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Last post 7 years ago by bgz. 42 replies replies.
Refining your palate
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
Looking for ideas to refine my palate even further. Any thoughts? I generally feel like I can taste all sorts of flavors in my cigars and beers, but you can never have too refined of a palate in my opinion.

I had a guy tell me once to grab every spice in the cupboard and taste small amounts of each, then blindly test yourself.
ZRX1200 Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,476
Are you retrohaling?
dstieger Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
One word...Retrohale
dstieger Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
great minds.....
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#5 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
Is retrohale when you draw, hold the smoke in your mouth and lick the roof of your mouth, blow out and lick the roof of your mouth to get the flavors? If so, yes. If not, what is that? haha
ZRX1200 Offline
#6 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,476
Blow a little out your nose.

80 or 90% of your taste is olfactory.
jjanecka Offline
#7 Posted:
Joined: 12-08-2015
Posts: 4,334
Retrohale is when you hold it in your lungs for a long time and then let it out through your nose.
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#8 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
Ugh...that burns! Sounds like a terrible idea. haha I will try it though.
dstieger Offline
#9 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
jjanecka wrote:
Retrohale is when you hold it in your lungs for a long time and then let it out through your nose.

Negative! You shouldn't be inhaling cigars at all, IMO. Exhale the smoke through your nose....I do most of it...some do just a little or every other (or 3rd) draw....but not in your lungs
ZRX1200 Offline
#10 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,476
Unless it's a Fausto.
KingoftheCove Offline
#11 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
Do not inhale. Retrohale get is NOT the same as French inhaling.
Learn how to do it properly, and you will discern more flavors.
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#12 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
I never draw into my lungs either...I thought that was a weird comment..haha. The only thing I inhale into my lungs is hookah.
jjanecka Offline
#13 Posted:
Joined: 12-08-2015
Posts: 4,334
Lmao.... no don't inhale. But somehow you're supposed to push the aire up into the nose. I can't do it without inhaling ao I don't do it.
dstieger Offline
#14 Posted:
Joined: 06-22-2007
Posts: 10,889
http://www.cigarbid.com/...ng-is-it-worth-learning

See Delta's post (#37):

delta1 wrote:
#21 Yep ... to start, let about half of the mouthful of smoke out through the lips...clench your teeth and tighten your lips, close your throat (that involuntary gag-like reflex that happens when you dip your head underwater) and slowly exhale through your nose...

To me, this technique is the way I sense most of the flavors, definitely the most subtle, that a cigar's smoke has. I don't taste anything on the tongue, in the mouth, except tobacco, charred wood, saltiness and occasionally burnt sugar

Hank_The_Tank Offline
#15 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
Just in my mouth I get a lot of different peppers, leather, earthy/dirt/grass, different nuts, coffee bean, cocoa, cinnamon, grape vine among some others I can't think of right now.
Buckwheat Offline
#16 Posted:
Joined: 04-15-2004
Posts: 12,251
Buy and smoke as many different cigars as you can. Don't worry about Retrohale BS. It doesn't have to be that complicated. I came up with a simple and effective method to evaluate cigars that I've smoked.

Here is a concise version;

Check this box if you liked it.
Check the other box if you didn't like it.

End of evaluation. fog

DrafterX Offline
#17 Posted:
Joined: 10-18-2005
Posts: 98,508
I used to save the bands of the ones I liked.. then my wife wanted to do art stuff with the bands so I have to save them all and now I'm confused.. Sad
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#18 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
DrafterX wrote:
I used to save the bands of the ones I liked.. then my wife wanted to do art stuff with the bands so I have to save them all and now I'm confused.. Sad


bahahaha
jjanecka Offline
#19 Posted:
Joined: 12-08-2015
Posts: 4,334
So seriously every time I've tried to retrohale something happens where the back of my throat gets scorched and then I involuntarily breath in real hard and start coughing uncontrollably for about 5 minutes. I think I'm just not built to do it. :(
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#20 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
jjanecka wrote:
So seriously every time I've tried to retrohale something happens where the back of my throat gets scorched and then I involuntarily breath in real hard and start coughing uncontrollably for about 5 minutes. I think I'm just not built to do it. :(


I feel your pain on this. The few times that I tried to exhale through my nose did not go too well. haha
cacman Offline
#21 Posted:
Joined: 07-03-2010
Posts: 12,216
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
Looking for ideas to refine my palate even further. Any thoughts?

