The Sweetest Draw?

[MisterBadger]

Title edited for caps and length. See rule 9. Original:

"Why does the sweetest draw on a pipe always seem to occur just as it is about to go out?"

This. It's like the legendary "swan song". I just think I'm learning the perfect cadence for the blend in question, but then suddenly I'm sucking on air and need to relight. Is this just another application of Sod's Law, or what? And by the way: has anyone ever tried to codify The Laws Of Pipe Smoking?

 

[warren]

This. It's like the legendary "swan song". I just think I'm learning the perfect cadence for the blend in question, but then suddenly I'm sucking on air and need to relight. Is this just another application of Sod's Law, or what? And by the way: has anyone ever tried to codify The Laws Of Pipe Smoking?

I don't compete with other smokers. I'm in it for personal enjoyment. And, how would anyone codify "rules" for pipe smoking? Ridiculous!!! Simply ridiculous. But, some folks crave rules of behavior I suppose. Don't understand such but, I acknowledge they are out there.

 

[The Libertine]

I don't compete with other smokers. I'm in it for personal enjoyment. And, how would anyone codify "rules" for pipe smoking? Ridiculous!!! Simply ridiculous. But, some folks crave rules of behavior I suppose. Don't understand such but, I acknowledge they are out there.

Smoking should just be for personal enjoyment. No hard and fast rules. Just learning the basics.

 

[karam]

Let me try to unpack your post to understand it and offer some opinions. If you mean that...

• Option 1: the tastiest puff is right before the ember is about to die
• Option 2: the sweetest puff is when there's a few strands of tobacco left in the heel of the pipe

Option 1: the answer's simple, the best taste of pipe tobacco is had when the tobacco is gently heated, not burnt. The ember serves to heat the tobacco below and volatilize the oils and additives and natural tobacco taste. That's why frantic puffing to get more/better taste is a common newbie mistake that results in bitter, acrid, unpleasant smoke and tongue bite. The cooler the pipe the better the taste. The pipe is to be sipped.

Option 2: my hypothesis is that these last dregs in the heel have gone a fast stoving, which is known to really sweeten the tobacco.

 

[Chasing Embers]

The lower the heat the better the taste. When smoking I only produce occasional faint wisps, anyone around me always assume that my pipe isn't lit. Drives my wife crazy as she's been trying to replicate how I smoke for several years now.

 

[K.E. Powell]

To answer your first question, I would say the reason that last puff is sometimes sweetest is because the tobacco isn't burning overly hot.

As for laws of pipe smoking? Oh, yes. Back when it was more popular, manuals and the like were published that covered everything from technique to etiquette. They sometimes contained useful information, but largely they were the kind of pretentious nonsense you would expect from someone who makes a minor vice their entire personality.

I love pipe tobacco and cigars. I'd be lying if I said otherwise. But at the end of the day, you're just smoking some dried up leaves inside a knot of wood. It ain't that big of a deal.

 

[anotherbob]

This. It's like the legendary "swan song". I just think I'm learning the perfect cadence for the blend in question, but then suddenly I'm sucking on air and need to relight. Is this just another application of Sod's Law, or what? And by the way: has anyone ever tried to codify The Laws Of Pipe Smoking?

probably because that's when it's the perfect temp and perfect burn for flavor at least. Also with some blends and leaf I think the smoking caramelizes the sugars in the tobacco and kind of stoves it. Or it's just another magical mystical aspect of the pipe gnomes.

 

[MisterBadger]

I don't compete with other smokers. I'm in it for personal enjoyment. And, how would anyone codify "rules" for pipe smoking? Ridiculous!!! Simply ridiculous. But, some folks crave rules of behavior I suppose. Don't understand such but, I acknowledge they are out there.

You misunderstand me, @warren - by 'laws', I meant not regulations or guidelines or commandments, but the immutable constraints to which everything on the planet is subject, such as gravity, or Newton's Laws of Motion. Such Laws of Pipe Smoking might be, for example:

1. The first match always goes out;
2. Your handsomest pipe is the worst smoker;
3. Your perfect tobacco will either cease production or its manufacture will move to Moldavia, with a commensurate decrease in quality;
4. Etc.

 

[sablebrush52]

I always seek to keep the cherry just at the edge of going out while smoking a bowl. That’s when I get the best flavors.
Slow smoking is the only way to go. You need to get the moisture level, packing, and cadence, in that order of importance, to make that happen.
If the pipe goes out, just relight it. The idea that smoking a pipe without a relight is some sort of goal is stupid bull shit.

 

[proteus]

I'm my opinion it's based upon the temperature. Cooler smoke at end and drier perhaps. If I go about keeping the smoke cool and dry out the tobacco I get that same sweetness throughout the bowl.

 

[BingBong]

It may be the same physics that says, when you take a boiling kettle off the heat, no matter how much water is in it, it goes off the boil at the same rate every time!!

It ontology of complexity something something.

 

[huntertrw]

I believe that Karam was correct in Option 1 of his post above: for optimum flavor and overall enjoyment pipe-tobacco should smolder, not burn!. Try sipping rather than puffing and see if this makes a positive difference for you.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Actually, I find the last 1/4 to 1/3 to be the most satisfying. That's if the pipe was packed correctly, the tobacco was the correct dryness and the smoking and tamping were done correctly. When that's all correct, that last part of the bowl is to be savored. I think this is even truer with straight Virginias and VaOr blends. Very sweet.

 

[bullet08]

Actually, I find the last 1/4 to 1/3 to be the most satisfying. That's if the pipe was packed correctly, the tobacco was the correct dryness and the smoking and tamping were done correctly. When that's all correct, that last part of the bowl is to be savored. I think this is even truer with straight Virginias and VaOr blends. Very sweet.

Yupe. Totally agree. Last 1/4 is the best smoke. Has all the right notes.