Taste vs. Aftertaste

[puff]

Hi all!

First post on the forum, yay I'm brand new to piping, brand new to smoking in fact. Just completed my second bowl I know I have a lot to learn, been reading and youtubing a whole lot (absolutely love pipe videos ).
So far I really like the tranquility of sitting with the pipe, though I have one question: I sit outside when I smoke, and for the full duration of the bowl (both of them ) I don't really taste anything, even while cleaning the pipe after, however, once I get up and go inside, the second I enter, suddenly I taste (and smell) a very strong flavour a mix of ash and what the unburned tobacco smelled like. Is it normal that the taste should come only later?
As I've never smoked anything before, I don't really have a frame of reference. The first tobacco I tried was a virginia flake (and the ashy taste lasted til breakfast the following day), the second was an aromatic. My pipe is a Mr. Brog (pear wood), and with only two smokes clearly still needs breaking in.
Cheers,

Puff

 

[samanden]

It all tastes like ash when you're just starting out.

 

[romeowood]

This might help.

::

Just take your time, you'll get there.

 

[maxx]

It gets better. Welcome to the world of pipes.

 

[settersbrace]

Welcome aboard!

Virginia flake for a first bowl, that is something we don't see every day, lol. Virginias usually come along later in ones smoking experiments but it's good that you got to experience it. Generally a straight Virginia is a very mild, subtlety flavored tobacco that needs to be sipped slowly to keep from getting your tongue bit and it can leave an ashy finish as well as leaving behind a cigarette like room note. Stay with premium tobacco mixtures regardless of whether it's an aromatic or English or otherwise. Bulk tobacco is the way to go at this stage since you can purchase by the ounce. I won't try to recommend any particular blend as there are so many and I don't know your tastes, besides there will be a bunch coming in later posts I'm sure. Stick with two or three mixtures that you seem to like and get to know them, well. Everyone needs a baseline tobacco, a fallback, a reset button so to speak that even after much exposure to new and different blends, you can come back to and see what's going on with your taste buds as they will evolve with your smoking. Good smoking!

 

[rottingcorpse]

Warm welcomes to the forum. I'm new as well. Everyone has been very warm and helpful towards me; I know you'll share the same experiences. Definitely check out the link Romeo put up. Maybe you should try something a bit stronger? I used to smoke strong cigars, and the strongest tobaccos I was recommended came nothing near to the cigars I used to smoke, but they're two different worlds really, and I love them both. I started out with mild-medium aromatics and didn't get a whole lot of flavor or enjoyment, so I tried a non-aromatic (a Virginia and perique mix). I didn't get the flavor I wanted, but it was more pleasant than the aromatics I tried before. Finally, I tried my first English blend (Dunhill 965), and I fell in love. I suggest purchasing a bunch of different blends in small quantities online. Make sure to read the reviews too. And of course check out the flavor intensity. I recommend getting a tin of Frog (on a Log), Frog Morton Cellar, Dunhill 965, and maybe Nightcap. I don't it will overwhelm you if you can't taste the tobacco you've already smoked. Not the drive you away from pipes, but maybe try a nice cigar if you're looking for flavor intensity.

 

[checotah]

First, welcome to both the Brotherhood of the Pipe and this forum.
Secondly, with a huge variety of tobacco blends, your experience with one is not necessarily representative of the others; in fact, likely not. It will take some trial and error to discover what blends suit you best, certainly when first starting out. For example, I started out with Middleton's Cherry Blend, quickly found that not be for me. Discovered burleys were much more to my liking. Smoked them for many years, then discovered English blends, and have been mostly with them for about 25 or so years. Still enjoy burleys off and on. Tried VAs but found them not to my tastes. They taste too much like grass for me. But, again, that's me. I encourage you to try a variety of different types of blends before settling into any given type.
Good luck, and, again, welcome to the Briar!

 

[cortezattic]

Welcome to the forums! :clap:
Like settersbrace, I think that a Va flake is sort of advanced for one's first pipe smoking experience.

 

[newbroom]

Welcome to the community. Pull up a chair or porch step and puff awhile!

Let's all guess which VA flake left this 'newbie' wondering. The one that gets the most hype/love from you all seems to be OGS, with LBF and LNF close on its heels.

