Confession is Good for the Soul (So They Say)

[monty55]

Thanks Brother - appreciate you man. One thing I notice is if I'm gonna get bite it's when I relight. Once when half my bowl was gone I just repacked more fresh on top and lit that with no bite. But that's bush league. Any advice on relighting other than not torching it? Fluff what remains and repack? I haven't done that yet. thanks again brother.

Chances are that's because you're smoking Aro's and as you smoke them down the wet topping/casing tends to concentrate in what's left in the bowl, and you're firing that up, and it will bite. I may be in a minority, but I tickle the top of the ash, turn it over and dump what ash will fall out. Then I tickle just the top of what's left and give it a relight, if necessary, but honestly don't know how well that would work on an Aro blend, but it works well for me smoking English. If your smoking flake, and fold and stuff, you may not need to do any of that. Are you letting your tobacco dry enough before packing the pipe? A wet tobacco will give you all kinds of issues, from bite to relight to not getting the packing right.

 

[monty55]

Thanks Brother - appreciate you man. One thing I notice is if I'm gonna get bite it's when I relight. Once when half my bowl was gone I just repacked more fresh on top and lit that with no bite. But that's bush league. Any advice on relighting other than not torching it? Fluff what remains and repack? I haven't done that yet. thanks again brother.

Remember, wet tobacco when fired up makes steam, and acrid steam bites! Now whether or not it's wet from being not dried out enough to start with, or it's a concentration of moisture from the second half of a bowl of Aro .. is up for you to figure out. Wet makes steam, steam is bad.

 

[JOHN72]

The beginning was frustrating and discouraging, but I think if I hadn't loved cigars before, I might have given up. But the smell of that canned pipe tobacco kept me going. That smell made me even more in love with the world of tobacco. I didn't calculate the humidity issue, packing, but I always smoked very slowly. The issue of cleanliness was desicivo and use clean and well dried pipes for the next smokes.I used lighters that ruined the rim of my pipes, including torch ones. I remember reading about filling by gravity, I think it was friend chasing Embers, and I followed your recommendation, and it was great. It has been gradually getting better. I think I'm now ready to smoke a briar pipe and not ruin it. But I give thanks every day to this fantastic forum, full of great friends, who teach me new things every day. There was something in my smoking genetics that always whispered in my ear, this is for you, you piece of cork oak.

 

[bullet08]

When I started, I smoked 3 to 5 bowls a day trying to fine tune my technique. Took me about a year or little less to feel really comfortable and not pay attention on how I was packing. As to ah ha moment, the smoke was very comfortable and easy. I'm sure the technique will further improve, but no longer paying any further attention to it. Smoking pipe at first was rather mystical experience. It still is, but not thinking through everything I'm doing.

 

[markus]

It was about 7 years ago, that the first time I ever packed a pipe perfectly. I wasn't even paying attention to what I was doing. I utilized the old codger scoop method from a pouch of Amphora regular and when I realized it was the perfect pack, I just broke down what I did and tried to emulate the same amount of pressure the next time. I realized that I was layering the tobacco into the pipe and just packing it as I layered. so I tried the same thing without the pouch, trying not to overthink it and it worked perfectly, ta daah!
Never had an issue since then, and I don't even think about it anymore, it's just muscle memory now.

 

[FLDRD]

I think that lots of experimentation is the key.

I began by smoking the various aromatics that smelled good and came from my local smoke shop. I thought that's what most everyone did. I had lots and lots of issues related to that type of tobacco. Packing - moisture level - tongue bite - relights with more tongue bite, etc.

My improvement began when I began exploring different tobaccos. In my case, various English blends. These tobaccos presented themselves differently to me, seemed to be of higher quality, less moisture that prevented burning, and whatever other "unknowables" that go into the smoky mist of a beautiful smoking experience.

And drier. As my tobaccos became drier I found greater success.

Part of that happened as I had more than one tin open to choose from, some of it came about because I was trying the "gravity feed" technique, and for me that was only successful with tobacco much drier than the aros of the past.

And strangely, I don't like trying to dig into a bag to find the tobacco that's going into my chamber. I was too ignorant to get into the habit of having a bowl or something available when I had bags or pouches, but with a tin - I had the lid, which I readily utilized. And that helped.

Fondling.

Much like for your partner, more fondling is often better. But unlike my woman, when my tobacco is more moist, that's when it needs more fondling .............

Seriously, the more preparation I use for my tobacco to reach the ability to gravity feed, the better smoke I have. It just leads to me being able to achieve the type of packing, lighting & smoking experience that seems right for me.

Others, I know, just shove it in and do well. I can only do that with Carter Hall, which was part of my transition from aros to English.

All in all, it really took a couple of years.

* "Better" tobacco
* More variety of tobacco
* More preparation

After those are part of the lead-up, packing becomes a different experience.

My humble opinion on a lazy Saturday morning, after the last of a tin of Old Dublin (dry) was crumbled up and gravity fed into the conical chamber of a little Aldo Velani dedicated to the blend. Only "packed" at the very end to get the final dust pressed down on top. Then about an hour or so wandering around outside in the sunshine, letting my neighbors dog take me for a random walk.

Some tamping along the way. A few relights.

Cheers

 

[JOHN72]

However, I was right to buy tobacco. But I practically bought a lot of English blend and very little Virginia. Although the virginia was really good too. There was a lot of variety of Virginia in tin, in a tobacconist's shop on the coast, a few kilometers from my town. But the information from the internet was crucial. And some information about the mythical tobaccos my father smoked, condor, amphora, mac baren, etc.

 

[shane1]

Took me a couple of months to get everything smoothed out and no tongue bite. Also, clean burn to the end.

 

[J-Evverrett]

Chances are that's because you're smoking Aro's and as you smoke them down the wet topping/casing tends to concentrate in what's left in the bowl, and you're firing that up, and it will bite. I may be in a minority, but I tickle the top of the ash, turn it over and dump what ash will fall out. Then I tickle just the top of what's left and give it a relight, if necessary, but honestly don't know how well that would work on an Aro blend, but it works well for me smoking English. If your smoking flake, and fold and stuff, you may not need to do any of that. Are you letting your tobacco dry enough before packing the pipe? A wet tobacco will give you all kinds of issues, from bite to relight to not getting the packing right.

I’m somewhat convinced in the past few years, that we have the whole aro vs non aro thing backwards. Aros are not for beginners, you have to be able to smoke a pipe moderately well to enjoy them. Otherwise, you just cook your mouth. Lat, vaper, straight va are the meat. You can smoke em forever, but they can be a bit robust for an unaccustomed palate. I think otc burley is best probably for beginners. Mild, cool burning and easy to work with. That’s what I start out curious friends on. Just a thought.