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. | ||