Seasonal Smoking Changes

[mortonbriar]

Hello, a week ago I just moved my family from New Zealand to Winnipeg, Canada (my wife is a Canadian and its her turn to be 'home' for a couple of years).
I have since had a few bowls of Presbyterian mixture, a blend I am fairly familiar with and have smoked in rotation most weeks for a few years. I am finding it tastes quite different from what I am familiar with, the oriental leaf and the already subtle latakia seem to take even more of a backseat and the virginia's seem heavier, I dont know quite how to explain it, but I am smoking outside while shoveling snow in -30c (-22f) and a week ago I was puffing away in the New Zealand summer at maybe 25c (77f). Do any of you notice a change in familiar blends with the gradual seasonal changes, or do you think I am only picking up on this because of the abrupt and stark climatic shift?
Hello to the Canadians, and are there any Winnipegers out there?
Isaac

 

[ray47]

There are a lot of smokers that only smoke Latakia blends in late fall and winter and I've often tried to understand why. I smoke any blend all year long and notice no difference. I've heard that some smokers say that they do not want to smell a burning camp fire in the hot weather. As for me, that never bothered me. I guess it's just a personal thing.

 

[michaelmirza]

Overall I can enjoy any type of blend year-round, but latakia blends are definitely more special to me when it's cold out, and less appealing when it's extremely hot out.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

I just noticed it myself this year. I got big into Virginias and VaPers over the spring and summer. Once the temperature dropped, I'm in Vegas so that means from 80F to 50F for highs, I noticed the Va's and VaPers I loved weren't tasting as amazing as they had when it was 20-30 degrees warmer.
I've heard of some pipe guys rotating blending styles to the seasons. Now I see why. I'll probably be more Virginia VaPer heavy in the summer and more aromatic heavy in the winter.

 

[rfernand]

I enjoy more Virginias in spring/summer, and more Latakias in Fall/Winter. No formal reasoning, I just do.

 

[mikestanley]

Minus 22f?! Aren't you worried the bit will freeze to your lips? Lol.
I can't imagine enjoying a pipe while shoveling snow. Seems to me I would be puffing like a steam locomotive . That might be a contributing

factor too.
Mike S.

 

[sw0snuff3r]

Hey welcome to Canada mortonbriar! I am in south western Ontario about an hour east of Detroit, Michigan. Last winter was brutally cold where I am at (although Winnipeggers would laugh at what I consider brutally cold). I was fairly new to pipe smoking at the time so I hadn't heard of switching up to latakia blends for winter. Sometime after winter I read about that so I stocked up on some more lat blends this past fall. Well, here I am waiting for winter. It's been extremely mild here - in fact it's +8C and I was just outside in my shirtsleeves for a bit. The weather's supposed to turn a bit colder next week so I intend to open up a tin and see if I notice any difference.

 

[mortonbriar]

I can't imagine enjoying a pipe while shoveling snow.

I dont shovel with any real urgency, so no sweat breaking or locomotive puffing going on ha.

 

[cynicismandsugar]

I enjoy English blends in the winter; Virginia and Va/Per in the spring; don't smoke pipes much in the summer; and Burley and Va/Bur in the fall, and/or on gray rainy days. There's no real rhyme or reason to this; just kind of how my natural flow/taste works.

 

[didimauw]

Last week on my break at work,a co worker got his car stuck in a half inch of snow on top of ice in the parking lot. I helped try to push him out, and do you think I put my pipe down for that? HELL NO

 

[wilson]

I do notice some changes in how a blend smokes and tastes as the weather changes. For me, it seems to be more related to the humidity than the temperature. At minus 30 c the air, even on a damp day, will have very little moisture.

 

[skraps]

No specific schedule. I smoke what strikes me, when it strikes me. I'm pretty much a Burley smoker though, so the variety in my rotation is pretty much different Burley blends.

 

[jackswilling]

I'm in the no seasonal change camp.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Wow! What a monumental change in climate. I'd say there'd be a big effect on taste of just about everything! It will level out over time.
Meantime, stay warm! I am about to watch the goings on well South of you, in balmy Minnesota, where the Vikings will try to stuff the birds of Seattle. It's some thing like -5 F, -22 with wind chill.