Oriental without the pepper?

[TonyS]

Guys, I'm looking to try my first Oriental blend. From I've read you can't have Oriental without some pepper, true? I'm not a big pepper fan so are there any Oriental blends without a pepper blast? I was going to try McClelland's Classic Samsun. Thanks.

 

[monbla256]

Guys, I'm looking to try my first Oriental blend. From I've read you can't have Oriental without some pepper, true? I'm not a big pepper fan so are there any Oriental blends without a pepper blast? I was going to try McClelland's Classic Samsun. Thanks.

The blends with a distinct "pepper" sense to them are the VaPers more than oriental blends in my experience. Orientals definately have some "spice" flavor to them, but I would not describe most as having a "pepper" flavor, more of a sort of smokey sharpness to them. Samsun is a good one and I can recomend two others that I smoke a LOT of. First is another McC blend, Oriental #14 and the other would be L.J.Peretti's Royal Blend. These are both true Balkan mixtures which is what most "oriental" dominant blends could be classified as and they are "spicy" but not in a "peppery" way. JMHO

 

[Kyle Weiss]

"I'd like chocolate without the cocoa flavor." :lol: (White chocolate ain't chocolate...)

Sounds like you might enjoy delving more into Virginias or matured Burley. 8)

 

[joemelon]

I'll toss in Villiger Early Day and Hearth and Home Namaste as some of the mildest English blends I've tried, both have Virginia, Latakia and Oriental. Namaste especially is very, very mellow and I don't recall a pepperiness to it but it does have citrus notes (that I love) but Early Day is lacking so that may be a consideration if you do or do not want that.

 

[Blackhorse]

Agree with the pepper being Perique and not the Orientals.

If you want a smooth Oriental...hop on over to 4-N's and pick up some of John Patton's Crossroads and Oriental Dusk.

Also...something to watch out for...neither good or bad...when a blend says it has Oriental leaf it often means it contains Latakia. That's well and good, if that's what you're looking for. You might try substituting the term "Turkish" for Oriental and see if that leads you to smoother blends without the pepper bite you describe. Turkish, I think, often equates to Izmir (same as Smyrna) which provides one of my favorite flavors.

Think about:

GL Pease Embarcadero
C&D Riverboat Gambler & Oriental Silk