Slow Smoke Meaning

[ignaciojn]

One of the most frequent advices is to smoke slow.
It's not clear to me if by slow they refer to the frequency between sips, or the intensity of the draw.
Thanks in advance.

 

[sablebrush52]

Both. I get the best out of my tobacco when it's been dried to almost bone dry, then slowly sipped and enjoyed. I keep the tobacco simmering at the edge of going out, sipping just often enough to keep the tobacco simmering, and I let the smoke out through my schnoz to pick up the flavor nuances.

 

[ignaciojn]

I can do the low intensity just fine. The tobacco is dry, and I believe my packing is correct.

But if I take too long between sips, it will invariable go out.

I still enjoy the smoke though.

 

[skaukatt]

Are you tamping diligently? If not, the tobacco will have more of a likelihood of going out and will need relights. If you tamp diligently, this will happen less frequently.

 

[ignaciojn]

Even the lightest of tamps usually makes the pipe go out.

 

[olkofri]

I have the same problem.

 

[upnorth1]

If you tamp as you puff instead of between puffs you should find that it keeps it lit. Tamping without puffing is akin to snuffing out, while tamping while puffing is kind of a venturi effect. Tamp lightly as you do this. That's how it seems to me.

 

[pepesdad1]

^^^^^This.

 

[irishearl]

Wine I sip. Tobacco I puff, though not maniacally. In my 40+ years of smoking a pipe, have never gotten into the go slow and sip approach. I like to see the results of my effort literally. Smoke rising like a thunderhead out of my bowl. :D That probably explains why I could never understand how folks can claim to get an hour's smoke out of a bowl of any size. Even with my largest bowled pipe, I wouldn't be able to get more than 20-25 minutes of smoking out of it.

 

[mso489]

After you tamp, you can sometimes boost the ember just slightly, just enough, by partly covering the bowl with two fingers. I think this raises the heat, and maybe increases the fuel-to-oxygen ratio, or something like that. One finger either side of the bowl, leaving a nice wedge of "flue" to draw in air.

 

[ignaciojn]

@irishearl
That sounds great. Sipping takes effort (to me), while puffing feels more natural.

But don't you get moisture and a hot smoke that way?

 

[Chasing Embers]

But if I take too long between sips, it will invariable go out.

Sounds like the tobacco is packed too loosely. I made this video a while back about the breath smoking technique and a couple of times in the video I stop sipping the pipe for a minute or more, and it remains lit. The pipe in the video can almost always last me nearly two hours.
https://youtu.be/Jw8R7mxECvY

 

[irishearl]

Ignaciojn, I don't puff so hard as to heat up my pipes much. I also don't tend to smoke tobaccos with a lot of moisture content.

 

[ignaciojn]

@Chasing Embers

I've never even been close to that. A video of you packing the pipe would be most appreciated.

 

[Chasing Embers]

At work now, but can certainly do that when I get home.

 

[ignaciojn]

@irishearl

I smoke mostly good quality english blends.

With my cobs I don't have a problem, but the briars almost everytime will get wet.
@Chasing Embers

Thanks! Looking forward to it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Very welcome. I'll shoot it to you in a PM, and let me know how it works out for you.

 

[thomasw]

Wine I sip. Tobacco I puff, though not maniacally. In my 40+ years of smoking a pipe, have never gotten into the go slow and sip approach. I like to see the results of my effort literally. Smoke rising like a thunderhead out of my bowl. :D That probably explains why I could never understand how folks can claim to get an hour's smoke out of a bowl of any size. Even with my largest bowled pipe, I wouldn't be able to get more than 20-25 minutes of smoking out of it.

This sounds like a technique to produce both a hot and wet smoke! It would for me even with a dry burley like Semois. Consider also that the slower smoke renders more flavours and more Vitamin N absorption. But perhaps you don't want those? I must say after 40 yrs of that technique you must have a tungsten tongue ::

 

[irishearl]

Thomasw, my approach doesn't heat up pipe or tongue. :D Nor does it get particularly wet, though that can vary from pipe to pipe. That's what they make pipe cleaners for, though. As to whether it causes me to experience less than full flavor, couldn't say for sure. Only that what I do taste is sufficiently good for me. I think I may be a bit of a pipe heretic as it seems that I smoke in ways that occasionally run counter to common dictates without ill effect.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I think I may be a bit of a pipe heretic as it seems that I smoke in ways that occasionally run counter to common dictates without ill effect.

Not all, you've just found what works for you.