Newer Pipe Smoker Wants Thick Clouds

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condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,051
27,176
New York
As f*cking usual I'll take Chasing Embers for $100. Why on earth do you want to be a smoke generator. You will burn the roof of your mouth, not taste anything and generally wonder why you took up pipe smoking. A pipe has to smolder slowly, the bowl should not feel as if it is the product of a brick kiln, you need to kick back or in the words of a 1970s Student Magazine become LBAM - Laid Back and Mellow. If you want smoke and make massive clouds, yellow wall paper and f*cked up teeth take up Red Indian re-enacting and go on a smoke signals course.
 

luigi

Can't Leave
May 16, 2017
457
1,270
Europe
The most smoky looking tobacco I've tried was Dunhill Early Morning Pipe.
Sometimes I get a nice thick smoke pouring from the chamber when I smoke flakes or when a thicker chunk of tobacco starts to smolder. No clouds but a dense string of smoke rising out.
 

pantsBoots

Lifer
Jul 21, 2020
2,135
7,542
Terra Firma
"A cigar is a stick of incense you occasionally puff to keep lit".

I'm a greedy, greedy boy, so I puff unashamedly most of the time, but when I'm spending time with a rare/vintage/dear-to-me smoke, or in the mood to really slow down and immerse myself, that's exactly how I approach cigars - I smoke enough to keep it going, but that is all. Doing so with pipes causes more relights, but c'est la vie.
 
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didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,959
31,832
34
Burlington WI
First of all, this forum would have died off if we didn't start new threads of the same topic once and a while. It's actually encouraged for us mods to lock threads that are a year or more older.

With that said, I like seeing the smoke most days. Others I could care less. I find a drier tobacco is easier on my palette and easier to smoke faster. I like smoking fast most of the time. But many guys don't. Keep trying tobaccos that work in your world for what you want. Carter Hall is my preferred tobacco. It takes me weeks to months to dry that stuff out to my liking. But I have discovered that I can smoke it however I like, and it doesn't argue with me. If you like to smoke fast with lots of smoke, do it. It's not about what other guys like, it's about what you like.
 
Ok, now that I’ve had dinner and am all relaxed with my pipe…

The reason flavor is killed by puffing, is that what we pipesmokers aim for, is a smaller cherry of fir in the chamber, where there can be more unincinerated leaf surrounding the heat, so that oils are pushed off the leaf and mixed in with the smoke. This requires a very slow steady cadence. Think long slow sips. But, without knowledge we tend to get excited when we start tasting and ruin it by speeding up.

Maybe try smoking slow, on the verge of going out. Savor it and look for the sweet spot. You may like it more than turning your pipe into a smoke machine. Give it a try.
 

didimauw

Moderator
Staff member
Jul 28, 2013
9,959
31,832
34
Burlington WI
Ok, now that I’ve had dinner and am all relaxed with my pipe…

The reason flavor is killed by puffing, is that what we pipesmokers aim for, is a smaller cherry of fir in the chamber, where there can be more unincinerated leaf surrounding the heat, so that oils are pushed off the leaf and mixed in with the smoke. This requires a very slow steady cadence. Think long slow sips. But, without knowledge we tend to get excited when we start tasting and ruin it by speeding up.

Maybe try smoking slow, on the verge of going out. Savor it and look for the sweet spot. You may like it more than turning your pipe into a smoke machine. Give it a try.
I will never forget the first time I figured this out. Many years after I started smoking a pipe. Life changing what that can do. I still don't do it often, but I know what happens when you do!
 
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Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,407
109,186
If smoking cheap blends didn't shut you down to pipe smoking pipes, the good blends should do you quite well.
Cost isn't necessarily subjective to quality. In the early '90s, a 50g tin of McClelland cost roughly the same as a pouch of Captain Black and I still enjoy both equally.
 
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condorlover1

Lifer
Dec 22, 2013
8,051
27,176
New York
@Chasing Embers : You know I don't have a witty repost to that comment when you think about all the stuff I smoke. Maybe I have been overly harsh on Captain Monochromatic and perhaps I should buy a pouch. I would not buy a grape flavored pouch but after smoking an entire tin of Erinmore perhaps I should give it another try. It might have improved since 1996.
 

Chasing Embers

Captain of the Black Frigate
Nov 12, 2014
43,407
109,186
@Chasing Embers : You know I don't have a witty repost to that comment when you think about all the stuff I smoke. Maybe I have been overly harsh on Captain Monochromatic and perhaps I should buy a pouch. I would not buy a grape flavored pouch but after smoking an entire tin of Erinmore perhaps I should give it another try. It might have improved since 1996.
CBG is more like an incense. If you want to avoid a total grape bomb, don't buy Visions of Celephäis!?
 
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Warlee

Might Stick Around
Apr 13, 2022
76
621
Michigan
Coming from cigars I too wanted more smoke. But as I learn to smoke a pipe it’s something I care less about as time goes on. It’s mostly about the flavor. And although I’m no longer looking for big clouds of smoke I’ve found some blends do give bigger, more satisfying amounts of smoke without killing the flavor. Cigar leaf blends like Warped Kings Stride or Until it Ends both do. Boswells Raspberry Cream gives off a pleasing amount of smoke as well.
 

Kooky

Starting to Get Obsessed
Mar 17, 2022
123
423
Florida
Maybe try smoking slow, on the verge of going out. Savor it and look for the sweet spot. You may like it more than turning your pipe into a smoke machine. Give it a try.

When I say this in the form of someone else’s quote I read online, I get trolled.
 
When I say this in the form of someone else’s quote I read online, I get trolled.
I added key words, like "maybe try" and "give it a try" to keep from sounding dogmatic. It's really just your choice, and I was merely making a suggestion. But, everyone is free to do as they please. I was just kindly trying to help.
 

The Clay King

(Formerly HalfDan)
Oct 2, 2018
5,787
52,720
41
Chesterfield, UK
www.youtube.com
As f*cking usual I'll take Chasing Embers for $100. Why on earth do you want to be a smoke generator. You will burn the roof of your mouth, not taste anything and generally wonder why you took up pipe smoking. A pipe has to smolder slowly, the bowl should not feel as if it is the product of a brick kiln, you need to kick back or in the words of a 1970s Student Magazine become LBAM - Laid Back and Mellow. If you want smoke and make massive clouds, yellow wall paper and f*cked up teeth take up Red Indian re-enacting and go on a smoke signals course.
@condorlover1 When I first got my clays I tended to puff a bit too hard because I thought the pipe might go out; this is why I was puffing like a steam train in my first videos...
 

The Clay King

(Formerly HalfDan)
Oct 2, 2018
5,787
52,720
41
Chesterfield, UK
www.youtube.com
@Chasing Embers : You know I don't have a witty repost to that comment when you think about all the stuff I smoke. Maybe I have been overly harsh on Captain Monochromatic and perhaps I should buy a pouch. I would not buy a grape flavored pouch but after smoking an entire tin of Erinmore perhaps I should give it another try. It might have improved since 1996.
@condorlover1 After all you've said about "Captain Crap"!!!:)
I don't think they make Captain Black Grape any more; I actually liked it in the clay pipes.