Now that I've got everyone's attention, here's the lowdown on sugar & cigars.
I've heard it said from more than one veteran smoker, and I even read it, I believe it was in Cigar Aficionado, an article written by Peter Weller (the actor) where he had travelled to Cuba and was smoking something like 9 cigars a day and mentioned the use of sugar (more on that later). [BTW, if any of you LLG's out there can find this article, please post the URL, I went on a search but came up dry.]
Anyhow, everyone's tolerance of Nicotine is different. Veteran smokers like them strong & flavorful, we all know that, probably because of their high tolerance to Nicotine.
Nicotine is a stimulant that affects the Central Nervous System and Peripheral Nervous System. In high (hard to tolerate doses) it can cause
dizziness,
lightheadedness, numbness in hands/feet/lips, headaches, double or fuzzy vision,
dry mouth,
hyperacidity (by the same token, this helps digestion),
nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, chest pains, shortness of breath, muscle twitching and spasms,
dry mouth, and generalized weakness. This information is generally available in any book on biochemistry/pharmacology. The most common side effects/symptoms that we, the big cigar lovers & heavy smokers experience, are the ones underlined above. In milder forms, these effects are part of the nice buzz we catch off a cigar.
The problem that some of us face, is that we can get caught off guard and suddenly find ourselves getting sick from too much nicotine. The antidote is
SUGAR. In Peter Weller's article (I believe), he noticed how the cubans who smoke cigars often carry a cube of sugar with them for when they start feeling a bit queezy from the smoke. When they do, they just pop the sugar cube into their mouths & let it slowly dissolve. [BTW, in much of Europe & South America, restaurants don't serve sugar in little packets but as individual paper wrapped (so you can carry it in your pocket) sugar cubes]. Taken early on at the first signs of a buzz, a quick shot of sugar into the blood stream quickly reverses the systemic/body effects of Nicotine. I ask some of you to pay attention to what you like to drink when you smoke, I bet most of the LLG's here have something which has some form of simple sugars in it (whether it's wine/port, coffee, soda, mixed drink, etc . . .).
Once you start feeling really sick though, it's sometimes too late and you just have to ride it out. Sometimes a cigar can just sneak up on you like that.
As for me, I like the 7-UP variety of drinks. The fizz helps cleanse my palate so that I can get more taste out of my cigar puffs. The lighter flavor allows me to enjoy the cigar more. The sugar, taken a few sips at a time, helps the minimize the buzz so that I can smoke more than one in a row w/out feeling sick.
Well, hope I cleared up that issue some. Would love to hear people's feedback.
MoTheMan
:al
