alfredo_buscatti
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2007
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My real name is Mike Smith and I haven’t a trace of Italian blood. LatakiaLover asked me several months ago how I came by my alias (alfredo_buscatti) , saying more than a few of his contacts were curious. At this time it seems appropriate to tell.
When my now 18 y/o daughter was an infant, I would hide behind her bedroom door and play peek-a-boo with her, and when I appeared, I would introduce myself as “alfredo buscatti.” When she had established preliminary language and was some 6 to 12 months old, she would say no you are not, you’re daddy. What had happened in the interval was that she had established object permanence; that is, when something disappears behind some barrier, it doesn’t cease to exist. How I thought of this alias is anyone’s guess.
When I took up the pipe VAs and VA/Periques were my focus although I did smoke a bowl of latakia at night for some two years. I had many lat blends. But at the two year mark or so I stopped smoking lat; over time I sold/traded away most of my lat blends. It is rare that I smoke lat now.
About 18 months ago a tobacco transition occurred. I began smoking HOs more than VA or VA/Perique, but I do still cherish a morning bowl of them. The HOs that I love are Dark Flake, Bracken Flake and Irish Flake. In fact all three have made it into my top five, augmented by Cumberland and Escudo: I do so love a nic punch. Haddos, Bufflehead Decoy, Best Brown and McCranie Red Flake are other favorites.
My cellar right now is at ~105 lbs. Given tobacco’s hostile climate, I have no inclination to stop adding to it.
I have a fine-tuned palette which has both its merits and detractions. On the one hand, once I know all I can expect from a blend and taste it in any particular bowl, I feel that that experience is exalting. On the other hand, if a bowl isn’t delivering 100%, I suffer.
I have a palette cleansing technique involving brushing my teeth, gargling with hydrogen peroxide and scraping my tongue. The key, I feel, is keeping my mouth both fresh and sweet, which requires immediately using these techniques after eating, not eating between meals and remaining aware throughout the day when I can taste that the chemistry inside my mouth is souring, getting bitter or otherwise off; at this point mouth-cleansing ensues. Even if I haven’t eaten, the chemistry in my mouth goes south. I wonder at many other pipers who don’t practice these techniques; my guess is that less than 100% is acceptable to them and that they smoke on contentedly.
My 6 1/2 years on the Knox Board can be broken down into three periods:
1. apprentice - asking many, many questions
2. journeyman - answering others’ questions, writing reviews of tobaccos that I felt I thoroughly understood
3. silence. I have gone silent this last year as I feel I don’t have much to say. Whereas I in some sense I used to live to participate on the Board, I am now more detached and often don’t login for two or three days at a time.
Nevertheless I’m delighted to be a member of this Board.
When my now 18 y/o daughter was an infant, I would hide behind her bedroom door and play peek-a-boo with her, and when I appeared, I would introduce myself as “alfredo buscatti.” When she had established preliminary language and was some 6 to 12 months old, she would say no you are not, you’re daddy. What had happened in the interval was that she had established object permanence; that is, when something disappears behind some barrier, it doesn’t cease to exist. How I thought of this alias is anyone’s guess.
When I took up the pipe VAs and VA/Periques were my focus although I did smoke a bowl of latakia at night for some two years. I had many lat blends. But at the two year mark or so I stopped smoking lat; over time I sold/traded away most of my lat blends. It is rare that I smoke lat now.
About 18 months ago a tobacco transition occurred. I began smoking HOs more than VA or VA/Perique, but I do still cherish a morning bowl of them. The HOs that I love are Dark Flake, Bracken Flake and Irish Flake. In fact all three have made it into my top five, augmented by Cumberland and Escudo: I do so love a nic punch. Haddos, Bufflehead Decoy, Best Brown and McCranie Red Flake are other favorites.
My cellar right now is at ~105 lbs. Given tobacco’s hostile climate, I have no inclination to stop adding to it.
I have a fine-tuned palette which has both its merits and detractions. On the one hand, once I know all I can expect from a blend and taste it in any particular bowl, I feel that that experience is exalting. On the other hand, if a bowl isn’t delivering 100%, I suffer.
I have a palette cleansing technique involving brushing my teeth, gargling with hydrogen peroxide and scraping my tongue. The key, I feel, is keeping my mouth both fresh and sweet, which requires immediately using these techniques after eating, not eating between meals and remaining aware throughout the day when I can taste that the chemistry inside my mouth is souring, getting bitter or otherwise off; at this point mouth-cleansing ensues. Even if I haven’t eaten, the chemistry in my mouth goes south. I wonder at many other pipers who don’t practice these techniques; my guess is that less than 100% is acceptable to them and that they smoke on contentedly.
My 6 1/2 years on the Knox Board can be broken down into three periods:
1. apprentice - asking many, many questions
2. journeyman - answering others’ questions, writing reviews of tobaccos that I felt I thoroughly understood
3. silence. I have gone silent this last year as I feel I don’t have much to say. Whereas I in some sense I used to live to participate on the Board, I am now more detached and often don’t login for two or three days at a time.
Nevertheless I’m delighted to be a member of this Board.
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