Palate Refinement

[Choatecav]

I did a search on this matter but didn't see anything that really hit my target, but one of the things that I long for the most, in my pipe journey, is the refinement of my palate and the ability to pick out the subtle tones, tastes and flavors that I hear many refer to as they describe a blend. I can tell that I am getting a little better as I can detect spicy, hay, musty, sweet, etc, and I know what I like and don't like, but I am still not to the point of where I would like to be. I struggled with it as a cigar smoker, as well but feel as though the spectrum for tasting tobacco is broader with a pipe than it was with a cigar.

Anyway, I would love to hear any secrets or techniques that any of you have developed that have helped you pull out those tastes.
Also, I did see this pretty good article on the topic that was put out by Smoking Pipes.

https://www.smokingpipes.com/smokingpipesblog/single.cfm/post/smokers-guide-palate-refinement?utm_source=Smokingpipes.com&utm_campaign=b6c7f2eb8c-SUN_MAY_19_2024_DAILY-READER-DIGEST&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-f341343711-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=b6c7f2eb8c&mc_eid=144c9e4e61

 

[Bourbonandcigars]

I clean my tongue an hour or so before I smoke to help. I usually only drink water while smoking unless it’s in the morning then I’ll have a latte. And of coarse smoke it slowly.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Wish I could help. I'm digital, I only care if I like the blend or not.

Were I wanting to fine tune my palate, I'd probably buy a number of clay pipes. They provide a rather pure tasting experience and they're cheap. Designate one of the clays to a specific blend. Start with less complex blends. Try to isolate the flavors. As your palate evolves, branch out to other, more complex blends. If you work at this hard enough, I would think you could train your palate to be more refined.

Perhaps you could research what training a wine Sommelier goes through and see if some of those techniques would be applicable to pipe smoking.

 

[kcghost]

You could read the NASPC paper that is published every two months or so. It has an article in there by Mike somebody who writes a detailed reports on tobaccos. I know some guys who are very fussy about tobaccos, but I really believe that less than ten per cent of pipe smokers can taste the things they do.

 

[anotherbob]

I did a search on this matter but didn't see anything that really hit my target, but one of the things that I long for the most, in my pipe journey, is the refinement of my palate and the ability to pick out the subtle tones, tastes and flavors that I hear many refer to as they describe a blend. I can tell that I am getting a little better as I can detect spicy, hay, musty, sweet, etc, and I know what I like and don't like, but I am still not to the point of where I would like to be. I struggled with it as a cigar smoker, as well but feel as though the spectrum for tasting tobacco is broader with a pipe than it was with a cigar.

Anyway, I would love to hear any secrets or techniques that any of you have developed that have helped you pull out those tastes.
Also, I did see this pretty good article on the topic that was put out by Smoking Pipes.

https://www.smokingpipes.com/smokingpipesblog/single.cfm/post/smokers-guide-palate-refinement?utm_source=Smokingpipes.com&utm_campaign=b6c7f2eb8c-SUN_MAY_19_2024_DAILY-READER-DIGEST&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-f341343711-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=b6c7f2eb8c&mc_eid=144c9e4e61

my biggest advice for palate training is write reviews. Something about trying to put it into words and define it opens up the senses.

 

[Choatecav]

my biggest advice for palate training is write reviews. Something about trying to put it into words and define it opens up the senses.

Thanks everyone. Each of you gave me a good tidbit to think about.

 

[anotherbob]

Thanks everyone. Each of you gave me a good tidbit to think about.

oh forgot doesn't matter if you share the reviews or not. Or even if they're any good. And the best part is that refinement doesn't evaporate after tuneing it up.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Things that have helped me...

Go to other sorts of tastings, like coffee tastings at small coffee shops. Wine tastings, bourbon tastings, etc... Developing a vocabulary and sense for differences is where you fine tune your palate.

Also, and I am not kidding, load two pipes with different tobaccos, maybe in the same genre, and smoke them side by side. Lets say, one will have Escudo and the other Bayou Morning. Smoked side by side at the same time will really start to give you similarities and differences between the blends. Then try setting those flavors to a vocabulary, like peppery, stewed fruit, etc... This names the flavors you taste and gives you a reference for them.

Smoke two pipes at the same time and coffee tastings got me off on good footing in developing my palate. In Coffee I learned to identify other flavors within the flavor. It starts to make sense when you do it. Give it a try.

 

[Grangerous]

Palate Refinement?

 

[makhorkasmoker]

Buy samples of basic blending tobaccos—a dark burley, a white burley, a red Virginia, some Izmir, dark fired, etc— and try smoking them straight. This, for me, was the first step to understanding what’s really going on in any blend. Then play around with making your own blends, see how the tobaccos work together—and sometimes don’t. For me it’s much easier to understand components than comparisons to chocolate or hay or bread or whatever.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

I suspect that familiarizing yourself with individual tobacco components might be instructive and informative when trying to understand what’s going on in a blend. Cornell & Diehl has a variety of tins of singular tobacco types. You might consider getting a bunch of those and smoking each one to get a sense of what notes you notice in different Virginias, Burleys, etc. This might help you get an idea of what flavour a specific tobacco is contributing to the whole mixed blend.

