The Art of a Slow Sip

[grouchydog]

It seems like you might be expecting too much volume in your smoke

This is absolutely one of my issues that I'm having a hard time jettisoning. I "came over" to pipes from cigars; part of the satisfaction of a cigar is the greater smoke volume. Guess I should just spark up a stick if that's what I'm craving at a particular moment...

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Hmmm... maybe this is my problem with cigars. I keep trying to slowly sip, making every ounce of smoke count, and I end up sick.

 

[oldreddog]

Cosmic thank you very much indeed for your link on slow sipping, superb reading. Also the posts from other knowledgeable contributors have really bought me a far better understanding of how to smoke a pipe.
I have to admit that in my first few weeks of smoking I foolishly thought that the object of the game was to produce copious amounts of smoke.....well that didn't work out very well.....especially when the flavor ran out of town.
So I have now seen the error of my ways and I shall go stand in the bold corner until I learn to sip correctly :lol:

 

[minfarshaw]

I tried is this morning with my Early Morning Pipe. What a difference. I got so much more flavor and no burnt taste at the back of my throat. The tobacco made my coffee taste like it had some sort of caramel topping. Also, I have been finding that leaving the ash at the top of the bowl helps to keep the pipe smoldering. I've been tapping it out and it just didn't taste right on the relight.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I think that a lot of us think that making smoke is what it's all about in the beginning. Then, I found myself setting in the smoking lounge with other more experienced pipemen, making my clouds in my own world, thinking about Gandolf making his ship clouds of smoke, and all of the other pipemen flashing glances, and then the guy next to me gets up and moves over across the room from me, ha ha. Then I go home with tongue bite and wasted ashes. And, one guy asked me, "Have you ever seen anyone try to smoke by making huge annoying clouds like that?" Ha ha, and a bruised ego.
Then, I had to think about all of the pipemen in my family. None ever made smoke. It just trickles. Now, I don't embarrass myself. Well... I should say that I don't embarrass myself by looking like a newb cloud maker, ha ha. I am still very familiar with the taste of my own foot, ha ha.

 

[ember]

Successful smokes are coming more and more since I started this thread. The info on these forums has and will make a world of difference in my piping .

I wanted to add a few things too this that are working well for me.
When lighting or relight only hold the lighter over the bowl briefly, like 2 seconds . Moving the flame around the tobacco with no more than 2 very short drags or sip . In the beginning of a smoke I will do this till I have a good ember going ...its maybe takes 3 or 4 times of this cycle before that happenes . I have noticed this is helping to prevent over heating the tobacco and getting Ash taste in my mouth.

The other thing that is working really well to help keep my pipe lit is .......

How to use the tamper . Ive seen guys in video s ( amateur and experienced smokers ) tamp the tobacco flat but I have found if you push the tobacco to the center ever so lightly into a mound it keeps that ember going and cuts way back on relights.

One other thing that I noticed last night is tongue placement . I recently bought some Sutfill molto dolce and instead of letting my tongue rest in its normal position under the pipe stem I lifted it directly infront of the stem while sipping letting the smoke float across the tongue. Wow did the flavor come in when I did this . Anyway thanks to all in these forums and good smokes to u

 

[highlander]

I too appreciate these posts -- they address my issues and frustrations.
But I do love me some billows of smoke.

 

[darthcider]

Good to see that even experienced pipers can benefit from simple instructions that make you think about a technique that at first seems so obvious.

 

[frank13]

Oh yes... This thread is a huge help. I've been working on slowing down, and boy, does it ever make the smoke so much sweeter! :D
Additional benefit: I am not going through nearly so much tobacco! w00t! Thank you, everyone.