Cannot taste tobacco/keep it lit/whats the point in sipping?
- Thread starter scousebaccy
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Patience and practice. I've been smoking a pipe for about 45 years and I'm still learning things.
You've been given a lot of good suggestions. Chasingembers' description of sipping is a good one. I'll tell people it's like sipping scotch, but a milkshake through a straw is a better description. But you don't sip until you have the tobacco going, so before you sip, you puff while lighting.
Don't worry about your pipe going out. The goal is not to keep the pipe going. The goal is to enjoy the flavors. The flavors come from the tobacco that is simmering around the burning coal, more than the tobacco that is burning. If the pipe goes out, who cares? Puff to relight and keep going. Over time you will develop an instinct for slightly increasing or decreasing your cadence in response to how the tobacco is burning.
Andy's description for getting the pipe lit is good. The purpose of the first light or two is to burn the top layer which you then tamp to get a fine layer of ash over the top. That layer of ash helps hold the heat and keep the pipe going. Then you light again, puffing a few times to get the coal going. After that you sip slowly, maybe about 1/2 to 1 second, letting the smoke roll over your tongue to get the flavors without drawing it into your throat and lungs. Ease it out. Wait 5 to 10 seconds and take another sip. Eventually you will want to learn to "retrohale", which is slowly letting the smoke out through your nose, which has more flavor receptors than your mouth and you will experience even more flavors. But one step at a time.
For any of this to work, your tobacco needs to be at the optimum moisture. Too much moisture and the water content masks the flavors. Too dry and essential oils have dried out and the tobacco loses flavor. Different blends have different points of optimum moisture, so it's best to stick to one or two blends and master them before going on to others. I generally let my tobacco dry to the point where it's dry to the touch when squeezed, but still pliant. I find this generally gives me the best flavor response from what I'm smoking.
You've been given good suggestions regarding packing, so I won't add anything to the above. But above all, be patient. Keep it simple by getting used to how to smoke one to two blends before going on to others. That cuts down on some variables while you're learning the basics.
It's not rocket science, but there is such a thing as technique and instinct. Those develop with time, patience, and practice.
You've been given a lot of good suggestions. Chasingembers' description of sipping is a good one. I'll tell people it's like sipping scotch, but a milkshake through a straw is a better description. But you don't sip until you have the tobacco going, so before you sip, you puff while lighting.
Don't worry about your pipe going out. The goal is not to keep the pipe going. The goal is to enjoy the flavors. The flavors come from the tobacco that is simmering around the burning coal, more than the tobacco that is burning. If the pipe goes out, who cares? Puff to relight and keep going. Over time you will develop an instinct for slightly increasing or decreasing your cadence in response to how the tobacco is burning.
Andy's description for getting the pipe lit is good. The purpose of the first light or two is to burn the top layer which you then tamp to get a fine layer of ash over the top. That layer of ash helps hold the heat and keep the pipe going. Then you light again, puffing a few times to get the coal going. After that you sip slowly, maybe about 1/2 to 1 second, letting the smoke roll over your tongue to get the flavors without drawing it into your throat and lungs. Ease it out. Wait 5 to 10 seconds and take another sip. Eventually you will want to learn to "retrohale", which is slowly letting the smoke out through your nose, which has more flavor receptors than your mouth and you will experience even more flavors. But one step at a time.
For any of this to work, your tobacco needs to be at the optimum moisture. Too much moisture and the water content masks the flavors. Too dry and essential oils have dried out and the tobacco loses flavor. Different blends have different points of optimum moisture, so it's best to stick to one or two blends and master them before going on to others. I generally let my tobacco dry to the point where it's dry to the touch when squeezed, but still pliant. I find this generally gives me the best flavor response from what I'm smoking.
You've been given good suggestions regarding packing, so I won't add anything to the above. But above all, be patient. Keep it simple by getting used to how to smoke one to two blends before going on to others. That cuts down on some variables while you're learning the basics.
It's not rocket science, but there is such a thing as technique and instinct. Those develop with time, patience, and practice.
One additional thought is to reduce the variables, by that I mean pick a tobacco and stick with it as you develop your habits. I find that different tobaccos have a preference for drying, packing and pipe size; each time you switch tobaccos you introduce that set of variables into mix. EMP and MM956 are beginner friendly (like Carter Hall and Prince Albert).
Have fun and don't push it to where it becomes a chore. If a bowl isn't working, dump and repack or come back to it later.
Good luck.
Have fun and don't push it to where it becomes a chore. If a bowl isn't working, dump and repack or come back to it later.
Good luck.
I was also going to suggest either Carter Hall or Price Albert as these tobaccos can be smoked and keep burning even if you smoke them while taking a shower and will give you a good sense and a certain rhythm, as it were, to smoking a pipe. But, seeing that you can't obtain either in the UK I don't know what to suggest that is similar to them. Other than that, just take heed of the advice given here with a good dose of patience and you'll get there as most, if not all have gone through the same quandary when first starting a pipe.
As an after thought, I would strongly recommend drying the tobacco out more, and especially so for the aromatic tobaccos as some can be quite 'gooey' and insanely difficult to keep lit if smoked straight from whatever container they are in. And... don't forget about using that tamper as it most definitely has a purpose while smoking and keeping the pipe lit, but just use enough gentle pressure to occasionally collapse the burnt ash down.
