Taste and Perspective

[That Guy]

A new pizza company invites 6 people off the street to taste their pizza and get the word out on their product.
Tester #1
This medley of cheeses is amazing! I love the cheese to sauce ratio.
Tester #2
I love the thick robust sweet and slightly spicy tomato sauce! Most other pizzas have too much cheese and very little sauce.
Tester #3
This parmesan garlic crust is cooked perfect crispy but not too crunchy. It's not like the normal bland crush I normally eat.
Tester #4
Man idk what it is about this thick cut pepperoni but it's spot on. Not greasy but very flavorful. Normally pizzas loaded with pepperoni like this are soaked in grease but not this one!
Tester #5
Dude it's pizza! What's not to love about it???
Tester #6
Omg I can't eat this. Its not a non vegan, non gluten, goat cheese, peso sauce, flavorless piece of cardboard like I like!

Hopefully that have you a little laugh but honestly it's about how alot of us react to certain tobacco's. It's crazy how different out taste and preferences can be.
I remember trying half and half for the first time and could barely get through the bowl and immediately through the pouch in the trash. But then you have people who swear by it and it's their go to tobacco.
When I'm smoking a new cigar or pipe tobacco for the first time after I've got it going for a few minutes and I'm picking out the flavors for myself then I'll actually look up a YouTube review and see if I'm getting any of the flavors that this person is getting and it's only about half the time that I'm tasting what they're actually tasting. I have a pretty good idea of what I like but I try to stay open to giving new things a try also.

 

[Chasing Embers]

it's about how alot of us react to certain tobacco's

That's why my purchases are based on blend contents. Reviews never influence my tobacco buys.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

The only tobacco I've ever smoked that has come anywhere near close to what many reviewers say about Virginia is GH curly cut deluxe.
But then, I don't think I'm very good at defining / describing taste in tobacco, or maybe it's just that I don't want to, and simply want to enjoy the smoke for what it is.

When I had that realisation about curly cut deluxe, I just thought "oh yeah" and then forgot all about it, thank goodness !

 

[tobefrank]

Now I’m craving for a pizza aromatic…

 

[hauntedmyst]

Now I want an Pequod's Deep Dish Pizza with Sausage and Pepperoni

 

[Brendan]

Shhh..
Nobody mention pineapple..

 

[That Guy]

Shhh..
Nobody mention pineapple..

 

[STP]

I agree… and I’m in the Tester #5 camp ?

 

[lawdawg]

Hey it’s not pineapple’s fault that it’s sweet tangy flavor goes great with tomato sauce.

 

[Grangerous]

Great post, That Guy! And so so true. Often times I’ll read someone's review and say, “Yes! Me too”.

Recent example. I’ve been focusing on Pegasus of late. — one reviewer said he gets, popped-corn. I’ve gotten that too and thought it was the cob. Nope, briars too. It’s not a theme, but every so often that’s an apt descriptor.

Other reviews and I have to wonder if we’re smoking the same blend???

Yes, we’re all different.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Excellent post. I do read reviews and pay some attention to those I've found have tastes similar to my own. I also give the components a lot of attention. And the brand. For example, everyone would have to live a G&H blend before I'd give it a try but if C&D releases a small batch VaOr, I'm likely to spring for 10 tins minimum.

 

[kcghost]

I, too, pay attention to reviews from people who I trust and who have similar taste profiles as I do.

 

[virginialover]

Reviews from other people usually give me useful insights but in the end I'm the one who pulls the trigger on that tin or this bulk.

 

[That Guy]

Reviews from other people usually give me useful insights but in the end I'm the one who pulls the trigger on that tin or this bulk.

Definitely. I only look at a review after I've made a purchase and had my first smoke. Trying to see how my taste palette is developing lol man some of those cigar reviews have me laughing my butt off. Them guys are calling out like 10 different flavors. Pipe tobacco reviewers don't seem to go overboard for the most part lol. It's enjoyable to watch though.

 

[mso489]

Not only do different people taste things differently, but people over their lifetimes fall in and out of enjoyment of specific foods and beverages, not to mention tobaccos. When I was seven years old, no meal on earth could exceed a cheeseburger with lots of catsup with fries on the plate. It was everything I could imagine in terms of delicious food. I still eat the occasional cheeseburger, but not like that.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

The only reviewer I take any notice of is @jiminks,
At least he's objective and does not wander off track using fanciful language.
I don't have the palate to detect the flavours he does, but I can get an approximate idea of what the tobacco is like from his reviews.

 

[Brendan]

Yep, occasionally I'll get some obscure flavour that somebody has written about, but for the most part I just focus on the individual leaf and enjoy them for what they are. I just try to zone out for a while and appreciate the Burley/Virginia leaf as it is, for what it is.
I may get one or two hints of the obscure flavours written in some reviews, but it is still just a fleeting moment for me at this stage.
Although I did get a popcorn flavour here and there from smoking Storm Front the other day, could be a Burley thing maybe. ( in reference to Mr Grangerous's post above ).

 

[Chasing Embers]

Hey it’s not pineapple’s fault that it’s sweet tangy flavor goes great with tomato sauce.

My pasta bowls from Domino's always have marinara sauce, onions, roasted red peppers, and pineapples.?

 

[wyfbane]

Pepperoni and Pineapple is a fantastic pizza...

After much sampling and reading of reviews, I found a system that works for me.

On Tobacco reviews, I use Jim, StevieB, and Gentleman Zombie to sort of do a cross analysis on whether to try a new blend. Tall puff o burley and Pipestud are also people I can relate to, if not always agree.

 

[That Guy]

My pasta bowls from Domino's always have marinara sauce, onions, roasted red peppers, and pineapples.?

Crushed red pepper flakes goes on everything I eat that's "Italian" besides cannolis LOL. A buddy of mine gave me a bunch of habanero peppers ( which I love) he grew in his garden and I dried them out on my smoker and crushed them up into flakes and was sprinkling them on everything. Absolutely delicious!