That Last Little Bit In The Bowl

[GJMinVT]

Hello, Friends!

I have basked in the advice of so many of you and all has gone well. I've tried some tobaccos and loved them, and put others in the closet for some time down the road. While I have enjoyed the aromatics/English aromatics quite a bit... it's the Va/Per's and Orientals that I gravitate towards. The Burley's felt a bit strong but in time I think I'll enjoy them. There are several specific brands that I've come to love (e.g., Cornell & Diehls, Peterson, Stokkebye) and a few that are on my list for the next purchase (GL Pease).

I recently became infatuated with Peterson Early Morning Pipe... who knew!? Fantastic smoke. I've also arrived from much trial and error at a place where I can generally enjoy a cool smoke (though sometimes my predisposition to want to puff too many times can really heat the bowl... learning to pace myself is not easy!). I'm smoking 9mm filtered pipes (the exception being the Savinelli 6mm that just arrived).

So here is my issue and let me set the stage:

• Savinelli Series III 622KS Bent Pot Large 9mm (unfinished, though turning a nice color with use).
• Peterson Early Morning Pipe (for this instance, but others for the other times)
• Smoke is cool and dry, gray ash forming nicely, well packed, some number of re-lights but not that many
• Meditative, slow and sipping draws.

ISSUE: It's a large bowl as are some of the others I have and when I get down to the last 5-10 minutes of the smoke is when I get tongue bite. It's that last bit in the bottom of the bowl. I realize that it is wet and hot given the burn down that occurs of the tobacco above it. Am I just going too far and it's time to say so long to that last bit as collateral damage for a well-smoked bowl? Other than this, I'm avoiding tongue bite. It only happens at the end.

Thoughts?
(THANK YOU! in advance)

 

[canucklehead]

Don't try to smoke the wet crud in the bottom, stop when it gets unpleasant. You can minimize the wetness by drying your tobacco more, and smoking as slow as possible.

I usually dump the last little bit, I vary rarely smoke all the way to the very bottom.

 

[brandaves]

?
Tobacco is relatively cheap and made to be enjoyed. Once a bowl isn't as enjoyable then it's time to dump the dottle and move on.

 

[olkofri]

Toss it. What's the point of searing your tongue over a consumable, however 'expensive/valuable' it might be?

No matter how much you dry the tobacco prior to packing, it will get moist during smoking—some blends more than others. There's a reason it's called 'dottle' which, to me, is a synonym of slag and waste.

 

[mordy18]

The only reason i ever try to smoke to the bottom of the bowl is to evenly build carbon or a cake including at the bottom. Some of my pipes are noticeably less “carbonized” at the very bottom. I know people suggest starting with half bowls on new pipes but i havent bothered. And i’ve stopped worrying about it. Generally i know when im getting to the end as smoke volume decreases, gets harder to relight and taste degrades. I usually remove some ash, relight and smoke a bit longer and the dump the remainder. I do find it satisfying when a blend smokes clean down to the bottom.

 

[workman]

Smoking is pleasant and it is supposed to be pleasant. If it is not, don't.
I used to have that same problem and it caused me some tongue bite too.
It's strange, we gladly throw away tonnes upon tonnes of leftover food, old clothes, perfectly usable cars and electronics, furniture etc, but we can't bring ourselves to be cynical about the last 1/4 gram of tobacco in the bowl, even if it is a nasty, wet, ashy concoction of sour shit.
I say toss it. And in a year or two, when you are better at smoking your pipe, it doesn't happen anyway, or only rarely.

 

[kg.legat0]

+1 for team "dump it" ...the longer I dry the stuff, the less dottle I see but if I don't have time to wait or don't feel like it, I don't care...if you are dumping a quarter of the bowl all the time that's one thing, but a small, nasty, wet plug at the bottom of the pipe is good riddance.

 

[olkofri]

The only reason i ever try to smoke to the bottom of the bowl is to evenly build carbon or a cake including at the bottom. Some of my pipes are noticeably less “carbonized” at the very bottom. I know people suggest starting with half bowls on new pipes but i havent bothered. And i’ve stopped worrying about it. Generally i know when im getting to the end as smoke volume decreases, gets harder to relight and taste degrades. I usually remove some ash, relight and smoke a bit longer and the dump the remainder. I do find it satisfying when a blend smokes clean down to the bottom.

That was the reason why I used to do what you're doing too. I got sold on the cake myth and of course I wasn't getting an even carbonisation, heck, not even charring of the chamber. So I tortured myself trying to light dottle in order to build the fabled cake that would prevent tongue bite by giving me cooler smokes.

