I'm a little over a year into pipe smoking and I've already built up quite a collection of tobaccos. When I watch reviews from the YTPC, I often hear them speak about needing to spend time with a blend to really pick up on it's certain characteristics, especially after a first impressions review. My question is, when spending time with a blend, do you smoke it every day until it's gone, every day for a week or every now and then over the course of months? I feel like I have too many tobaccos now and I cycle through each blend once a month and am not picking up on each blend's unique character.
How do you Spend Time with a Blend?
- Thread starter Andrew Womble
- Start date
I find that even after years of acquaintance with a blend, I can still find something new in it.
The tobacco itself can change overtime, as well as the reaction of one's palate.
How often you smoke it is entirely up to you.
The tobacco itself can change overtime, as well as the reaction of one's palate.
How often you smoke it is entirely up to you.
I can relate OP. Pretty much the same story here and I jump around a bit with blends and pipes. Still trying to discern "flavors" and nuances and I don't smoke a pipe every day, let alone throughout the day. I've found some blends I really like (still trying to figure out how to describe the "why") and pretty much know when I'm smoking a straight Virginia vs. Virginia/Burley/Cavendish and that sort of thing but it's a work in progress.
One thing I've found this holiday while hiking about outside when it's cold and windy and sitting down to enjoy a bowl and my nose immediately starting to drip because of the exercise and the cold isn't a recipe for "nuance", lol.
But darn, it's relaxing!
One thing I've found this holiday while hiking about outside when it's cold and windy and sitting down to enjoy a bowl and my nose immediately starting to drip because of the exercise and the cold isn't a recipe for "nuance", lol.
But darn, it's relaxing!
Reviews for something as subjective as taste are irrelevant for me. I don't try to pick apart a blend to find its components but enjoy the overall flavor of it and find what I need to know about it within the first one or two smokes. Find the way that works for you. If you have to spend a month smoking the same thing, not a thing wrong with it. I do it a lot of the time and often with the same pipe.
I know if i like something within the first 30 minutes. The how often I smoke it is very variable, but overall i try to avoid back to back bowls of the same blend not to get bored of it.
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 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'm with most on this subject, give it time. Blends I first didn't like I liked more towards the end of the tin after having it open for 3 or 4 months. But there are also blends I liked instantly and got better with the tin being open.
I like smoked meat, teas, and assumed I would love smoked tobacco, and was correct.
Most blends fall into the “like instantly” category for me, the one I was indifferent to at first until an a-ha moment halfway through the tin was HU Janneman Flake. There hasn’t been a blend I found revolting, only to grow to like, probably because I don’t soldier through anything that’s worse than neutral. So far only two truly revolting blends unfit even for composting : C&D Mississippi Mud and SG Celtic Talisman. In terms of uninteresting: CD/GLP old Joe Krantz/Haunted bookshop (this IS the same blend, right?), Haddos, Frigate, Jackknife Stack of Leaf, gaslight, stonehenge, Kajun Kake, Solani aged boring flake, Capstan blue, HU Dockworker. In terms of annoying/bad tasting but not infuriatingly nasty: HU Tillerman, HH Rustica
I spend time with a blend by smoking it. In general I pick up most of what flavors are in a blend at first acquaintance, For me, the business about getting to know it mostly involves finding the best moisture level to pull the clearest and most intense flavors and be able to pick up nuances that aren't obvious at first impression.
I’m sure that among all of the blends you’ve acquired and sampled, one or two of the those blends you’ve found very satisfying in a way that others weren’t. —Something comforting and easy about it that makes you return to it often. —- That one! Spend some time with it.
I have a favorite and I enjoy not having to think about what to smoke. I actually enjoy smoking that one blend in all of my pipes. Wanna find out which of your pipes smokes that blend best? — Spend some time with a single favorite blend.
You’ll find times when it falls flat and times when it’s marvelous. It’s such a complicated endeavor that even the same blend can have highs and lows. Life’s complicated enough without me rotating 50 blends hoping for a good smoke.
I have a favorite and I enjoy not having to think about what to smoke. I actually enjoy smoking that one blend in all of my pipes. Wanna find out which of your pipes smokes that blend best? — Spend some time with a single favorite blend.
You’ll find times when it falls flat and times when it’s marvelous. It’s such a complicated endeavor that even the same blend can have highs and lows. Life’s complicated enough without me rotating 50 blends hoping for a good smoke.
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!
Because of where I live, I can’t really continue to cellar commercial tobacco. Not sure if my perspective adds anything.
