How Long Do You Draw For?

[Chasing Embers]

It's a personal thing. If you pinch it together, and it stays stuck together, it's too wet. I prefer mine bone dry.

 

[brightleaf]

Reading this thread is more informative than I would've guessed. A lot of techniques to optimize flavor. My main determiner for depth of draw is based on whatever my current craving for nicotine is. I tend to take long deep draws to get an initial buzz, then take short puffs to keep it going until I want another shot of nicotine. Sometimes I will do short rapid puffs to bring the ember back up, or if I want to generate a thick cloud for a nice smoke ring.

 

[bluegrasspipe]

Check out Alan Kerslake's "Breath Smoking" video.
Once you learn this, there is no going back to wondering, you always have a cool smooth pipe, and your tongue will thank you..

 

[nevadablue]

Snork? 8O

 

[Chasing Embers]

Retrohaling.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Stupid question, but how do you know the tobacco is dried enough?

Not at all stupid. Most people guess at first, then learn from experience. Pretty hit and miss especially if you're trying lots of new blends. I rely on a hygrometer, a little RH measuring device that fits in a tin or bag. 65% RH at 70º works great for me. Most tobaccos are shipped at a moisture level higher than for optimum smoking.
If you're in Alabama in the Summer, leaving it out to "dry" will end up a wet mess; in Arizona, it will crumble before too long.

 

[nevadablue]

Snork, had to look up retrohaling finally. Thanks for the info, this place is great!
YES, dry is good. I am learning.

 

[olkofri]

Won't the breath method cause one to inhale?

 

[sablebrush52]

As a professional artist, I've been drawing for about 60 years.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Won't the breath method cause one to inhale?

Nope. The smoke is controlled by creating a vacuum in your mouth timed with your breathing.

 

[alexnorth]

I saw muttonchops video, maybe I'll need to look again because I haven't got the hang of breath-smoking yet.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Draw?

 

[johno85]

Brilliant input guys! Thank you so much!

 

[deathmetal]

I was talking about this with a relatively new pipe smoker. His point was that breath smoking is probably the natural way to smoke, and how people have been doing it for centuries, but that this seems "hidden" in most introductions to smoking. The whole paradigm is wrong as a result, with us talking about drawing and sipping. The actual method we want, and in my experience one tends toward this over time as a result of experience, is to create a seal around the pipe stem and let the smoke be drawn into the mouth slowly. He pointed out that he never gets a hot pipe this way and experiences maximum flavor and Nicotine. Of course, the latter was what converted me as well. I am not sure how well this method works with aromatics because Prince Albert is as close as I get to smoking any of those, and even it makes my throat itchy (and then I get surly).

 

[sumusfumus]

Reluctantly read thru this thread. Glad I did. Learned even more techniques for proper smoking and maximizing enjoyment. There's so much to learn. Sorry I didn't stick with learning HOW to properly smoke a pipe, years ago. Bit back then in the 1960s...no computers....no internet. You younger guys have no idea just how advantaged you are. You just turn on your phones and computers for quick answers. Geezers like me had to hoof it to a few B&M libraries, and then hope there were books on a specific subject, read thru it, and hope for some answers. I learned more in a month of reading thru this forum and looking at You-Tube videos, than I learned in the previous 50 years.
Thanks for all the input, explanations, and techniques re: pipe-smoking.
Frank

 

[aussiemike]

I think I do it like ray47 said, every 15seconds or so. If your getting tongue bite it could be so many things depending on bakkey,pipe, cockpit error, ect ect as other people have said. Once my bowl is lite after the first or second lighting and tamp or two I puff to see how much smoke is coming out, and feather my puffs to the burn off the bowl and regularly gently blow through the pipe to reverse puff if that makes scene. I have been smoking for years and am no way an expert but like anything time, and experience, and many knowledgeable heads here make shorter time of knowledge learnt.

 

[northernpipeshed]

Puff to set the tobacco afire, then sip. Sipping like it's scotch, but slow. The aim is to enjoy the most flavor, which happens when the tobacco is barely simmering, just on the verge of going out. I adjust my sipping cadence accordingly to keep the blend on that edge for as long as possible. These days it's automatic, so I don't have to think about it. And don't neglect to snork, or you'll miss the boat.
EDIT: To be able to keep the blend at the edge, you also have to get it to the appropriate level of moisture content, which is nearly bone dry. Wet tobacco won't give up it's flavors. The extra water content masks flavors. When you figure this out, you're going to get the most flavors from pipe smoking.
sablebrush52............I think sums it up........excellent

 

[deathmetal]

Bit back then in the 1960s...no computers....no internet.

Not quite correct. Just not public

 

[quint]

For me, I feel that the tobacco dryness level greatly affects how often I must draw to keep it burning. Depending on the blend and cut, the drier it is (up to a certain point), the easier it burns and the less often I have to draw. But too dry and it burns much too quickly with less flavor. With wet aromatics, I remember having to puff a lot more to keep them lit. That's one reason I gave them up long ago.