not tasting!

[Giff]

I'm a new pipe smoker, and Ive tried several different tobaccos and I am really not tasting the tobacco
flavors. Everything tastes the same so far. Am I smoking too fast? Is the pipe not "broke in" yet. (I've only smoked 4 bowls each from 2 pipes, a cheap briar and a corn cob.) I hope this isn't a stupid question, but I guess the only stupid question is one you don't ask. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[BarrelProof]

Tell us more. What tobacco are you smoking? Did you dry it? If so, how long?

 

[Giff]

I've tried Lane 1-Q, Sutliff Black Cherry, Sutliff Island Rum, Stokkebye Peaches and cream. Dried them for about an hour.

 

[didimauw]

I get better flavor from crunchy dry tobacco. I guarantee an hour with those blends are still pretty wet. Also, it does sound like you may be smoking too fast.

How I put it, is smoke like you are trying to hide it from someone. The first time I really understood what slow smoking was, was in our new leased vehicle. Got out, lit my pipe, plans changed, got back in, and tried not to make it obvious for the wife. (we smoked cigs in it, but this was my first pipe in the car). Small wisps of smoke, barely noticeable. But the best flavor I've ever had. It was a blend I've smoked for years, and that was the first time I actually "tasted" it.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Some good advice I received here was maybe give a little English a try to discern and sort out flavors. It took me a while to sort out aro flavors and still in progress. Strangely perhaps, I had more of an “aha” moment with working out Virginias, including some with a bit of Perique.

LOL, I’m sipping a vanilla heavy aro right now and just about to dump it, flavors coming though loud and clear and not a pretty mix!

 

[blackpowderpiper]

One thing that may be a factor, if you're new to the pipe and just starting out, it may take a bit before your tongue and taste buds adjust to this new medium of tobacco enjoyment. Your taste buds literally need time to adjust. Also, aromatics are a genre that really benefit from slow smoking and proper technique. I would suggest drying your tobacco a bit more, smoking a bit more slowly and maybe trying some other types of tobaccos other than aromatics. Take it slow, be patient and it will come. There is a learning curve for everyone just starting out.

 

[Grangerous]

Someone here wisely said, “the more you smoke the better it will taste.”

It will not be near to the intensity of the tin aroma. So lower that expectation. Don’t look for the flavors. Puff gently. It’s more of a total surround.

Smoke coming from the bowl, the smoke coming through the stem, the smoke from your mouth and nose all combine to provide an overall, relaxing experience.

One day, if you’ll just stop trying, you’ll have that moment.

 

[FLDRD]

 

[BarrelProof]

Try to get through the entire bowl where you feel like you’re on the edge of it going out. Also, take out a bowl’s worth of each blend to dry right now. Don’t touch it until tomorrow.

These are extremes, but it should get you in the ballpark. Fine tune from there.

 

[SBC]

1. Smoke almost never tastes like it smells. Have no expectations of what smoke might taste like -- you'll be informed what it tastes like by actually smoking, and it won't be what you thought.
   
   
2. Smoke is a different kind of thing for your tongue and brain to process. Just do it for now, "getting it" will happen inevitably.
   
   
3. Just as all whiskey tastes like whiskey to one who hasn't had much whiskey, so all tobacco tastes like tobacco to one who hasn't had much tobacco. It's in broad comparison (over time) that differences begin to emerge, and only then do you begin to really taste the tobacco. So juxtapose very different kinds of tobacco, day after day.
   
   
4. "English" / Latakia mixtures offer flavor to the palate most easily, without careful technique. Aromatics, Virginias, etc. will open up to you with more experience.

 

[john19]

For me, try non-aromatics. Try some strong English, and then, try some strongs burley/Kentucky, VA/VaPers. You will definitely notice a difference in taste.

 

[yanoJL]

Are you able to retrohale?

 

[anotherbob]

sip not puff is my mantra and try different levels of dryness. And finally it also just takes time to get used to pipes no matter how good the technique is. Why heck if I know but it is how it works.

 

[starrynight]

You could also be learning that aromatics don't match the smell, so there can be a certain disappointment which colors the whole experience--I remember that well. I think the bottom line is it takes time to develop your palate, cadence, rhythm, etc. No one goes from squatting 135 to 405 overnight. But as a newbie myself, I will leave you with this: I often taste and "experience" figs, dried fruits, sugar, bread, pancakes, strawberry preserves, heavy whipping cream, etc... All from non aromatics. However, it took a while to get there...

 

[LouisPiper]

As a beginner too at first nothing tasted nuanced (or stayed lit) then it went to having two types of tobacco those I like and those I didn't and now after about 8 months I'm getting the nuance to various blends.

Gravity filling was the major breakthrough for me in getting more out of the tobacco.

 

[bullet08]

Two words. Tongue transplant.

 

[kcghost]

For a newbie it is hard to explain how slow to smoke because you have literally packed the pipe too tightly. There is very slight chance you may have a caught a very mild cause of Covid which can mess up your taste buds.

 

[jndyer]

You have been given a lot of good advice here. I am in the camp that you are smoking the blend too hot. Lane 1Q has, to my tastes, a very light flavor that can get obliterated when you smoke it too hot. Small sips with a low number of sips per minuet will be best.

Being new to pipe smoking is a challenge. Take it one pipeful at a time. If you stick with it you will learn and get to enjoy flavors that you can not even imagine right now.

 

[Coreios]

I agree, too fast too hot and it kills a lot of flavor.

 

[hawky454]

Smoke two pipes at the same time, switch between the two and the flavors should pop. That was my aha moment. Try two very different styles, eg, an English and a VA (or anything really).