Perique, on the other hand, is like salt. A pinch can enhance the flavours of a blend, without really making its presence known. A little more, and it becomes an influence to the overall taste. Too much, though, and your food becomes unbearably salty. Depending on the other tobaccos in a blend, the perique’s presence can be detected when the quantity reaches somewhere between 2% and 4% (by weight) of the overall mix. It may or may not be detectable in this range, but if it were removed from the blend, its absence would certainly be noted; the flavor of the blend would be more subdued, like someone turned down the volume.
Between about 4% and 8% or so, it begins to really make itself known. Somewhere in this range, perique’s voice begins to rise beyond the subliminal level, and the smoker begins to hear it, albeit softly. In this range, depending on the smoker, the detection of perique can be anywhere from, “I think there’s perique in this,” to, “This is a great blend, and the perique really adds something.”
In the 8% to 12% range, all doubt is removed. No matter what other tobaccos are vying for the smoker’s attention, perique will definitely wave its arms to be noticed. It’s not quite at the jumping up and down stage here, but the arm waving is certainly persistent throughout the bowl. It is when the percentage of the leaf is in this range that its lovers are happiest, and those who do not care for it would just as soon throw the pipe in the fire.
The jumping up and down begins at higher percentages, where the perique becomes an assertive, dominant component of the smoking experience. These are the waters on which only lovers of the stuff will sail. Some blends contain as much as 18-20% perique, and this is, indeed, a good working maximum, unless you want hair to grow on parts of your body you’d never expect it.
