How Many Bowls are Sufficient to "Try" a New (to You) Blend?

[lawdawg]

Sometimes, I know from the first light that I'm really going to enjoy a blend. However, sometimes, I've got to smoke the better part of a tin before I can even figure out my view on a given blend. I've read other forum members making similar statements, but I find myself wondering why this is the case, and how other forum members' experiences match up here with mine.

Earlier in my pipe smoking days, there was frequently a "user error" component, like the first time I tried to smoke SG Full Virginia Flake straight from the tin, as wet as an aromatic gooper. Obviously that was a poor experience. However, it's been a number of years now since any of those technique issues presented much of an impediment to my enjoyment. Even so, I still sometimes need ten bowls or more to even halfway "figure out" a blend.

I'm a creature of habit and tend to smoke the same stuff all the time, though occasionally I make efforts to branch out. I got a few new-to-me blends recently, including Peterson (Dunhill... I'm still calling it Dunhill) Deluxe Navy Rolls. I had high hopes for this blend, given its popularity. I rubbed out a couple of coins, let them dry some, and packed one of my favorite tall and narrow pipes that I use for Virginias and VA/pers. All I got was rough edges and a bit of perique spice. Same thing for the next few bowls over the past week or two, though there were a few moments where some good earthy, plum-figgy, and slightly spicy flavors peeked through.

Fast forward to last night, and I decided to try another bowl of Navy Rolls. I figured with the blend's popularity, there must be more to it than what I had previously experienced. Lo and behold, it was a glorious experience of medium-dark, earthy, slightly fruity Virginia with plenty of plum-figgy perique that also included a touch of spice. Basically, the entire experience consisted of those wonderful flavors that had only peeked out on occasion previously. All I can do is wonder "what changed?" Was it that the tin was open for a couple weeks? Is it that my palate was off when I first tried it? What gives?

In any case, I kept trying to enjoy my tin of Navy Rolls because I've had similar experiences before, and I'm glad I did. It is an excellent blend. I just wonder why sometimes it takes a while to get there.

Please ruminate. Thank you.

 

[fireground_piper]

2 bowls if it’s really bad but I’ll give a 3rd if I’m on the fence. I have been fortunate to find what I like fairly quickly and more importantly what I don’t like.

I will do the second bowl about a week or two after the first to allow time for it to breath and if there’s an obvious detractor that will be it. I’ll give a third or fourth bowl if I’m on the fence to figure out what’s bothering me before making a decision.

Any blend that lands in the 2 bowl category typically goes in the trash. The ones that make it a little further I’ll usually hold onto to either give away or have a bowl of once a year until it’s gone.

English Chocolate has been the only blend that didn’t win me over initially but over time became a favorite. Everything else I stock up on was a first light joy. There’s so many blends out there that are great on first light, I can’t see myself fussing with something that puts me off since I have found ones that are great from day 1.

 

[DanWil84]

I'm no expert in any sense, but I have some tins (specially flakes) I had to get used to on the first few, I didnt touch them for a few months and now they are better, same as your FVF experience.

So to answer your question; at minimum 1 tin of 50 grams (preferably more) and not blow it all in one go, let it sit for a while. Buy way more than you smoke is the secret.

 

[Inspired Idler]

I had the exact same experience with DDNR and I'm glad I stuck it out. It now occupies a spot in my top 2.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

This is an area in which I have some extensive research and thoughts. Why do we like things to begin with is based upon being able to quickly assimilate the thing into our memories of other things we like.
For example I am way more likely to like a song with banjo, because I can "fit" the sounds in with my memories. But a banjo played in a way that I have never heard before might quickly get a negative reaction from me, but then after time goes on, the sounds start to click and fit with bits and pieces of songs that are already in my collection of sound memories.
A song using Asian musical theory sounds like a bag of cats being run slowly through a rolling mill. But, to someone from Asia that is not familiar with Western music theory, our songs may sound the same.
I know that when they released Root Beer into Japan after WW2 that it was not accepted quickly, because the flavor was similar to the tastes that they were adding to children's medicines.

When I smoke something totally unique, I have nothing (memories or experiences) to fit it in with, so it is totally foreign... which for most of us translates into dislike. Kendal Flake... the rose geranium to most Americans my age is the exact same smell that our grandmothers decorative soaps smelled like... which were probably made in the Lakeland district as well.
When I first had latakia, I had nothing else to compare it to. I had never smelled it before, nor tasted it. At first I assumed it was chemically, and it was, but more of an organic chemical. It took me sweating through quite a few bowls to build up an "understanding" or a relationship in my mind between those tastes and pipesmoking.

How many tries it takes to build these networks in our brains is dependent on many things; your intelligence, openness to learning, creativity, and imagination. I finally liked latakia, un-liked it, re-liked it, hated it, and now I smoke it only in the winter because the best connections that I can make for those flavors are bonfires, fireplaces, old books, wet leather, and a chilled wind blowing through a pine forest. Oh, and new tires.

