Fine White Ash

[music4cash]

I've been smoking pipes for about 6 months now, and I've heard a lot about "fine white ash." What I've found is that the best smokes I have do not leave "fine white ash" they leave more of a salt and pepper ash with little bits of dottle...The smokes that leave me with fine white ash are the ones where things were too hot the whole time, and so everything burns completely. Is there something wrong in my technique that stops me from getting fine white ash without smoking too hot, or is the whole idea of "fine white ash" a fallacy?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Many people on here have hair triggers for things they don't totally understand. When a tobacco smokes down to fine white ash, it is usually referring to the lack of PG and casing, and the consistency of the cut of the tobacco. It doesn't necessarily mean that the tobacco was more perfect, as some people on here think Prince Albert and other trash tobaccos are great quality. But, it does attest to just some aspects of the tobacco.
People get their panties in a wad about the phrase, because they think it means that the smoker is making some comment on his skills being good, when really it just means that the tobacco is of a certain quality. My favorite fine white ash tobacco is Penzance. The ash is almost silky to the touch.

 

[moldyoldy]

I'm in the same boat as you.....never get that elusive "fine white ash"....more like something out of my fireplace....white ash mixed with little bits of charcoal-like stuff....I usually just take my pipe tool's poker thing & mix it all up in the bowl, then re-light it......not sure if that proper "pipe etiquette" or not, like I said a couple times in other threads, right now my main goal is to just keep the damn thing going more more than 10 minutes.... :D

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Who in their right minds reads that many tobacco reviews? Ha ha! I'd rather try to read the Mormon Bible. ::

Just because hundreds of idiotic parroting morons on a website get the phrase wrong, doesn't mean that there is no meaning in the phrase any more.

 

[ericthered]

I don't doubt that some- even many bowls-full have been smoked down to the vaunted white ash. It's happened once for me, completely by accident. I was blissfully smoking while mowing my yard, a bulk blend I had been gifted- something with strong baking chocolate/coffee overtones, when, as is a frequent occurrence for me, my pipe went out. Thinking little of it, I relit. It went right back out. A little prodding with my pipe nail revealed that I had smoked the bowl-full down to the proverbial white (it was actually pretty grey) ash.
I agree with Cosmic, that the actual event in question speaks more to the tobacco's quality that the pipeman's.
I also think the phrase is used figuratively. How often do you see a review that was "smoked to a fine white ash" be of a tobacco that the reviewer didn't like? I haven't done extensive research, but I can't off the top of my head remember any that the reviewer disliked but still smoked to a "fine white ash". Therefore, the phrase gets used as an exclamation point to an already enjoyable smoking experience, whether or not the ash was absolutely dottle-free or white/grey/charcoal/jet-black.
The way I see it, it's a colorful turn of phrase with multiple interpretations that people feel adds to their review, so it's tempting to overuse it, and with liberal poetic license.

 

[misterlowercase]

Who in their right minds reads that many tobacco reviews?

I love reading baccy reviews!

::
I don't always agree with them of course, but it's great that there's so many different people giving impressions --- I only wish that the practice had gained more favor at an earlier time so that I'd at least have a rough idea of perhaps what Lambert & Butler's Warlock Rich Dark Flake tasted like, amongst many other of those glorious olde inimitable UK baccies.
Fun reading:

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/favorite-line-from-a-tobacco-review


In regards to the famous FWA (amazin' that ain't became a widespread acronym ain't it? :P ) ,

I usually get a peppery dove grey ash with coppery spotting,

the copper spots are from the added essences because I greatly favor hearty aromatized VaBurs.

::
Also,

remember what Sherlock said:

"To the trained eye there is as much difference between the black ash of a Trichinopoly and the white fluff of bird's-eye as there is between

a cabbage and a potato."
S.H.

We could write a whole book just about ashes alone!
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/upon-the-distinction-between-the-ashes-of-the-various-tobaccos-by-sh
:puffpipe:

 

[pipefish]

like I said a couple times in other threads, right now my main goal is to just keep the damn thing going more more than 10 minutes....

Me too! Forget about what the damn stuff looks like.

