How do you Spend Time with a Blend?

[fireground_piper]

If you enjoy jumping around blends, go for it. Everyone is different and some people love doing that.

I have yet to have anything change my perception after say the third bowl. At some point, it’s just splitting hairs on nuance. If you want to chase that nuance, you can do that too.

All about what you want to get out of smoking.

 

[karam]

@Ahi Ka @cosmicfolklore interesting observation, never had it because I rarely smoke the same thing twice, only Nightcap has that distinction.

@anotherbob well put
@DanWil84 I had a tin sit for at least 2 years, before opening it I had a flake from a friend who considered it equally boring as I did. When I did crack that tin I was puzzled, from the first flake to the last, about what I am missing that made so many people go bonkers over it on TR. Boring boring boring, best bet to get any flavour out of it was to dry to a crisp, and enjoy its "mouthful of soil" essence.

@makhorkasmoker the way I want it to be, and building my cellar to be, is having blends I can hit any time, and be enjoyable from light to dottle every time. It's the hit and miss experience @Grangerous talks about that annoys me and I want to eliminate, sort of making each blend like having a drink with a lifelong friend or sex with ones wife: things change but they also stay the same, you may have no surprises but you never get bored either, and always have at the very minimum a very good time. Not quite the same level of excitement as going to bed with a woman for the first time, but overall more fulfilling.

 

[JohnClyde]

I've the view that life's too short to smoke blends I'm sat on the fence about.

If its going to be something that is going to increase my risk of mouth cancer I'd rather it be worth the effort.

 

[mso489]

I think blends are definitely learned. I can decide I don't really like a blend and jar it for a year and come back and find it quite good. It may be partly aging the leaf, but it is more that the subconscious has been working on the problem and better understands what the blend offers. This has happened with four or five blends over the years. But I am never programatic about this. It isn't a college course and a Navy A school. There are no quizzes or exams. I come to it, but it also comes to me, over time. That it is sort of unbidden is part of the pleasure.

 

[warren]

If I decide to try a new blend, it better entertain my taste buds quickly. A couple of bowls, one after the other is sufficient to make a decision. Often, a partial first bowl is more than sufficient.

 

[bullet08]

I don't spend time trying to figure out what a blend is all about. If I like it, I like it. If I don't, I don't. If I notice something nice, great. If I don't, it's still tobacco.

 

[Andrew Womble]

Over a decade ago I found myself in the “too many open tins/jars” scenario and decided to apply some parameters. I “need” variety, but wanted to understand blends more fully, so for the past 10yrs +\- I’ve kept a 10 open blend rotation. At an average of 2 pipes a day, I’m finishing a tin and bringing a new one into the rotation about every 10 days. For me, this has worked beautifully and allows me to spend quality time with each blend, get to see how it changes over about 3 months of being open, and still try new things on a regular basis - or I can return to old friends when the urge hits. Hopefully you’ll find the rhythm that works best for you!

This is great advice! I think I'll put a limit of blends on myself and 10 does seem like enough to not get bored while still being able to put a new blend into rotation at a decent pace.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

This is great advice! I think I'll put a limit of blends on myself and 10 does seem like enough to not get bored while still being able to put a new blend into rotation at a decent pace.

Or add 10 more blends and toss them in your “cellar”! They’ll look lonely, so add 10 more!

 

[Andrew Womble]

Thanks everyone for you replies. It seems like all things pipe smoking, there is no one size fits all, it's more of a choose your own adventure and figure out what works for you. I think I'll try putting a limit of open tins/jars on myself. So far, Peter Stokkebye's Luxury Navy Flake is the blend I go to time and time again and will always be apart of my rotation.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I make sure a newly acquired blend has been opened with time to breathe and is dry enough when I smoke it. As often as not, I'll taste what I need to the first few bowls to know if where that blend is going to rate with me. People are different with their approach to smoking. I'm in the "I like how it taste or I don't camp". I mostly don't care to know it that will, it's freaking tobacco not a human being.

 

[leonardbill1]

I can usually tell within the first bowl if I'm going to like a tobacco. If it's not something that I initially like I'll still give it a second chance to see if I was missing something. After that it goes into the cooler in the basement. I'll revisit it periodically to see if age has helped it or just to try something different.

 

[cigrmaster]

When I would test a tin to determine if it was worthy to be put in my cellar I would normally give it half a tin and if I wasn't sure by then, I would give it away. Most of my favorites in my cellar were researched for a while before they would be bought and smoked. I knew pretty much what blends I liked going into my testing phase. I also more importantly knew what I didn't like. After I told myself I was done buying tobacco I didn't for a number of years. But then I just had to get curious and bought some Salty Dogs, Curly Block, Savinelli Doblone d'Oro and finally Butera Royal Vintage: Dark Stoved. Now I am back into my only buying an aged tin here or there stage and I am not trying anything new.

