettes.

Mark Ryan would spit his cigar out and draw fists if he heard that, ha ha. La Poche is NOT connected with them, and he spent about 20 minutes of a lecture telling us what sons-o-biches those guys are, and how they don't even remove the stems from their swill, ha ha.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

It adds balls to a smoke

It is Dark Fired Kentucky Burly which adds balls to smoke, perique, well, pepperiness

 

[pantsBoots]

Mark Ryan would spit his cigar out and draw fists if he heard that, ha ha. La Poche is NOT connected with them, and he spent about 20 minutes of a lecture telling us what sons-o-biches those guys are, and how they don't even remove the stems from their swill, ha ha.

Agreed there. The pouches say "no stems," and what's inside every pouch of American Spirit? Stems, that's what.

 

[haparnold]

Greg Pease said (at some point a decade ago), that perique is like salt. A little bit heightens the flavor of the other components without making its presence known, a little more and it makes itself apparent, and a little more drowns out the other, subtler flavors.

Far be it from me to disagree with the Dark Lord.