Dryness & Staleness

[half-light]

School me on tobacco staleness. In the past couple months, I've been slowly working my way throw a few different tins of tobacco, all of which I transferred from their original tins into mason jars. I've noticed in the last couple weeks that the flavor and aroma of my Black House and Presbyterian mixtures have really gone off - flat, ashy, with the Black House lacking its characteristic BBQ-like sweetness, and the Presbyterian robbed of its citrus-like qualities. I don't think it's a question of being excessively dry, as the Presbyterian retains a hint of delicate moisture. Any idea what's going on, and how to either restore this tobacco or preserve future tins from this fate?

 

[Streeper541]

 

[Grangerous]

All of your tobacco is stale. PM me. I’ll get rid of it for you.

Fate worse than death, half-light. I’m sorry you had to experience ruined tobacco.

 

[half-light]

View attachment 124566

Uh, did I just open a can of worms?

 

[Grangerous]

Uh, did I just open a can of worms?

Yes. Dry tobacco is ideal for smoking in the opinion of most. I don’t intentionally dry my tobacco but you’ll find a majority of guys say that drying tobacco is good practice.

It doesn’t go stale. Unless it crumbles to powder, tobacco is just fine. It can last decades. You may choose to rehydrate it. Moisture level is a personal preference.

Welcome again to the forum.

 

[half-light]

Hm. I generally dry mine out a bit as well, but like I said, the Presbyterian doesn't even seem very dry. I'm puzzled by the unpleasant change in its scent and flavor.

 

[anotherbob]

depends on the blend. Great avatar by the way. Some toppings i.e. flavorings can get lost with time or dryness. Also latakia will lose it's edge actually almost all tobacco will mellow with time which can be good or bad or whatever. Like a lot of things in life the answer is well it depends. Bottom line is how much you enjoy it. If a change happens over time or with lost moisture and you like that it is great, if you don't enjoy it then not great. There is a lot of advice that helps but at the end of the day it's like kissing you really have to find out for yourself and see what gets your engine going.

 

[Jacob74]

How often and deeply do you clean your pipe(s)? That could be a reason for a gradual change in flavor.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I'd suspect a change in your taste buds and olfactory sensors. Could be caused by any one or more of dozens, perhaps hundreds of factors- what you've eaten, how you feel, time of day, pipe used and in what condition, etc.

How and when do you clean your pipes?

 

[half-light]

I've been smoking the offending blends through a newly purchased Ropp briar - haven't given it a deep clean yet, only a few dry cleaners run through it. Could be wrong, but I don't think it's the pipe, because I've also been smoking a fresh tin of Bengal Slices through it, and it's been exquisite.

Maybe the Presbyterian is drier than I thought. Maybe I'll try to rehydrate that and the Black House.

 

[Streeper541]

Uh, did I just open a can of worms?

Of course not... ?

As far as I've been able to ascertain since joining this merry band, there are a few topics that are always guaranteed to be fun & exciting... or as others call them, a can of worms;

1. Moisture/ Dryness
2. Artisan/ Handmade
3. Water cleansing
4. P-lips
5. Pipers
6. The term "best"
7. Captain Black Grape
8. Thread grammar

Welcome aboard!

 

[Casual]

Humidity of the tobacco does change taste and smoking characteristics. That said, if the taste is dramatic, your pipe might need a deep clean.

 

[sablebrush52]

I've been smoking the offending blends through a newly purchased Ropp briar - haven't given it a deep clean yet, only a few dry cleaners run through it. Could be wrong, but I don't think it's the pipe, because I've also been smoking a fresh tin of Bengal Slices through it, and it's been exquisite.

Maybe the Presbyterian is drier than I thought. Maybe I'll try to rehydrate that and the Black House.

Certainly give rehydration a try, though from what you're written, your tobacco hasn't dried out. You're also smoking a number of tobaccos in the same pipe? That could contribute to your not getting the same flavors since each blend will leave their own traces on the pipe and that's not always a good thing.

Give your pipe a good cleaning, especially the mortise, where evil usually lurks, and give it another go.

Lastly, give your favorites a rest and smoke something different for a while before returning to them. Familiarity can breed contempt. Just depends on the individual smoker.

 

[monty55]

If the blends have been jarred, I don't see the problem. But it sounds like your pipe needs a good deep cleaning, IMO.

 

[Sgetz]

There have been many reports of taste changes after COVID infection. As it is possible to have a symptom free infection this might be worth considering (?)

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

You could try taking the normal amount of tobacco that you would use, put it in the palm of your hands and breathe on it up close and gently a few times, until it becomes limp, load up and see if that improves things for you.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

For me there is a big difference between dry and stale. I dry out all tins and jars before smoking from it. I like it crunchy to almost crunchy, depending on the blend.
Stale is when it has lost its vital oils, and that takes much longer to do than it takes for me to smoke a tin or jar. I’ve hardly ever run into stale tobacco since smoking a pipe.

Maybe you’re smoking the dry tobacco too fast, or the same way, you’d smoke freshly opened tobaccos?

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Of course not... ?

As far as I've been able to ascertain since joining this merry band, there are a few topics that are always guaranteed to be fun & exciting... or as others call them, a can of worms;

1. Moisture/ Dryness
2. Artisan/ Handmade
3. Water cleansing
4. P-lips
5. Pipers
6. The term "best"
7. Captain Black Grape
8. Thread grammar

Welcome aboard!

View attachment 124616

Don't forget "School me" . . . where the heck is @Briar Lee anyway? I actually learn stuff in and among the responses to his many questions - must be working on a brief.

 

[clynch]

Left tobacco out for an hour to dry. Filled the pipe. Got side tracked and didn't actually fire it up until 24 hours later. The bowl was a little crunchy on top. It seems to have lost a little flavor. It was a milder smoke and smoked through without relights. I was shocked by that. As a noob I relight frequently. Overall experience was dryer is better. For me at least.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

After a number of false starts, I was excited to start the initial voyages of my 4ABs yesterday. Well, too excited. The first bowl I didn't dry at all so that didn't go smoothly and I was so excited about getting after it after a bit of a break that I was puffing away, trying to avoid relights (dumb) and pipe ended up getting warmer than seemed good for it and I set it aside. Next I chose a bulging tin of G.L. Pease from 10 years ago and . . . it could have used some drying, lol, so that was an interesting surprise, but overall a much better experience.

I've saved my Heritage for today and it will be only used for Wilke No. 515. So I put some of that in a little glass bowl last night and as of this morning - it is still a little too moist - probably should have just spread it out on a paper towel. It was from a fresh batch I got from John pretty recently and it comes pretty moist. Point being if I'd packed the pipe with it (which has worked well with some other tobacco) and just fired it up this morning I would have been disappointed. So much difference between tobaccos and just need to remember to give it a good pinch and see where it's at.