Read This Before Concluding ANYTHING Regarding Blend Preferences

[pappymac]

Our friend Jim Minks is a super taster of tobaccos. I’ve not ever radically disagreed with any of his reviews, although I can’t taste raisins, nuts, figs, and such from tobacco.

I often wonder how many people who say the taste "stewed prunes" or "stewed fruit" actually have tasted stewed prunes or fruit. Especially if its a member of one of the younger generation of pipe smokers.

Do they really know what they are tasting or are they just repeating what they were told something smelled like?

Personally, I hated stewed prunes because my sainted grandmother (who departed this cruel, hard world in the early 1960s) would cooked up a batch anytime someone said they felt constipated.

 

[BingBong]

Are you embarrassed easily as well?

Not as frequently as I should be, I'm told.

 

[Sig]

As funny as that is, you've actually got a really good point. I'm a supertaster myself and I've been through just over 100 pipe blends (and well over $1,000) trying to find a blend I really liked that didn't have something about it that bothered me. Bright Virginias are always too sharp and acidic (most people seem to taste bright Virginias as sweet but to me they're just lemon juice acidy), Red Virginias taste like dead wet leaves in the autumn, the dirty earthiness of Burleys gets off-putting after awhile, Latakia mostly tastes like I licked a dirty fireplace, and Perique gives my mouth fits.

So ya know what I keep coming back to? Captain Black Original. A thousand dollars and a hundred fancy boutique pipe blends later and my most enjoyed smoke is the most pedestrian, lowest common denominator vanilla cream aromatic there is. I guess it just goes to show that having good taste buds doesn't necessarily mean you have good taste.

But many "supertasters" like most blends because they can pick out nuance others can't.
Maybe you just don't like tobacco.
Ive known several guys who loved the IDEA of the pipe, but found they just don't really like the taste of premium tobacco.

 

[Sig]

I often wonder how many people who say the taste "stewed prunes" or "stewed fruit" actually have tasted stewed prunes or fruit. Especially if its a member of one of the younger generation of pipe smokers.

Do they really know what they are tasting or are they just repeating what they were told something smelled like?

Personally, I hated stewed prunes because my sainted grandmother (who departed this cruel, hard world in the early 1960s) would cooked up a batch anytime someone said they felt constipated.

I thought this myself.
Even if they are saying this because of the aroma/taste link, have they even smelled stewed fruit?
The taste I believe they are referring to tastes almost like fermenting fruit smells to me. Growing apples, pears and many berries and making wine for years, I know the smell and taste of fermenting fruit. Nothing in tobacco tastes like fermenting fruit to me, but the smell/taste connection is there for me.
Stewed fruit and fermenting fruit aren't the same thing and smell and taste much different.
But if a bushel of apples is going off, I think "dang, who's got the bowl burning?"

 

[Sig]

I don't know if I'm a supertaster, but I do know my sense of smell is more sensitive than most people. This is a curse, believe me.
Last year I had a hearing test due to some eustation tube issues I was having in my ears.
The ENT that gave the test said, "you have the hearing of a dog".
He completely bottomed out the tone machine in both ears. In 30 years he has never seen that he told me.
Another curse.
If I fall asleep on our couch, I need to take the batteries out of the wall clock 15 feet away, the ticking sounds like a jackhammer! Nobody else can even hear it apparently.
So it makes sense my taste might be elevated.
I am a foodie. We grow most of our own food for many reasons. One of those is that most things in the store are "too" something. Too salty, too sweet, too tart, too something.
I rarely put salt on anything and love cooking so I can make things my way.
I am anything but an elitist, but to me fast food is too everything, but food prepared by most trained chefs is divine.
The main reason I smoke pipes regularly is that cigars got boring. It was suggested to me on a cigar forum many years ago to devote more time to pipes. Prior to that I smoked pipes because I liked the history and procedures, but just smoked what I could find at stores.....CH, PA and H&H.
Once I found boutique blends, life changed for me. I still like cigars for their taste, but it's like beef. I love beef...pan seared, charcoal cooked, tar-tar, steaks, fajitas, stewed....but in the end, it's all beef. That's cigars for me. Pipe tobacco is the chicken after too much beef.
Wow, sorry.

 

[BriaronBoerum]

No. 8, mostly.

I was a very undistinguished wing forward for the B side in college. But the drinking and singing after games was stellar!

 

[InWithBothFeet]

But many "supertasters" like most blends because they can pick out nuance others can't.
Maybe you just don't like tobacco.
I've known several guys who loved the IDEA of the pipe, but found they just don't really like the taste of premium tobacco.

This might apply to me somewhat. I started last year in March when I was on the road for work and bored in my off time. When I got back, I was asked why I started smoking a pipe and the best response I could come up with was "I liked the idea of it." It isn't the nicotine for sure. I don't like nic hits and tend toward the very mild blends.

 

[woodsroad]

Bright Virginias are always too sharp and acidic (most people seem to taste bright Virginias as sweet but to me they're just lemon juice acidy), Red Virginias taste like dead wet leaves in the autumn, the dirty earthiness of Burleys gets off-putting after awhile, Latakia mostly tastes like I licked a dirty fireplace, and Perique gives my mouth fits.

That sounds something decidedly less than super to me.

