How to Smoke a Full Bowl Without Altering the Taste?

[Filippo]

Believe it or not my favourite tobacco as for now is the Borkum Riff Ruby and it tastes so nice and it's a pretty soft smoke in my opinion but then, as per any other tobacco I have, its taste gets altered when it comes to smoking the last part of it.
Does this happen because I tamp too much and the last bit of tobacco is too packed? How can I avoid it?

 

[warren]

Does this happen because I tamp too much and the last bit of tobacco is too packed? How can I avoid it?

You can't! Think about it, residue collects towards the bottom of the bowl as you smoke impacting the various flavors. It's part and parcel of the experience. Well, I suppose you could simply stop and empty the bowl around two thirds of the way through.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Let it dry for an hour before packing it, and don't smoke it too hot.

 

[Filippo]

Let it dry for an hour before packing it, and don't smoke it too hot.

It cannot be drier than that, it's such an old pack my coworker gave me months ago

 

[Chasing Embers]

It cannot be drier than that, it's such an old pack my coworker gave me months ago

In that case pack it very lightly.

 

[OzPiper]

I routinely use meerschaum chips or Nording Keystones and gravity fill my bowls
The chips/Keystones absorb moisture and keep dottle to a minimum.
They create an air-space under the tobacco mass which aids combustion.
Most bowls smoke down to ash, with little or no re-lights

 

[crashthegrey]

Live like a nobleman and dump it when the flavor changes.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Heat or getting hotter will change the flavor. Moisture gathering at the bottom of the bowl will alter the flavor. Smoke as slow and dry as possible. Even with best case circumstances, flavor will change somewhat.

 

[fireground_piper]

Smoke small chambered pipes.

 

[proteus]

The last little part is for the pipe spirit. The angels cut. You never smoke it. You just dump it. Never smoke to the very bottom. Personally my pack ends up leaving a small air pocket at the bottom which prevents much of this.

 

[VDL_Piper]

Nearly all blends will drift a little in flavour as you move down the bowl but a few will intensify especially those very full blends like the Gawith ropes and plugs and these have flavour unmatched in my humble opinion.

 

[NookersTheCat]

The last little part is for the pipe spirit. The angels cut. You never smoke it. You just dump it. Never smoke to the very bottom. Personally my pack ends up leaving a small air pocket at the bottom which prevents much of this.

I was gonna ask myself how much people tend to throw out. People talk all the time about smoking every bowl "to the very bottom leaving nothing but white ash" whereas ime this is almost never possible. A few select blends and if I'm in the mood, but generally I can't stand smoking the last 1/4 to 1/3rd and dump it. But I also generally leave a cigar once it hits the last 2 inches too while my dad smokes em til he literally burns his lips and needs a roach clip, so... maybe I'm just born a snob lmao

 

[VDL_Piper]

I smoke everything, throw out absolutely nothing. At $3.80 a gram it would be remiss of me not to smoke what I have.

 

[biodarwin]

I was gonna ask myself how much people tend to throw out. People talk all the time about smoking every bowl "to the very bottom leaving nothing but white ash" whereas ime this is almost never possible. A few select blends and if I'm in the mood, but generally I can't stand smoking the last 1/4 to 1/3rd and dump it. But I also generally leave a cigar once it hits the last 2 inches too while my dad smokes em til he literally burns his lips and needs a roach clip, so... maybe I'm just born a snob lmao

I'm the same.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Think about it. The tobacco in the bottom of the bowl is basically filtering the smoke from the top part of the bowl. It almost always changes to some degree as you smoke down.

I smoke it until it is not enjoyable anymore and dump it. I usually don't waste much though.

 

[OzPiper]

I smoke everything, throw out absolutely nothing. At $3.80 a gram it would be remiss of me not to smoke what I have.

I, like @VDL_Piper, live in Oz, where tobacco is eyewateringly exhorbitant.
Hence I find using meerschaum chips/Keystones to be a cheaper alternative to jettisoning the dottle.

Some cigars can be nubbed.
Others need to be discarded when they are no longer enjoyable.
Life’s too short

 

[9mmpuffer]

I've solved it with shallower bowl pipes.

My favorite is 26mm deep.

I love the pot shape.

The tobacco at the bottom of the bowl will trap a lot of the moisture and tar from the smoking, the deeper bowl, the more gunk down at the bottom.

 

[Lumbridge]

With aromatics, the added flavoring tends to be strongest at the top of the bowl and can dissipate towards the bottom.

The flavor evolving throughout the smoke is pretty much universal with all sorts of blends, both aromatic and non-aromatic, in my experience. It's just a part of pipe smoking. Consider a pipe with a shallower bowl, perhaps.

 

[NookersTheCat]

With aromatics, the added flavoring tends to be strongest at the top of the bowl and can dissipate towards the bottom.

The flavor evolving throughout the smoke is pretty much universal with all sorts of blends, both aromatic and non-aromatic, in my experience. It's just a part of pipe smoking. Consider a pipe with a shallower bowl, perhaps.

Great point about aromatics.
As someone who loves aro's myself I can still admit that it's a rare, high quality, aromatic that retains its desireability to the very end. The late great Holiday Spirit comes to mind. Tho some current aromatic english varieties (Eastfarthing) come to mind too..

Point being is you generally got to have not just high quality leaf but also some more robust varietals than the standard yellow Virginia/burley/Cavendish mixture most aros are made from... stuff like good red Virginias (like Holiday Spirit) or latakia (Eastfarthing having both). This makes it so that by the time the aromatic toppings inevitably fade, you still have enough solid background flavors to keep it interesting til the bitter end.

 

[warren]

maybe I'm just born a snob lmao

No! You're a man who knows to stop when the enjoyment stops. A most wonderful attribute.