First attempt.....Epic failure

easterntraveler · Jan 7, 2013

Ok so I tried and failed. This is my first time attempting to smoke a pipe properly.
Pipe used: Meerschaum I bought in Iraq in my deployment.

Tobacco: Mac Baren vanilla cream
So I opened my tin. WOW did it smell great. Packed my bowl using the 3 step method and off I went.
First it started off well but after 3 puffs I immediately had issues.
Throughout the entire smoke which lasted about 20 minutes I would get a little ting in my mouth as if I were eating some spicey food. Also it tasted nothing like vanilla. (I do not think it is suppose to though please correct me if I am wrong). I had to relight about 8 or so times which leads me to believe is the reason for the short smoke. However the bowl never got too hot to hold (Success).
I felt like I had to constantly puff on it because if I did not the bowl would die. Also am I suppose t have a cherry in the bowl during the entire smoke? If so that didn't happen either.
Will wait for tips before my next smoke. Thank you in advance.

numbersix · Jan 7, 2013

Welcome to the forum East. Your experience is not unlike most of us just starting out. It will come together naturally with more practice. MacBaren's Vanilla doesn't have a strong vanilla flavor or scent IMO.
It's a great tobacco, but not if you're expecting an strong aro. You might want to try 1Q instead. It's milder and has a stronger flavor.
I don't have great advice to give other than to examine your packing method. There are lots of videos on that subject. Don't give up - pipe smoking is something of an art forum. When it works, it's sublime.

hawk60ce · Jan 7, 2013

Due to the tobacco not staying lit I would assume its too wet. The tobacco should be dry and especially with an aro. You can lay it out on a paper towel for a half hour or so before your going to pack it. Test it with the pinch method. If you pinch some between your thumb and ring finger and drop it, it shouldn't clump together. If it does its too wet. As far as the flavor, not going to be a huge vanilla hit, more of a creaminess then anything.

redbeard · Jan 7, 2013

That feeling in your mouth sounds to me like you were puffing too hard and/ or fast and it is the beginnings of tounge bite. Take it slow, make sure you false light then real light and take it slowwww. Packing the bowl is everything and will be the main factor in your smoke, you will need to relight, I hate it but everyone does it. How many times you relight depends on how well the bowl was packed. There is tons of help in this forum, everyone has great advice.

mthanded · Jan 7, 2013

Welcome to the forum and as I learned, practice, practice practice. Like Hawk said, the tobacco may be too wet and aros don't taste like they smell. You should get a mellow smoke out of these. Don't give up, you'll get there and you won't look back.

portascat · Jan 7, 2013

Keep banging away at it. It will all come together one day and it will be wonderful. Then you will have to wait another week for it to happen again....

gray4lines · Jan 7, 2013

Sounds like my first! Drying the tobacco a little helped me tremendously. Also, dont puff and puff away just to keep it lit, if you feel like its going out, just let it die. Relights are better than puffing and puffing ( I think anyway).
I must've burnt the hell out of my tongue the first bowl. It felt like a brillo pad for half an hour after.

seamusjft · Jan 7, 2013

Don't consider it an epic fail mate. I've been smoking a pipe five weeks now and my first experience was much like yours. Research different packing methods and practice. You'll find one that suits you or like me, you'll take bits from different methods and make your own up. The best advice I think I could give you on packing is keep in mind building a fire when packing. There needs to be enough air to stay lit. Works for me.

Keep at it. It's worth it

locopony · Jan 7, 2013

It would be an epic fail if you had injured yourself.

If you had coughed through an oompaul and blew ashes in your eyes. Then while screaming in pain dropped a overly hot pipe down your shirt, burning your chest and causing you to real in pain. So that you then fell backward over the back of your chair and onto your cat. That then leaped scratching and biting onto your table spilling your glass of scotch onto some still glowing red cinders. Igniting a fire that burned your carpet along with the socks that were still on your feet.

If it werent that bad then you probably did ok.

knightmare · Jan 7, 2013

As everyone has stated before, it sounds very much like the tobacco was too moist.
It could also be that you packed too much tobacco, even if the draw seemed good, it may have been too cramped. This is normally my problem. I always want a nice big bowl and especially when I first started smoking, I tended to fill it with too much. I've learned that I can always refill my bowl after the smoke if I want more, because a good smoke is better than a lot of a bad smoke/burn/hot-steam-bath-for-my-tongue-smoke.
If I need to let my tobacco dry, I normally just pack the bowl and leave it sitting around for awhile. That isn't as effective as a method as say, laying it evenly out on a paper towel, but that works for me.

gnatjulio · Jan 7, 2013

I agree with what everybody here says. Keep it up. You'll get it. In my opinion I don't think 8 re-lights on your first or tenth bowl is all that bad.

corncobguy · Jan 7, 2013

@locopony Sounds like every Friday night to me. LOL

corncobguy · Jan 7, 2013

To me it sounds like you might not be tamping down your bowl after the char light. Or at all for that matter.

cortezattic · Jan 7, 2013

If you think tonight was a bad experience, just wait and see how your tongue feels tomorrow morning! :rofl:

wildcat · Jan 7, 2013

Keep banging away at it. It will all come together one day and it will be wonderful.

Yup. Welcome!

dlattim · Jan 7, 2013

Tobacco should be dryer than you think it should be. Pack lighter than you think you should. Tamp lighter than you think you should. Let tobacco go completely out before relighting. Puff lighter than you think you need to. I find I have to finesse a good smoke out of my pipe, rather than force a good smoke out of my pipe. Good Luck and welcome.

smokeybear · Jan 7, 2013

I just started also about a week ago already have three pipes haha but vanilla cream is my run too tobacco if I don't have anything else.
It takes a few smokes to actually get the hang of it but the advice you got so far it spot on.
The dryer the tobacco the better the smoke is so wait it out to dry.
Full the bowl and use your finger to lightly tap the tobacco down half way then fill to the top again and go down 2/3 the way and then top it off one more time and give her a firmer tap about an 8th below the rim the more you do this the better you will get at it. Test your draw
Light evenly on the top until the tobacco is red and rising up then puff a few times and stop use you tamper to flat out the tobacco and then light it again repeat this if you must take you time false light is crucial to an even smoke.
To practice sipping lightly full your mouth with air then draw what you can you only need to do this a few times to get a feel for how hard you need to sip it.
In the vanilla cream the taste lies on the light sips hold and release as you smoke more and more your palette will developer to taste the flavor. It's not really vanilla but almost fruity to me but its really good once you get used to it.
Good luck and welcome to the forum

smokeybear · Jan 7, 2013

I just love it when new puffers actually READ and HEED what we wear our fingers to the bone typing out here

Yup thanks to the forum and helpful advice from veteran pipers such as yourself I've seemed to get the hang of my new hobby rather quickly and the steps I listed above work the best for me. So thank you all and to OP you'll learn so much from just 30min of reading on here. So much information.

bigboi · Jan 7, 2013

I have to say once I started heeding the advice of a lot of these guys on here my smokes have been tremendously better!!!!

I think everyone here is just fantastic!

zanthal · Jan 8, 2013

Epic failure? Nah.

First attempt.....Epic failure

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Site Sponsors

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Part of the Furniture Now

Lifer

Lifer

Part of the Furniture Now

Can't Leave

Lifer

Part of the Furniture Now

Starting to Get Obsessed

Part of the Furniture Now

Lurker

Lifer

Starting to Get Obsessed

Starting to Get Obsessed

Lifer

Part of the Furniture Now

Starting to Get Obsessed

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer

Lifer