Smoke more.

Your welcome.
ZRX1200 Offline
#22 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,476
How hard is it have smoke in your mouth and constrict the space with your lips pursed?

If you are sensitive to the smoke try just a little at first.

Did you chug a whole bottle of whiskey the first time you trif some?
SRH1 Offline
#23 Posted:
Joined: 12-16-2009
Posts: 1,943
dstieger wrote:
Negative! You shouldn't be inhaling cigars at all, IMO. Exhale the smoke through your nose....I do most of it...some do just a little or every other (or 3rd) draw....but not in your lungs


This!
bgz Offline
#24 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
Is retrohale when you draw, hold it in your mouth and lick the roof of your mouth, blow out and lick some more to get the flavors? If so, yes. If not, what is that? haha


Wow!!!

You have obviously perfected your craft.
KingoftheCove Offline
#25 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
jjanecka wrote:
So seriously every time I've tried to retrohale something happens where the back of my throat gets scorched and then I involuntarily breath in real hard and start coughing uncontrollably for about 5 minutes. I think I'm just not built to do it. :(

It took my BIL 6 months to learn how to do it, but he is a bit slow......heh!
I wrote a pretty detailed cheat sheet on how to do it, but can't remember if I posted it here, or on another site.
Basically it's like this:
1- Take a deep breath, and while holding it, take a small to medium sized puff on your cigar

2- Blow a little smoke out of your mouth, stop blowing the smoke.......close your mouth tight while pushing your tongue up flat against the roof of your mouth.

3- With your mouth still closed tight, exhale through your nose.......BUT NOT ALL of your air!! You want to save at least 1/4 of your air to end the process by exhaling the last bit of your air, and any smoke left, out through your mouth, so that when you inhale again, there is NO residual smoke left in your mouth.

It's like riding s bike.......once you get it, you got it.
Practice, and soon you'll be able to do full draw retrohales, alternating between retro and normal exhales on the same puff. Light retro smoking, etc. It really does open up a whole new level of flavor experiences.
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#26 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
KingoftheCove wrote:
It took my BIL 6 months to learn how to do it, but he is a bit slow......heh!
I wrote a pretty detailed cheat sheet on how to do it, but can't remember if I posted it here, or on another site.
Basically it's like this:
1- Take a deep breath, and while holding it, take a small to medium sized puff on your cigar

2- Blow a little smoke out of your mouth, stop blowing the smoke.......close your mouth tight while pushing your tongue up flat against the roof of your mouth.

3- With your mouth still closed tight, exhale through your nose.......BUT NOT ALL of your air!! You want to save at least 1/4 of your air to end the process by exhaling the last bit of your air, and any smoke left, out through your mouth, so that when you inhale again, there is NO residual smoke left in your mouth.

It's like riding s bike.......once you get it, you got it.
Practice, and soon you'll be able to do full draw retrohales, alternating between retro and normal exhales on the same puff. Light retro smoking, etc. It really does open up a whole new level of flavor experiences.


Wow...didn't know that smoking cigars got so hardcore...good to know, I will try it.
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#27 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
BTW, I do the licking of the roof of my mouth with both cigars and beers and it seems to work pretty well. I have shared that with others and they are surprised at the different tastes.
cameroon Offline
#28 Posted:
Joined: 04-06-2014
Posts: 810
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
Just in my mouth I get a lot of different peppers, leather, earthy/dirt/grass, different nuts, coffee bean, cocoa, cinnamon, grape vine among some others I can't think of right now.


Keep hanging around some of these guys and you'll get a lot more than that in your mouth, I'm sorry to report.
Hank_The_Tank Offline
#29 Posted:
Joined: 11-15-2016
Posts: 3,677
cameroon wrote:
Keep hanging around some of these guys and you'll get a lot more than that in your mouth, I'm sorry to report.