Rose geranium oil... I just can't bring myself to like it at all. It triggers pure disgust.

The examination of what we like and dislike, and why this happens is an area of aesthetics. Quite fascinating stuff. IMO

Also, for someone with supertaster genes, the strength of flavor can be repulsive, as well as delicate extra nuances of flavors not detectable by non-supertasters can trigger dislike. So genetics works into the equation as well. I can't eat anything with carrots without a mild unpleasantness. Nor, can I even tolerate a raw carrot at all. It overruns the bitter sensors, and causes a gag reflex. So, not all things taste the same to everyone on a genetic level either. However, I have trained myself to be able to eat thing with "some" cooked carrots in them, by associating them with citrus. See... a trick to make myself able to eat stuff and not insult the cooks. But, if given an option... I will always chose something without carrots.

I hope this all helps, without muddying the discussion.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The first smoke. If I don't like it from the beginning, I usually never will.

 

[mso489]

I'd start with four bowls to give an idea about a blend. After that, if I really don't like or understand a blend, I'd put it in a jar and give it a year, more or less, and try again. Surprisingly, sometimes my subconscious (?) has been working on the blend in the meantime and it suddenly blossoms into a beautiful friendship.

 

[warren]

one, usually.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Another factor that comes into play, especially for just pipesmokers is freshness. C&D, my favorite tobacco guys... I love these guys and their stuff... but dammit, most of their blends smell like manure upon freshly opening the tins. Or, I should say, that I equate the aroma of their freshly opened tins with manure, sometimes dog shit, sometimes pig shit, sometimes horse shit, it just depends on the blend in question. This also works over into some of GLPs stuff too. I have no idea why. But, when I first try a freshly opened C&D blend, some of their blends, not all... but the initial char can sometimes fill my nostrils with that shit smell. So, I pop their tins and set them aside to dry out... then after a few days, I get more of a pure tobacco flavor from the char.

PS Bullseye Flake... aged and wet, right out of the jar is has hints of stewed fruit. After a few days, it is more of a rasin-flavor, but if I let it dry to completely crunchy, it is like a delicious tea, more subtle, less aggressive to my palate. I don't want stewed fruit. Just the sound of those words "stewed fruit" repulses me. The very words sound like cheap swill, ha ha. The taste isn't much better.

So, when I first try a blend, there is my impressions of a freshy popped tin, then a few days latter another impression, and then the very last bowl will have a flavor of its own if it has had time to go to crunchy.

But, I am in this for the flavor and nicotine. Really... I love tasting things. The same blend to me can change in it's humidity levels and change as it ages. But, I realize that some guys can't taste things like this, so YMMV. It may not matter whether it is sopping wet or dry or fresh or aged to most. I guess this part just depends on how closely you pay attention or can smell-taste the smoke.

 

[didimauw]

The first smoke. If I don't like it from the beginning, I usually never will.

Yup, same. Just one.

 

[JOHN72]

There are tobaccos that with a couple of bowls, three, or four. I talk about my journey two years, as a pipe tobacco smoker. But it's only a matter of time. For example, I had to smoke a only bowls of Spark Plug, to know if it really was my tobacco, the fragance made me fall in love. There are many deciding factors. If you have smoked cigarettes, cigars, before and for many years. Or if you suddenly start from scratch as a general smoker. For me it has been a decisive conditioner be smoker cigars for 28 years, until today. I sincerely believe that what I do not like at all, It is a poor quality tobacco and loaded with sauces..........and other trash of dubious rpocedence.

 

[UncleRasta]

I've found that letting tobacco breathe is a useful tool so I will try a bowl or two first then leave it for a few weeks or months then come back to it. I haven't often found a blend I dislike though a few leave me unmoved. I do tend to avoid anything with more than the absolute lightest topping though. Most of the blends I end up liking I like from the first smoke.

 

[JOHN72]

Another factor that comes into play, especially for just pipesmokers is freshness. C&D, my favorite tobacco guys... I love these guys and their stuff... but dammit, most of their blends smell like manure upon freshly opening the tins. Or, I should say, that I equate the aroma of their freshly opened tins with manure, sometimes dog shit, sometimes pig shit, sometimes horse shit, it just depends on the blend in question. This also works over into some of GLPs stuff too. I have no idea why. But, when I first try a freshly opened C&D blend, some of their blends, not all... but the initial char can sometimes fill my nostrils with that shit smell. So, I pop their tins and set them aside to dry out... then after a few days, I get more of a pure tobacco flavor from the char.

PS Bullseye Flake... aged and wet, right out of the jar is has hints of stewed fruit. After a few days, it is more of a rasin-flavor, but if I let it dry to completely crunchy, it is like a delicious tea, more subtle, less aggressive to my palate. I don't want stewed fruit. Just the sound of those words "stewed fruit" repulses me. The very words sound like cheap swill, ha ha. The taste isn't much better.

So, when I first try a blend, there is my impressions of a freshy popped tin, then a few days latter another impression, and then the very last bowl will have a flavor of its own if it has had time to go to crunchy.

