I double-dare you... no. Triple dog dare you... to find a cigar review (my own portfolio included) where pepper isn't mentioned. In fact, "peppery" is a note of note in coffee, tea, beer, & more (I'm certain) tastings. I mean it can easily be said that these spicy-pungent notations are 'peppered' throughout the food & beverage world(s). Sorrynotsorry.
Therefore, in this installment of Notes on Notes, I will be addressing pepper & how very an important thing to do that truly is [terrible sentence]. We will define the palate of particular peppers. Too, we will make important mention of the flavor/body distinction within these piquant perimeters*. A note before we begin: Herein will be covered dried crushed ground peppers. Produce peppers such as those not dried crushed ground, will be the topic of the sequel to this Notes on Notes. Clearly, think Bell, Jalapeno, Habanero, but not now.
Further logistics of this writing will be -- Fuck, I'll just show ya.
WHITE PEPPER
The mildest of peppers mentioned here. From Wikipedia: "White pepper consists solely of the seed of the ripe fruit of the pepper plant, with the thin darker-coloured skin (flesh) of the fruit removed." Zesty more than hot or even warm, I oft find white pepper in the braced delineations of white & green teas and also in mostly mellow Connecticut Shade cigar offerings. In cigars, I typically find these white pepper notes alongside what I'd consider "exotic spices." This makes nice sense, seeing as white pepper is employed in both Chinese & Thai cuisines. The white stuff is also arguably the most refined of all pepper tastes.
It is too, subtly used in comfort food cream sauces and mashed potatoes. Therefore, its noted entrance into a profile should alarm no one of a spicy bit of kick-in-the-mouth BOOM. Its main importance is in enforcing the aforementioned delineations via bracing and/or backing***. Too, it adds a cleansing depth of nuance to a thing with a peppery mix.
In terms of flavor vs. body, white pepper is more the former than the latter by a tick of distance. It's flavor already being noted, let's do body... a clean tingle oft accompanied by tangy citrus, & short-lived when appearing on the finish. Finish itself being more body than flavor in my estimation. For the record before moving on: Flavor is what we taste, body is how what we taste feels in our mouths. Also, no mention of body should be made sans mention of flavor. Savvy? We'll go on. You're doing great!
BLACK PEPPER
The most made mention of dry/ground/crushed pepper varietal by a long-shot. So much so that many reviewers/tasters/critics seem to mean or employ black pepper as their default. This especially in the cigar realm. In other words, "peppery" can safely (it would seem) be taken to mean black pepper. According to Wikipedia once again, "Black pepper is produced from the still-green, unripe drupe of the pepper plant." According to me, I always expand and/or expound upon pepper by using the proper labels dissected & defined here.
Piquant, Pungent. Check, check. Spicy? Check. We all know what black pepper tastes like. If you have two shakers in your kitchen, one of them is filled w/ black pepper. If you have well more than two shakers, perhaps your kitchen is in a United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing church. That's a Shakers joke -- not a shaker joke. I would apologize but you did sign up for this sort of 'entertainment.'
The take away from the preceding paragraph is that we all know what black pepper tastes like. That being said, it is finally time to (re?)tackle the title of this entry: "Pepper: Flavor or Body?" When we note pepper in a tasting environment -- are we really tasting it (flavor) or are we feeling it (body)? I'll answer this cigar-centrically... A punch in the mouth ain't always pepper... black or otherwise. Sometimes it's an abrasion of the palate via Ligero or untamed via not 'nuff aged brawny tobaccos. The American Market demands a "peppery" challenge to their collective smoke-holes. & by hook or by crook, it is met.
It's quite en vogue. Think AJ Fernandez and Don Pepin. Now, think they can ensure the exhibition of black & other pepper tastes, properly (hook). Now, go on to think not a lot of others can. Finally, think of this ploy as a type of cheat (crook) by them who cannot. How not to fall for this? Simple! Next time you taste a pepper, ask yourself... "Do I really, or am I just feeling it?" I shall now offer a digression from this, one of my personal pet peeves.
A final bit: once certain that it is pepper you are tasting, pay careful notice to where this does, in fact, bleed over into body. Precisely: is the pepper ground finely or coarsely? I feel this is a potential epiphany for some. yw HINT: complexities lurk in a pepper changing from one type to another, from draw to finish and/or body. Or, from sip to slurp.
RED PEPPER
"Crushed red pepper or red pepper flakes is a condiment consisting of dried and crushed (as opposed to ground) red chili peppers." - Thanks again, Wikipedia. Here is where we deviate from peppercorns but don't worry, we'll touch back there. Ever been to a pizzeria? Then you know crushed red pepper as the warm spicy dusty thing it is. I have noticed that no matter how warm it displays, it is always matched by that dustiness -- making it always something of a muted or refrained/restrained affair.
That's its flavor. In terms of its display on body, the spicy tingle is cleaner there and typically well out-front. As a somewhat but not really aside, there should also be an inherent sweetness coupling & balancing this experience. At its best, this almost always breeds an accompanying savory/umami addition. Look for it. At its worst, sans balance, red pepper has the effect of palate abrasion and fatigue. I will also direct you to my thoughts of fakey black pepper already presented above. A last word: a nice red pepper inclusion should lead to excellent nuances & depths of notes.
CAYENNE PEPPER
Wikipedia is so handy, huh? "The cayenne pepper is a type of Capsicum annuum. It is usually a moderately hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes. ... The fruits are generally dried and ground to make the powdered spice of the same name..."
Here, think crushed red pepper but hotter than it is warm... sharply-so. Liquidy as opposed to dusty earthy. Often "spitty." The sharpness is, of course, present on its body. The rest would be flavor, which typically presents thinly & as an (hopefully) accompanying note to something savory. This pepper is horrifically over-riding in lieu of proper staunch balancing/bracing. It needs a structured profile to play in. Even then, a little goes a long way. Look for this in coffees roasted darkly & outside of the Ethiopian vicinity; mingling w/ red spices.
PEPPERCORN
Well, Gentlepersons, there ya have it. I told you what I was going to tell you, told you, and am now telling you I told you. (You just read about pepper.) I do-so hope this serves along with the other Notes on Notes installments to further enhance your tasting appreciation & prowess via further understanding. If not, it was completely free to read & you were, in turn, completely free not to read it. So cut me a tick bit of slack, huh?
FOOTNOTES
*Some linguistic snobs don't like parameter's meaning of a boundary or limit when perimeter would do. But according to Garner's Modern American Usage, the use of parameter to mean boundary is "virtually universal" except by "die-hard snoots." Unless you are writing for such an audience (a math professor, perhaps), you can use parameter to mean boundary.
Just remember: The parameters of playing hide-and-seek are not peeking while you count, and to stay within the perimeter of the yard when you hide**.
Just remember: The parameters of playing hide-and-seek are not peeking while you count, and to stay within the perimeter of the yard when you hide**.
**I don't believe this to be as clarifying as it hoped to have been.
***Read more about his in Notes on Notes "Broad Across the Tongue" https://bit.ly/2NC9TCP
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