As an after thought, I would strongly recommend drying the tobacco out more, and especially so for the aromatic tobaccos as some can be quite 'gooey' and insanely difficult to keep lit if smoked straight from whatever container they are in. And... don't forget about using that tamper as it most definitely has a purpose while smoking and keeping the pipe lit, but just use enough gentle pressure to occasionally collapse the burnt ash down.
Pay attention, if this doesn't work for you, find a bridge and throw yourself off.
Pack much tighter than you have been and smoke moister than you have been. When your tobacco is dry you get no flavor. When the pack is too loose, the tobacco burns too fast and then no flavor. Let me know how you make out.
Pack much tighter than you have been and smoke moister than you have been. When your tobacco is dry you get no flavor. When the pack is too loose, the tobacco burns too fast and then no flavor. Let me know how you make out.
This all good advice. Keep in mind that learning how to smoke a pipe properly is really not that easy. It took me months of experimenting to get it right. And of course, all of the variables change a little bit with each tobacco blend and pipe combo. Keep trying, but don't do it blindly. Keep track of your various packing methods and tobacco moisture, and experiment a little. It's not something that will just magically happen.
The OP sounds like a certain golfer I used to know. He finally got so miserable he was ready to give it up. Then a wise man told him "It ain't about how good you play! It's supposed to be fun. It's about getting together with your buds every week and giving them all your money!" On that day, I took Harris' advise and through myself off a bridge.....
Everything above, plus smoking with a lot of side-stream should help you. Not sure if someone mentioned that already, but I didn't see it.
Also, I worry less about keeping it lit and more about vaporizing or melting the oils and sugars on the leaf. To me, the cellular structure of the leaf is just tinder for the most part, so if just enough is burning to give me the flavors of the oils and sugars, all is good. At first, I use the flame to heat the sugars and oils just enough to vaporize them. Eventually after a number of tasty draws and "re-lights" I start to get pinpoints of burning tobacco on top of the bowl and that is fine with me until I have to blow off some ash and do it again. By that point in the bowl I can get a full glowing cherry if I want it, but usually for a lot of blends I go with pinpoints that are a little bigger than before and I get better flavor. Some blends taste fine with more burning leaf, but I think that more of the blends that I have tried taste better with less burning going on at once. I think too-hot a bowl might cause some sort of oxidation of the sugars or oils and a bad flavor, I'm not sure. I think I might use the pipe lighter more than others, but mainly by choice. :
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Also, I worry less about keeping it lit and more about vaporizing or melting the oils and sugars on the leaf. To me, the cellular structure of the leaf is just tinder for the most part, so if just enough is burning to give me the flavors of the oils and sugars, all is good. At first, I use the flame to heat the sugars and oils just enough to vaporize them. Eventually after a number of tasty draws and "re-lights" I start to get pinpoints of burning tobacco on top of the bowl and that is fine with me until I have to blow off some ash and do it again. By that point in the bowl I can get a full glowing cherry if I want it, but usually for a lot of blends I go with pinpoints that are a little bigger than before and I get better flavor. Some blends taste fine with more burning leaf, but I think that more of the blends that I have tried taste better with less burning going on at once. I think too-hot a bowl might cause some sort of oxidation of the sugars or oils and a bad flavor, I'm not sure. I think I might use the pipe lighter more than others, but mainly by choice. :
:If you want to enjoy smoking a pipe don't make a federal case out of it. Too many complex rules kill the deal. Just stuff some tobacco in the pipe so when you suck on it you can just barely tell there's something in there. Light up, tamp very lightly. If you still get smoke out of it when you draw, you don't need to light it again. Sip just like you would sip an alcoholic mixed drink. Not like a milkshake or gatorade. If it gurgles, run a pipecleaner down it. If it goes out, re light it. If it starts to taste nasty, dump what's left. Don't make it into a sport with rules and winners and losers.
jesse, fuck em if he can't take a joke. I heard a big splash so I will assume, taste is the least of his concerns and drowning is. hehehe
Alright mate, I can understand some of the issues you're experiencing.
For me the main problem I ahve is not tasting what every other professional says I should!
So, I don't bother with acrid aromatics or anything weak or mild. I go fro broke and get the strongest tasting baccy I can find and learn what I like. I like latakia! So I buy night cap, swhove it in a pipe, test the draw with a few puffs and tamp regularly to keep it at that draw.
Puff constantly and it'll turn your bowl load into one giant ember, puff to little and it'll go out. Find the balance that works with the current baccy, the current pipe and your current mood. This bit takes time. But pipe smoking isn't a race, and although it's no where near as easy to pick up as smoking a cigar, it does offer more contemplation and enjoyment imo.
I live in Bristol, if you are able to visit I can meet you in the city and take you to my gave baccy shop and show you everything I know, as I know from first hand what a git it was to learn how to do it right through videos and all the ponces online.
For me the main problem I ahve is not tasting what every other professional says I should!
So, I don't bother with acrid aromatics or anything weak or mild. I go fro broke and get the strongest tasting baccy I can find and learn what I like. I like latakia! So I buy night cap, swhove it in a pipe, test the draw with a few puffs and tamp regularly to keep it at that draw.
Puff constantly and it'll turn your bowl load into one giant ember, puff to little and it'll go out. Find the balance that works with the current baccy, the current pipe and your current mood. This bit takes time. But pipe smoking isn't a race, and although it's no where near as easy to pick up as smoking a cigar, it does offer more contemplation and enjoyment imo.
I live in Bristol, if you are able to visit I can meet you in the city and take you to my gave baccy shop and show you everything I know, as I know from first hand what a git it was to learn how to do it right through videos and all the ponces online.
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