Shallow Bowls, Deeper Bowls

[mso489]

I find shallow bowls better with flake (plug, coin, rope) which burns longer. With loose tobacco, a shallow bowl can smoke well but too short, in terms of time. Deeper bowls give you time to get the blend going, and if it is a good one, to savor it for longer. For some burley blends or single leaf like Tabac-Manil Semois, a deep bowl gives the leaf full time unfold and improve. Any reflections on shallow versus or compared to deep bowls? I think both have their place, for different purposes.

 

[nevadablue]

In my limited experience with the pipe, I find what you say is true. With the more dense tobacco, like flake, some of my pipes hold too much tobacco, or rather burn too long for me. I am still learning this, but I have found that with tobacco like Carter Hall or Prince Albert, a large bowl is fine. With the more dense stuff, I find myself letting the bowl go out and coming back to it later.

 

[saltedplug]

I know this heresy, but I don't notice any difference between pipes with different bowl sizes. Nor do I think chamber geometry or maker are significant, nor have I ever found a particular pipe and tobacco pairing. If I can't taste the difference, it doesn't exist for me; and so while all of your are making such distinctions useful to you, I will go on thinking that all of this is a load of hooey.
What does make a difference is the acuity of my palate which waxes and wanes according to what I've eaten and the time of day, as well as technique and concentration. It may well be that these factors exist but operate below my awareness because palate and technique dominate my consciousness.

 

[balkisobrains]

I like deeper bowls, because then I have room for my meer chips. =)

 

[hawky454]

I prefer flakes in long, narrow bowls, Latakia blends in deep, wide bowls and plugs I can smoke in either but prefer the chamber to be large. Stronger blends like 1792 Flake, Bracken Flake and Dark Flake I prefer to use a more shallow bowl like in a squat bulldog or a prince cause these type of blends can get bitter in larger bowls. It took some time but I’ve found that every single one of my pipes has chosen the tobacco they like best. I have certain pipes dedicated to one specific blend and other pipes are dedicated to a genre of tobacco. It’s never too late to change the genre though, I had a pipe dedicated to Lat blends for 8 plus years that I just recently did a deep clean on and started smoking straight VA’s out of and you would never have guessed that it used to smoke Lat blends only.

 

[thomasw]

Like Hawky I fall into the deep bowl preference for flakes, but not necessarily too narrow; e.g., less than .80 of an inch in bowl diameter (.80 to .85 is my preferred bowl diameter). A thick walled bowl, which is fairly deep, is great for slow sipping flake tobaccos and getting the best of the flavours. I find slightly thicker chambers to be cooler smokers.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Funny, I use my largest pipes for Semois and Dark Flake and the like, so that I can get that big bold cigar-like qualities in those blends. Narrow chambers help me focus on that tiny wisp of flavors in Virginias,.. even flakes. Smoking for a few hours is a plus for me. I smoke all day anyways. Unless a blend sucks. I have never had a smoke that was too long. Short 1x1 chamber ratios I prefer to smoke Latakia blends, and even some bitier Virginias. When I smoke a Virginia in a wider chamber, it makes it more full, less bright in flavor.

This is all my taste buds. The Saltedplugs of the world are free to do and think as they want. ::
Smoke what you like; like what you smoke.

 

[saltedplug]

I just checked price on Condor Plug at the Pipe Divan. OMG! $23.50/50g. That's almost double what I paid, which had it been the price would have meant a $100.00 buy once in awhile. Condor has such a big rep and its characteristics so much in line with what I like to smoke that I'm sure I would have bought some. But I would have drawn the line. I've been very tempted to buy the RO barrel-fermented VAs, but the price is similar, and haven't bought any yet. Tobacco is delectable in most cases; why pay through the nose for it?

 

[Chasing Embers]

I know this heresy, but I don't notice any difference between pipes with different bowl sizes. Nor do I think chamber geometry or maker are significant, nor have I ever found a particular pipe and tobacco pairing.

Me too.

 

[edwinbaz]

It's an issue of convenience. Not many people have the time or the stamina to smoke a bowl for 4 hours. However, in terms of taste, I think height does not play that big a factor, but chamber width does.

I'm with some of you in that sometimes I don't necessarily notice a difference, but I attribute that to my inexperienced palate. There must be some effect. For example, a narrower chamber may help with a hot burning Virginia, and a wider one may allow other tobaccos to shine through and not be drowned by Latakia.

