Progressing Through the Smoke

[Beowoulf]

Anyone notice this pattern?
The first quarter of the pipe tends to taste bad and misbehaves. The next half of the bowl is the sweetspot - just pure enjoyment and taste. And the last quarter is stirring the pot and trying to keep the pipe lit.

 

[bullet08]

First quarter. You just put the fire to tobacco to start smoking. You might have kept the fire on it little too long.

Last quarter. Try dumping the ashes. Run pipe cleaner, and don't stir anything. Using a tamper, gently even out the top of tobacco, and do a quick relight.

 

[warren]

Try some or all of the above. An even stuffing, not too tight or light, is what you are striving for. It'll take some ti,e to find what works for you.

 

[CallMeSangy]

I generally find the opposite to be true. I get the sweetest flavours on initial light up, and then a progressive decrease in flavours until I finish. I blame it on the ash mostly, as a quick dumping of it will usually make it taste better instantly.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Sound like a tobacco moisture, packing, lighting, or cadence issue. I enjoy a pipe from lighting to ash.

 

[DanWil84]

If my tobacco has the right moisture level for that type of tobacco and my packing is right for that cut of tobacco I enjoy the bowl front to back. A english mixture for me a can be a little more moist, where I like a virginia or burley bone dry. A ribbon cut can be packed a bit tighter (3 pinch method), where a ready rubbed or rubbed flake is gravity filled with little resistance when pressing the tobacco in the bowl, a fold and stuffed flake will be pressed only when I tamp it which I generally do very light.

I do think the second third is the best part as the tobacco had time to open up with the ember, maybe some moisture (the tobacco might be bone dry but you get some moisture never the less) has enhanced the tobacco while burning. I don't dump ash the last third, that layer of ash helps for me to restrict the airflow enough to not let it burn to hot so I don't have to adjust my cadance. A extra relight in the bottom third isn't really a problem, I try to touch the tobacco with the heat of the flame, not the flame itself.

If a bowl of tobacco isn't enjoyable from front to back personally I would attribute that to the above mentioned factors.

 

[kcghost]

I usually find a consistent flavor throughout the bowl unless I over pack it.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

First part of the bowl tells the overall tale for me, if it’s not enjoyable at the start I’m not too optimistic about it getting noticeably better. Otherwise, I just go with it and there may be some things coming through a little different but not all that significant - sometimes dumping some ash makes a difference in a good way. If it starts to sour on me I just dump it all.