Stick with It

[Bushido]

So I thought I’d share this as it may help newer pipers.

When I restarted the pipe a year ago, after a very short foray years earlier, I quickly fell in love with crossovers and some aros. I tried one Virginia. All I could taste is cigarette-like smoke. It went into a jar at the back of the cabinet, with the assumption it would be pitched and replaced by another jar of Trout Stream or Northwoods.
Well, on Sunday, waking up unexpectedly 4:30am, I thought I’d give that year old jar another whirl, with a tin of Eastfarthing at the ready to take the mound after the inevitable failure. The garage was cold but the cup of joe was strong and hot, and I puffed watching the world wake up on my street. Sipping ever so gently, about 10 minutes in...holy shit, flavors! Awesome flavors dancing in and out. Nuances, sweet grass, caramel, toast. I didn’t want it to end.

All I know is I now can’t wait to get me some good Virginias!

I say all this as encouragement and a reminder from one newb to others: don’t write off anything while you’re new. If you don’t like a blend or entire genre, let it slumber for a bit while everything evolves. I wonder if all you vets remember this moment, it’s pretty damn cool.

 

[musicman]

My experience was the same, only I was pretty much exclusively an English smoker before. I remember that first bowl of a VaPer during which I could taste all the flavors. The blend was match Victoria, and it was like a symphony in my mouth. You're about to go down an awesome journey of flavor discovery, my friend!

 

[chopper]

Also tastes change. I went through stages between smoking mostly non-aromatics then I'd start hanging for something sweeter.
Some blends that weren't to my liking got shoved to the back of my 'cellar' but when I revisited them a year or two later I often found them most enjoyable.

So it's a good habit to keep plenty of mason jars on hand to store the blends that don't tickle your fancy at the time because the chances are good that you may well like them sometime in the future.

Haven't had that issue for a while though; I find that when I regularly smoke a variety of genres I don't become tired of any one in particular. YMMV

 

[musicman]

So it's a good habit to keep plenty of mason jars on hand to store the blends that don't tickle your fancy at the time because the chances are good that you may well like them sometime in the future.

This right here. There are a number of blends that I have not liked on the first smoke but after coming back to them with better technique under my belt I have enjoyed them.

This is also how you end up with 100 jars and a storage "problem." I do not speak from experience.

 

[brut666]

I can't wait for my development! It's this forum that keeps me going for sure ?

 

[chopper]

This right here. There are a number of blends that I have not liked on the first smoke but after coming back to them with better technique under my belt I have enjoyed them.

This is also how you end up with 100 jars and a storage "problem." I do not speak from experience.

Which reminds me to mention; quite often a blend tastes noticeably much better several days after opening a tin or bag than when it's first opened.

 

[Bushido]

Great idea to have extra jars around

 

[Lawyer66]

I wrote a whole review on here that was the result of my own lack of technique, for Peterson Sweet Killarney. I have since revisited the blend and, after changing my cadence, noticed a huge improvement in the flavors. It still isn't the flavor profile that I am looking for. However, I can enjoy it for what it is now. Lots of learning to go...and lots of blends to try

 

[Bushido]

I’m not sure if my experience was better technique or the fact that the jar had aged for a year. This is one of those things that is a never ending journey, in a good way. When I started Brazilian Jiu-jitsu I was told by my instructor that when someone reaches black belt, they realize how much more there is to learn. 5 years in I thought I really knew my shit. Now 10 years later I realize I have more to learn than I ever realized existed. The refinement process never stops. I think it’s those never ending pursuits that we find the most rewarding, especially when we have a breakthrough.

 

[mikethompson]

I'm still trying to tease out flavours from smoke. Some guys get it right away, some are still trying to figure out after months. Some are first bowl converts, some take many bowls.

 

[brut666]

I'm still trying to tease out flavours from smoke. Some guys get it right away, some are still trying to figure out after months. Some are first bowl converts, some take many bowls.

Bowls, many many many bowls ?

 

[Cotton1]

Can anyone advise me on Brown Clunee? I tried my first bowl today and it's just okay to me.

Brand new tin I opened so wondering if I should jar it and let rest for some months? I expected a sweeter tobacco flavor. Maybe it's my expectations are wrong or hopefully the blend needs some age.

I get a delicious bread flavor from Opening Night and was expecting similar with BC. My tin of it is over a year old now though.

 

[tg51]

Can anyone advise me on Brown Clunee? I tried my first bowl today and it's just okay to me.

Brand new tin I opened so wondering if I should jar it and let rest for some months? I expected a sweeter tobacco flavor. Maybe it's my expectations are wrong or hopefully the blend needs some age.

I get a delicious bread flavor from Opening Night and was expecting similar with BC. My tin of it is over a year old now though.

Let it breath for a few days and try it again. If that is still unsatisfactory then seal it up and cellar it for a month or two. I experienced the same thing with some Peterson Irish Flake. Opened it up, dried a couple flakes and smoked them in my favorite pipe. Meh. Let the tin breath and dry out a little for a day or two (VA sits at almost 100% humidity during the summer so things dry pretty slow) and still just meh. Threw it in a jar and came back to it about three weeks later and it was just right.

 

[chopper]

I’m not sure if my experience was better technique or the fact that the jar had aged for a year. This is one of those things that is a never ending journey, in a good way. When I started Brazilian Jiu-jitsu I was told by my instructor that when someone reaches black belt, they realize how much more there is to learn. 5 years in I thought I really knew my shit. Now 10 years later I realize I have more to learn than I ever realized existed. The refinement process never stops. I think it’s those never ending pursuits that we find the most rewarding, especially when we have a breakthrough.

Many don't realise that a black belt basically means 'Proficient in the basics of the art'. That's when the real learning begins [Ironically, many walk away once they've gained their first Dan]
I've met a few wankers who thought that a black belt was some sort of shield that'd have lesser men cowering and begging for mercy. bwahahaha

Whenever a fool pulled the 'I've got a black belt!' card, I'd laugh in their face, tell 'em I had a black belt in the art of street fighting and if they ever threatened me again I'd teach them some manners.

Like the 4th Dan who I 'sparred' with [when I say 'spar', I couldn't lay a glove on him] said; 'If they can't fight before they got a black belt, gaining one isn't going to help them much.' [Against someone who can]


And yes, smoking a pipe only gets better with experience but once one is proficient in the basics, the learning curve does level off significantly [concerning the pipe itself]


Packing a bowl just right is a good example. With practice it becomes 2nd nature sooner or later.
Once one has reached that point, there's not that much more to learn about packing.
From there ones education is more about the tobacco, exploring new blends, than the pipe.

 

[krizzose]

Can anyone advise me on Brown Clunee? I tried my first bowl today and it's just okay to me.

Brand new tin I opened so wondering if I should jar it and let rest for some months? I expected a sweeter tobacco flavor. Maybe it's my expectations are wrong or hopefully the blend needs some age.

It's definitely better with age, even a few months. Two or three years and it sings. Rattray's Marlin Flake, while a notch or two stronger, has considerably more sweetness than BC, in my opinion.

 

[Cotton1]

It's definitely better with age, even a few months. Two or three years and it sings. Rattray's Marlin Flake, while a notch or two stronger, has considerably more sweetness than BC, in my opinion.

Noted, thank you. In to the jar it goes to rest!

 

[bent1]

Solid advice Bushido. And, when trying a blend, give it a couple oz to let it’s flavor reveal itself.