First Attempt - Dismal Failure!

[metalheadycigarguy]

Like anything it takes time and practice. Packing a pipe is a technique, drawing on a pipe is a technique, your puffing cadence is a technique, which all require time and practice. As they say, "practice makes perfect." You'll get the hang of it eventually.

 

[fireground_piper]

It's my first experience with tobacco. I suppose my greenness has shone right through. Thank you for the advice. I've got two English samples coming in the mail

@bullet08 beat me to the question. If you haven’t even tasted tobacco before, that’s going to be its own thing to get used to regardless of format.

 

[FLDRD]

Patience and perseverance will be rewarded.

 

[anotherbob]

Like anything it takes time and practice. Packing a pipe is a technique, drawing on a pipe is a technique, your puffing cadence is a technique, which all require time and practice. As they say, "practice makes perfect." You'll get the hang of it eventually.

Fun fact is all those things are easy but getting them all right at the same time is the trick. Or right enough.
But main thing is keep trying and it will start clicking. For me one of the biggest revelations was what happens if you put a lit pipe in your mouth and don't draw, made me realize how little effort it takes to draw smoke and so started to sip on the pipe and found that helps make much more pleasant.

 

[K.E. Powell]

Two questions:

1. As you were doing your charring light, how did the tobacco taste then? I know you said it tasted poorly when you went to do your second/true light, but I'm asking about your charring light.

2. What kind of matches did you use?

 

[HRPufnstuf]

If at first you don't succeed..so much for sky-diving,

 

[PA Piper Mike]

I kid...but seriously though, aside from finding the right level of dryness for you and the loose packing, (and I've used this analogy before) it's kinda like driving stick shift (manual)...you can show and tell someone how to do it, but until you are in the driver's seat and feeling the weight of the clutch on your foot and the amount of gas you need to give it before you stall the engine, will you start learning it. It's a feel...feathering the ember between going hot and going out. But once you get it, you don't really think about it, unless you want to.

That said, there's no downside to your pipe going out, don't fear relights. I can't tell you how many times I get interrupted and put the pipe down, or get lost in something I'm doing and it goes out.

1 question I had was regarding this: "But the relight... I've never tasted such a nasty ashy mouthful."

Was it right after your charr/false light? Meaning immediately after, starting on your 2nd light as you worked to get the ember going, that's when it tasted ashy?

Keep at it and try a different tobacco if needs be.

 

[renfield]

Don’t fret. It takes a little time to get the hang of a pipe. Lots of good advice above. Learning what a correct pack feels like is the first hurdle.

 

[warren]

I'm one of those who believes the "learning curve", with regards to pipe smoking, is rather gentle, not steep. Find a decent codger blend to start with, a complex one, at this stage, is a waste. Load it into the pipe, don't "stuff" it. Light, lean back and enjoy. This is what I did in college. Keep your expectations low. Once you can enjoy a bowl, with a few relights, if you want to start delving into blends, longer times between relights, dryness, and such ... do so. But, loading is critical, don't stuff, pack light and then, try packing tighter, lighter and see what gives you the best results.

There is no reason to strive for a perfect bowl. As written above, relax. Perfection comes, if at all, with smoking. No point in striving for a perfect bowl. One day it just happens. Learn to load! Then you can wrestle, if you wish, with whatever you want to reach perfection, however you define that. You can even make it as complicated and frustrating/rewarding as you wish.

It's personal journey. You're not in competition with other smokers.

 

[RookieGuy80]

Ok, so the good news is you're here asking what went wrong so it can (presumably) go better next time. That means it wasn't a dismal failure! Just means you learned an important lesson. Pipe smoking is a thing youlearn by doing. Until you have a couple smokes under your belt, it's a lot like learning to ride a bicycle from books.

Tobacco is an acquired taste. Any tobaccos you smoke too fast will taste ashy and dry, like being around cigarette smoke. But that's good! It's like a warning light on your car. It's telling you something is wrong. Maybe try slowing down? Or even let it go out and light it again in a few minutes.

