Pipe Smoking: Why Less Is More
-
Kevin Godbee - Jul 28, 2011
- 6 min read
By Steve Stein
(Originally Published October 2009 in The Pipe Collector (Newsletter of the NASPC)
[Here’s some great instructions that will give the most enjoyment while smoking your favorite pipes and tobaccos. Learn how to properly pack, light, tamp, & puff for maximum smoking enjoyment.]
I’ve smoked a pipe for 41 years but have really learned how to smoke more enjoyably during the last eight years. I learned to smoke a pipe from my role models (Grandfather, Father, Uncles and a favorite cousin). I also learned their habits, many of which I had to unlearn. I started with drugstore pipes and tobaccos and consequently scorched my mouth and tongue that was explained as ‘breaking in my mouth’. During my first year of college, a friend of mine dragged me to a local pipe shop and a whole new world of pipes and tobaccos emerged. I tried some high quality tobaccos and bought my first decent pipe. From then on I was hooked and my love affair with pipes, tobaccos and the various accessories was well entrenched. I actually got a job at the Edwards shop in Milwaukee and eventually joined the staff at Uhle’s Pipe Shop until I graduated. I would also take trips with the guys to Chicago to visit the shops there every couple of months. My taste in tobaccos gravitated from the aromatics to English and burleys but I was not able to acquire a taste for Virginia blends. I did a stint in the Army Reserves in California, more school in New York State, a job assignment in Florida and eventually wound up in Kansas City, all the while still making the rounds of the local pipe shops and still unable to enjoy Virginia blends.
A number of years into my Kansas City gig, a group of guys at our favorite pipe shop (Cigar & Tabac) decided to start a pipe club. One of the guys (Quinton Wells) insisted that I try his favorite tobaccos Beacon and Escudo. He took the time to explain some of the techniques that were necessary to enjoy Virginia blends. I was still not completely converted but this began my metamorphosis. I began to take notice of the various smoking habits of the guys around me who seemed to really enjoy smoking as a hobby. My observations lead me to learn that I had some habits that were preventing me from fully enjoying my smoking. Among others, I packed my tobacco with a heavy hand, tamped too often and with too much pressure, I puffed too aggressively, and I scorched my tobacco when lighting my pipe. After adjusting my technique (really re-learning how to smoke) I am now able to more fully enjoy my pipe smoking. I’ve shared some of my thoughts with the guys in the pipe club and was encouraged to share this with others who might wish to try some of these tips, hence the submission of this writing to NASPC.
Packing
I prefer to smoke flake, cube or rough-cut blends. I enjoy the smoking qualities of these ‘dense’ blends and fill my pipe bowls using the gravity method whenever possible. This allows me to pack my pipe lightly permitting maximum airflow to allow the tobacco to burn at a slower, drier and more cool rate than tobacco that is overly packed and burns like a charcoal briquette – too hot for the sugars in the tobacco – resulting in a hot bitter and wet smoke especially during the last half of the bowl. To accomplish this, I do not rub out flake blends. I use a scissors to cut across the flake. This allows me to drop the tobacco into the bowl. For ribbon cut blends, I gently take a pinch of the blend and feed it into the bowl and form it with my ‘pinkie’ into the bottom of the bowl and feed the remainder of the bowl in the same manner so that the resulting fill is soft and spongy to the touch.
Initial Lighting
I lightly draw the flame into the tobacco moving the flame around the bowl to achieve an even light but I also remove the flame from the tobacco when not drawing on the pipe to avoid burning/caramelizing the sugars especially when smoking Virginias. This is the singing light. Next, I gently bevel the tobacco edge around the inside bowl and gently relight the tobacco using the method noted above. I then set the pipe aside for five to ten minutes to cool down and let the sugars in the tobacco to set up or make the tobacco firm up. This will enhance the tobacco’s burning without having to ‘over puff’ during the course of your light up.
Relighting the Tobacco
I relight the tobacco as many times as necessary if it goes out so be it. I do not over puff to keep it going. Also, and very important, I do not tamp the tobacco each time I relight. I tamp only when the tobacco will not relight and then I very lightly tamp only the top ash not the underlying tobacco. This was the hardest habit for me to acquire. I was amazed at how many times I could relight my tobacco without tamping each time. Learning to tamp only as needed prevents overly compressing the tobacco that will eventually result in a more restricted draw, a hot, wet and bitter end of the bowl.
Puffing
It’s been my experience that the more aggressively I puff, the less I enjoy the smoke especially toward the end of the bowl. As a result, I had to retrain myself to sip rather than gulp to avoid overheating the pipe, tobacco and my mouth. If the pipe is more than a little warm in my hand, it’s too hot for my mouth so, I set it down and let it cool for five to ten minutes. I’ve also learned to swirl the smoke around my mouth, to roll the smoke over my soft pallet and out through my nose. This greatly enhances the flavor of the tobacco.
Some Other Points of Interest
If you find yourself over puffing much of the time, you may be trying to get more flavor from a blend that just can’t deliver. Talk to your tobacconist and get some samples of more robust blends.