I've gathered that, that is why I made the decision in my mind to never get too close. haha
MACS Offline
#30 Posted:
Joined: 02-26-2004
Posts: 79,593
Buckwheat wrote:
Buy and smoke as many different cigars as you can. Don't worry about Retrohale BS. It doesn't have to be that complicated. I came up with a simple and effective method to evaluate cigars that I've smoked.

Here is a concise version;

Check this box if you liked it.
Check the other box if you didn't like it.

End of evaluation. fog



Keep it simple, sh*theads!
KingoftheCove Offline
#31 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
cameroon wrote:
Keep hanging around some of these guys and you'll get a lot more than that in your mouth, I'm sorry to report.

You poor bassurd!
You're still having PTSD from your camping trip with ZRX a year ago.

Victor says the ZRX nightmares go away after a few years..............at least that's what I heard he said.

sd72 Offline
#32 Posted:
Joined: 03-09-2011
Posts: 9,600
Use a very fine sandpaper on the roof of your mouth and tongue. Like 220 garnet paper then wipe with lettuce, iceberg preferably. Rinse with distilled water and fire up.
delta1 Offline
#33 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,754
hehe
ypetryna Offline
#34 Posted:
Joined: 07-19-2012
Posts: 1,323
Hank_The_Tank wrote:
I feel your pain on this. The few times that I tried to exhale through my nose did not go too well. haha



had the same exact thing thursday with a LFD i never tried before and maybe it was super cold air, or maybe im just broken but the cigar and the dinner 20 minutes later both tasted mightly diffrently then they used to lol. will have to revist that come spring
ZRX1200 Offline
#35 Posted:
Joined: 07-08-2007
Posts: 60,476
LFD isn't a cigar one tries to retro hale theor first time....Jesus.

Do it with a medium cigar like an Illusione, or a DC Maximus.
ypetryna Offline
#36 Posted:
Joined: 07-19-2012
Posts: 1,323
ZRX1200 wrote:
LFD isn't a cigar one tries to retro hale theor first time....Jesus.

Do it with a medium cigar like an Illusione, or a DC Maximus.


i always try with something, but i still couldnt get a good pull or taste, so i dabble in it. ironically, i think i finally got a good retro hale and poof, burn baby burn lol.
if your gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough
goatphuker Offline
#37 Posted:
Joined: 11-11-2016
Posts: 12
IMHO the Opus X xXX Super Belicoso is a perfect cigar to train you nose to retrohale. Its analoguos to a matchstick sized buttplug for training the bung.
jjanecka Offline
#38 Posted:
Joined: 12-08-2015
Posts: 4,334
Ok the closest I've come at this point is that I swallowed the smoke and then burped it up five minutes later... d'oh!
coolbreeze68 Offline
#39 Posted:
Joined: 02-02-2010
Posts: 3,665
Once you perfect the retrohale, you can plug you're nose and get a little smoke out of the corner of you're right eye.

It's like that guy with the spaghetti noodle.......keep practicing.
m j toal Offline
#40 Posted:
Joined: 03-06-2009
Posts: 3,226
sd72 wrote:
Use a very fine sandpaper on the roof of your mouth and tongue. Like 220 garnet paper then wipe with lettuce, iceberg preferably. Rinse with distilled water and fire up.


Interesting concept.
I was taught a quick trick on the best way to get the most flavors out of a cigar.
To begin breathe deep, take a nice draw on your cigar then with your mouth closed, gently touch the roof of your mouth with the middle of your tongue. Take the front of your tongue and ever so lightly press your lower gum then firmly turn your tongue on a 45 degree angle and try and touch the back of your throat until you either start choking or pass out. Slowly exhale normally, then repeat these steps ten to fifteen times until you have an irreversible hiatal hernia. After this episode you may not want to smoke cigars anymore but should be able to enjoy the benefits of retrohaling with little or no problems.
bassman45 Offline
#41 Posted:
Joined: 07-05-2009
Posts: 4,082
^^ lol^^
bgz Offline
#42 Posted:
Joined: 07-29-2014
Posts: 13,023
Alright m j, going to give this a try.

Ok, here it g
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