Dry Out Those Aromatics

[mso489]

Yesterday evening, I packed Erin Go Bragh, an Irish Whiskey aromatic blend, in a Sav 673 KS bulldog, left it a while, and lit it up. It got all edgy and harsh on me. I relit it, but it never smoothed out. Today, I relit it after it had dried out overnight, and it was a whole new day, nice even burn and mellow taste. Sometimes, that's all it takes.

 

[BROBS]

I usually dry aros to near crispiness.

 

[Gecko]

I find it is a balancing act, to moist and it may gurgle, be hard to keep lit and a bit sour, to dry and it loses flavour and burns to quickly.

Overnight in a pipe often gives good results for me but overnight spread out on a piece of paper and it's to dry. This of course varies with relative humidity of your location.

 

[Richmond B. Funkenhouser]

I have found that the aromatics always taste better and burn better really dry.

 

[rushx9]

I always taste the most flavor when it's springy-crispy dry. Moisture mutes the flavors for me.

 

[olkofri]

Not drying mine beyond losing the extra moistiness. When I wanna smoke cardboard, I have some English blends available.

 

[dcon]

I often see the recommendation to dry aros to crispness. I think this comes down to a blend by blend decision. Some aros simply lose their intended flavor if dried (especially to the nth degree). If you learn proper control for the blends that you are smoking, a little moisture and, even, sizzle won’t cause “bite” or a bad smoke. 30+ years ago it was common place to see humidification discs in pipe tobacco humidors. We are definitely smoking our tobaccos drier today. I am not saying that is bad. I believe there is a need to be flexible.

 

[troyniss]

Some aromatics never dry out unless torched in the microwave. I find that drying it out though too much it loses its flavor. I like the way Lane 1-Q arrives. It's the perfect moisture and burns oh so well.

 

[Ryszard]

Aromatics I dry very little compared to my English blends.
English blends I tend to smoke rather dry, aromatics not soppy wet but springy to the touch.

 

[anotherbob]

I agree let aros dry out a bit more. Not to crisp but not so wet. Seems like you also get more tobacco flavor at that point.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

I'm always hoping the tobacco companies would start to sell their toppings in a spray bottle so I could have a fresh application at the start of each bowl.
I actually do have a collection of essences right now, some day I need to just hose down a bowl of FIve Brothers and see if I can't get it to match the Lakelands while still in an easy burning form factor.

 

[Old School 3319]

This was a lesson that I had to learn and once i did it was a great improvement in the quality of smoking time

 

[mso489]

I actually like the flavorings to fade. I want the tobacco taste up front and the flavorings only as an accent.

 

[BROBS]

Not drying mine beyond losing the extra moistiness. When I wanna smoke cardboard, I have some English blends available.

The moisture causes bite and makes it taste like cardboard

 

[BROBS]

Some aromatics never dry out unless torched in the microwave. I find that drying it out though too much it loses its flavor. I like the way Lane 1-Q arrives. It's the perfect moisture and burns oh so well.

Perfect moisture??? Do you live in a rainforest?

 

[dcon]

I actually like the flavorings to fade. I want the tobacco taste up front and the flavorings only as an accent.

The solution to that is to just buy aros that are more tobacco forward. I am sure the blender’s intent was for the product to be smokeable as produced. I know GLP has some blends that are intended to “age well” but, none of them are aros. I am also not sure that drying always dissipates the flavoring. Sometimes they just meld into the leaf when dried. Thus, my comment about a blend by blend decision.

 

[newportpipe]

This is timely. Trying out (MM) cobs for the first time and thought I’d order a summer blend to break in the new cobs.

Ordered 4oz. of Sutliffe Peach Cobbler. Man was it damp! I spread out a little to dry on a paper plate for the evening.

Came back to check on it every hour and still too damp.

I let it sit overnight and got tired of waiting. Kind of a crispy-springy by that time. The peach scent was long gone and it just smelled like many other aros that have that vanilla type topping.

Not a great success smoke-wise. Ordered some SWRA to get the break-in job done going forward.

 

[olkofri]

The moisture causes bite and makes it taste like cardboard

Not according to my tongue.

 

[BROBS]

Ordered some SWRA to get the break-in job done going forward.

So you’re trying to ghost every pipe you own?

 

[newportpipe]

So you’re trying to ghost every pipe you own?

Naw. Just one of the cobs I’ll dedicate to it. It’s what my grandfather used to smoke and I haven’t had it in a long time.