V-Shaped Bowl for English Blends

[Dr. Van Loafer]

I read a tobacco review where the reviewer stated they only use a v-shaped bowl to smoke a particular english blend as it contributes to a cooler and more flavorful smoke. I am skeptical about this as a cool smoke can be achieved by puffing less. However, it peaked my curiosity. So …..

How would one locate a v-shaped bowl? Are there recommendations for a v-shaped bowl? Has this been others experience?

 

[Servant King]

My English/Balkan pipe for a good long while was a Savinelli Miele 611 KS bent Dublin, the bowl of which I suppose is somewhat V-shaped, now that I think of it. I use a 321 shape for these blends now, basically the opposite of the Dublin. However, I don't think the bowl shape matters nearly as much as sufficient dry time, sufficiently loose packing, and sufficiently slow puffing, and that goes for any type of blend.

Golden rule: I would take all reviewers' opinions with a grain of salt, no matter what*.

*Unless they like Lakelands, in which case, the only option is for them to be drawn and quartered...

 

[hugodrax]

That's what makes this so fun. I like Virginia flake in a Dublin and English in a wide bowl. Neither of us are wrong. Smoking styles and preferences just differ.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

That's what makes this so fun. I like Virginia flake in a Dublin and English in a wide bowl. Neither of us are wrong. Smoking styles and preferences just differ.

Same.

I initially dedicated a Malaga Dublin (made by an Armenian pipe maker in Royal Oak, Michigan) to English blends and rarely reached for it since I don't smoke a lot of English blends.

Since switching the dedication to Virginia flakes, the pipe "sings" and has become one of my favorite smokers. A wider chambered bulldog is now my English blend pipe.

 

[Chasing Embers]

How would one locate a v-shaped bowl?

Savinelli 904

 

[Chasing Embers]

Has this been others experience?

I've never noticed a difference between chamber shapes in regards to smoke flavor.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Golden rule: I would take all reviewers' opinions with a grain of salt, no matter what*.

Bingo

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

My experience is bowl geometry changes the flavors. Whether that change is to your liking can only be determined by you. I prefer a conical shape bowl for set Virginias, seems to intensify the flavor as it burns down. Wider conical bowls tend to favor more complex blends. YMMV.

 

[sablebrush52]

I read a tobacco review where the reviewer stated they only use a v-shaped bowl to smoke a particular english blend as it contributes to a cooler and more flavorful smoke. I am skeptical about this as a cool smoke can be achieved by puffing less. However, it peaked my curiosity. So …..

How would one locate a v-shaped bowl? Are there recommendations for a v-shaped bowl? Has this been others experience?

A "V" shaped chamber would be called a conical chamber, since it's shaped like a cone. Lot's of manufacturers make them, you just need to specify in your inquiries.

A lot of factors affect whether a smoke is hot or not. As you pointed out, cadence is a factor. But so is the cut, the components in a blend, packing, and other factors.

 

[anotherbob]

I read a tobacco review where the reviewer stated they only use a v-shaped bowl to smoke a particular english blend as it contributes to a cooler and more flavorful smoke. I am skeptical about this as a cool smoke can be achieved by puffing less. However, it peaked my curiosity. So …..

How would one locate a v-shaped bowl? Are there recommendations for a v-shaped bowl? Has this been others experience?

I have one conical bowl and yeah it does smoke differently. I see how it might have that effect but technique is a bigger factor. What I get with a conical bowl is slightly damper dottle but slightly less dottle

 

[OzPiper]

Most Bulldogs have conical bowls because of their
wedge-shaped base.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

I read a tobacco review where the reviewer stated they only use a v-shaped bowl to smoke a particular english blend as it contributes to a cooler and more flavorful smoke. I am skeptical about this as a cool smoke can be achieved by puffing less. However, it peaked my curiosity. So …..

How would one locate a v-shaped bowl? Are there recommendations for a v-shaped bowl? Has this been others experience?

It seems to me that most pipes are Conical to some extent, you almost never see a bowl carved to the same radius halfway down as it is at the top, but some are "more Conical" and some less.

If we take the meaning of "V-Shaped" to the extreme then what we're looking for in this thread is the absolute "Most Conical" bowl possible, if anyone has a pipe like that where the bowl terminates in a point that would be interesting to hear about.

 

[UB 40]

Let’s take a look at the tools for drilling tobacco chambers, they also come n different sizes

 

[OzPiper]

A couple with indubitably conical bowls

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I prefer shallow U-shapes for Englishes, usually in the 1X1.25 ratio. I do not suggest that others will find the same as me, but I save my stacked V-shaped bowls for Virginias.
Everyone can have their own preferences. I don't think that there is a correct way to do anything in pipesmoking, as long as you put the tobacco in the right hole.

 

[crashthegrey]

The science behind most reasoning for U shaped with English and V shape for Virginia is that the wider bowls allow for all of the component tobaccos to be tasted at the same time, while a straight Virginia can be smoked in a bowl that continuously narrows. I can't say what science supports the more conical bowls being cooler smoking, as I would also argue that it is purely cadence.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

while a straight Virginia can be smoked in a bowl that continuously narrows.

I think that for me, the cone shape allows the tobacco underneath and surrounding the cherry to stove better as I smoke, making the taste become more and more sweet as I smoke. Could be just my imagination, but it works for me.
I also think that the wider the bowl the cooler it smokes, maybe allowing more ambient air into the chamber to mix down the hot smoke. Science... I can't prove any of this with math or flow charts, but it just works for me.

 

[crashthegrey]

I think that for me, the cone shape allows the tobacco underneath and surrounding the cherry to stove better as I smoke, making the taste become more and more sweet as I smoke. Could be just my imagination, but it works for me.
I also think that the wider the bowl the cooler it smokes, maybe allowing more ambient air into the chamber to mix down the hot smoke. Science... I can't prove any of this with math or flow charts, but it just works for me.

That at least sounds logical. I don't guarantee any of it is true, but if it works for people it works. Personally I like some scientific explanation, but it's not always the case. Some things just work, too.

 

[burleybreath]

Dang. Been smoking pipes for half a century and never noticed whether any of my pipes had a v-shaped or a u-shaped bowl. I should be embarrassed.

 

[sablebrush52]

While there is actual physics involved in designing chamber geometry, none of that is in play in this discussion, just personal anecdotal observation. Maybe the reviewer is on to something, maybe he's the 7th son of a 7th son just trippin' out on shrooms.

There are articles on the physics behind pipe chamber geometry and how it affects performance, tobacco burning, etc. Good luck finding them, as they were a part of the long gone "A Passion For Pipes" site that Neill Archer Roan lovingly nurtured until he closed it. You won't find much on the Wayback Machine either, as Neill locked the site. While I have copies of the material, it's copyrighted so I'm not going to distribute it. I have enough of an issue with people feeling entitled to steal my work. Likely, somewhere, out there, someone has illegally published this material so go and find it.

The pipe smoking world is largely medieval in culture, rife with mythology, folklore, superstition and flat out BS. That's part of the fun. For my part, I haven't found the wide chamber VS tall chamber to be valid. I can smoke just about anything in anything and get a fine enjoyable smoke. I find that some blends smoke a little better in a larger chamber, others work well in a variety of chamber shapes and sizes. I know how to slow smoke, which is when I get the best flavors. Slow smoking is a useful skill to develop.

Good luck with your explorations. Be careful not to sail off the edge of the world.