French inhaling. Finally I can taste tobacco!

[guitrsnglocks]

So this probably won't come as a shock to a lot of people. But I was having trouble tasting flavors and nuances of tobacco when I first started smoking. I didn't like to retrohale as I thought it made the tobacco taste wierd. My grandpa who is a long time piper said "son the best way for me to pick up on flavors is to French inhale". So I tried it and oh boy! It opened up a whole new world of flavors for me. I've even went back to tobaccos I didn't like before and found they are quite tasty when French inhaling. Do any of you use this technique with the same great results? It really let me enjoy smoking much more, especially with some aro's that seemed bland at first but now have great taste. I've noticed a lot of newbies have trouble with taste and I would definetely recommend the French inhale! Thanks for letting me ramble!

 

[stanlaurel]

I have no idea what "French inhaling" is. Can someone clue me in as to what this is and how it is accomplished?

 

[sablebrush52]

I have no idea what "French inhaling" is. Can someone clue me in as to what this is and how it is accomplished?

It's very simple. You stick your tongue out and curve it up into one of your nostrils then blow the smoke along it.

 

[settersbrace]

There's also a special style of pants that must be worn to pull this off so one doesn't break their pipe.

 

[phil67]

Somewhat difficult to explain, but it basically (this is normally done with a cigarette) involves sucking smoke into the mouth without inhaling it completely, then opening the mouth and pushing out the smoke with the tongue while inhaling it through the nose. The problem with this technique, when used with a pipe, is that you are inhaling the smoke into your lungs when it’s drawn up into, and through the nose. If you have no issue with inhaling while smoking a pipe then go for it, but a technique that is definitely not for me.

 

[mso489]

A man's got to do what a man's got to do, but I wouldn't recommend this to others. One of the aspects of pipe smoking that makes it preferable to cigarettes, in the minds of many pipe smokers at least, is that you don't inhale the smoke intentionally, nor nearly so much. You don't expose as many tissues in your mouth, nose, throat, lungs, and windpipe. This goes along with the fact that most of us don't smoke nearly as continuously, and many of us only smoke a bowl or three a day. I don't doubt this technique boosts the flavor to a degree, but for most of us, it's not a good trade.

 

[bigjoe]

You don't need a lung full to get the scent, just long enough to get a little into your sinuses. I find it can really bring out flavors.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Same concept, but a little less to the extreme, is what I do. I will simply waft some smoke coming out of the bowl toward my nose. You take a little bit of smoke in of course as you breathe in, but not as much. Doing this just a few times during a bowl helps me realize the flavors quite well.

 

[mcitinner1]

Ditto to Anthony.

 

[condorlover1]

Sounds a little unhealthy to me but whatever floats your boat I guess.

 

[okiescout]

Stanlaurel, I draw smoke to the to the back of my throat and holding my tongue against the top front of my palate and exhale it out through my nostrils. If gives me some sense of the flavors in the tobacco. I cough if smoke enters my lungs, which has never happened while exhaling in this manner. I do not believe any appreciable amount of smoke enters your lungs if you do this correctly. I do this several times a bowl.

 

[condorlover1]

How did I wind up with someone else avatar? Thats too strange. Explain please people?

 

[phil67]

How did I wind up with someone else avatar? Thats too strange. Explain please people?

As long as you didn't end up with haja's avatar consider your self lucky. :lol:

 

[yaddy306]

I didn't like to retrohale as I thought it made the tobacco taste wierd.

This makes no sense to me, nor does the need to draw the smoke into your lungs to "taste" it.

 

[instymp]

I was sitting here, smoking a cigar, read the subject line & did one with the cigar & damn near blew my sinuses & nasal passages out the front of my face! Wrong smoke to try it with! But I do like with with pipes & used to like it with cig.

S&^% still burns!

 

[phil67]

This makes no sense to me, nor does the need to draw the smoke into your lungs to "taste" it.

Well, I don't actually think he meant that drawing the tobacco into ones lungs would enhance the taste, but that his grandfather told him that French inhaling is the way to go in 'tasting' the tobacco. Obviously, French inhaling is not in any way shape or form the proper way to smoke a pipe as retrohaling will accomplish the very same end without having to inhale the smoke into ones lungs.
As instymp stated he made the unfortunate mistake of doing so with a cigar. Do that same thing with a strong cigar and you'll more likely than not shit your pants, blow the top off your skull off and turn your brains into squirrel shit.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Do that same thing with a strong cigar and you'll more likely than not shit your pants, blow the top off your skull off and turn your brains into squirrel shit

 

[sablebrush52]

A man's got to do what a man's got to do, but I wouldn't recommend this to others. One of the aspects of pipe smoking that makes it preferable to cigarettes, in the minds of many pipe smokers at least, is that you don't inhale the smoke intentionally, nor nearly so much. You don't expose as many tissues in your mouth, nose, throat, lungs, and windpipe. This goes along with the fact that most of us don't smoke nearly as continuously, and many of us only smoke a bowl or three a day. I don't doubt this technique boosts the flavor to a degree, but for most of us, it's not a good trade.

If you smoke indoors I don't see how you can avoid inhaling smoke into your lungs. You're sitting in a cloud of smoke. I only smoke outdoors. The few exceptions are pipe club meetings and a pipe show. And I can definitely feel the difference.

 

[nathaniel]

I've been smoking the pipe for 7 years and totally agree with the OP. Wafting the smoke from the mouth to the nose provides a much better sense of taste for me. It's pretty much all I do. Not a "French inhale" in the normal sense of the term but rather just sipping the pipe and then smelling the tobacco as the smoke slowly wafts out of the mouth. The retrohale provides a much different sensation as well but I believe the OP will get the most out of his tobacco in that manner he described so long as it's not a "slurp the smoke from you curved tongue hole into you nostrils kind of thing like the "real" French inhale is. The best explanation of this technique is to understand what "circular" breathing is in the world of brass and woodwind instruments.

 

[guitrsnglocks]

I don't inhale smoke into my lungs at all. If I inhale through my mouth I cough and gag like crazy. Don't get me wrong I'm sure some smoke reaches the lungs regardless but I'm not a cigarette smoker and can not stand to inhale smoke. Yet this technique causes no discomfort for me whatsoever.