Latakia Reversal?

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pipingfool

Can't Leave
Sep 29, 2016
369
1,476
Seattle, WA
Well, I've been called a food snob, a beer snob, a wine snob, etc. etc.

Here's the thing, I love a good cheeseburger and I love a good steak.

Spending a great amount of my career in my younger days in restaurants (both front-of-the-house, and back-of-the-house) I can confidently say that a great cheeseburger can be much harder to pull off than a great steak.
Why? Because so many more elements and techniques go into crafting a really good cheeseburger.

But creating both requires good ingredients and, more importantly (in my opinion), great technique.
Just because the main ingredient costs more, doesn't mean that the final result is ultimately better.

I kind of feel the same when it comes to Latakia Blends and Virginias. Both require good ingredients and great techniques to craft a great blend, but the Latakia blend tends to have more elements, therefore requiring the blender to rely on technique and experience to create something that is in balance.

I smoke both and enjoy them both. I primarily smoke Virginia blends simply because I don't enjoy Latakia in the blistering heat. But on a cool/cold night by the firepit, nothing can beat an aged bowl of Quiet Nights.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go work on my technique for a fabulous Spam Sandwich!
 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,868
27,549
Carmel Valley, CA
This sounds more snobby than the reverse. I guess I'd call it a sort of "reverse snobbery." I enjoy a cheeseburger as well, but I'm not gonna pretend its the equivalent of a good steak, same goes for a cheap beer or whatever else.
"Reverse snobbery" is a real thing. Learned it at University, in a psych course we dubbed "Nuts and Sluts".
 

LotusEater

Lifer
Apr 16, 2021
4,135
56,319
Kansas City Missouri
I think that in all matters of “taste” there is a difference between appreciation and preference. The initiate sometimes allows their deeper understanding and appreciation to steer there preference while the taste of the uninitiated may evolve and change with experience and exposure. We all know what we like and what we don’t like but to say that any of us are objective about it would be wrong IMHO. Beauty as they say is in the eye of the beholder and as such it is inately subjective.
I’m pretty new to pipe smoking so I find this discussion very interesting. I’ll be interested to see how my own taste in tobacco change over time. For the moment exploring the many leaf varieties and myriad blends is to me like when I was a teenager and first started discovering music. There is so much out there - I just want to try it all.
 
Mar 1, 2014
3,647
4,921
I’ve lost my taste for Latakia too about a year ago. Every once in a while I’ll smoke a bowl of EMP to see if things change. Right after I go back to Virginia, VaPers, & lovely burley. I keep trying as I’ve plenty of Latakia blends just waiting for me to come back to the fold. Maybe the winter?☕
There are plenty of Burly-Latakia blends, have you tried any of those?
 
Mar 2, 2021
3,474
14,246
Alabama USA
Picasso and Van Gogh both suck. I was never a fan of heavy latakia blends, but to rule out the flavor it imparts to a good blend smacks of heresy and possible depravity. My optimum tobacco blends have just enough latakia in them to make you wonder if there's actually any in there. Laurel Heights, Revelation clones, Presbyterian clones, etc. Speaking of depravity, I am addicted to raw perique in blends--you know, not aged? Fresh Haddo's Delight delights me till the can is empty, to the exclusion of all else. Weird, huh? Anybody give a shit?
Not me…?
 
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Mar 2, 2021
3,474
14,246
Alabama USA
Regarding meat cooking, knowing the cut is essential.

And, having some good utensils helpa lot. I use only cast iron and carbon now days for steaks, ground, chops, shrimp, and wings. I also like rubs, but not sauces anymore.

Smoking meat is a past time as well. It’s amazing what can be done with a Walmart

What made me like Latakia is smoked loose tea. Oddly they were both of a discovery than planned.
 

