Anyone had a tobacco become really salty?

[Litehouse89]

I bought a tin of Esoterica's And So To Bed and around the final third of my tin maybe a month after purchase the tobacco which had been pretty good suuddenly became basically unsmokable, it tasted like I had filled my pipe with a cube of salt or something. I figured that it must have been my pipe since I had neglected my cleaning routine a bit that week and kinda threw my resting period rules out the window, but after testing it in several pipes and getting the same result I ruled that out. It also left a horrible rancid smell in the pipe and cleaning the shank to where it didn't smell like poison even after a 24hr Everclear soak was a serious pain. I still have no idea what happened, but I was wondering if this wasn't something new. I searched a lot on the Internet and found no similar cases.

 

[MisterE]

Hey Lighthouse!

Even with more traditional English blends smoking slowly and keeping the temperature down works wonders. It's been a while since I've had And So to Bed but if I remember it's fairly wet out of the tin. You might experiment with drying it out a little more and packing it WAY more loosely that you might think makes sense. After lighting it, keep relighting until you get it going and only tamp to keep the ash down. I've gotten more out of English blends this way.

Latakia can have a salty note to it, and if you really get puffing on it it will intensify. I've noticed the same thing. The Virginia in the blend will respond to that cool, low temperature smoking and even out the salty note of the Lat you might find a bigger taste in general.

Good luck!!

 

[prosmoking]

I don't think it is a fault of the tobacco. Sometimes my taster just goes off on a everything tastes salty binge.

 

[Litehouse89]

I dunno, even within the first puff it was so salty I could feel it shriveling my tongue and it wasn't packed very tight... Maybe it spoiled somehow or wasn't mixed together well and that was pure latakia I was smoking by the bottom of the tin? It was strange because what had been a flavorful mixture after several bowls turned into something with no flavor whatsoever besides salt. I can't find anything else in it now.

 

[user 1862]

I would consider placing the rest of that tin in a jar, with the intent of a visit much later. In the meantime, you may discover the need of a Latakia vacation. ASTB is not a heavy blend by any means, but if you try another Lat blend and the same thing happens, this could hurt your ability to enjoy these blends in the future, as you have a bad taste in your mouth. Whether it's a technique or chemical reaction, this is a problem. Try something light on Latakia, smoke it slow, and drink something sweet and heavy like Coke or Abita rootbeer(Abita is sweetened with sugar and lacks excessive carbonation). If this doesn't help, back off of Lat blends for a month or two with a trip to Virginia, just keep in mind it's a vacation, so slow down the pace and enjoy. I hope this helps with the problem, because it can be frustrating.

 

[Maiser]

I have had a blend turn salty in the pipe, but never straight out of the tin, which would mean it's saltiness can be attributed to my smoking method or the pipe itself.

 

[Litehouse89]

Maybe it was a little of both in my case.

 

[Carlos]

A bit briney. Yes. And So To Bed is probably the saltiest I have smoked. Margate has a bit of that. I have tasted a bit of salt in several blends, mostly latakia or those with Basama (sp?).

 

[Litehouse89]

Yeah "briney" fits perfectly! I've tasted it a bit on Margate as well but figured that it was my pipe still having a ghost in it. Glad someone else experienced this.

 

[Carlos]

I kind of like a bit of it. I always wondered if some of the white powder we see on the aged blends could be salts. But then, maybe my taster is simply getting tricked into thinking it tasted salt. Blenders work in mysterious ways. :sunny: