New Year's Resolution

There it is. A New Years Resolution that paid off. I think the key to making an excellent Resolution is making it very attainable. Take the resolution: "I'm going to work out every day this year." There is no way that resolution even CAN be kept. There is going to be a sick day, a vacation a holiday that gets in the way and slowly chisles away at the bedrock of your resolve. But lets be honest resolutions like that aren't nearly attractive once the 18th of January rolls around, but I digress. The good resolution? The things you actually want to do. Or even better the things you will do anyway. What is all of this babble about? I finally had this years NYR (New Years Resolution) pay off. I had tried Petersons "Sweet Killarney" and had not particularly enjoyed it (I imagine you could find a review of it somewhere in teh back postings). But I wanted to work out my issues and learn to love this carmel flavored dream. So the journey began. It started with a good number of tongue bites, and a decision (like any adolescent dating relationship) taht we may need a few months apart. However, we are not so immature anymore, and the time eventually came to crack the tin and try again. I will have truly failed in my NYR if I didn't work things out until next January, but then the original resolution really did not have any timeline. Nevertheless, today was the day. It was hot and a nice light aromatic was in order. But it was dry. Not dried out, just more dry than I usually allow my tobacco to become. Great scott! The problem was solved! I have never really experimented with a range of different moisture levels with my tobacco. I had just assumed that there was a sort of "baby bear" zone into which all tobacco should fall. Yet, this makes no sense at all. Each tobacco that the smoker knows well get's packed a bit differently. Each tobacco that is well known may even get smoked at different rates, or in different pipe sizes. Why should we not also control the moisture level of the tobacco in order to find its ideal smoking conditions (ISC). So it was. I enjoyed this delicate carmel creme flavored blend. Still smoking slowly and with great care. The dryer blend didn't have the same level of the aromatic flavor to it, however, it did have a delightfully playful note of it over the (previously noted) high quality virginia flavor. So, there is my lesson learned for the day! I cannot ignore a single factor and expect the best experience with each tobacco. Hooray for learning!

Perseverance, Killarney and A Cuppa

Just cracked this tin about a month ago.  If memory serves I have now had about eight bowls of this tobacco.  It is a nice 'baccy, with an awfully nice smell (both in the tin and in the room).  The Carmel Creme flavor is nice, and the tobacco is high quality.  Here is my issue: every time I enjoy a bowl I get a mild bite.  It's in the first half of the bowl.  The next half is much nicer, even than many other tobaccos.  I don't know if it will be one that I will buy again.  I had expected something along the quality lines of "Irish Flake" (I realize the vast differences and styles that make this expectation unfair).  Nevertheless, I am determined to try this in yet a few more pipes, and treat it a bit carefully.  How often do you push through with a tobacco that the first blush isn't everything you hoped for?

In other news I see Chris at the Daily Briar (http://thedailybriar.blogspot.com/2012/01/dublin-or-bust.html) making some unbelievable pipes and this lights the fire for a higher level of involvement yet the problem is distinct: I am no craftsman.  So the next goal would be tobacco, but I am no farmer and am certainly not patient enough to persevere through the curing process.  However, I found something a bit less involved with a similar level of DIY reward: Coffee Roasting!

I have friends who have successfully done this for some time, and my time had come.  So I ordered a popcorn popper (cheapest accurate method of home roasting - I'm told by www.sweetmarias.com) and it seems to be the case.  However, the five pounds of unroasted coffee came a days before the popcorn popper.  Being as impatient as I am I looked for other "home roasting methods."  While no one particularly advocated it it turns out the roasting can be done on a stove-top with such things as cast iron pans or a wok.  It's messy, unscientific, but FUN!

Here is the process in pictures:

Raw Green Beans from CoffeeBeanDirect via Amazon

Some roasted and unroasted beans together

The Final Product

Said Product in a jar

  So, there were no pics of the actual roasting (there is a lot of stirring, smoke and crackling).  It was fun, exciting and interesting.  It is entertaining to get to go from "I read about this" to "Is that what the interwebs were talking about?"  You may notice that the roast is anything but even.  The black beans were between darkly roasted and a bit burned.  I figured this batch would be a throw away, but quite to the contrary it tasted nice, sweet and complex.  It was a victory, if only just.  When I had gone through this amount the popper still had not arrived, so I decided to try a wok and a lower temperature.  It went a bit smoother BUT I was hoping to go a bit darker and so I wound up with more smoke.  It will be interesting to see how that one turns out tomorrow (the coffee is supposed to set and gas off for 12 hours or so).

Anyhow, it's been a great and tasty adventure so far.  Highly recommended.  I won't be "going pro" but I do find the cost-benefit analysis comes out VERY high on the investment of time here.  You can do it.  Go for it.  Future project: finding the best roast to pair with a pipe.