Breathe smoking Q&A

[judcasper]

Okay, ta.

 

[hawky454]

Hawky, some tobaccos that I smoke give off more smoke than others. Some are a heavier smoke, some thin. I think the point of where that bit of information comes from is encouraging one not to focus on making a freight train's worth of smoke. But, I wouldn't focus on that one part too much. When I smoke Burley Flake #1, the smoke is as thick as coalsmoke. But, I still try to keep it sparse... for my own enjoyment. The idea is to leave the smoke in your mouth, not worry so about expelling so quickly. Savor the flavor. Let it just flow out on its own. You absorb more nicotine this way, and some get more enjoyment. But, as always, YMMV.

I'm picking up what you're laying down. :D

 

[brian64]

This of course has all been said before in other threads, but the only thing I would add to everything in this thread thus far is that I had a difficult time with "breath smoking" and clenching until I started drying the tobacco more. For me, dryer tobacco was the single biggest factor in solving most of my issues.
I'll admit I have little patience for lots of relights...but aside from that, multiple relights and puffing to keep it lit were also the greatest cause of tongue burn for me. Drying solved that issue as well.

 

[hawky454]

However, savoring the flavor works for me when I do a slow retrohale. I'm also a big proponent of leaving the smoke in my mouth and letting the flavors come to you, I like what Greg Pease calls it, "chewing the smoke". But in my opinion, less smoke doesn't necessarily mean more flavor, especially if there is hardly any in your mouth to "chew"... cool smoke, yeah but for my make up, a thick, slow retrohale is where I get those flavors that gives me the chills, stops time, and brings me closer to God. :wink:

 

[xingpao]

When i retrohale, my lips kinda come unsealed a bit and that's just kinda how it goes.

 

[olkofri]

I would think forcing smoke back through your pipe would be a very bad idea, given how much moisture is in your mouth/breath.

I concur. As a matter of fact, isn't blowing into the pipe a way to re-moisten tobacco that's too dry?
What I noticed with the breath method, when I finally got it working were two things: it takes several breaths to get a 'sizable' amount of smoke into one's mouth; and, the taste was somewhat different than that which I get with my normal sippuffs.
Alas, I had to take the pipe out of my mouth to swirl the smoke around and be able to taste it. I just couldn't taste anything whilst I was breathing with the pipe 'parked' in my mouth.

 

[brian64]

^ Sounds like your tobacco's not dry enough.

 

[olkofri]

Oh, yeah. That bowl wasn't dry by any means. I had to be constantly relighting, but I just didn't have time to dry it. I was running late and just grabbed the jar on my way out.

 

[brian64]

When I'm working my way through a tin, I usually keep a small amount in a separate jar for drying. When the dry stuff gets low I dump some in there from the tin and let it dry overnight so that I have a daily amount and don't have to dry each bowl before smoking it.

 

[olkofri]

I've done that too. My issue is not sticking to a single blend, but wanting to try them all.
I think I should elaborate on one point, though: the difference in taste from breath vs. sippuff wasn't a negative experience. It just struck me as interesting that the flavour nuances were, well, can't really find a proper word... I'll just settle for 'different'. I think the flavours were more subtle with the breath method.

 

[Chasing Embers]

There's no blowing involved in sending the smoke back down the stem, and I cycle the smoke back and forth through the shank more than anything followed with a retrohale. Nothing subtle about the flavor after that.