Is it the time of the day that choses a cigar or just the smoker? And which is the best moment of the day to smoke a cigar? The first step is to distinguish between enjoying and tasting a cigar.
The tasting aims to the maximum delight and pleasure of the smoker. This situation depends on the place, on the context, on the pairings, on the mood and on the physical condition. All these factors are extremely subjective, for this reason, if someone gets the maximum pleasure from a particular situation, this can’t be said for anyone.
The analysis (in Spanish cata) aspires to objectify as much as possible the cigar, and the smoker is a mere technical instrument, that analyses the cigar and takes notes of the characteristics (strength, intensity, evolution, aroma, etc..), in the simplest way, using a shared jargon. For this reason, every smoker should know that an analytic tasting has to be led indoors, in a perfect physical condition, with the only pairing of sparkling water.
Said that, other questions come up: is the analysis simpler after eating or without eating? And in particular, which moment of the day is the perfect one?
We also have to consider that the smell plays a fundamental role, so the oral cavity has to be perfectly clean. For this reason the experienced smoker has to avoid heavy food or strong drinks. As a matter of facts, the taste buds located in the back of the tongue, need much more time to get cleaned (that’s why the bitter taste is the one with the longer lasting persistence). Moreover, we suggest to avoid coffee, alcohol or complex dishes in the hours preceding the cata. Furthermore, the average life of a taste bud is approximately of 10 days, so the more distant are the tastings, the better it is for an accurate tasting, according to a longer time for the taste buds to revitalize themselves.
Now we can try to answer the initial question. Overall, the answer is not universally accepted. After the meal, our body releases antioxidant substances that attenuate the defense mechanism. That’s why after a meal we are more likely to choose a full bodied cigar, to the contrary, the same cigar, if smoked before eating, can cause several problems (headache, nausea,…).
If you are conscious of smoking a light cigar, then, it would be much better to do it far away from the meals, with a clean palate. Contra, if the cigar is well known for its high strenght, it would be appropriate to smoke it a few minutes after a simple dinner (but not right after). Of course, in the morning hours, the taste buds are in a good condition, because they still haven’t been solicited by foods or beverages, so this is the best time to taste a cigar. But we have to be aware of the strength. The concept is the same: too much strength can cause problems to an empty stomach. In that case we have two solution: a good breakfast, or postpone it to the first meal .This issues are subjective, each individual has its own perception. What we recommend is to follow two simple rules:
- grab as many information on the cigar as you can before lighting it up in order to figure out what’s the best moment to smoke it
- try to listen to yourself, to understand our physiological limits, this is the only way to have a fully satisfying tasting.