By the Color of Your Ash!

oklansas · May 3, 2013

I've been busy smoking quite a bit of FM Cellar lately. It's an ethereal smoke - it feels like I'm chasing after something the entire bowl (I'll probably explain this when I write my novice review later). However, this is not the reason for this post.
All my bowls of Cellar have burned down to a fine white ash - like clock work. I remember from my cigar smoking days that you always wanted to get the white ash because it meant that the cigar was burning at the best temperature to coax the best flavors out of the tobacco. Some of the better cigars I ran across consistently produced a strong white ash that you really never had to knock off.
So, to the question:
Do you guys notice that the white ash correlates to better taste from the tobacco - or - for you, does that not really matter with pipes?

chubbster · May 3, 2013

I don't ever pay attention, although I do enjoy smoking to the bottom when it happens.
I really never pay attention to the thigs that people fret over. I don't pay attention when I package bowl, it's second nature to me. Sometimes I relight, other times I don't have to. If it burns down to a fine white ash, cool, of not, just as cool.
If you find your tobacco smokes better when it burns to the mythical white ash, I'm happy for you. I can tell you enjoy it, and that is all thy matters.

cigrmaster · May 4, 2013

The color of the ash means nothing in terms of flavor. All Cuban cigars are a dark grey ash, many Dominicans are a white ash. As roth stated there are many variables that determine the color of ash, most noticeably the chemicals in the soil itself. There are varying amounts of lithium, potassium, magnesium and a host of other chemicals which can determine the color of the ash. What you want to see at the bottom of the bowl is a fine ash, doesn't matter what color.
edit. One of the easiest ways to spot a fake Cuban is if it has a really white ash.

oklansas · May 5, 2013

many Dominicans are white ash

That explains a good bit, I highly favored Dominican cigars - even over cubans. I also noticed how dark sumatra sourced tobacco would burn. With the dominicans, if they weren't burning white, you were doing something wrong - or at least I was

4dotsasieni · May 5, 2013

"By the colour of your ash,

I can tell if you've got cash." --

Sherlock Holmes (with apologies to Wm. Shakespeare)

tonguebitepipecleaner · May 5, 2013

Noob question regarding this, I've been finding my remains are more black and charred then ashy (it would be ashy in the center more than the outside), like the tobacco was struggling to burn, but I'd still be getting tongue bite. Does this mean my tobacco is too dry? It feels quite dry and passes the pinch test.

drwatson · May 5, 2013

Sherlock holmes was said to be able to id 140 different types of ash. So by this I going to have to sway on the side of ash is more tobacco specific, then temp

lordofthepiperings · May 5, 2013

I've always been under the impression that a white ash is a sign of a good quality leaf and not necessarily a flavorful smoke or a bowl that was kept at an optimal temperature.
Tonguebite, as you said it is an ash in the middle and black and charred on the outsides I think this might mean you're just not distributing the flame evenly around the bowl when lighting. Another thing that can help keep an even full burn is tamping the ash into a dome. It helps keep the tobacco centered around the embers and burning evenly. It also helps to create a nice even cake on the bowl as well.

tonguebitepipecleaner · May 5, 2013

Cheers rothnh, should my bowl be glowing in that kind of cigar way as I'm lighting and puffing it, or is that too vigorous?

cigrmaster · May 13, 2013

I will respectfully disagree with roth in that I believe tobacco can be too dry. When I have left mine out to dry and spaced and it was crunchy, I got a hot nasty smoke. If I am impatient and smoke my tobacco a tad moist, I can slow down my cadence and still get great flavors. I would rather err on the side of too moist personally.
Lord, the color of the ash has nothing to do with the quality of the leaf, as I stated earlier the color is determined by the soil and chemical components in that soil, nothing more. You can have crappy tobacco that produces a fine white ash just as you can have crappy tobacco that has a dark grey ash.

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