Happy Tuesday, folks! 

This weekend, I want to talk about two different schools of thought when it comes to priming your palate to taste the most out of your cigars. One is traditional, the other is a bit more controversial. 

I encourage everyone reading this to try it for yourself and see which one works best for you! 

The Fresh Method

The first method is what most reviewers use, and it focuses on one key concept: smoking the cigar you want to taste before taxing your palate. Typically, this means smoking your cigar first thing in the morning prior to eating or drinking, not including water. The assumption is that your palate is primed and ready to go immediately and loses efficacy as the day goes on. 

For mild or medium cigars, this is my personal preference. I’ll usually brush my teeth and wait about thirty minutes to an hour (til the toothpaste taste goes away), and then fire up our Cigar of the Week. I feel that I can taste more in this range without my palate being unduly influenced by food or drinks throughout the day.

More on this: 

• Limit the amount of spicy food and alcohol the evening prior
• Stay hydrated! Dehydration can alter your sense of taste
• Oatmeal is a great snack if food is absolutely needed beforehand
• Nicotine strength is more noticeable without food
• Have something sugary on standby in case you start feeling nicotine sickness

Pros: this method has treated me well for years, and I think it’s especially helpful for milder cigars. It’s also useful when trying to decide the body or strength of a cigar because it establishes a baseline of an empty stomach each day.

Cons: let’s face it, there are a LOT of things that determine how well we can taste in any given hour of the day – and that can be a lot of pressure to put on yourself right after waking up.  Depending on the time of year, allergies can also be worse in the mornings as well and wreck your plans.

The Warm-Up Method

This ideology is essentially at odds with the method described above and considers your palate like a muscle. Most muscles perform better after warming up, and James Brown of Black Label Trading Company says that you’ll be able to taste more after waking your palate up as well. 

The idea of waking up your palate is one that’s also used commonly in the cigar industry. Some blenders intentionally arrange the tobacco placement in a cigar to fashion a peppery beginning that shocks your palate and grabs your attention. 

Before you scoff at James for bucking the traditional advice, I’d recommend that you try it for yourself first and see what the results are. Personally, I found this very helpful with bolder cigars. 

More on this: 

• The idea is to wake your palate up, not blow it up
• Coffee, food, even cigars are encouraged
• Avoid foods that have a lingering element to them such as Indian food
• Avoid cigars that are known to overly tax your personal palate
• Avoid retro haling these warm-up cigars

Pros: sometimes a heavy cigar first thing in the morning is too much for me to appreciate. This ideology helps me get more out of full-bodied, full strength cigars much more than the first method. When fresh, I’ll get hung up on a couple of tasting notes. After warming my palate up first, I can discern the tasting notes of stronger cigars much more easily and appreciate their nuances. 

Cons: the only con for me is that this method takes a bit of practice and self-awareness. Medium-bodied black coffee, for instance, is a slam dunk for me when warming up my palate. Coffee with cream, however, is not a good primer in my experience. The oils tend to coat my palate and compete with the cigar. I’ve also found that I can’t do this with cigars like James Brown can. I get the most out of this method when sticking to food and beverages.

Tell Us! If you have experience with either method above, what are your thoughts?