When sampling different tobaccos it usually takes a minimum of three or four bowls of the tobacco in the same pipe to get a realistic read on the tobacco. Also, try the blend in different pipes to see if the pipe you’re smoking is a good match for the tobacco.
Tobacco usually tastes better after you’ve recently eaten. Very seldom do I try a new tobacco unless I’ve eaten.
If your favorite pipe and/or tobacco just does not taste like it usually does, your pipe may be signaling that you may be on the verge of a cold or other illness (for me its usually a tell that within a day or two I’m going to have a sour stomach).
If your pipe draw hole frequently gets plugged, before your initial light, remove the stem from the shank. Insert a pipe cleaner into the bowl several times, remove the cleaner, encircle the bowl with the palm of your hand and blow through the opening between your forefinger and thumb (and through the top of the pipe bowl). This will usually force any loose tobacco through and out of the shank rather than into your mouth or plugging up the pipe.
Less Is More
The information above is pretty common sense but it took me over thirty years to adopt the common sense approach and really enjoy. I hope some of this information may be of some benefit to you and help you more fully enjoy your pipe smoking. After all, ours is a hobby of sharing if not our tobaccos, at least the latest tidbits of information.
Less packing, less tamping, less aggressive lighting and slower puffing equals more enjoyment. Make the time to learn new habits.
Written by Kevin Godbee
12 Responses
Recent Posts
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 640. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Ben Rapaport. Ben has been known internationally as an avid pipe smoker, antique pipe collector, and book author. His first book on pipes was published in 1972, and his latest book – his 10th – is out now in very limited quantities. The distribution has already sold out, but you can still get a copy of “The Wide World of Wood Tobacco Pipes. Two Centuries of Craftsmanship and Creativity” by contacting him directly at ben70gray@gmail.com. At the top of the show we’ll be turning the tables on our recurring Ask the Pipemaker segment. This time, Jeff Gracik will ask the questions, which Brian will answer as a pipe collector, and you can give your answers too.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 639. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Per Billhäll. Per is the owner of Scandinavian Pipes, which is an online retailer of high grade pipes. He started smoking pipes in the 1960s. His first high grade pipe was made by Hans “Former” Nielsen, who is one of the living legends from Denmark. That led to Per becoming a huge pipe and tobacco collector, and show attendee where he became well known. Along with pipe book author Jan Andersson, they started The Pipe Club of Sweden in 1991. Then in 1999, Per started “Scan Pipes”. He is now one of the pipe retailing legends from Sweden. At the top of the show Brian will talk about holiday blends, and other special pipe tobacco blends.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 638. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Fae “The Sassy Pipe Lady” Simmons. Fae is the owner of Tobacco Treasures, which sells new, vintage, & estate pipes, and smoking accessories on Etsy. She has been in business since 2017, and has been surrounded by pipes and tobacco most of her life. Her father and his brother smoked pipes, and so does Fae. Her husband is also a retired tobacconist that worked all over the industry from coast to coast for several different companies in the industry. She has a great story of how her business got started with a great inventory of unsmoked vintage pipes. At the top of the show we will have an Ask the Tobacco Blender segment with Jeremy Reeves. Jeremy is the Head Blender at Cornell & Diehl, which is one of the most popular boutique pipe tobacco companies in the USA.
Ok, so it’s that time of year, as we all know. Family feasts, houses, yards, and big trees festooned with lights and dangling ornaments, just high enough to keep the cats from reaching a paw into the greenery. It’s also the time of year when your pipe-smoking-significant other makes vast hints about a new pipe. That’s to be expected since he or she was a good boy or girl during the year. Yes, ladies smoke pipes, too. Oh, you want an example? Okay, try Actress Greta Garbo, Millicent Fenwick, Mary Frith, and my late grandmother (who died when she was 93) dipped snuff and smoked a cob occasionally. So now that we have settled that the gentler side of life will puff a pipe too, let’s move on to the upcoming biggest holiday of all. Of course, that huge event is brought to us by the hefty fellow in a red suit, puffing his pipe all the way in a sled filled with presents, being led by a reindeer with a red nose. Or some such. That’s Santa Claus, of course. Becoming a bit more serious, Christmas is such a wonderful time for families and friends. It’s also quite special for pipe puffers. For many of us, this brings up a nostalgic look back to our pipe-smoking or cigar-smoking friends who have died during the current year. A great journalist pal whom I often joined in a local brick-and-mortar pipe and cigar shop. I puffed my pipe, and occasional cigar, as he enjoyed a cigar. He died in October and will be missed. On the happier side of things, Christmas is also a time when mind workers of the world renew their collections with fresh additions. Pundit included. A French passion has overtaken Pundit, from reading more Albert Camus, a heavy cigarette smoker, as were many French intellectuals of a certain time. Instead of cigarettes many of us prefer the more relaxed enjoyment of pipes for that “calm and objective judgment” in the comings and goings of the world. This brings me to French pipes. While visiting France