Learning to perceive those nuances and how to differentiate the tastes and components of a blend is part of the journey. Also, looking for that perfect match between a particular pipe and a particular blend is always fun.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I cannot account for other people’s palate, but when I smoke... let’s say... Escudo in a .6” x 1.3” chamber, and then Escudo in a .8” x 2” chamber, I can definitely tell a difference in taste and body of the smoke. But, whether the pipe was made by a Dunhill or Dr. Grabow of the same dimensions, well... I probably couldn’t tell a difference in the flavor.

 

[Chasing Embers]

After almost thirty years of smoking a pipe, bowl dimensions just don't change anything to me. One may offer a longer smoke than another, but from bowl to bowl, they taste identical.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

I find that more complex blends such as balkans and englishes, are much better in a wide narrow bowl, such as the Savinelli 320. But this is not always the case. For instance I smoked some Kramer's Blend for Cary Grant in a Bjarne with a somewhat narrow, slightly conical bowl the other day and it was exceptional.

 

[saltedplug]

Given that most find a different/better flavor pipe to pipe as well as optimal pipe/tobacco pairings, it's likely that there is that difference. Dissent perhaps has its own origins just as compelling, but without the representation of the dominant perception, it is less widely regarded.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I find that more complex blends such as balkans and englishes, are much better in a wide narrow bowl, such as the Savinelli 320.

Not a narrow wide bowl? A wide bowl in any event is what I think you mean, deep or shallow.
In any event, I've read the same repeated many times, but it doesn't make sense in the physics of the matter; all the tastes come down through a narrow airway, whether they start on opposite sides of a wide bowl or not.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

Not a narrow wide bowl? A wide bowl in any event is what I think you mean, deep or shallow.

:rofl: I meant a wide, shallow bowl.

 

[bigpond]

Aside from spewing nonsense round the clock, our blowholes share little in common. It’s bonkers to think what one perceives applies to the rest. That said, we can test our ol’ tasters rather easily and without changing anything beyond the way we puff to get a sense of just how picky our own apparatus is. Next time you light a bowl smoke like you always do, then do this-
With the pipe in your kisser, close your mouth and inhale a normal, relaxed breath through your nose...just take a breath, forget about the pipe....then exhale through your preferred exit hole.
Do that for a bit, it takes a little practice.
Once you have the hang of it, try alternating, say 4 puffs with your regular style, than 4 through the method above...
If you do not perceive a difference, job done. Congrats, keep on keepin on!
If you do perceive a difference, well, the same applies. But consider if merely changing the way you puff impacts your flavor perception, how about every other variable in the chain that precedes that puff?
I rotate all my pipes through whatever I happen to be smoking, and each bowlful is unique. I think that’s pretty cool. When I hit on something that really stands out, I make a mental note and try add in similar pipes while excluding others. Sometimes I’ll just keep using the same pipe if everything seems to be getting on.
What I’ve learned from the above is that in general for my smoking fare and style, I prefer large pipes. I try to not buy pipes narrower than 22mm, or 7/8”. Deep is fine, shallow is too. I like to use the air pocket, or cannonball method.
Bottom line, there are a ton of variables that impact flavor perception. Whether we are able to perceive that impact is another matter. The value of perceiving the impact or lack of it is perhaps the most dubious aspect.
I’d rather smoke grasmere through an apple lined with tin foil and love every second of it than smoke 10 year old Stonehaven in a Tao worrying about whether I was really “getting it”.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

I prefer a bowl right at or around 1.5 inches (which isn't real shallow, but more in the middle I suppose). I smoke mainly rubbed out flake and find that it works for me (sometimes fold and stuff, which works well for such depth as well). The smoke generally lasts somewhere around 30-45 minutes and the flavors really develop during the last 1/3 of the smoke. I have a bowl that is 2 inches deep and I always have issues with it going out over and over during the last 1/2 inch of the bowl, which makes the experience less enjoyable and defeats the purpose of a deeper bowl because I'm having to relight which affects the flavor (in my opinion) in a negative way. I'm just not a good deep bowl smoker, but for those who are, I'm sure it can be very rewarding. ::

 

[jpmcwjr]

I prefer a bowl right at or around 1.5 inches (which isn't real shallow, but more in the middle I suppose)

Among my collection, 1.5" bowl depth would be at the deep end of all my pipes. What happens with a pipe of say 1" depth?

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Possibly these smaller shallow chamber were originally intended to have stronger blends.