Ashy Taste After First Third Of Bowl

[cwpiperman]

Hey folks,

I've recently noticed that I'm getting the best flavor, or what I enjoy most, out of the first third of the bowl of whatever I'm smoking, in whatever pipe I'm smoking it in (Meer, Castello/Savinelli/Radice briars, MM Cobs). That's where I can get the most nuances, and the smoke doesn't seem to be as aggressive. This is true for any type tobacco (I don't do aromatics) be it VaPer, Straight Virginia or an English/Balkan blend. I've been smoking pipes and cigars for 'prox 3 years now, and wonder if I'm beginning to smoke too fast, or what might be the reason? Ashing more frequently seems to help a bit, but it does seem that the flavors (and I'm just being able to begin to pick them out) get overwhelmed by the ashy taste pretty quickly; as I said, after about 1/3 bowl.

Any tips/tricks from our longtimers? I use both butane and Zippo lighters, and I do tend to have quite a few relights. I clean out my pipes after each smoke with pipe cleaner in stem/stummel and paper towel. Haven't had to ream or wash out a pipe yet. My blends are all C&D, GL Pease, SPC, Esoterica, Peter Stokkebye, Dunhill/Peterson, etc, so nothing unusual.

Thanks, folks!

CW

 

[Chasing Embers]

(I don't do aromatics)

English/Balkan blend

?

I'm beginning to smoke too fast

That could be part of it, but it sounds like the tobacco may not be dry enough or it's packed too tightly.

 

[bullet08]

Is it possible, during those relights, you are drawing hard and pulling in the ashes?

 

[JOHN72]

Maybe it's making a general carbonization in the bowl.................I'm asking the veterans............

 

[Grangerous]

Best taste from a clean, fresh pipe. A water rinse leaves no trace of anything ashy of stale.

Tap out your ashes as you go.

Slow sips, especially toward the bottom half.

It may be that you enjoy the topping of a particular blend and it burns away or changes leaving you with more flavor from the tobacco.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

Any tobacco in any pipe it's going to change flavour as you go down the bowl. I personally enjoy that, but if you are getting an ashy taste, then I would say your pipe is not clean even though you think it is, I clean the stem and bowl with a pipe cleaner dipped in plain filtered water after every smoke. If you use alcohol you will get the taste of alcohol, why would anyone want that in a pipe?

 

[daveinlax]

I get that ashy taste about half way from a couple of English mixtures that have a very thin, almost a shag cut ribbon.

 

[Jacob74]

I don't have any tricks for you, but to me the amount of tobacco that I'll dump when I stop enjoying the bowl doesn't bother me in the slightest. Sherlock Holmes, on the other hand, preserved and dried his dottle so he could smoke all his tobacco into ash.

It sounds like you know what you enjoy.If you have a clean pipe, and an easy, relaxed cadence, then maybe you just like the top half of the bowl?

 

[seanv]

Keep up with the cleaning and try packing your pipe using the gravity fill method. Slow down your cadence as well. This will lead to more relights for a while but once you find your groove, you are set.

 

[cigrmaster]

After every smoke I clean my pipe to within an inch of it's life. I use at least 2 soft cleaners for the stem as most of my pipes can take two cleaners at the same time. I then use 4 plus bristle cleaners for the shank and mortise. I then rest the pipe at least one day and usually 2. I only use BJ Long Tapered soft cleaners and BJ Long Tapered Bristle cleaners. I won't use any other type and I buy them in 20 packs at a time. I will do a deep clean around once a year using Everclear, bristle brushes and pipe cleaners. I rarely get much dirt. I also ream a pipe whenever the need arises. I never smoke a pipe that is dirty. I want my tobacco to taste as it should.

 

[kcghost]

Something is wrong here. I've never heard of anything like what you are describing.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I've generally gotten an ashy taste from smoking too fast and therefore getting the tobacco too hot. This seems especially true with oriental blends.

 

[cwpiperman]

Is it possible, during those relights, you are drawing hard and pulling in the ashes?

Possibly, during the later relights.

 

[cwpiperman]

I've generally gotten an ashy taste from smoking too fast and therefore getting the tobacco too hot. This seems especially true with oriental blends.

I'm beginning to think that's the issue, along with possibly too energetic relights.

 

[cwpiperman]

I don't have any tricks for you, but to me the amount of tobacco that I'll dump when I stop enjoying the bowl doesn't bother me in the slightest. Sherlock Holmes, on the other hand, preserved and dried his dottle so he could smoke all his tobacco into ash.

It sounds like you know what you enjoy.If you have a clean pipe, and an easy, relaxed cadence, then maybe you just like the top half of the bowl?

That's possible; most of what I smoke aren't topped, of course almost everything is cased with SOMETHING, but that's not what I enjoy; I do like the pure tobacco taste, as well as the multiple flavors from Latakia, Orientals, and Perique. I do notice that the ashy taste is minimized somewhat by dumping the ashes as I go.

 

[JOHN72]

too relights, too tight, smoking too fast....................among other factors.......cleaning and resting the pipes.........and general carbonisation on of tobacco in the bowl

 

[cwpiperman]

I don't have any tricks for you, but to me the amount of tobacco that I'll dump when I stop enjoying the bowl doesn't bother me in the slightest. Sherlock Holmes, on the other hand, preserved and dried his dottle so he could smoke all his tobacco into ash.

It sounds like you know what you enjoy.If you have a clean pipe, and an easy, relaxed cadence, then maybe you just like the top half of the bowl?

I'm pretty fond of the way the bowl changes in taste as it is smoked, and I mentioned in another reply that dumping ashes as I go helps with this ashy taste, just not enough. I notice that as I get to the bottom, one must slow down a LOT, lest one overheat the tobacco or worse, suck in some ash.....

 

[cwpiperman]

?




That could be part of it, but it sounds like the tobacco may not be dry enough or it's packed too tightly.

Packed too tightly is a very distinct possibility....working on that. Weird that things have been fine for quite a while, now I seem to have run into this....and, I guess given my fondness for Black Frigate, I DO smoke something in the aromatic vein......

 

[Chasing Embers]

Packed too tightly is a very distinct possibility....working on that. Weird that things have been fine for quite a while, now I seem to have run into this....and, I guess given my fondness for Black Frigate, I DO smoke something in the aromatic vein......

I was just being facetious. Latakia and Orientals are still called aromatics in some parts of the world as they used to be and vanilla, cherry, etc. are called flavored blends. I actually had never heard a flavored blend called an aromatic until I joined this forum.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I'm beginning to think that's the issue, along with possibly too energetic relights.

At the 1/2 bowl point, you should only need a short moment of fire to get it going again.