New Piper. Bitter, Ashy taste

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

foxwithapipe

Lurker
Jun 14, 2022
8
30
Denmark
So, i dont know if this is something that comes up a lot.

i just started smoking a pipe monday this week. I watched a couple of muttnchop piper`s videos on youtube, trying to get a very basic grasp on the techniques to pack, light and smoke my pipe.

the monday smokes, was pleasant, nice, and tasted like the tobacco scent in the bag. Both yesterday and today, it went from nice, pleasant, "round" taste, to more bitter and kinda ashy.

The pipe i bought, is from the nearest pipe shop (not a standard kiosk that just sells them), a nice place, with a more focus on pipes, too. A starter pack, with pipe(i think the brand is Vibel), a bag of tobacco, pipe cleaners and a tamper for 400dkk(55,97 USD).. for reference, the cheaper single pipes from White Star starts at around 375dkk(52,47USD). The tobacco is a Mac baren 7 seas regular blend.

Im also just using a bog standard lighter, one i would use to light my ciggarettes with. I am still smoking the last of my ciggarette tobacco as well, if that would have any effect.

Im using the 3 step method to pack my pipe, still learning the packing. Im doing the charring light, then the proper lighting after, and im tamping the ash down a bit, every so often when smoking, to keep it just on top of the ember and the un smoked tobacco.
After ech smoke, i do empty the bowl of ash, leftover tobacco with the tamper tool pick, run a pipecleaner round the bowl and run one through the stem and shank, to get moisture out.
Im getting a small, decent carbon cake around in the bowl, but i can see, that the bootm part is looking bare, and a bit like it is exposed wood/briar

My question is, is this just a process, to get the pipe to be tasting good when smoking, or have i maybe done something wrong.. Is it the pipe, or the tobacco that just behaves this way? Am i cleaning my pipe wrong?
 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,379
70,060
60
Vegas Baby!!!
Lots to talk about. Welcome to the journey of overthinking and eventually just mindlessly enjoying your pipes.

After you finish smoking a bowl dump the dottle and do exactly as you are.

Take a wet pipe cleaner (wet with water or alcohol or the blood of a Pygmy albino unicorn) and run it through the stem.

Fold over the pipe cleaner and swirl out the bowl.

The bottom of the bowl will likely stay unburned for a long time. No worries. It generally doesn’t see much heat.

Taste like ash…. Slow down your cadence. Puffing too fast or hard burns the tobacco instead of just consuming it.

Good luck. Stay at it.
 

ashdigger

Lifer
Jul 30, 2016
11,379
70,060
60
Vegas Baby!!!
Having watched Muttnchop piper on youtube, using his "breath method" to breathe through my nose, and slowly drawing air into my mouth, and out through the pipe.. Is that a good way to do it?
I don’t use a breath method. I honestly don’t know what I do. Yes, that sounds crazy.

I smoke all types of pipes from modern to old pipes. I have pipes with restricted airflow and pipes wide open. So I just unconsciously adapt.

Also, I have pipes with a huge variety of mouthpieces which another topic.

The slower and gentler you puff, the drier your tobacco, the medium firmness of your pack = the better experience.

It takes time. You’ll get it. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
 

kcghost

Lifer
May 6, 2011
13,159
21,433
77
Olathe, Kansas
I would speculate that the problem is you are smoking your pipe like a cigarette. That's not unusual, but it will cause a lot of grief in your pipe smoking. You'll have to learn to smoke the pipe by inhaling much less often and not as deeply and if you inhale you will need to give this up.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,400
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
Lots to talk about. Welcome to the journey of overthinking and eventually just mindlessly enjoying your pipes.

After you finish smoking a bowl dump the dottle and do exactly as you are.

Take a wet pipe cleaner (wet with water or alcohol or the blood of a Pygmy albino unicorn) and run it through the stem.

Fold over the pipe cleaner and swirl out the bowl.

The bottom of the bowl will likely stay unburned for a long time. No worries. It generally doesn’t see much heat.

Taste like ash…. Slow down your cadence. Puffing too fast or hard burns the tobacco instead of just consuming it.

Good luck. Stay at it.
make sure the pipe is cleanish. Doesn't have to be perfect. I sometimes break my own rules and don't clean it after every smoke, but I should. And it's as simple as slow down and go easy. When you lose flavor you can even let the pipe sit for a minute. And spot on what ashdigger said. Eventually you don't think about these things they're just how you do it. And sometimes you don't even need advice. I didn't know what caused tongue bite when I started but it made me more timid with a pipe and then less likely to experience that bane.
Oh and sometimes your palate just isn't going to be on. Doesn't just apply to pipes, but pipes are more sensitive about then something like whiskey or many foods.
Best advice though in all the world for a pipe smoker is.... Enjoy it.
 

AJL67

Lifer
May 26, 2022
4,489
24,341
Florida - Space Coast
I would speculate that the problem is you are smoking your pipe like a cigarette. That's not unusual, but it will cause a lot of grief in your pipe smoking. You'll have to learn to smoke the pipe by inhaling much less often and not as deeply and if you inhale you will need to give this up.
Inhaled by accident once and couldn’t believe i didn’t cough, on the flip side i got the hickups while smoking a cigar once and the first hickup was in a puff and thought i was going to die, well first lose a long then die.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kcghost

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
Dry your tobacco, smoke it slowly, very slowly. Easy to say, less easy to do.
I would argue that for many of us and certainly for cigarette smokers, the concept of smoking without inhaling, trying to grasp and savor the flavors more than the actual nic hit is very alien and the whole flavor department in our brains needs some rewiring. This will take a few weeks or months. Patience will be required.
 

foxwithapipe

Lurker
Jun 14, 2022
8
30
Denmark
Dry your tobacco, smoke it slowly, very slowly. Easy to say, less easy to do.
I would argue that for many of us and certainly for cigarette smokers, the concept of smoking without inhaling, trying to grasp and savor the flavors more than the actual nic hit is very alien and the whole flavor department in our brains needs some rewiring. This will take a few weeks or months. Patience will be required.
so dont smoke it fresh from the bag?.. Even im still finishing up my cigarette tobacco, i think i have gotten a decent grasp on how to keep my pipe smoke in mouth, to only taste it, though im certain i can still improve a whole lot more, since im just starting out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: workman

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,580
40,856
Iowa
Still a relative rookie - I like my pipes cleanish and I need the tobacco dry. For me it helps with flavor getting through and easygoing, slow bowls. When something goes “wrong” I’ve usually erred on the side of not being patient enough to dry out the tobacco enough. Did a mass, slow dry in a warm oven the other day so all my tobacco for this week of vacation is sitting and waiting for me. Has worked out great!
 
  • Like
Reactions: jpmcwjr

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
so dont smoke it fresh from the bag?.. Even im still finishing up my cigarette tobacco, i think i have gotten a decent grasp on how to keep my pipe smoke in mouth, to only taste it, though im certain i can still improve a whole lot more, since im just starting out.
My advice is to open the bag wide and let it sit overnight like that. Then try smoking some of the dry bit from the top. Use the three pinch method to pack. You'll have to experiment anyway, because none of us do it excactly the same way and neither will you.