Why do Pipes Taste Different?

[Sigmund]

Out of curiosity I tried to repeat the smoke that had me post here. Didnt work. Im gonna have to try it with the same beverage. I think sometimes you just get a smoke thats special…when the planets align.

 

[anotherbob]

They just do. I think everything makes a small difference and sometimes that can add up to something huge.
Oh and @Chasing Embers I noticed that difference when just starting out and not having any idea of what a pipe was supposed to be like otherwise then awesome.
My Rattray and my Brebbia are the most extreme examples of this in my collection.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Out of curiosity I tried to repeat the smoke that had me post here. Didnt work. Im gonna have to try it with the same beverage. I think sometimes you just get a smoke thats special…when the planets align.

I once got turned around in the woods with my dogs, and didn't have my phone on me. So, I just sat down on a rock and has a bowl of Laurel Heights in a Nording. Not a particular favorite combo at the time for me. But, at the time my stress level and the combinations of many things made it a transitory smoke for me. And, I still appreciate the tobacco, but I have yet to have a similar experience.

There is something called the Dorito Effect, where you get a sensation that turns on all the right switches in your head, but you can never reproduce that again, but you keep trying and trying, but you end up eating or smoking or whatever that same thing trying to get back to that sensation. Doritos for example. The first time someone tries Doritos, the flavor blows them away, but the next time you eat them, you will tend to eat more and more, even though the taste is never as good as the first time. However, our brains tell us that it must be delicious, because of the way the first time went. Long story short... I've smoked a shit ton of Laurel Heights, and if asked I would say that it is amazing... but if I lit up a bowl of it right now, it may be humdrum, so I'd smoke more to keep chasing that taste.

 

[Sigmund]

Please pass the chips

 

[dunnyboy]

Only a small percentage of people have the capability of tasting deeply into something, and even out of those a far fewer have bothered to train their senses to use that capability. I have stopped being surprised at people on here that can't taste. They tend to throw insults at those who do taste deeply. It's just a jealousy thing. To each their own. The irony is that some of them will chase down the most obscure European... anyways :::cough cough:::

I'm starting to feel a little paranoid for some reason:::cough cough:::

Yes, I envy people, like @JimInks, who can taste deeply and have refined their palates to be able to pick out subtle nuances. But I have tremendous admiration for them and I rely on their descriptions to discover blends I think I'll enjoy.

 

[JimInks]

I'm starting to feel a little paranoid for some reason:::cough cough:::

Yes, I envy people, like @JimInks, who can taste deeply and have refined their palates to be able to pick out subtle nuances. But I have tremendous admiration for them and I rely on their descriptions to discover blends I think I'll enjoy.

Thank you for the kind words. Even though I've always had a sensitive palate, it took years of experience and constant gathering of knowledge to develop it beyond my genetic code.

 

[dunnyboy]

Thank you for the kind words. Even though I've always had a sensitive palate, it took years of experience and constant gathering of knowledge to develop it beyond my genetic code.

Yes, that's why so many of us eagerly read your reviews and why you're the Sultan of Smoke!

 

[Swiss Army Knife]

I think Cosmic nailed it. There are so many factors that go into it, where my heads at, what I ate for breakfast, where I'm smoking, what the weather's like, that go beyond just bowl and stem dimensions.

Aside from avoiding smoking Christmas Cheer in your sacrificial Devil's Holiday pipe I don't think it's worth worrying about too much.

 

[Cloozoe]

Part of me thinks I am insane but part of me thinks I am simply noticing what other piper experience. In one pipe Tobacco Blend A is, wow, just amazing. In another pipe the same blend is good but just ok.

I know experienced smokers say they pick a pipe for a blend after experimentation so I presume this is the reason.

My question is why?

I realize there may be no clear answer due to the infinite variables of shape, briar, and draw.

However, I still ask...Is there any logic to this? Is one pipe likely superior to the next with a specific blend.

My example: HU Louisana Broken Flake....a Vaper. In my Becker almost billiard is sweet, complex and amazing. In my Svendenborg which is a little more bent its good but the experience is nothing special. The Svendenborg is a good smoker but the experience is different. In this case not as good (for me). The experience may be better for someone else but its not as sweet.

Why?

Keep in mind Im open to the possiblity that there is not a clear answer.

1. Fill both pipes with same blend
2. Try them side by side
3. Do this 25-50 times.

Should you then come to the same conclusion, you still won't have an answer as to why, but it will be more likely that there is, in fact, a consistent difference based on the pipes rather than the countless other variables.

 

[FLDRD]

Just out of curiosity, for those that find big differences between pipes, did you think so before or after you heard someone else say it? Suggestion can have a big influence on perception. I hadn't talked to another pipe smoker for the first 20+ years of smoking and only heard about the idea of differences here for the first time in 2014.

Entirely my own experience without any suggestive input.
I'm one that finds blends to be quite variable based on pipe, environment, and the many variables of "me" that I bring to the equation.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

I can have different experiences with the same pipe but whether that or among different pipes I think it's more down to plenty of other variables, so I can't say that one pipe tastes differently than another pipe just based on "the pipe". More power to anyone that can ferret out those differences - they are beyond me.

 

[DesertDan]

I am sure there are multiple factors that contribute to this. For example. chamber size and shape. The width, depth and probably even the shape of the tobacco column is definitely going to affect the flavor and development of the nuances of the blend as it burns. This is evident in how a blend often "comes together" in the second half of the bowl.

This is very evident with cigars, the same blend tastes different depending on the type of cigar. I have always found that each cigar blend had its perfect type, the combination of length and ring gauge that best exemplified the most balanced nature of the blend. Robustos and toros seem to most consistently fit this category across a very wide number of blends and thus are the most prolific sizes offered in sampler packages. Both have similar ring gauge. Smoking the same blend in a patella, a toro and a churchill will each give one a different experience of the blend.
Most cigar smokers with generally agree that almost every cigar tastes best in the last half.

Throw in all the other factors of pipes, and it's no wonder that there is a perceptible difference.

Vive la difference!!

Cheers!