 

[mso489]

Dottle isn't a dirty word. So some tobacco is left over. It acted as a bed and filter for the leaf that was smoked. Don't sweat it. Or if you have a thrift compulsion, go through the ash tray and pick out the unsmoked bits and recycle them in your tobacco remnant jar. I've had some fine white ash bowls, which I've enjoyed with a kind

of amusement, but if that were my goal, it would spoil my day. A pipe is supposed to be a joy-of-life experience. Abandon the goals and point scoring. This is your chance to float free.

 

[iamn8]

Great pipe shop names! "Fine White Ash" and "Little Bits O' Dottle"

 

[cosmicfolklore]

...Or... Dottle in the Ash Hole

 

[misterlowercase]

Great pipe shop names! "Fine White Ash" and "Little Bits O' Dottle"

I had great fun with that thread you started...
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/name-your-pipe-shop
...maybe later today I'll come up with a meme and bump it back up,

The Dirty Dottle is screaming out to me!

::
...a proper pub:

The Dirty Dottle & Muddy Duck

 

[deathmetal]

I thought this was going to be a 1990s Nicole Kidman thread.

 

[bigpond]

If your ash is not fine and white you aren't doing it right. Quite pipe smoking, it's not for you. Oh yeah, send me your stash so I can make sure it is properly disposed of.

 

[moldyoldy]

"Oh yeah, send me your stash so I can make sure it is properly disposed of."......Not sure anyone would want my stash, it's all the old type codger blends, like Walnut (match), Holiday (match), Velvet, and a big leaf bag size thing of Smoker's Pride....the "pride of the stash" is a big tin of Carter Hall and Granger....... :puffpipe:

 

[mayfair70]

A few months ago I bought my first tin of Nightcap. I packed a clean bulldog and slowly worked my way through the delicious new experience. Occasional big puffs exhaled through my nose, but mostly sipping and savoring. It went out some time later so I went to tamp it for a relight and my finger went to the bottom of the bowl. I peered inside and saw nothing but white ash with a bit of grey. "That was easy", was my first thought. I figured I was a natural pipe smoker and all you forum smokers just weren't as great as I was. After all, I had just smoked to a fine white ash the first bowl out of my first tin without really trying.
Filled with this new confidence, I have smoked bowl after bowl of many different blends expecting to be able to repeat the nearly flawless technique I obviously possessed. Night after night and day after day I have thought, "This will be the one". Nope. Nada. Zilch. Nothing even close. It was a fluke and I am through chasing this white ash whale. I've had hundreds of great smokes without the fine white ash ending and if I never repeat it, that's fine. As long as I'm getting the flavor I want out of the tobacco and enjoy myself, I am a winner. I'm glad it happened and it was a nice experience. If it happens again, it would be cool. I just don't expect to see it again anytime soon. My ego is firmly back in check and I can smoke without any pressure to perform what is essentially a parlor trick that has nothing to do with my day to day smoking routine. ::

 

[iamn8]

Yeah Mayfair, ain't that always the way!! It's a great metaphor for life. Magic happens only when you're not paying attention.

 

[bigpond]

Not sure anyone would want my stash, it's all the old type codger blends, like Walnut (match), Holiday (match), Velvet, and a big leaf bag size thing of Smoker's Pride....the "pride of the stash" is a big tin of Carter Hall and Granger....... :puffpipe:

Jeepers...well, carry on then. I think you can't see the fine white ash because it's obscured by the mushroom cloud. 8O

 

[johnbarleycorn]

I've read numerous posts about the controversial fine white ash with some amusement until today I packed a bowl full of the remainder of a bag of luxury navy flake that I bought at the Country Squire last week. I bought all their remaining flake so there was very fine bits left in the bottom of the bag. After jarring most of it I packed the fine bits into my Radice Apple and smoked it while listening to a Frank Zappa album. When it got to the point that it would not stay lit any longer I peered into the bowl and what do you know...... Nothing but fine white ash. Maybe it was the Zappa influence. I don't know. But suddenly I feel like I have accomplished some magical feat.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Back to the OP: The term became clichéd, seen in any number of tobacco reviews. Thus, the source of mirth for some, annoyance for others, and perplexion for some. It ain't Nirvana, nor is it difficult to find it happening from time to time, unless you are smoking wet tobacco. Then your mouth burns out before you "achieve" that state.

 

[jvnshr]

Yeah fine white ass. Oh sorry, wrong forum.