What does Latikia taste like?

[warren]

To me, Latakia tastes like Latakia. Trying to associate it with leather (tanned or not, dyed or not), which I've never tasted, or anything else is wasted effort. It is a singular taste. I have "eaten" dirt in various places, mostly as a child but also as an adult many years ago, and Latakia tasted nothing like "earth" as it were.
Smokey? Hickory fire, oak, alder, a mix of hardwoods, softwoods? It is very tricky trying to attribute smells to tastes or even different tastes. Now tasting a casing, fruit or otherwise may be easier. But it's like saying it tastes like "chicken." Perhaps those who review blends feel that it is mandatory to relate a taste to something they have eaten or smelled in their past. Maybe the readers demand it. I think it creates confusion in smokers when they do not get the same resulting taste(s).
Latakia tastes like Latakia or . . . maybe chicken.

 

[brewshooter]

It definitely reminds me of a woodsy campfire taste...and Death, but the nice version of Death, The Death who sits with his companions around a woodsy campfire, probably enjoying a beer, maybe someone is playing a guitar. That dog you had when you were a kid is definitely there AND the goldfish, good ol' Latakia!

 

[tamer291]

I try and I try. I can't seem to enjoy latakia. For me, when I begin to smoke latakia blends I immediately think of sweat. And then its ruined. Hopefully it will change for me someday. The only latakia blend tobacco I can tolerate is Frog Morton Cellar.

 

[beefeater33]

I try and I try. I can't seem to enjoy latakia.

tamer- where do you live?

For me Latakia loses its luster in hot humid weather. I'm in Ohio and don't smoke much of it in the summer months. It really "pops" in the cool fall and winter months, for me anyways..........

I think it was forum member escioe who waxed about the glories of a Lat blend on a night time stroll, on a snowy night........Yes indeed, that's when Latakia tastes best- flannel shirt weather in the fall, on through the winter....Its a totally different animal in those conditions.. Just my 2 cents....... ::

 

[thefalcon]

During the process, the Leaf is actually smoked over Herbal Bushes, giving it that woodsy, smoky, campfire taste.
Cheers,--Eric

 

[jpmcwjr]

Eric-
What is the source of that info, please?

 

[seadogontheland]

Smokey taste and mixed with the nuttiness, sweetness, sourness, or pepper-like quality of, respectively: Burley, Vas, Orientals and Perique, it can take on such a richness. And the variability is exponential depending on the blender, type of Latakia (Cyprian or Syrian) amount present and age. It truly is something to experience. I have found that a dominant Latakia blend grows tiresome as any mono-gustative experience would. For me the most important condiment present in most of the blends I smoke, but in moderation it shines.

 

[foggymountain]

Tastes like the armpit of a sweaty leather shirt.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Smoke a bowl of Pirate Kake. Seventy percent latakia there. Will definitely let you know what it tastes like. One of my top lats btw.

 

[msandoval858]

Latakia tastes like... magic!

 

[davet]

Mmmm Latakia

 

[jpmcwjr]

I love Latakia, but must confess I've never sampled the armpit of a sweaty leather shirt, nor will I!

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

When I've tried pure Latakia it definitely left something to be desired. I'm fairly confident that the "Latakia" taste we associate with the word is not the same as the pure ingrediant.

I know that a good english blend can taste like chicken soup, or just salty and savory, but the flavour I enjoy is definitely not the same as the raw material.
I'm tempted to say that Latakia is more a smell than a flavour, if you allow me to dare separate the two.

 

[oldredbeard]

Fine. No one else has answered the original question, so I will. It tastes like heaven, because it is fire-cured with ambrosia and lightly topped with angel tears. There. I said it.
aldecaker, I think you nailed it. ::

 

[danielplainview]

 

[puffndave]

It's smoked over nice hardwoods, and tastes just like campfire smoke, but is really quite smooth. Produced in the lands where camel dung fuels the energy systems for most households, no less! Having observed that, I still never had any latakia which tastes like shit, and doesn't make me want to reach for the marshmallows. :-D

 

[hawke]

I didn't read all the posts I confess.

To me words from one to describe a smell or taste cannot give another that knowledge of how it smells or tastes. One must experience it ourself. We can then relate to the descriptions of others and then input our own words to describe this experience. One person may label a file folder "bills" and another "finance" but the contents of each are the same. I found out what Latakia and Perique tastes were like by smoking them in pure form. Others descriptions left me lacking. I now describe Latakia as "horse barn" and Perique as "dog poop". Hahaha! And yet these unpleasureable smells redefined(as headings on flavor folder files relating to tobacco) are pleasurable when smoked. Go figure!

 

[tslex]

As i recently said in another thread:
Oh latakia!

Sweetly charred meat made of smoke.

My blood, it runs black.

 

[petes03]

Hhmmm.... What does Latakia taste like?
Smokey, meaty, charred, creamy, dreamy, smooth, billowy clouds from Heaven!

 

[Snow Hill]

Rich, deep, pungent, smokey, leathery campfire.