Tasting Pipe Tobaccos: Should we Become more Disciplined about this?: Difference between revisions
Tasting Pipe Tobaccos: Should we Become more Disciplined about this? (view source)
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One of the most influential factors that affects the taste of pipe tobacco is the temperature of the burning tobacco. This is beyond whether the tobacco burns hot or cool. If the tobacco is burning at a higher temperature, it will often taste differently, even in the same pipe. I have noticed that when the temperature is low, a Virginia or English tobacco may display subtleties of taste and flavor that are not apparent when the puffing is more intense and the temperature is high. I have closely observed that those subtleties disappear at precisely the point where the temperature achieves a certain level. The net effect is that the same tobacco may seem boring and dull to one smoker and interesting and fascinating to another, depending on the temperature of the burning tobacco. | One of the most influential factors that affects the taste of pipe tobacco is the temperature of the burning tobacco. This is beyond whether the tobacco burns hot or cool. If the tobacco is burning at a higher temperature, it will often taste differently, even in the same pipe. I have noticed that when the temperature is low, a Virginia or English tobacco may display subtleties of taste and flavor that are not apparent when the puffing is more intense and the temperature is high. I have closely observed that those subtleties disappear at precisely the point where the temperature achieves a certain level. The net effect is that the same tobacco may seem boring and dull to one smoker and interesting and fascinating to another, depending on the temperature of the burning tobacco. | ||
Another factor is moisture. Some tobaccos taste differently when smoked moist or dry. My friend Jeff Goldman insists that Virginias convey fuller flavor when slightly moist. More flavor is carried with the steam of that moisture. On the other hand, I have smoked many English mixtures that are richer and fuller when more on the dry side and have been aired for a while after the | Another factor is moisture. Some tobaccos taste differently when smoked moist or dry. My friend Jeff Goldman insists that Virginias convey fuller flavor when slightly moist. More flavor is carried with the steam of that moisture. On the other hand, I have smoked many English mixtures that are richer and fuller when more on the dry side and have been aired for a while after the tin is cracked. As far as tasting is concerned, the same tobacco can have quite a different character depending on how moist it is, a factor that is irrelevant in the world of wine. | ||
The volume of smoke of the burning tobacco may also have an effect on taste. Some tobaccos do not release huge volumes of smoke, and yet that is, needless to say, a crucial aspect of why people "smoke" at all. In my conversations with pipe smokers, it has been said many times that, if a tobacco does not give off much smoke, it may affect how the smoker regards it in terms of flavor and overall favorable experience. After all, smell does affect taste to some degree. | The volume of smoke of the burning tobacco may also have an effect on taste. Some tobaccos do not release huge volumes of smoke, and yet that is, needless to say, a crucial aspect of why people "smoke" at all. In my conversations with pipe smokers, it has been said many times that, if a tobacco does not give off much smoke, it may affect how the smoker regards it in terms of flavor and overall favorable experience. After all, smell does affect taste to some degree. | ||
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With that as a preamble, let's go on to specific aspects of the briar pipe that need to be considered when tasting pipe tobaccos. | With that as a preamble, let's go on to specific aspects of the briar pipe that need to be considered when tasting pipe tobaccos. | ||
The first | The first prequisite of tasting pipe tobaccos is to do so using a clean pipe. A dirty pipe should not be used for anything, and least of all to get an objective impression of a pipe tobacco. This is obvious to all, I would think, but, hey, I worked in the tobacco business and know that there are many pipe lovers out there who seldom clean their pipes. | ||
The pipe used for tasting should be fully broken in, so that acidic or bitter flavors do not compromise the tobacco taste. In other words, the pipe should have sufficient cake built up on the chamber walls. Paradoxically, that same cake profoundly and unavoidably affects the taste of the tobacco. In fact, this probably has more influence on the taste of the tobacco than the brand of the pipe. When I discussed this topic with David Field, he emphatically agreed. To achieve any degree of validity and reliability of taste impressions, it may be necessary to smoke the tobacco several times in the same pipe. Not long ago, I smoked Butera's Pelican in a favorite Castello. It was remarkably good in the first bowl and was equally good, although different, in each of the next three. But tasting pipe tobacco using only one pipe is decidedly incomplete as well, as I will attempt to show below. | The pipe used for tasting should be fully broken in, so that acidic or bitter flavors do not compromise the tobacco taste. In other words, the pipe should have sufficient cake built up on the chamber walls. Paradoxically, that same cake profoundly and unavoidably affects the taste of the tobacco. In fact, this probably has more influence on the taste of the tobacco than the brand of the pipe. When I discussed this topic with David Field, he emphatically agreed. To achieve any degree of validity and reliability of taste impressions, it may be necessary to smoke the tobacco several times in the same pipe. Not long ago, I smoked Butera's Pelican in a favorite Castello. It was remarkably good in the first bowl and was equally good, although different, in each of the next three. But tasting pipe tobacco using only one pipe is decidedly incomplete as well, as I will attempt to show below. | ||