Flavor Orgasm lasts only 10-15 puffs???? Why???

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hobie1dog

hobie1dog

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I have been experiencing something lately that I need an answer for. When lighting up, as in a recent episode with "Beacon Extra", there is a rush of intense flavor, totally void of any burnt ash/bowl residue/nastiness, that gives me a brief olfactory Orgasm. It's a quick glimpse of pure flavor that only lasts for the first 10-15 puffs and then slips away towards a mediocre bowl of baccy. Tonite the same thing happened with my Northwoods from Boswell.
Does the mouth/tongue get acclimated that quickly to the taste ? I think that once a large area of baccy gets burning, that the ash smell must tend to subdue the flavor components.
Could the shallower bowls have a higher tendency to do this over a deeper bowl? I want to find out the secret to making that initial pure flavor rush last alot longer. Any input is appreciated.
 
I would ask the same question as J. I've never had a blend such as Beacon Extra go bland or nasty on me. Cool to the bottom!
 
try packing it looser and slowing down. Flavor optimum is right where it's almost going out.

:face:
 
jhuggett":6ecoj6hh said:
Heat? Are you maybe puffing to fast?
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I get all the intense pure flavor as I'm lighting it up, so the puffing speed factor has to be a really small factor at this point.

I find it hard to imagine that it would be related to the pipe design, but I would love to try a deep chamber design to see if the aroma gets picked up by passing through all the baccy beneath it. :scratch:

I'll try different packing densities next.
 
Justpipes":2dat0flv said:
Obviously you haven't smoked John Middleton's Walnut. :D
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Brilliant suggestion there my man JP, good to see you back brother!!! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
 
Obviously you haven't smoked John Middleton's Walnut
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If you'd been smoking that stuff, there'd be no question of flavor at all.

Other than (maybe) if there'd ever be any :lol!:

:face:
 
I tried a different pipe today and still the same thing....that's not to say that all my pipes could be the problem :face: :affraid:
 
h-dog, You've hit on something that I've felt all my pipe smoking life. I have never, ever in my almost 40 years of smoking pipes had a bowl of tobacco get better as it burned down. Every blend or pipe I've smoked always offered the best taste/experience right after the initial lights, and deteriorated from there on. Whether it's the first 10 to 15 puffs or a bit longer than that, the quality of the taste experience is always best near the top of the bowl.

Depending on the tobacco blend (and to a lesser extent, a pipe) most bowls can be exquisite for the top quarter, delightful for the second quarter, quite enjoyable for the third quarter, and rapidly moving towards disgusting in the bottom quarter. I will smoke most blends down to about the bottom 1/4 or so, but then it's usually out with the damn dottle!

I once envied those who would romantically wax about how the particular tobacco really came into it's own and released subtle flavors towards the bottom of the bowl, but it doesn't happen in my mouth. Why wasn't I having the same experiences? Was I having a lesser flavor experience?

Now I realize that my descriptions of taste range is in no way comparable to anothers similar range, so perhaps my "quite enjoyable for the third quarter" of the bowl tastes to me at the same level as anothers "it's really hitting the zone and releasing fantastic flavors" experience. In which case, perhaps they should envy me for the superior taste of the top half of the bowl I've enjoyed?

But then, anyone that envies me needs to get a real life. I hear they're on sale at Wall-Mart this weekend.

Natch

 
I second that Natch! I too am often bewildered by descriptions of tobacco burning nirvana at the bottom of the bowl, because I've never experienced it myself, not even close. If I'm anywhere near that fabled "soft gray ash" at the bottom, then more often than not, I'm also in a bitter, nicotine heavy wilderness. Thanks for articulating that so well, glad I'm not alone in that bad place...only thing is...it's hard to get myself to come to terms with the fact that that is just how it is.
 
Thanks Natch...and Chris, I'm glad to hear it's not just me that is experiencing this effect.

I just bought two fairly deep pipes on the web this week, and these will be my first official "good" pipes I've owned, so we'll see if having a deeper bowl makes any difference. I'm going with the theory that the closer the ash is, and the less tobacco between you and the ash, that there will be more of that ash taste getting to you...but WTF do I know?. :scratch: ...answer, NOT MUCH.....that's why I'm asking the experienced forum guru's. ;)
 
Natch":cwpi212e said:
Now I realize that my descriptions of taste range is in no way comparable to anothers similar range, so perhaps my "quite enjoyable for the third quarter" of the bowl tastes to me at the same level as anothers "it's really hitting the zone and releasing fantastic flavors" experience. In which case, perhaps they should envy me for the superior taste of the top half of the bowl I've enjoyed?
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That's a really good point Natch. Could be the best bowl of baccy I've ever had, is mediocrity to someone else. Huh.
 
I just got a few back issues of Pipes & Tobacco magazine and the review section in the back is done by two guys. One of them always has a sentence that starts out with "At the match" and that is what I'm experiencing, a very distint flavor during the lighting process. So after reading all his comments about how the flavors come through " At the match", I have a better understanding why this is happening.
 
I know what you mean. Sometimes, just by accident, I`ll have a bowl which is sublime from top to bottom. I just try to enjoy them when they happen because you only have so much contol. So many factors beyond technique can affect the taste. Weather, what you`ve eaten, general humidity, etc. One thing that does help is, again, pack on the loose side and dont get it too hot. Another thing is to only pack a half bowl and smoke it that way. I do that often and it helps keep the flavor more consistent throughout the smoke. :D
 
I will get a different flavor toward the bottom of a bowl that is enjoyable, but distinct from the rest of the smoke. It is similar across blend genres. I don't dislike it, so I'm happy about the way my bowls finish.

It could be the narrowing diameter of the bowl--a broader bowl equals more flavor.

I just read these blog posts tonight, maybe they will shed some light, elsewise, they're still great reading!

Chamber Geometry

Thermodynamics of Pipe Smoking

I think the condensation of oils and things in the lower tobacco may be the reason for the change in flavor, whether it is good or bad in your opinion.
 
I must be missing something because I hate the light up and look forward to after that. At first I get too much heat for me when lighting it by trying to get it lit all across the bowl, but then if I set it down for just a short time and start it back up, then it show all the flavors I look for and mostly the sweetness.

I feel backwards from everyone here now, LOL!

After thinking about this for a bit maybe I am trying to light my baccy to wet still, but I kind of like it that way as long as not too wet. Is this nuts? Should I let it dry that much more?

Skip
 
Moisture is the key -- interior moisture.

Too much and you get either tongue bite, degraded flavor, or both.

Let it cool and dry out (same thing in essence).

Then resume where you left off.

Seems simple enough in theory . . .

If it's an aromatic, though, the disappearence is predictable.

:face:
 
All you guys try to notice how intense the flavor is "at the match" this next week, as it changes for me dramatically after it gets going, that initial flavor rush dies down rapidly.
 
I think Yak has it pegged. Moisture is the culprit, only thing is, I hate re-lighting, so I end up trying to straddle that fine line of keeping the pipe lit, without letting it getting too hot. When I taste the steam, or even worse, hear the gurgle, I know I'm sunk...
 
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