once in the long ago, I happened by a “Tabac” shop in Paris, Tabac Des Vosges. I purchased a beauty of a Chacom bent. I also later bought a Ropp made from ancient briar. To learn more about the dawn of briar pipes and beginnings, take a peek at a well-done piece by Davin Hylton in Pipe Line on April 12, 2023, on Saint-Claude, France, the birthplace of briar. Also in the long back when, on a cold Christmas afternoon, Pundit wandered into an Atlanta bricks and mortar pipe shop to look around. There, resting in an enclosed glass counter was an exquisite Comoy. An older gent, smoking a beautiful bent, asked me if I wanted to look at that pipe. It had a $100 price tag. A college student working for a grocery store chain to help with college tuition at the time, Pundit didn’t have one hundred cents, let alone a C note! I declined and found a $5 basket pipe. A Christmas tradition had just begun. Since that early time, Pundit has made it a holiday ritual to either reward himself, or a special friend, with pipe or tobacco. A Claudio Cavicchi would be nice. Just sayin.’ And now for a couple of December-born Pipe Smokers of the Past: Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born on Dec. 30, 1865, and died on Jan. 18, 1936. I always prefer to believe the best of everybody; it saves so much trouble—Rudyard Kipling. Martin Van Buren, born Dec. 5, 1782, and died July 24, 1862, U.S. President, 1837-1841 As to the presidency, the two happiest days of my life were those of my entrance upon the office and my surrender of it—Martin Van Buren. And one more note to recall a deceased World War II veteran who loved William Somerset Maugham, the author. Maugham, a pipe smoker, was born in Paris, France, on Jan. 25, 1874, and died on Dec. 16, 1965. One cool afternoon as the veteran and I talked while sitting in his backyard patio, he looked off into the distance as if studying something. Nothing in particular. Just looking. He turned to me and said if I wanted to learn about life, “read Somerset Maugham.” I did. It wasn’t until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say, ‘I don’t know’ –W. Somerset Maugham And now a Parting Shot: Any day with an old friend with pipes and tobacco is a good day.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 637. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Nate King. Most people know of Nate as an excellent pipe artisan. He also has an honorary Master of Pipes degree from the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club, and is a member of the prestigious Confrérie des Maitres Pipiers de Saint-Claude. To be inducted into the Confrérie, this past May Nate travelled to Saint-Claude, France with master tobacco blender G.L. Pease, who was also inducted. It was quite a time in France, and at the ceremony. We’ll hear all about those adventures on the show. At the top of the show we’ll continue the virtual tour of Brian’s pipe collection with six of his Satou Dublin-shape pipes.
Welcome to The Pipes Magazine Radio Show Episode 636. Our featured interview on tonight’s show is with Barry Kane. Barry started smoking a pipe in 1961 when he was 14-years old. Back then it seemed like everybody smoked, and you could buy pipes and tobacco just about anywhere. Barry is a true old-school pipe smoker, sticking to just one blend. See if you can guess which one before listening. At the top of the show Brian will give his take on Scandinavian Tobacco Group’s purchase of Mac Baren and Sutliff Tobacco and their announcement that they will be shut down.
Very nice article for a newb such as myself. Thank you!
Great article. It’s definitely something we all try for and often miss because of learned or aquired habits. It’s even more challenging when we’re doing other tasks and not noticing just how we’re smoking.
Very good article. I’m a very new pipe smoker and am always looking to better my technique in order to more fully appreciate the hobby. Thanks!
Good Article – thanks for reprinting it.
Great article, jam-packed with helpful observations and advice. What I noticed on this reading is the connection the author makes between what he does earlier on, and how that affects the quality of his smoke toward the end of the bowl. So, a bad habit might not ruin your smoke right away. Great read! Most edifying!
Having seen Steve do a live demo of his techniques I can tell you that Steve practices what he preaches. This technique really works for him and many others.
Not to sound funny but treat the pipe you’ve filled as though it was something to be cuddled. Steve makes a great point of being in that moment and simply enjoying tut tobac.newbies (Andrews I) can learn a lot. Thank Steve
Some excellent ideas there. I have decided that pipe smoking is “a work in progress”… I’m no longer afraid of trying some new technique that might bring more pleasure to smoking. 🙂 I’ll have to try that “don’t tamp the ashes between relights” next.
Thanks Steve for the tips. I consider myself a novice (I started smoking a pipe in 1976…..) and am always interested in learning new tips. I will try tamping less, and being easier on the initial light.
Also, I think your suggestion for blowing some smoke out the nose is key to tasting milder flavors (as in Virginias).
Best wishes
thank you so much for you article you helped me out a lot !
So THAT’S why I was getting a wet smoke all the time! Thanks for the advice; you really helped 🙂
Thanks Steve! I have been smoking a pipe since 1975 and like many of us, I learned by observing my Dad. Well, After all these years I am finally smoking a dry, non-gurgling pipe due to your article!
I remember my Dad packing so tight that he would cover the bowl with his Zippo and draw hard, raise the lighter, back down, draw hard, raise the lighter, then back down. Between packing the tobacco too tight, and I believe lighting too fast and hard, what did I expect. Thanks again, Willy Drinkwater (BostonPipe)