Now tell me you can’t stomach York Peppermint Patties or fresh baked brioche.

 

[woodsroad]

Photos of yellow Labrador retrievers. Always welcome. Especially if you’ve ever had one as a pet from a puppy.

 

[InWithBothFeet]

Is that one on the left showing you where you forgot to put the treats?

 

[sablebrush52]

There is no upside being a super taster in today's pipe tobacco market, especially if you have a strong sense memory. None.

You are constantly faced with the loss of quality, substitutions, green tobacco, crap toppings, crap blending etc. that constitute much of the current state of what you're smoking.

Seriously, be happy that you're not a super taster. There's no benefit to it and you just have to figure out how not to offend someone because they extol the qualities of zombie vomit, nor wonder at the intellectual capacity of those who concur with their assessment. Mediocre is a good place to be.

Keep eating a lot of ultra processed foods high in salt so that your palate becomes deadened enough that you can't tell what's in that crap you're smoking. This is truly a time and place where ignorance is bliss.

Public service announcement completed, back to my Captain Black Grape.

 

[anotherbob]

Not as frequently as I should be, I'm told.

And that's the first step to hooliganism. If you don't straighten up and get embarrassed easily you'll start enjoying the company of yobs and if that doesn't embarrass you nothing really will. You young people these days.

 

[JoburgB2]

No. 8, mostly.

In the forwards then, that’ll do!

 

[JoburgB2]

View attachment 390209

View attachment 390210

Great!

 

[VDL_Piper]

In the forwards then, that’ll do!

Backs win the game, forwards decide by how much!

 

[woodsroad]

Great!

They were, we miss them.
Sisters from the same litter

 

[Skippy Piper]

But many "supertasters" like most blends because they can pick out nuance others can't.
Maybe you just don't like tobacco.
Ive known several guys who loved the IDEA of the pipe, but found they just don't really like the taste of premium tobacco.

After trying around 120 blends over the past 3 years I've found a handful that I really like! I'm especially fond of dark fired Imperial Virginias since the the fire curing takes all the acidity and sharpness out of the tobacco and smooths it out nicely. I smoke quite a bit of Gawith's Kendal Dark, Kendal Mixed, and 1792 Flake. I also like the clean, nutty, natural Burley flavor of Five Brothers. It's much smoother than C&D's burley and has none of the barnyard funk or harshness of C&D's offerings.

As far as aromatics go, I like Captain Black Original a whole lot as well as a variety of cherry aromatics (Lane TK-6 & Very Cherry, Smoker's Pride Cherry Cavendish, Captain Black Cherry, Cult Bood Red Moon, and Paladin Black Cherry) and Samuel Gawith's Cannon Plug is a regular favorite of mine.

So, even though I don't like most blends there are still some really enjoy! My usual rotation of everyday blends is G.H. Kendal Dark, Five Brothers, Captain Black Original, Smoker's Pride Cherry Cavendish, and Samuel Gawith Cannon Plug.

That sounds something decidedly less than super to me.

Now tell me you can’t stomach York Peppermint Patties or fresh baked brioche.

I haven't had York Peppermint Patties in probably a decade, but I do remember enjoying them! Any fresh baked bread is great too! Also, unlike most super tasters I actually love spicy food; and I mean VERY spicy! I go out for Thai food at least a couple times a month and always order it Thai hot, and I make a lot of super spicy curries and noodle dishes around the house. I loves the fire food!

 

[Skippy Piper]

Backs win the game, forwards decide by how much!

+1 1792
-1 Telegraph Hill

 

[captainsousie]

I'm far from a super taster. A darn good thing as I probably wouldn't have eaten termites or durian, both were tasty. I'll have my preferences even if I'm not jiminks who has an amazing tasting ability thank you very much.

 

[woodsroad]

After trying around 120 blends over the past 3 years I've found a handful that I really like! I'm especially fond of dark fired Imperial Virginias since the the fire curing takes all the acidity and sharpness out of the tobacco and smooths it out nicely. I smoke quite a bit of Gawith's Kendal Dark, Kendal Mixed, and 1792 Flake. I also like the clean, nutty, natural Burley flavor of Five Brothers. It's much smoother than C&D's burley and has none of the barnyard funk or harshness of C&D's offerings.

As far as aromatics go, I like Captain Black Original a whole lot as well as a variety of cherry aromatics (Lane TK-6 & Very Cherry, Smoker's Pride Cherry Cavendish, Captain Black Cherry, Cult Bood Red Moon, and Paladin Black Cherry) and Samuel Gawith's Cannon Plug is a regular favorite of mine.

So, even though I don't like most blends there are still some really enjoy! My usual rotation of everyday blends is G.H. Kendal Dark, Five Brothers, Captain Black Original, Smoker's Pride Cherry Cavendish, and Samuel Gawith Cannon Plug.




I haven't had York Peppermint Patties in probably a decade, but I do remember enjoying them! Any fresh baked bread is great too! Also, unlike most super tasters I actually love spicy food; and I mean VERY spicy! I go out for Thai food at least a couple times a month and always order it Thai hot, and I make a lot of super spicy curries and noodle dishes around the house. I loves the fire food!

So, is your dislike for certain tobaccos really a pH issue and not a taste (per se) issue?