Re: How long till it was really good ?

Hi Robert,

I understand exactly what you are saying and it is normal for you to taste everything to be the same. I started out at age 15 on the pipe and that was with one drug store blend an a few mini-cobs. I had no one to teach me anything so it was quite a disaster at first.

Everything I smoked seemed to have a similar taste and that taste was usually hot and harsh. Here is what I think happens...your senses need to acquire a taste for the tobacco at first. Try working with one or two similar non-aromatic blends just to get used to the smoking experience. In time you will start to notice the nuances of flavors from the tobacco and not just the taste of burning leaves. This even happens if I go a few weeks without a pipe...the first few bowls taste like burnt lawn clippings.

Once you start noticing the flavors, slowly experiment with other blends. Remember, your taste buds are new to smoking so hitting them with every type of blend at once will just confuse them. Relax, get to know how to enjoy a pipe often and the flavors will come.

Jimmy "da Pipe" Muraco
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmuraco/
http://thesmokingtiger.blogspot.com/
http://straightgrain.blogspot.com/
http://thetigerspaw.blogspot.com/
http://www.editred.com/JMuraco

Robert wrote:
Hi all !

I am 22 and have never _really_ smoked before (I did of course take a
couple of puffs on some cigarettes on some occasions; ... but never
seriously).

Now I decided to go for the pipe; for I like the object, the shape,
the esthetics of the pipe smoker, the gesture, the smell,...

So I got me a pipe (a nice briar pipe from my local pipemaker), a
sweet little thing...

I got me also some tobacco. I wanted to try all major kind of
tobacco : Alsbo Cherry, Mc Baren Vanilla, Dunhill Nightcap, Three
nuns.

Since the tobacco was really moist as I unsealed the pouches, I let it
dry a little : I put it on a plate and waited for 2-3 hours. I think
the humidity is now okay (though probably not perfect since I am far
from being a specialist yet).

It also took a couple of times to get a decent packing but I think I'm
doing okay now.

As for the lighting, the smoking and the keeping lit part, I am
getting better every time though I believe I smoke a bit too fast and
my pipe gets hotter than it should but still I think it's fine.

Now the problem is, that no matter what tobacco I smoke, it still
tastes the same and I cannot say that taste is that great. As it is,
my only real pleasure from pipe smoking is both the smell of the
produced smoke and the whole esthetics/gesture aspect.

I heard that this is all normal and I would get accostumed to that
all. and that it would take longer since I was an absolute non-smoker
before.

I heard that the beginnings are somewhat hard and it takes time. I can
live with that. I intend to go on. But I still would like your output
about how long my first grade pipe education would take.

Thanks.

Bob

.

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