Slow Smoke Meaning

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ignaciojn

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 19, 2016
204
1
One of the most frequent advices is to smoke slow.
It's not clear to me if by slow they refer to the frequency between sips, or the intensity of the draw.
Thanks in advance.

 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,747
45,284
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
Both. I get the best out of my tobacco when it's been dried to almost bone dry, then slowly sipped and enjoyed. I keep the tobacco simmering at the edge of going out, sipping just often enough to keep the tobacco simmering, and I let the smoke out through my schnoz to pick up the flavor nuances.

 

ignaciojn

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 19, 2016
204
1
I can do the low intensity just fine. The tobacco is dry, and I believe my packing is correct.

But if I take too long between sips, it will invariable go out.

I still enjoy the smoke though.

 

upnorth1

Part of the Furniture Now
Oct 7, 2017
969
3,608
La Belle Province, Canada
If you tamp as you puff instead of between puffs you should find that it keeps it lit. Tamping without puffing is akin to snuffing out, while tamping while puffing is kind of a venturi effect. Tamp lightly as you do this. That's how it seems to me.

 

irishearl

Lifer
Aug 2, 2016
2,155
3,798
Kansas
Wine I sip. Tobacco I puff, though not maniacally. In my 40+ years of smoking a pipe, have never gotten into the go slow and sip approach. I like to see the results of my effort literally. Smoke rising like a thunderhead out of my bowl. :D That probably explains why I could never understand how folks can claim to get an hour's smoke out of a bowl of any size. Even with my largest bowled pipe, I wouldn't be able to get more than 20-25 minutes of smoking out of it.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,454
After you tamp, you can sometimes boost the ember just slightly, just enough, by partly covering the bowl with two fingers. I think this raises the heat, and maybe increases the fuel-to-oxygen ratio, or something like that. One finger either side of the bowl, leaving a nice wedge of "flue" to draw in air.

 

ignaciojn

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 19, 2016
204
1
@irishearl
That sounds great. Sipping takes effort (to me), while puffing feels more natural.

But don't you get moisture and a hot smoke that way?

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,399
109,163
But if I take too long between sips, it will invariable go out.
Sounds like the tobacco is packed too loosely. I made this video a while back about the breath smoking technique and a couple of times in the video I stop sipping the pipe for a minute or more, and it remains lit. The pipe in the video can almost always last me nearly two hours.
https://youtu.be/Jw8R7mxECvY

 

irishearl

Lifer
Aug 2, 2016
2,155
3,798
Kansas
Ignaciojn, I don't puff so hard as to heat up my pipes much. I also don't tend to smoke tobaccos with a lot of moisture content.

 

ignaciojn

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 19, 2016
204
1
@Chasing Embers

I've never even been close to that. A video of you packing the pipe would be most appreciated.

 

ignaciojn

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 19, 2016
204
1
@irishearl

I smoke mostly good quality english blends.

With my cobs I don't have a problem, but the briars almost everytime will get wet.
@Chasing Embers

Thanks! Looking forward to it.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,399
109,163
Very welcome. I'll shoot it to you in a PM, and let me know how it works out for you.

 

thomasw

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 5, 2016
862
24
Wine I sip. Tobacco I puff, though not maniacally. In my 40+ years of smoking a pipe, have never gotten into the go slow and sip approach. I like to see the results of my effort literally. Smoke rising like a thunderhead out of my bowl. :D That probably explains why I could never understand how folks can claim to get an hour's smoke out of a bowl of any size. Even with my largest bowled pipe, I wouldn't be able to get more than 20-25 minutes of smoking out of it.
This sounds like a technique to produce both a hot and wet smoke! It would for me even with a dry burley like Semois. Consider also that the slower smoke renders more flavours and more Vitamin N absorption. But perhaps you don't want those? I must say after 40 yrs of that technique you must have a tungsten tongue :puffy:

 

irishearl

Lifer
Aug 2, 2016
2,155
3,798
Kansas
Thomasw, my approach doesn't heat up pipe or tongue. :D Nor does it get particularly wet, though that can vary from pipe to pipe. That's what they make pipe cleaners for, though. As to whether it causes me to experience less than full flavor, couldn't say for sure. Only that what I do taste is sufficiently good for me. I think I may be a bit of a pipe heretic as it seems that I smoke in ways that occasionally run counter to common dictates without ill effect.

 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,399
109,163
I think I may be a bit of a pipe heretic as it seems that I smoke in ways that occasionally run counter to common dictates without ill effect.
Not all, you've just found what works for you.

 
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