 

[Toast]

I wonder how much availability & price affects this. The choice here in the UK is much narrower & the price much steeper, so I'm going to give any tin I buy much more than a couple of smokes to impress me.

In terms of spending time, when I open a new tin I tend to put half away in mylar & then smoke the other half, varying pack & moisture - I'll smoke it at least five times a week until it's done.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

When I am not sure if I like a tobacco or not, it’s usually something weird in the casing that is making me waiver on it. For example, for me Sutliff adds an unusual something in their casings that reminds me of a subtle new car smell. I am currently “spending time” with their white cube burley, which I want to like, but that casing…. So, I smoke it in different pipes, in between different other blends at different times of the day. But, I’m probably going to jar it and forget about it. Then some day latter on, maybe years from now, I will do this all over again, and maybe that sweet casing will have subsided a bit.
I’ve had to do this with their Virginia flakes also…. They just squirt that new car smell on all their shit. Hopefully, it goes away in time. If not, I’ll just give away some aged versions of their stuff.

Since no one ever mentions this casing of theirs, I just guess it is me…. But, I taste it nonetheless.

I've been trying to place the off smell/taste of a few blends. The mention of new car smell is fairly accurate and can't be unseen (or smelled). It isn't overpowering, but a slight nuisance similar to being nibbled to death by ducks.

It's similar to when someone mentioned size 100s taste different than shorts/kings. 100s haven't tasted the same since.

Guess I'll try the air dry method to at least temper the smell/taste.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I've been trying to place the off smell/taste of a few blends. The mention of new car smell is fairly accurate and can't be unseen (or smelled). It isn't overpowering, but a slight nuisance similar to being nibbled to death by ducks.

Oh no, did you smell/taste it before I mentioned it?

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

Oh no, did you smell/taste it before I mentioned it?

There was a flavor I couldn't place with both Christmas Spice and mainly Molto Dolce (and a few non-Sutliff blends). It annoyed me more by not being able to place it. The new car smell reference made things click.

I've been meaning to start drying tobacco out more. This may kick start my attempts.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

There was a flavor I couldn't place with both Christmas Spice and mainly Molto Dolce (and a few non-Sutliff blends). It annoyed me more by not being able to place it. The new car smell reference made things click.

I've been meaning to start drying tobacco out more. This may kick start my attempts.

I think that each company has a proprietorial "scent" that they add to each blend. I used to wonder whether it was just something in the factory or something that they add their casings to. But, then Russ had said something years ago on here about a proprietorial scent, and it made sense to me, about what I was tasting/smelling. I don't mind any of the other company's scents, except for Sutliff. I don't want to dislike a company, because, well, Sutliff is cheap. Who would want to hate the cheaper option? But, I just can't make it past that new car smell. I can taste it in Molto Dolce as well, really strong, but it doesn't bother me as much on that one, because it seems to harmonize with the rest of the blend, well... plus I add GH&co Coconut Twist to that one, and it makes for a nicer smoke, IMO.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

I think that each company has a proprietorial "scent" that they add to each blend. I used to wonder whether it was just something in the factory or something that they add their casings to. But, then Russ had said something years ago on here about a proprietorial scent, and it made sense to me, about what I was tasting/smelling. I don't mind any of the other company's scents, except for Sutliff. I don't want to dislike a company, because, well, Sutliff is cheap. Who would want to hate the cheaper option? But, I just can't make it past that new car smell. I can taste it in Molto Dolce as well, really strong, but it doesn't bother me as much on that one, because it seems to harmonize with the rest of the blend, well... plus I add GH&co Coconut Twist to that one, and it makes for a nicer smoke, IMO.

I was excited to try Molto Dolce and heard almost nothing but good things. However, I was having issues getting past the new car smell. The taste followed the smell, but not as strong.

I get the feeling the flavor beneath is legit. Maybe I'll try adding some stronger tobacco, like Five Brothers, in addition to airing it out. Thank you for the casual suggestion.

I'm just glad to be able to place that smell/taste and that someone else experienced it too (since I hadn't heard of it before in any of the Molto Dolce reviews I read).

 

[gamzultovah]

Capstan, gold or blue, aterwards the middle of a tin, I can taste something fake, that overrides what I know to be tobacco. Many European Virginias do this for me now.

This…

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I should also mention that I really like most of the underlying flavors of MacBarens and Stokkebye. I don't smoke STG stuff (that I know of), so I have no idea. But I don't taste anything in C&D blends. It may be there, but I can't detect it if there is.
SG and GH&co may put something in there's... but hell, with how much other stuff they load into everything they make, it's hard to tell, ha ha. I may catch a wisp of something every now and then, but it's not nearly as pervasive as others.