Tobacco goes out constantly; I relight; Ash comes out black.
- Thread starter borisfruts
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It's like a drink with ice in it. Much more flavorful before the ice melts and dilutes it.And all the BS about more flavor with moist tobacco....
Dry, yes. Moist, no. But some does well with a bit of moisture. OTC blends, I'll smoke right out of pouch. Latakia, I like them right before they are dry to touch. Va, as dry as possible before turning to dust is OK.
Not only does it sound too wet for your enjoyment but also some tobacco ash is just different then others. I wouldn't worry about what the ash looks like at all. But I would try drying the tobacco and packing less tobacco in the pipe. Dry and loose seems to get the most pleasure. Also like anything else part of getting better at it is just continuing to do it.
I don't know man. Wet and tight seems to work better for me.
I'm sure the OP's issue is due to moisture.
But to play devil's advocate -- there is no single truth is there? Especially when the blends and cuts vary so much.
Dry is mostly better (99% of the time), But there is always an exception to the rule. Some tobacco blends just smoke better a little wet. Yeah, they often need relights.
One example is Silem's Commodore or McConnell's Latakia Flake (a regular for me). Dried out it tastes too spicy and monotone. The moisture in it contains a large portion of flavour that isn't detectable when smoked dry.
I'd say a few of the more traditional plugs and flakes from the UK have similar characteristics.
@gervais Wet and tight might work for some things better... but as far as flakes and plugs go, I don't mind them loose and dry for the most part ;-)
But to play devil's advocate -- there is no single truth is there? Especially when the blends and cuts vary so much.
Dry is mostly better (99% of the time), But there is always an exception to the rule. Some tobacco blends just smoke better a little wet. Yeah, they often need relights.
One example is Silem's Commodore or McConnell's Latakia Flake (a regular for me). Dried out it tastes too spicy and monotone. The moisture in it contains a large portion of flavour that isn't detectable when smoked dry.
I'd say a few of the more traditional plugs and flakes from the UK have similar characteristics.
@gervais Wet and tight might work for some things better... but as far as flakes and plugs go, I don't mind them loose and dry for the most part ;-)
Funny this question is on its second page already. I didnt read the answers first but I wanted to make sure to post to dry it more. Anywone willing to do a post count on how many say to dry it more?
Go to smokingpipes.com. Look at the Savinelli's that are not filtered. This will give you the best chance at a cool dry smoke if you dry. Also filling the pipe is crucial. I use the 3 step fill method and never light my pipe without first checking the draw. I want a bit of resistance as a pipe that is packed to loose will burn hot and lose flavor. If you pack a little too tight just run a pipe cleaner into the bottom of the bowl, that should loosen it up.
Buy a tin of Capstan Blue flake as that comes at the perfect humidity level. Learn about cube cutting flake tobacco and then see what you get. You should get a good smoke. Having a quality pipe from the get go gives you a baseline as to how a good pipe should smoke. When you do buy other pipes you will screw up like we all did, but the Savinelli will explain why. The Savinelli generally come with a shank dimension of 4.0-4.5. You also shouldn't have to deal with a pipe where the stem whistles which is bad. All of these things I mentioned costs less than a shitty box of Cubans.
Don't start with aromatics that will burn the crap out of your mouth. The Capstan is an all world blend and totally cheap next to cigars.
Buy a tin of Capstan Blue flake as that comes at the perfect humidity level. Learn about cube cutting flake tobacco and then see what you get. You should get a good smoke. Having a quality pipe from the get go gives you a baseline as to how a good pipe should smoke. When you do buy other pipes you will screw up like we all did, but the Savinelli will explain why. The Savinelli generally come with a shank dimension of 4.0-4.5. You also shouldn't have to deal with a pipe where the stem whistles which is bad. All of these things I mentioned costs less than a shitty box of Cubans.
Don't start with aromatics that will burn the crap out of your mouth. The Capstan is an all world blend and totally cheap next to cigars.
I dunno... I add an ice cube or two to my bourbon and the bouquet gets better as the ice melts.
Tobacco is not the same as bourbon. If I put ice in my tobacco, it sticks to my fingers when I try to pack it.
well certain oils in whiskey, absenthe, or ozo aren't water soluble and kinda get pushed out of the alcohol when water is mixed in. Kinda like if you could move the casing to the topping.
^^^^
Exactly this
1) You need to dry out pipe tobacco. Quite the opposite to cigars
2) And pack loosely. You can tamp it down if the fill is over-loose
Agreed! I started out with the assumption that pipe tobacco was packed at the optimal moisture level for the best smoking experience, oh how wrong I was. To me, almost every blend smokes not only better when dry but the flavors are much more pronounced. Drying tobacco is by far the best advice I’ve gotten, so simple, yet so effective. There are still a few tobaccos that I like right out of the tin/pouch but 99.9% of my tobacco gets dried before I smoke it.
Ice just ruins my drinks. Any brown goodies just need few drops of spring water. White sprits are for chugging, so they don't matter.Tobacco is not the same as bourbon. If I put ice in my tobacco, it sticks to my fingers when I try to pack it.
In addition to all above excellent suggestion one more tip. When tamping in addition to using the minimum pressure to not just push down but rotate the tamper so you you can move a little bit evenly the burning tobacco and every while move with the tamper the peripheral part of the tobacco (which is burning less) toward the center so it get burned.
