How to avoid burning tobacco?

arthoz · Oct 6, 2018

I heard that if we smoke or light aromatic tobacco too hot it will burn and ruin the flavour. Is this true? If so, how could I avoid burning my tobacco?
For the moment I've dry my tobacco on paper before smoking it. So far it works and no tongue bite but the flavour is faint or none at all.
Maybe I still need to train my palate. Just worried about this issue of burning my tobacco and ruining the flavour.

mikethompson · Oct 6, 2018

Burning tobacco is the whole point. Are you talking about lighting your pipe? You want a softer flame, like a match, Zippo, or Bic. You don't want a blowtorch cigar lighter.

Chasing Embers · Oct 6, 2018

New smokers generally aren't going to taste an aromatic. Train yourself with English blends and strong burley tobaccos to develop a sense of flavor in the smoke and to improve packing and cadence. Later on, aros are great to smoke.

mso489 · Oct 6, 2018

I admit I've never heard of burning, in the sense of over-burning, tobacco. You light it, and it burns on its own. Burning something at too-high heat in lighting it sounds like some sort of hoax idea for beginners. Please advise me if I'm wrong. The flavoring in aromatics permeates the blend. If it burns badly in some way that doesn't taste good or is too hot, that's a problem with the blend, not the pipe smoker.

olkofri · Oct 6, 2018

If by 'burning' you mean scorching it, I'd suggest never touching the flame to the leaf. Hold your flame (lighter, match, whatever**) ~1/4 to 1/2 inch above the pipe's rim and let the superheated air ignite the tobacco, rather than the flame itself. Kinda like lighting a cigar, to whose tip you never apply direct flame. Lighting this way should prevent the tobacco from tasting ashy. You should use this method to light ANY kind of blend, not just aromatics; your tongue will thank you.
____________

**I am in the 'do not use a jet lighter' camp. Those things can damage your pipe.

mikethompson · Oct 6, 2018

Olkofri put it better than I did. Aromatics are generally not recommended for beginners as they are apparently trickier to master. You need to get your cadence and breathing now first.

arthoz · Oct 6, 2018

Thanks for the advise. Will try to see if I could get my cadence right. My weakness is I puff too greedily when I get that delicious hit in my mouth.

mso489 · Oct 6, 2018

I've not encountered the scorching problem, probably because I often use matches to light up, and I hold the flame above the tobacco. I did have some mouth burn problems with some aromatics, and found they disappeared when I went entirely to non-aros for a while, even the very strong blends, no problem. Boy, minty toothpaste can really light up your mouth if you have this problem. Now good aros don't bother me at all.

Chasing Embers · Oct 6, 2018

Olkofri put it better than I did. Aromatics are generally not recommended for beginners as they are apparently trickier to master.

Nope, dat was me. :mrgreen:

sablebrush52 · Oct 7, 2018

You're supposed to avoid BURNING tobacco??!!
Merde! I've been doing it wrong for the last 47 years!

ignaciojn · Oct 7, 2018

In my case, the best way to avoid burning tobacco is getting a vanilla aromatic.

jrenko · Oct 7, 2018

I heard someting like this with virginia blends, you dont want to scorch your tobacco becouse it will ruin it. I dont know myself but the best advice i can give is smoke slow, and i mean really slow.

Also do not dry your aromatics to much they will lose flavour.

newbroom · Oct 7, 2018

Thanks for the advise. Will try to see if I could get my cadence right. My weakness is I puff too greedily when I get that delicious hit in my mouth.

Ya, puffing too greedily is exactly right. I think most of us have either had to deal with that tendency or still do.

As long as you get that first few delicious puffs, you will have motivation to achieve similar results throughout the entire bowl.

Practice makes puff-ect.

ophiuchus · Oct 7, 2018

One of the best ways to avoid burning tobacco? Don't smoke.
The hell with that ... :rofl:

olkofri · Oct 7, 2018

You also want to pack properly, so as to keep relights to a minimum. Constant relights can also scorch the tobacco and make it taste like ash.

rdavid · Oct 7, 2018

I think I know what OP is getting at. When I first started, I made the newbie mistake of holding the flame directly to the tobacco, sometimes two or thhree times to get it going like an old locomotive. It would definitely overheat the tobacco and not only burn my tongue, but the next few puffs tasted like battery acid. Don’t think it’s indicative of a bad smoking tobacco as it is poor technique as I’ve torched all different types of blends.
Once I learned to light properly and slow down, that’s when the magic happened!
Also, I’ve used several different lighters and find the plain old Bic to be the best but then again, I’m still a newbie.
Zippo for pipes with the hole in the side of the chimney works really well but you will definitely taste the lighter fluid. I just find the Zippo really easy to hover over the tobacco without touching the flame during lighting.

saltedplug · Oct 7, 2018

From what I know slow smoking and a glancing light go together. If you are sipping and thereby producing a smolder, you don't need much of a light to be on your way. The pros I've watched merely tickle the tobacco with the flame to generate the touch of smoke required by a sip.

rdavid · Oct 7, 2018

From what I know slow smoking and a glancing light go together. If you are sipping and thereby producing a smolder, you don't need much of a light to be on your way. The pros I've watched merely tickle the tobacco with the flame to generate the touch of smoke required by a sip.

Yes. This works exceedingly well. I’m shocked at how much better the tobacco tastes after I learned this.

cosmicfolklore · Oct 7, 2018

I am horrible. I like to use lighters that are sooooo hot that the tobacco actual catches on fire. : puffy

:

warren · Oct 12, 2018

Damn! Some of you folks go through a lotta hoops to get a bowl ignited. I do suck the flame to the tobacco but, I'm sure not choosy about the heat source, "creten" that I am. When I want my pipe, I want my pipe!

How to avoid burning tobacco?

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