Finishing The Last Little Bit?
- Thread starter HopHand
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I save the unburnt bits in a special box all year. Then I send them to my Secret Santa recipient...
For me, a small minority of tobaccos taste good and burn well till there's nothing left. Penzance comes to mind. Almost all others become a pain to keep lit, or taste bad, or both, towards the end.
That's been my experience, and I feel better hearing from ya'll that I'm not alone in that.
That's been my experience, and I feel better hearing from ya'll that I'm not alone in that.
The OP asked about finishing the last bit of tobacco in his bowl and how to avoid a mouthful of ash.
Just reporting that that Philtpads and meer chips help do just that.
Perhaps I should have said that I was experimenting with both as an alternative to a drilled coin at the bottom of my meers.
I also often don't have time to get tobacco dry enough due to lack of forethought. Philtpads and meer chips make for less relighting.
Thank you for your patient response.
I have no wish to deny your experience, and have no reason to doubt that it works for you.
I simply find that by means of judicious tamping, and an efficient breathing method, all obstacles can be overcome.
I deliberately don't dry my tobacco and prefer it moist, but it always dries out as I smoke and there is never any moisture at the bottom of the bowl.
I've had not a single gurgle in ten years. The first 4 years though, I could have done with a snorkel ?
I use these conical wire baskets in meers with drilling issues, the also work as colouring coins.
For me, the smoke is over when the good taste ends. If that means some dottle, a little dottle, or none at all, that's all fine. Be damned if I want to suck on an ash tray just for the economy of smoking five or fifteen bits of tobacco. That said, I find that MM cobs often smoke up the whole bowl with no effort on my part. I coast to the end, and there is clearly no burnable tobacco left, and when I scoop out the ash, it's powder gray. It is not rare to get the same results from various briar pipes, but I don't fret a bit of dottle.
Out of just opened tins, when I smoke eg RM Scottish Cake, I can smoke it to the bottom with almost only fine white ash remaining, no problem, whereas with eg Capstan, of which I have also smoked many bowls, I usually end with a wet dottle and I toss too much tobacco. But as is well said by @gamzultovah above, the dottle may work as a filter: For the Scottish Cake, I have considered using a filter pipe, since I don't like the look of my pipe cleaners, when cleaning a pipe after smoking an otherwise nice bowl to the bottom.
I don't bother to burn the last bit of tobacco. I just toss it. More than one restorer has told me that the amount of heat being generated in the attempt to burn every last atom of tobacco will damage the pipe over time.
With cigars, some are finger burners.
Others I toss at the 2/3 or 3/4 mark when it's no longer a nice smoke.
Others I toss at the 2/3 or 3/4 mark when it's no longer a nice smoke.
Curious to hear if any one chucks a filter in just so they can enjoy the dottle…
Your time is worth more than chasing tobacco to the very bottom. Also note sablebrush's post.
Lots of helpful information here especially concerning the term "Dottle" as I was previously under the impression that term referred specifically to the gurgly foul tasting Tar that could be left behind when smoking overly wet Tobacco. Didn't realize it referred to all the unpleasant remains at the bottom of a finished bowl so thanks for the education.
I was impressed by the kick that, theoretically, could be had by smoking dottle. After all, at the bottom, whatever tobacco left should have been made much more potent and flavorful by each puff's deposit being drawn down the chamber and touching it before exiting through the draft.
So i collected dottle and finally sat down to what I hoped would be a magnificent tobacco repast. It was not. The flavor was harsh. Potency? Didn't find that either.
Theory unsupported by fact.
So i collected dottle and finally sat down to what I hoped would be a magnificent tobacco repast. It was not. The flavor was harsh. Potency? Didn't find that either.
Theory unsupported by fact.
I smoke til the last bits but I also don't find the bottom to be better than the rest.
For me the best smoke is when I have smoked about half of the bowl.
For me the best smoke is when I have smoked about half of the bowl.
Since the horse still has a few breaths left, I'll confirm that (in my limited experience) it seems best to stop simply when the flavor tells you it's done; and in truth the amount of tobacco always seems greater in the bowl then when I've decided its done and simply dumped it. On the other hand, learning which pipe that particular tobacco loves the most is an adventure limited only by your degree of PAD.
If it happens it happens but I don't try to force it. It's a play it by ear type of thing. You can tell when it's starting to go bad but then there's times where everything falls into place and your enjoying the smoke so much your pipe goes out and you look down and there's nothing left but fine ash.
If there's still flavor, pipe on. But I'd never stir ash at the bottom. If it's a wet mess, it's over. You can dry the tobacco a bit more to overcome that.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Do you give lessons??? LOL!!!