Half Smoked Bowls

[jvnshr]

I see that most of the people are complaining about the bitter and ashy taste after leaving their pipes unsmoked for a while (DGT). If you are not going to smoke your pipe for 30 minutes or so, dump the ash. That's what gives the tobacco that intolerable taste. DGT will deliver some kind of spiciness and boldness to some blends.

 

[coldsmoke]

When I smoke nicotine heavy blends, I often find myself puffing for a while before putting the pipe down. I might be back at it within minutes or hours. Often I'll finish the bowl before bed and have even been known to finish the bowl the next day.

Anything beyond that, I turf it on principle.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Jvnshr:Thanks for this tipp.

 

[jvnshr]

Jvnshr:Thanks for this tipp.

You are welcome, I am glad I was helpful.

 

[jpmcwjr]

You are always helpful. I just don't agree it's necessary to dump the ash.

 

[jvnshr]

You are always helpful. I just don't agree it's necessary to dump the ash.

Thanks jpmcwjr. I mostly don't dump the ash until the ash somehow disturbs my smoking experience, even sometimes I realize that there is only ash left in the bowl after trying to relight my pipe and being unsuccessful. However my experiments have shown that if you are not going smoke the pipe for a while dumping the ash is the best option. Ash is the non-liquid residue of the combustion process. Taking into account that you will have a dry ash on the top and slightly wet tobacco on the bottom, they will start marrying after a while and ash will contribute to the taste of the tobacco. I love smoking my pipes until the bowl runs out of tobacco, however sometimes I have to leave my pipe aside for 3-4 hours and smoke it later. That's how I was forced to experiment it.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

this sounds logical

 

[jpmcwjr]

Thanks jpmcwjr. I mostly don't dump the ash until the ash somehow disturbs my smoking experience....

Same. Or if I notice it's lying quite loose on top, and is in danger of falling out or being blown out by a breeze. (keeps wife happier)
I am not sure the tobacco in the heel of the bowl of my pipes is damp enough to absorb "flavor" from the ash. But I'll keep a lookout!

 

[hawky454]

Depends on the blend, really. I’ve had some blends that I can smoke the rest of the bowl the following day and it tastes great but others, like Erinmore and St. Bruno I don’t like how they re-light as they lose flavor and taste ashy. Regardless, I rarely do this method, if I can’t finish a bowl it usually just get dumped, thankfully that rarely happens either. Something about leaving a half smoked pipe to rest bothers me, it feels and looks dirty to me, probably just my ocd kicking in.

 

[wasnsfisher]

Hey Mate. I don't care for the leftovers myself. I live in Canada an git baccy from The States so i consider it "Dirt Cheap" I dump er out every time I want a smoke.

 

[wasnsfisher]

<br />

 

[crashthegrey]

It's rare that I don't finish my pipe, but the workshop is the most likely place where I'll leave a pipe and forget about it. To be totally honest, I disagree with DGT. I find every bowl to taste worse after about 2 hours. However, I am stingy, so I'll smoke it no matter how old it is. Then I'll fill it with a more enjoyable bowl of unburned tobacco.

 

[amisk]

I light my pipe in my driveway, smoke for 10mins on my drive to work, pipe sits in my pocket with a cork in it to keep it from spilling, light it up at lunch in my drive home, light it up on my drive back to work, back to the pocket, light it up after work for my drive home, sits until after dinner when i lire it up and finish the bowl. it’s a wonderful smoke throughout. I’ll let a half smoked bowl sit overnight and it’s just as good. I smoke mostly aromatics but some light english blends as well. All the blends in my very limited experience have been fine. I find that a bowl of lanes 1Q left overnight smokes and tastes great the next day.

 

[echambers]

This is fascinating to me. I never even thought about anything other than tossing the tobacco if I can't finish the bowl.

 

[danish]

My number one daily go to tobacco of virginiaflakes (Capstan), for the last many years, was also preferred due to the good relight smokability. As I smoke half bowls many times a day, my pipes are cleaned at least once a day and then resting.

 

[archerdarkpint]

Absolutely no limit on time or type of tobacco.

 

[madox07]

jvnshr from my cigar days I remember that if I left a cigar over night in the ash tray, it was terrible the next day no matter what I did. Not to mention, that the formerly lit cigar released a lot of ammonia - terrible smell and taste. The blow air through it after it goes out only works a few hours after it went out, in my opinion.

 

[jpmcwjr]

The longest I've gone was a couple of years. A pipe that got misplaced and forgotten about had a half bowl which smoked fine.
The key is moisture: if the bottom is a soggy mess, it'll turn to shit. If reasonably dry, it'll smoke ok to excellent.

 

[bluegrasspipe]

I usually throw a bowl away after 24 hours. That being said (in the case of laziness and sometimes necessity) I have smoked a half bowl up to a week after it was started. Surprisingly to me it was usually not that bad, and in some cases where the initial bowl was set down because it wasn't given enough dry time it was more enjoyable the next day.

I definitely agree to dump your ash.. This was something I never did when I was younger, but I do now during the bowl, however if I am going to set it aside and smoke it later I will leave the ash. IMHO it seems to seal what is left in there from outside air, and doesn't seem as unpleasant as if it had been sitting on the counter the entire time in this high desert climate. I then dump the ash off before the re-light.

I have enough in my cellar to always load fresh, but I will occasionally smoke a half bowl anyway.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Thanks for the added info Bluegrasspipe.