 

[Cloozoe]

One can have a discerning palate without having learned the names of what one is discerning.

 

[Choatecav]

Things that have helped me...

Go to other sorts of tastings, like coffee tastings at small coffee shops. Wine tastings, bourbon tastings, etc... Developing a vocabulary and sense for differences is where you fine tune your palate.

Also, and I am not kidding, load two pipes with different tobaccos, maybe in the same genre, and smoke them side by side. Lets say, one will have Escudo and the other Bayou Morning. Smoked side by side at the same time will really start to give you similarities and differences between the blends. Then try setting those flavors to a vocabulary, like peppery, stewed fruit, etc... This names the flavors you taste and gives you a reference for them.

Smoke two pipes at the same time and coffee tastings got me off on good footing in developing my palate. In Coffee I learned to identify other flavors within the flavor. It starts to make sense when you do it. Give it a try.

That's a good idea..... would never have thought of that.

Along that line, I can say that my favorite tobacco's are Virginias and VaPers and by smoking lots of them, yet from different manufacturers, I have probably seen most of my growth in this line.

 

[Manawydan]

I have found that I can't discern anything subtle for the first third of most bowls. I have to wait for the ember to start gently burning the undertobacco and get into a slow sipping cadence. Then I can usually start to pick out other notes. Helps to retrohale once or twice.

 

[PipeIT]

Tastes with pipes and cigars can certainly range, by the level at which you smoke them.

What I mean is, you will see people agreeing, especially when someone might refer to blends as bland, tasting like ash or a cigarette, especially with VAs, there’s agreement on smoking cadence, packing and dryness.

With complex blends, if the so called methods as mentioned above aren’t followed, the blend can still possibly deliver desirable results.

The amount of fire, cadence, packing and tobacco dryness, with which you smoke can bring about different flavor profiles.

There’s also moisture you have to consider. To much fire and heat will build moisture, and some blends also lend to creating more moisture inside the chamber. To much moisture can also lead to bad tastes.

SO…

I always stress, if you are smoking a complex blend, and want to experience it’s full range of flavors/nuances, barely light it and sip it just a little, let it go out, cool down and repeat.

Sure, people love to keep their pipes lit, and find enjoyment with the pipe always lit and yielding nice results.

We just have to remember not everyone’s senses, palate and genetic makeup is the same.

To much fire, heat, and a fast cadence will destroy complexity.

Also, not being able to experience all the flavors others talk about, can have a lot to do with a pipe. It’s true inexpensive pipes, and pipes of all various shapes and sizes, anything you smoke in some of these pipes can be good smokers. However, some pipes just do better with certain leaf/blends.

Determining what works best in a pipe, is only something you can figure out by comparing it to other pipes.

And when all of this is still falling short, sample blends in a pipe with a wider chamber. Wider chambers can allow blends to breathe better, yielding in more complexity.

If you research online specs, the sizes I am referring to for wider chambers are Outside Diameters at 40mm and upwards, and Inside Diameters 20-21mm.

An Outside Diameter of 39mm and a 19mm Inside Diameter is still nice, it’s not really wide, a little wider could yield nicer results, it really depends on the briar, and the construction.

Even though you may never buy a Castello look at them on SPC and Tabaccheria Corti. Because from what I’ve seen with Castello, they offer quite a range on these specs. And hopefully one day, give you a better understanding. Time and experience will help you better grasp Wider Chambers.

I’ve seen some Castellos with even 22-23mm Inside Diameters, can’t remember if I’ve seen one with 24mm before. Castello does make some of them pretty beefy.

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Have fun!

 

[bullet08]

I can taste food and beer much better than pipe smoke. After smoking for few years, I begin to taste certain things out of cigarette smoke. Things are clearer now, but I still can't name them like few of the members who are super tasters. Good enough for me. My main reason for smoking isn't to drill down on noticable components in pipe smoke.

 

[DurinsRest]

 

[WVOldFart]

Cosmicfolklore had excellent advice. I have done this, especially when blends start tasting the same. If you smoke them back to back or at the same time you can notice the differences. If I want to really know the blend, I smoke nothing but that same blend for a few weeks. After that period of time you have noticed everything you like and dislike about the blend. After those few weeks you also get an added appreciation of your other blends. I hope this was of help. Enjoy.

 

[Professor Moriarty]

pallet refinement for the commonsewer

 

[sablebrush52]

There’s a lot of good suggestions in the above posts. Some of it will work for you and some of it won’t. But you won’t know until you try.
Only additional suggestions I can offer are these.
Experiment with different moisture levels to find the flavor sweet spot for that blend. For me, finding the optimal moisture level is essential for getting the most flavor.
Focus on your smoke. Focus on what you’re tasting.
You get your best flavors when you slow smoke, just keeping the blend simmering at the edge of going out, and right when it does go out.
Snork, retrohale, whatever you want to call it, but you have more flavor receptors in your schnoz than your mouth, so slowly exhale through your nose and pay close attention to the flavors.
Other than that, the above posts pretty well cover it.