But, I am in this for the flavor and nicotine. Really... I love tasting things. The same blend to me can change in it's humidity levels and change as it ages. But, I realize that some guys can't taste things like this, so YMMV. It may not matter whether it is sopping wet or dry or fresh or aged to most. I guess this part just depends on how closely you pay attention or can smell-taste the smoke.

very agree also friend Cosmic and UncleRasta

 

[lawdawg]

This is an area in which I have some extensive research and thoughts. Why do we like things to begin with is based upon being able to quickly assimilate the thing into our memories of other things we like...


... When I smoke something totally unique, I have nothing (memories or experiences) to fit it in with, so it is totally foreign... which for most of us translates into dislike. Kendal Flake... the rose geranium to most Americans my age is the exact same smell that our grandmothers decorative soaps smelled like... which were probably made in the Lakeland district as well.
When I first had latakia, I had nothing else to compare it to. I had never smelled it before, nor tasted it. At first I assumed it was chemically, and it was, but more of an organic chemical. It took me sweating through quite a few bowls to build up an "understanding" or a relationship in my mind between those tastes and pipesmoking.

How many tries it takes to build these networks in our brains is dependent on many things; your intelligence, openness to learning, creativity, and imagination. I finally liked latakia, un-liked it, re-liked it, hated it, and now I smoke it only in the winter because the best connections that I can make for those flavors are bonfires, fireplaces, old books, wet leather, and a chilled wind blowing through a pine forest. Oh, and new tires.

Rose geranium oil... I just can't bring myself to like it at all. It triggers pure disgust.

The examination of what we like and dislike, and why this happens is an area of aesthetics. Quite fascinating stuff. IMO

Why we like or dislike things is certainly an interesting issue to ponder, and perhaps one of the more practically-applicable areas of psychology. While some psychological understandings are primarily descriptive, an understanding of like/dislike could be more prescriptive in nature and lend guidance to future decisions on all sorts of things.

The first time I smoked latakia, I absolutely loved it. I was living in Chicago at the time, and the only pipe tobacco I had tried previously was some horrendous cherry aromatic. I found out about Iwan Ries, made a visit, and they set me up with a few blends including their IRC Gourmet English, which is an aromatic English blended for them by McClelland, and having much in common with Frog Morton's Cellar.

The first time I tried a heavily peated scotch, it reminded me of latakia immediately. Were it not for having smoked latakia, the peated scotch would have been a brand new experience. A lot of scotch drinkers say a heavily peated scotch is an acquired taste. Perhaps my positive experience with latakia helped me to enjoy peated scotch right off the bat.

one, usually.

That's the case for me as well, but there have been enough blends that took me a while to "get" that it has emerged as a bit of a pattern.

Another one is GLP Quiet Nights. Most of the latakia blends I like are more moderate in their latakia content, but I like Nightcap, so thought I'd give QN a try. My first few bowls were comparatively speaking overwhelming in smoky latakia flavor and a bit harsh. They were still enjoyable, not to overstate the problem. However, after a certain point, the flavors all jumped out at me, and I felt like I was smoking some rare exotic incense-laden blend in the Ottoman Empire a few hundred years ago. It's now probably my favorite latakia bomb that I've tried to date.

 

[seanv]

My initial reaction to like or dislike is one bowl. I have never smoked a single bowl of something and chucked it. That is way too knee jerk for me. I usually smoke at least a half tin or 1 oz of bulk before making a decision.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

If I really don't like a tobacco I will know from the first bowl.
On the other hand some tobaccos I like on the first bowl. and then become less and less keen.
Then again other tobaccos I may become disinterested in after a few months. I don't go off it exactly, just feel like giving it a rest for a while and try something new.

It's always worth having a a good variety in one's cellar.

 

[hawky454]

Personally, I always smoke at least 2 ounces or 1 tin of anything before making up my mind. I’ve had many experiences like you outline in your original post and I still have times where even a blend I am familiar with just tastes like smoke and ash.

Revor Plug was one I just couldn’t even taste at first, felt like a very mild blend. I almost wrote it off and then it hit me like a ton of bricks! I was head over heals for the stuff but I rarely smoke it anymore, my stash is dwindling.

 

[Toast]

A tin for me too. If I don't like it I'll bag it & leave it for six months.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

From my very first bowl of GH Brown bogie I thought, Yes, this is the king of tobaccos. I want to smoke this all the time.
I mean this stuff is flawless, it lights well, stays lit, smokes all the way down to a very small amount of fine grey ash, and has a deep rich flavor.
An intense, immersive, smoking experience.
So far I've managed to stay at 3 or 4 bowls a week, but who knows. This is love.
I'm on dangerous territory.

 

[bullet08]

Depends on the blend. But definitely more than one bowl. Some blends do need that time. Lat needs to settle for few weeks then might change. Few weeks in jar definitely gives better idea, and by end of the tin, I might get some hint as to how I'll like it.