From: ???????????????
Subject: The Pipe Palate

How to Develop a Pipe Palate:

Developing a Pipe Palate  is not an easy task. First you have to determine
why you want to develop this sense, will it be for determining the contents
of a pipe tobacco or for description purposes?

Here's what I mean: 

Content: Ahh.. this blend is made up of a Red Virginia leaf, Bright
Burley, Perique, and cased with Rum.  or Descriptive: This blend has a
sweetness derived from the Virginian tobaccos with peppery overtones
of Perique, laced with hint of molasses from the Rum.

This of course is a little bit of an exaggeration but you get the idea. 

The first thing you have to be able to do (and it ain't easy) is to identify
tobacco and it's origin by looking at it. One of the best sources for
pictures regarding this is an out of print book by Carl Ehwa "The History of
Pipes & Tobacco." This book illustrates color and texture of straight tobaccos
 like Burley, Virginian etc. The next step is to find small quantities of the
basic straight (unmixed)  tobaccos. Try these tobaccos to develop a sense for
their characteristics ie. (Virginia-sweet, bright in color, smokes hot &
wet.) Only after you have tried tobaccos in their unadulterated state, can
you pick them out of a crowd. Two things to keep in mind when trying tobacs;
How was the tobac cured, as this will affect flavor. Two, the "cut" of the
tobacco because this will greatly affect the temperature of the smoke.

The more difficult thing to decern in pipe tobacco is the casing agent, (if
it has one.) Casing agents range from just plain sugared water to natural
fruit or herb extracts, liquor, and liquers. To determine this it helps if
you have literature from the tobacco itself. They usually say "Rum,"
"Bourbon," etc. 

One product you might look for (I don't know if it's still made) is a can of
tobacco made by MacBaren's of Denmark. I don't remember the name of it, but
it was about a 250gram can divided into four sections and each section
contained a single tobacco like Burley, Virginian, Cavendish and some kind of
Oriental - I can't remember. It came with a small scoop so that you could
create your own blend. It was a nifty idea, but I haven't seen it for a long
time. When you're trying tobaccos try them with a clean palate, I used to
chew parsley then rinse my mouth with water before trying tobaccos. If you
try tobaccos while drinking port, bourbon, malts, etc., it will affect your
perception of the tobac. Lastly the scent of the tobac burning is critical in
determining characteristics. You have to find a way to burn the tobacco
outside of you pipe in order to "really" smell it. Use a small piece of metal
screen with your tobacco on top of it, light it, let it burn and then wave
the smoke to your nose. Now you'll now more about the tobacco and more
importantly, how other people around you interpret your tobacco.

Hope This helps,
Steve Banks

[ Thanks for the discussion, Steve! -S. ]


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