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sevenseas

Lurker
Dec 8, 2015
14
0
I posted this in another thread, and thought I would share it again here for the benefit of new smokers...
Wet, bitter-tasting tobacco at the bottom of the bowl is a clear indication of your tobacco being too moist and/or being packed too tightly. I had these same problems for a long time until I finally figured it out. I now smoke every bowl down to a fine gray ash with no bitterness or burn.. this includes aromatics. The key is to properly dry your tobacco before smoking, and gravity fill it. Don't pack it. Let me repeat that again- only gravity fill it. The tobacco needs enough air flow to burn properly. And when tamping ash, only use the weight of the tamper. It really is as simple as this. It stays lit better, no more tongue burns, cool and flavorful smoke, bowl dry at the bottom after smoking, and no more wasted tobacco.
Click to expand...
I tried every packing method imaginable, but nothing ever worked. Then everything fell perfectly into place when I started properly drying and gravity filling. It's also important to have a properly drilled pipe (hole not too high). :puffy:

 
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shutterbugg

Lifer
Nov 18, 2013
1,451
21
LOLOLOLOL yeah, me too, been doing it wrong for 40 years ;) Whatever would we do without the Cliff Clavins of the piping world?

 
F

frozenchurchwarden

Lifer
Mar 1, 2014
3,647
4,917
I maintain that the only definition of "proper packing" is that there is enough tobacco to make a hot ember and enough air flow to be able to smoke it.
That said, it's not uncommon for members here to point out that they prefer packing on the loose side.

 
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sevenseas

Lurker
Dec 8, 2015
14
0
I see all the old codger 'experts' who have smoked 40+ years came out of the woodwork to make their sarcastic comments. Doing something the longest doesn't automatically make it the best way. I guess it is true- you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
I never said other packing methods were wrong. :roll: I said I think gravity filling is the best method, and I still stand behind that statement. It is my opinion and that is all. If you guys don't like it, too bad.

 
sablebrush52

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
19,768
45,350
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
I see all the old codger 'experts' who have smoked 40+ years came out of the woodwork to make their sarcastic comments. Doing something the longest doesn't automatically make it the best way. I guess it is true- you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
I never said other packing methods were wrong. [:roll:] I said I think gravity filling is the best method, and I still stand behind that statement. It is my opinion and that is all. If you guys don't like it, too bad.
Click to expand...
Drying the tobacco to the proper moisture level is key. As far as gravity filling without tamping it down, well...
Different types of tobacco require different methods. I'll gravity fill cubed flake. Other blends I'll pack to varying degrees, depending on what I've found works best for that blend. I have no problem smoking a bowl to the bottom. It's no big trick. But it's also not necessarily the best thing for your pipe. Burning those last few strands can really heat up a bowl, which is not desirable, and some blends just don't taste great at the bottom. There are a lot of ways to pack a pipe. It's great that you have found a way that satisfies you.

 
S

shutterbugg

Lifer
Nov 18, 2013
1,451
21
I see all the old codger 'experts' who have smoked 40+ years came out of the woodwork to make their sarcastic comments. Doing something the longest doesn't automatically make it the best way. I guess it is true- you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
I never said other packing methods were wrong. [:roll:] I said I think gravity filling is the best method, and I still stand behind that statement. It is my opinion and that is all. If you guys don't like it, too bad.
Click to expand...
First of all, nobody came out of the woodwork except you. You're the newcomer here, the rest of us have been around for awhile. A good tip for a newcomer in a group is not to blast through the doors like a gunslinger, making wild proclamations about what is "best". There are numerous cuts of tobacco and numerous bowl shapes. If you think gravity filling is "best" for all of them, then be prepared to be laughed at as, like I said, a "Cliff Clavin" (perhaps you need to be a codger to get that reference: Cliff was a character on the TV show "Cheers", a mailman who fancied himself an expert on everything but in fact buffonishly misinformed).

 
newbroom

newbroom

Lifer
Jul 11, 2014
6,130
6,823
Florida
Wet, bitter-tasting tobacco at the bottom of the bowl is a clear indication of your tobacco being too moist and/or being packed too tightly.
Click to expand...
What? No mention of cadence? I think you can 'save' many a bowl that might be packed a little too tightly, or not enough with proper cadence.

Conversely, even a perfectly filled pipe can produce the wet nasty result you describe if it is smoked too rapidly.

That's been my experience.........many times. 8O

 
cosmicfolklore

cosmicfolklore

Lifer
Aug 9, 2013
33,999
75,761
Between the Heart of Alabama and Hot Springs NC
I think it's absolutely best just to not pack the bowl at all. I just open a tin and let what tobacco wants to, just hop in on its own. Yeh yeh yeh, sometimes it needs encouragement, motivation so to speak, enticement. I have to make a lot of false promises to it that I never intend to keep. Lies, it's all about the lies. Persuasion, sweet talkin'. To smoke right, you have to be an effective communicator. Non of this heavy handed forcing, or manhandling. Just whisper sweet nothings to it, coaxing it in with affection, empty gestures. No begging.
You brutes and your forcing, shoving, tamping, poking... and you call yourselves gentlemen?

 
sjfine

sjfine

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 4, 2012
653
4
You brutes and your forcing, shoving, tamping, poking... and you call yourselves gentlemen?
Click to expand...
I've been doing it all wrong?
To be fair to our friend, since I found my packing sweet spot, I have wondered why you haven't all followed suit. But since I never told you to do it my way, you had no way of knowing what you were supposed to do.
I forgive you all.

 
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