I was anxious that my pipes' chambers looked like this—dark atop, light at the heel:




Till I realised that:




I also realised that, by wiping my pipes after every smoke, till they looked nice and clean like so:



I wasn't build any darn cake anytime soon if ever.

So, I tossed the myth out the window, started tossing the dottle as well, stopped burning my tongue trying to smoke or relight miligrams of wet, sour tobacco, and let the truth that a pipe is to be an instrument of enjoyment not torture set me free.

 

[Casual]

I find it easier to get no dottle with cobs and meers. On a good day, they will also smoke right to the bottom without getting the bottom tobacco wet throughout the smoke and changing its flavour toward the end. Both meer and cobs seem to be more absorbent than briar, and they appear to absorb moisture that would have collected in the tobacco.

This is why I find myself preferring meers these days.

 

[acidpox]

Dump it, not every bowl is going to be perfect grey ash to the bottom. Always remember that tobacco is grown and blended everyday. Dont worry about that little bit of wasted tobacco.

 

[olkofri]

This is why I find myself preferring meers these days.

Now you're ready to smoke all those goopy Lane's tobaccos.

 

[bullet08]

Depends. When you have about 1/3 bowl left, dump the ash and run a pipe cleaner. If the tobacco is dried enough and the moisture is in the stem/mortice, that should allow you to smoke further. If the heel of the chamber is wet due to the tobacco, more than likely you will have an issue lightening what's left. In that case, dump it.

 

[Casual]

Now you're ready to smoke all those goopy Lane's tobaccos.

I don’t know if meer is enough. I might need a sponge pipe.

 

[Papamique]

Am I just going too far and it's time to say so long to that last bit as collateral damage for a well-smoked bowl?

IMO- Yes.
Don’t think so much. Smoke it until you are done or the pipe is done and then dump it. Easy as that. Really.

 

[fightnhampster]

Don't try to smoke the wet crud in the bottom, stop when it gets unpleasant. You can minimize the wetness by drying your tobacco more, and smoking as slow as possible.

I usually dump the last little bit, I vary rarely smoke all the way to the very bottom.

+1

 

[Spinkle]

I have been trying like hell for years now to get any bowl to burn down completely to that elusive "fine white ash" I hear so much about. I suspect its a myth. At any rate, "force" and pipe smoking don't seem to mix. When I've had enough I dump the contents of the pipe. It is technically a renewable resource after all.

 

[Misanthrope]

I get more dottle when I overstuff my pipes, regardless of blend. Moister tobaccos like just-opened Prince Albert, Carter Hall, and Lane 1-Q leave a smallish amount of wet dottle behind, especially when I smoke too fast and/or slobber into a clenched stem.

The three Stokkebye ribbon cuts I like (Norwegian, Turkish, and Amsterdam), when fairly dry and packed correctly, barely leave anything other than white and gray ash behind. I also rarely see much in the way of dottle with shag cuts.

I’m of the opinion that the bowl’s done once it’s unenjoyable, regardless of how much tobacco is down at the bottom. It’s okay to chuck it, it’s not like you’re gonna find a prize at the bottom for your trouble anyway.

 

[fightnhampster]

I have been trying like hell for years now to get any bowl to burn down completely to that elusive "fine white ash" I hear so much about. I suspect its a myth. At any rate, "force" and pipe smoking don't seem to mix. When I've had enough I dump the contents of the pipe. It is technically a renewable resource after all.

Exactly. I gave up on the "lit it once and smoked it down to an ethereal white angelic ash" years ago and never looked back.

I don't even dry my tobacco before I smoke it. Granted, I relight it about a dozen times per bowl, but somebody has to keep Diamond kitchen matches in business.

 

[Spinkle]

Exactly. I gave up on the "lit it once and smoked it down to an ethereal white angelic ash" years ago and never looked back.

I don't even dry my tobacco before I smoke it. Granted, I relight it about a dozen times per bowl, but somebody has to keep Diamond kitchen matches in business.

I almost feel like a fool for having chased that fine ash now that I’ve been at this a few years. I thought that I was still doing something wrong, and I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I saw comments from smokers I respect describing it and thinking I must be doing something wrong and need to keep perfecting my technique.

Someone or someones on here commented that you shouldn’t smoke if you don’t enjoy and it finally clicked for me.

 

[Old School 3319]

A very important lesson to learn is not being greedy. Don't pack too tight and don't try to hit the bottom just because it's there