I am experienced enough to know that dark fired blends such as 1792, Dark Plug and GH Black Twist need more relights than average and I am fine with that but with GH Rum Twist I am really frustrated particularly as I like it so much. No matter what I do after 3 or 4 puffs it goes dead. Tried everything, different pipes, drying the most (I dried today bowl for 24 hours in Southern California up to paper dry) cutting in small pieces but no matter what I do it is the same. I suspect it would not even burnt in the recent LA fires. I don't know what else to try particularly that as I said it is well beyond my experience with the other dark fired blends also of GH.
Problem Continuous Relights with GH Rum Twist
- Thread starter 64alex
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Do you really have it going properly from the get go ? That's usually the most common problem. Got to get that cherry glow going.
I’m in Long Beach and today it’s rain and very high humidity so that doesn’t help the process but as troutface says I get a good solid cherry going all across the top of the bowl and use my lighter as needed throughout.
This is the summary of multiple experiences even in very dry weather (yes today was rainy but still the baccy was bone dry and I was inside with heating on) and they are all the same, very difficult to cherry, today it took probably 4 or 5 attempts before having a small cherry glow which than goes down maybe not in 4 puffs but within 1-2 minutes. And I can say this is everytime and only with this blend and I have enough experience with other difficult to light dark fired blends to say this is totally different. What is different from any other blend is that at charring always the baccy does not or minimally raises up.
A looser pack maybe ? Otherwise I got nothing. I've never had it before, I've only had Black X.
I already tried loser and tighter packing, tamping/no tamping. It is really puzzling me as I am not a novice given I am able to keep often light for at least 20 min 1792, dark plug and black twist. I am really wondering if a couple of min is the limit that blend can kept on.
Slice it into very thin coins then cube cut the coins or fully rub them out and let them dry for an hour or two and gravity fill it. I can smoke it well enough with few relights but I prefer to chew the twists.
This is it. You really need to break the rope up. You probably aren't preparing the rope properly.
Rub it out fine, put it in the palm of your hand and close the other palm on it and rub like hell, you should get a ball. Pull the ball apart and repeat until it’s fine. Now spread out on a tray and go find something else to do like mow the lawns of the next 4 houses. Now do this 
Good suggestions so far. I think the key is getting the top cherry glowing, all the top. When it's all a glow, gently tamp the charred tobacco while slowly puffing, then relight it and get the whole top glowing again, tamp again as you're puffing. The key is getting the whole top glowing, from edge to edge.
I’ll bet you aren’t using sustainability harvested, non-GMO hand-waxed bespoke-DNA hemp twine, are you?
As said I am experienced enough and I have no problem with other ropes made by GH. Yes, I break in very thin pieces, yes, I always use the palm method of packing the bowl since I started piping 10 years ago when I found that video and even yes I use the hemp twine which I love as it is like an infinite match. The only thing I did not do and I was thinking to do is using a grinder which I will try. Anyway I don't get why I have this problem only with this and not other ropes.
Try putting some easy to light tobacco with a neutral flavor on top to work like kindling. Or cut it with the Black Twist that you had success with.
I don't know. I had the same issues with their flake I tried. Found sadly at the end of my sample (bought a few ounces instead of a pound like I should have) that the two things that seemed to help were to pack it an hour or two before the smoke and then when I char it to char it like a mad man. Basically to go over board on the first match. Let the pipe cool down tamp and go from there. Still needed more relights then I would prefer but not so many I couldn't drop into the zen of pipes.