First off, I don't always get to smoke what I want, when I want--this for (quasi)professional reasons. Woe is me. That said and if left to my own accord, I'm vice-versa to perhaps most in that I prefer beginning my day with fuller, deeper profiled cigars and wrapping up an evening with something lighter. I like, I suppose, to jumpstart my dawn and chill come dusk. Sounds perfectly reasonable.
Why have chamomile in the AM and Espresso in the PM?
I understand the prevailing wisdom is that you don't want to destroy your palate for the remainder of the day via smoking a more intense smoke over coffee. However, this really only holds if you're smoking many times a day at closely-huddled times. My morning San Andres is a distant memory long before I light my evening Connie, say. Which I imagine begs another question... one I can only answer with 'time.'
Time is the only true palate cleanser and all hacks simply attempt to rush the hands of a clock. I find Vodka to be an excellent time-traveling aid. A little L'chaim never hurts; please drink responsibly. Potato, personally. Nukesky and pavesky, one might say. All other recommendations (as well as Vodka) are varyingly valid but again at best not perfect. But might I ask what your rush is? To answer the original question succinctly, smoke whatever and whenever feels right for you.
Don't chain-smoke and don't feel like you need to smoke several times a day. I smoke one, maybe two times daily. Never three, but that's just me. It's best to leave thoughts of palate cleansing to the pros who taste, blend, and/or schmooze with purpose.
Figure five (5) days. Those smokes you picked up at your local B&M will last about that long in the zippie they left the shop in. Throw in a 69 Boveda (not a sponsor) and they might give Twinkies a run for their shelf life money. I have long advocated, particularly in terms of starting out, to allow your local shop to worry about storage and long-term humidification. Hold off on Tupperdores, coolerdors, and the like.
I'll answer the next and somewhat conjoined question with 'mold.' It is never plume. I just like throwing that in whenever possible. Although, those bumps, since you maybe asked, are not mold... they are called tooth. Whether little pimply shaving bumps on the wrapper or crystal dots in the ash; they are tooth. Smoke on. It's desirable and more common in certain wrappers. Also, no, the slight green discoloration isn't mold either. It's chlorophyll left over from imperfect but un-hampering-to-performance fermentation. The mold of your concern is white.
Colour and flavour get a lot of play, but I find the UK spelling of mould to be massively brilliant.
Finally, spitting when you smoke is gross and really shouldn't be enjoyable. Everyone wants a spitoon until it comes time to clean the spitoon and the surrounding floor. What causes some smokes to be so spitty? Maybe it's a build-up of tar that leads to a too-acrid quality of smoke. Umami-heavy blends will make you drool--not spit. No one tastes a steak and starts spitting. Regardless of the cause, I find the cure to be purging. Simply blow out through your cigar until the draw is cleaner. Put away the mop.
That was fun. I look forward to tackling more of the questions--whether asked of me or not. I see and hear them quite often from the corner of my eye and ear. If you'd like more of my take on things, please consider my book How to Enjoy a Cigar.
I understand the prevailing wisdom is that you don't want to destroy your palate for the remainder of the day via smoking a more intense smoke over coffee. However, this really only holds if you're smoking many times a day at closely-huddled times. My morning San Andres is a distant memory long before I light my evening Connie, say. Which I imagine begs another question... one I can only answer with 'time.'
Time is the only true palate cleanser and all hacks simply attempt to rush the hands of a clock. I find Vodka to be an excellent time-traveling aid. A little L'chaim never hurts; please drink responsibly. Potato, personally. Nukesky and pavesky, one might say. All other recommendations (as well as Vodka) are varyingly valid but again at best not perfect. But might I ask what your rush is? To answer the original question succinctly, smoke whatever and whenever feels right for you.
Don't chain-smoke and don't feel like you need to smoke several times a day. I smoke one, maybe two times daily. Never three, but that's just me. It's best to leave thoughts of palate cleansing to the pros who taste, blend, and/or schmooze with purpose.
Figure five (5) days. Those smokes you picked up at your local B&M will last about that long in the zippie they left the shop in. Throw in a 69 Boveda (not a sponsor) and they might give Twinkies a run for their shelf life money. I have long advocated, particularly in terms of starting out, to allow your local shop to worry about storage and long-term humidification. Hold off on Tupperdores, coolerdors, and the like.
I'll answer the next and somewhat conjoined question with 'mold.' It is never plume. I just like throwing that in whenever possible. Although, those bumps, since you maybe asked, are not mold... they are called tooth. Whether little pimply shaving bumps on the wrapper or crystal dots in the ash; they are tooth. Smoke on. It's desirable and more common in certain wrappers. Also, no, the slight green discoloration isn't mold either. It's chlorophyll left over from imperfect but un-hampering-to-performance fermentation. The mold of your concern is white.
Colour and flavour get a lot of play, but I find the UK spelling of mould to be massively brilliant.
Finally, spitting when you smoke is gross and really shouldn't be enjoyable. Everyone wants a spitoon until it comes time to clean the spitoon and the surrounding floor. What causes some smokes to be so spitty? Maybe it's a build-up of tar that leads to a too-acrid quality of smoke. Umami-heavy blends will make you drool--not spit. No one tastes a steak and starts spitting. Regardless of the cause, I find the cure to be purging. Simply blow out through your cigar until the draw is cleaner. Put away the mop.
That was fun. I look forward to tackling more of the questions--whether asked of me or not. I see and hear them quite often from the corner of my eye and ear. If you'd like more of my take on things, please consider my book How to Enjoy a Cigar.
::: very :::