Someone new to smoking at all might have better luck with an easy burning aromatic, for starters.

This sounds like sample time.

I turned my nose up at aros and then got some from a B&M that I found to be more than tolerable, even enjoyable. I'm sure those same blends are available from Lane, although I have no acknowledged experience with them.

 

[puff]

Thanks for all the wonderful welcomes and for all the advice!
I'll definitely try all the tobaccos recommended, can't wait Thanks for the link Romeowood, that's awesome! Will definitely give those tips a go.
As for which virginia flake, sadly I can't claim to have picked it out myself. Having never smoked before, I thought I better try a few different blends, so I got myself one of those 5-in-1 packets from My Own Blend (danishpipeshop). The choice fell on the flake because the others seemed quite dry (to a crisp), and I was too excited to try my new pipe to wait till I had managed to figure out how to rehydrate the others.
The Virginia in question was the My Own Blend no. 333, the aromatic was their 75th-Jubilee blend.
I think the idea of a getting a base line tobacco, is probably a good idea, also my pipe needs breaking in, I guess it's easier to tell when it has, if you stick to just one tobacco for a bit. Thus I went to the store today. Where I went though, they didn't have a lot of variety so I got Sweet Dublin (yellow). I have yet to try it.. I don't know that this'll be that baseline, but thought at least I could use it till I can get something else sent. If nothing else it can serve to break the pipe in ^_^

 

[settersbrace]

Many recommend a burley or burley based blend to break in new pipes but I don't share that opinion but rather believe that whatever tobacco you smoke, smoke it until it's ash, all the way to the bottom. I subscribe to the school of thought that a pipe should be broke in from the bottom up. Get a thin layer of cake building in the heel and you are well on your way to pleasant smoking. Even folks who follow the old school advise of smoking the first 8-12 bowls by only filling 1/3 full then repeat at 1/2 or 2/3 still don't smoke down to an ash. This happens many times because the inexperienced smoker is loading the pipe with an overly moist and often cheap aromatic and it's darn near impossible to get it to burn all the way down. Dry tobacco that's not real crispy can be used just sip slowly as to not overheat your pipes bowl. Hopefully some of this helps but remember it's just my opinion, not gospel.

 

[puff]

Cool, thanks I'll try the bottom-up approach, also nice with a rough estimate of the break-in time
One question, many people in youtube videos I've watched recommend letting the pipe rest 24h-48h between smokes, would you say this applies also when breaking it in, ie. if I only smoke 1/3 bowl should I still only smoke it once? or would it be fine to rinse and repeat once when the pipe is cool? Btw. my pipe is pear wood, don't know if that makes a difference. I heard people say it burns hotter than briar, though so far it's been mostly cold to the touch to me (during a minute or so half way through my first smoke the bowl got luke warm, but it cooled again.)

 

[nsfisher]

Pear wood is a good smoke. I sometimes smoke the same pipe for 2 or 3 days and just run a cleaner tru it after each smoke. Most ppl advise resting ur pipes on the equivilant of one days rest to each smoke. I don't follow it myself and have had no ill effects pipe wise. Just my take on it.

 

[rottingcorpse]

I never owned a pear wood, but when I first started puffing, I would smoke the same briar pipe everyday once or twice. I started getting really sour smokes and eventually tongue bite which took about a week to heal with the assistance of a lot of Biotene mouthwash and family remedies discovered on forums. I think you should pick up a few cheap briars or some Missouri Meerschaums to rotate. Alternatively, if you think you're really going to like this hobby, read and buy a nice BLOCK meerschaum, and you'll never need to rotate or buy another pipe (but you will, haha). They don't need to be rested like many other types of pipes.
Another tip I learned about breaking in a pipe is buy shaking the ash in the bowl when you're finished or occasionally pressing the ash against the bowl with a Czech tool.
As stated above, VAs can be grassy and sometimes lack powerful flavors, so maybe try a good English or flavorful aromatic. I personally cannot smoke aro's, because they scorch my tongue, but this obviously varies person to person.
Checotah is right. Make sure to try all sorts of tobaccos before settling. I'm still experimenting and discovering a number of amazing blends.