Sloopjohnbee

Lifer
May 12, 2019
1,291
2,288
Atlantic Coast USA
i can understand @burleybreath stating that Picasso and Van Gogh sucked - unfortunately that's absolute false - they were very talented, competent painters and extremely creative! I should know, I dealt in high end art
Now Dali sucked - he was competent as a painter but overall he was devoid of ideas - his old pal Luis Bunuel even confirmed it - not to mention Dali was a scumbag - apparently, he'd beat his wife

and so is the claim that Latakia blends are terrible
a little variation and choice is key to life
 
I think that it is valid to think that the world's most famous artist sucks, because it's an opinion.
Dali was also exposed as a fraud back in the 70's. A van in NYC had an accident, and thousands of unprinted sheets of print papers were found pre-signed and thumbprinted by Dali. After an investigation it was found that Dali wasn't printing his work. Today, many artists hire printers, but back then, when an artist put his thumbprint on the back meant that he personally printed that image with his own hand, and the art sells as a one of a kind at a much higher price point.
 
So did Picasso.
I've never seen where Picasso mistreated any of his wives. In every book and interviews by his ex-wives, he was much beloved and was prone to worshipping his wives. The problem was that he had numerous affairs. He never mistreated a woman.

In the history of mankind, there is only one human being that has ever had more books written about him. Jesus is the most written about worldwide, and Picasso is the second person. More people can recognize a photo of him that Elvis.

Sure, hate the guy. He is the most envied human in the world, but why make up stuff about him?
 

OlJawBone

Can't Leave
Apr 19, 2021
314
1,119
California
I think that it is valid to think that the world's most famous artist sucks, because it's an opinion.
Dali was also exposed as a fraud back in the 70's. A van in NYC had an accident, and thousands of unprinted sheets of print papers were found pre-signed and thumbprinted by Dali. After an investigation it was found that Dali wasn't printing his work. Today, many artists hire printers, but back then, when an artist put his thumbprint on the back meant that he personally printed that image with his own hand, and the art sells as a one of a kind at a much higher price point.
So who painted them/came up with the ideas?
 
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So who painted them/came up with the ideas?
I'm sure Dali did. The problem is that now we have no idea who designed the plates for his prints, nor who pulled the prints. Then, that opens up the question of who might have actually been painting his works in his later years.

Printing is not just using a desktop printer. It is one of several processes, in this case it was lithography, where the artist drew on the stones that were then inked up and run through a press. It is very hands on, and a print made by the artist sells for about as much as a painting. This is very different from what artists do today of taking a picture and running the paper through a digital printer. Those are actually posters, not really prints.
 

hauntedmyst

Lifer
Feb 1, 2010
4,006
20,756
Chicago
Latakia burn-out is easily solved. Just add more Latakia. It's kinda like when your having a bacon and eggs breakfast. If you are anywhere near normal, that bacon will be at least 2/3's gone before you start eating the eggs. And the eggs are good. Eggs usually are. After all, you kind of have to go out of your way to ruin a breakfast egg. But as good as they are, they aren't bacon. So now you're eating eggs but subconsciously reminiscing over the bacon. The joy you had at the start was "This is going to be a great breakfast! What a great way to start the day!" But now you are all like, "This breakfast is just ok. Let's get this damn day over with before someone gets on my last nerve and I end up in a bell tower with a high powered rifle and scope!!!" Then suddenly, another plate of bacon shows up! It's seemingly guiding the warm summer sunshine to your now beaming face. Your hope for the day and your faith in humanity is restored!

That's what adding more Latakia to your blend is like.
 

OlJawBone

Can't Leave
Apr 19, 2021
314
1,119
California
Latakia burn-out is easily solved. Just add more Latakia. It's kinda like when your having a bacon and eggs breakfast. If you are anywhere near normal, that bacon will be at least 2/3's gone before you start eating the eggs. And the eggs are good. Eggs usually are. After all, you kind of have to go out of your way to ruin a breakfast egg. But as good as they are, they aren't bacon. So now you're eating eggs but subconsciously reminiscing over the bacon. The joy you had at the start was "This is going to be a great breakfast! What a great way to start the day!" But now you are all like, "This breakfast is just ok. Let's get this damn day over with before someone gets on my last nerve and I end up in a bell tower with a high powered rifle and scope!!!" Then suddenly, another plate of bacon shows up! It's seemingly guiding the warm summer sunshine to your now beaming face. Your hope for the day and your faith in humanity is restored!

That's what adding more Latakia to your blend is like.
Oh i eat the eggs first because they are best piping hot. Bacon can be enjoyed at any temp.
 
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