This has caused me to consider the finiteness of supply, and has changed how I smoke. Beforehand I used to enjoy a wide variety and was all about trying as much as possible. Now I know what I like, and have accepted that even if there is stuff I would prefer out there, it’s not available. I’ve limited what’s on my desk to half a dozen or so jars, with the intention of bringing this down to like 4 types/styles/genres going forward.
i know the blends I have which I like enough at ‘face value’, where I’m content at having a bowl once in a while and prioritise making my stash last the distance
i also know that some stuff will offer more enjoyment by being smoked exclusively, or predominantly over a shorter time frame and then being cherished as a memory.
What puzzles me however, and I try this every month just to check, is the Gawith ropes. I always have some handy and enjoy it pretty much whenever. However I’ve noticed that if I smoke them exclusively for a week, part way through the 6th bowl (normally day 3-4) I start to taste the factory aroma. It catches me off guard every time. I then smoke another blend, and I’m back to square one. It’s not even that I prefer them with this extra nuance, it’s just the joy of still finding something unexpected in the familiar
This has caused me to consider the finiteness of supply, and has changed how I smoke. Beforehand I used to enjoy a wide variety and was all about trying as much as possible. Now I know what I like, and have accepted that even if there is stuff I would prefer out there, it’s not available. I’ve limited what’s on my desk to half a dozen or so jars, with the intention of bringing this down to like 4 types/styles/genres going forward.
i know the blends I have which I like enough at ‘face value’, where I’m content at having a bowl once in a while and prioritise making my stash last the distance
i also know that some stuff will offer more enjoyment by being smoked exclusively, or predominantly over a shorter time frame and then being cherished as a memory.
What puzzles me however, and I try this every month just to check, is the Gawith ropes. I always have some handy and enjoy it pretty much whenever. However I’ve noticed that if I smoke them exclusively for a week, part way through the 6th bowl (normally day 3-4) I start to taste the factory aroma. It catches me off guard every time. I then smoke another blend, and I’m back to square one. It’s not even that I prefer them with this extra nuance, it’s just the joy of still finding something unexpected in the familiar
I know exactly what you mean. After smoking something for a week, even if it is rotated with other blends, it seems like the casing (or bones” of the blend starts to come forward for me, making me re-evaluate something I thought that I was going to really like. 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.
After years of smoking Capstan blue I also have noticed that "something fake".
I've only noticed it in the past couple of weeks. it happens about halfway down the bowl.
I'm trying to accept that it's there and carry on regardless.
Time will tell.
As I transitioned from a weekly evening smoker to a daily one, I found I had to stop drinking wine as the preservatives would just stand out dramatically. On the flip side, I know enjoy gin as I can taste all the botanicals
Throw out your clay pipe and all will return to normal
That one is a example where the verdict is now "hell. no." but I'm not willing to give up yet. If the last few flakes still disappoint I know for sure.
when you hear that in a review just consider that to mean there are subtleties that you won't notice for maybe quite a while. Honestly I think that is most blends. I don't think you'll pick up on the more subtle aspects for a while. And sometimes that can range from neat oh never noticed that before, to this blend really opens up.
Then again I don't care about reviews. I like tobacco and yeah some more then others but if they're not terrible I am happy.
Then again I don't care about reviews. I like tobacco and yeah some more then others but if they're not terrible I am happy.
For me, most blends don't require getting-to-know-you time. They're up front. They taste like latakia or perique or dark fired. Or some casing/topping. Or some combination of those things. I may smoke them or more often not, but they taste like what they taste like.
But when I come a cross a tobacco that is more subtle, then I slow down and spend some time with it to try to figure out what's going on. After smoking a few ounces I may figure out that I simply don't care for it (Royal Yacht), or that I find it interesting but do not want it as an every day smoke (Jack Knife Plug). Then finally I find one that I can smoke every day, enjoying it every day, getting to know it more and more while at the same time knowing that I will never fully know it. C&D's Dark Burley is this way for me, whether smoked straight or mixed with varying quantities of C&D's white burley.
But when I come a cross a tobacco that is more subtle, then I slow down and spend some time with it to try to figure out what's going on. After smoking a few ounces I may figure out that I simply don't care for it (Royal Yacht), or that I find it interesting but do not want it as an every day smoke (Jack Knife Plug). Then finally I find one that I can smoke every day, enjoying it every day, getting to know it more and more while at the same time knowing that I will never fully know it. C&D's Dark Burley is this way for me, whether smoked straight or mixed with varying quantities of C&D's white burley.