Please don't get discouraged. It takes quite a bit of fiddling around with it to learn what works and what doesn't. The good news is you're not seeking an objective The Way, it's incredibly subjective. That means if it works for you, you're doing it right. There are very few universal truths in pipe smoking.

 

[Briarcutter]

To me, filling the pipe is everything. I've been doing it so long I have a hard time explaining it. Even after all these years, if the filling, or packing it too tight or firm to me on my before light draw, I empty it and start over. If your cheeks draw in when you puff, it's way too tight a fill. If I gently blow on the top of my lit pipe I get a steady stream of smoke coming out of the stem.

 

[ThermionicScott]

or I burnt the hell out of the pipe itself.

Welcome. If this is the first time ever smoking that pipe, it's very possible you were tasting the briar or some finish inside the bowl burning a little. That's normal! It may take a few more bowls before any nasty tastes go away and the tobacco starts to taste as it should. Keep us posted on how the next few smokes go.

 

[Lumbridge]

Some good advice here. I would also add - try a corn cob. I'd say they're easier to deal with than briars.

 

[Streeper541]

I remember the first time I smoked a pipe. I hot boxed a bowl of Captain Black so fast I burned my tongue worse than a pile of volcanic velveeta nachos fresh from the microwave. Same thing applies... Make sure the tobacco isn't too moist or hot. Slow down, don't rush it. You'll get the hang of it.

 

[Searock Fan]

The pipe can make as much difference as the tobacco. Newbies have a hard time with this concept and think all pipes should smoke the same tobacco and give the same taste. Wrong! You need a quality pipe and yes, I know, you don't want to spend much because you might not stick with it. That is a problem.

 

[sardonicus87]

Aside from reading, have you watched video demonstrations of pipe smoking? You may notice in some, it takes quite a bit of time to get the pipe lit (like, a whole minute).

People that have never driven a vehicle with a carburetor often end up flooding the thing trying to start it. The reason is when it doesn't light off after a few turns of the engine, they start pushing the gas pedal, and they probably forgot to turn the choke on. All this does is cause a bunch of gas to pour into the engine, flooding it and it won't start. I could imagine a similar scenario with pipe lighting. Don't push it even on lighting. You might have to char, tamp and re-light 3 or 4 times before it gets lit.

It does take some getting used to. Like learning to drive... you can watch all the videos and read all the books in the world about it, but none of that translates to what it actually feels like, how much pressure you actually need on the gas or brakes, etc. Pipe is no different in that regard.

And if you don't taste things that reviews of a blend point out or how it's supposed to taste, don't fret t much. Seeing as you don't have prior tobacco experience, you do have to develop your palate to get the commonly discussed flavors. Sometimes it takes trying different things and by comparison, you pick up things you didn't before. The brightest light you ever saw seems extremely bright until you see a brighter one. Just like 45 mph feels extremely fast when you first start driving until you've gone 80 mph, then 45 just feels slow.

This coffee video kind of illustrates the point of building your palate. It has to be trained. And yes, this video is "long" at 30 minutes, but you can see how this guy learns to taste coffee and how much a process it is:

 

[Etipton]

Yes dry the tobacco out for 20 minutes or so and sip the pipe and slowly blow it out. Treat it like a quality bourbon. Take your time

 

[OverMountain]

Dry your tobacco. Depending on where you are, at least 30 minutes. If Sherlock (which is a classic blend) proves too troublesome, a good codger blend like SWR makes it easy to learn with. One light and it burns all the way down.

Enjoy!

 

[ParkitoATL]

I am into my ninth month of pipe smoking and am just now learning to smoke so the bowl stays lit, and I've probably smoked close to 200 bowls so far.

 

[ParkitoATL]

stuffed some Peterson's Sherlock Holmes into my cheap B&M briar

Bad (or uncured, not broken in) briar can give you some intensely bitter and acrid puffs. Black cavendish is your friend here, just smoke a bunch of bowls that are overly sweet until that pipe settles down.

You may want to add a filtered cobb for comparison.