What is the Best Tip or Advice You've Ever Gotten About Smoking a Pipe?

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indoeuro

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 30, 2019
532
557
Central Texas
Hi all.

One of the difficult things as a relative (or still totally) newcomer here is most of the obvious, essential questions and topics have been covered. And then covered again.

And again.

I know, for instance, sitting permanently at the top of this section is a link to pipe smoking tips for beginners. (Helpful, no doubt.) But I'm trying for something a little different, as the subject line says: What's the best tip or advice you've ever gotten about smoking a pipe? Maybe another way to put it: If you only could give someone one suggestion, what might it be?

One a podcast (I honestly don't remember which), I heard this, and I think it has really advanced my enjoyment of my pipes: When you're tamping, the goal is to introduce the burning ember to the unlit tobacco underneath it -- and it doesn't take a lot of force.
Pack loose and smoke slow.
 

Roy M

Lurker
Nov 2, 2021
13
13
45
Greenville SC
Drinking tonic and lime with a pipe is good? That’s good to know! My evening routine involves that many times…
Other than the ones already mentioned: always drink a citrus drink while smoking. Now my morning pipe must be with my morning coffee, but otherwise I try to drink Lemonade, pineapple juice or tonic water while smoking. It helps to clean the palate and ease a tired mouth.
 
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Gavrin

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 1, 2021
130
206
Idaho
Reading the thread: what 1 thing you would pass on to someone starting out: What is meant when some of you say "dry your tobacco". I tried a search but not finding anything that is giving me a clue. Do you literally dry out every ounce of tobacco when you remove it from it's container or? Sorry but as you can see a pretty complete noob here.
 

Akousticplyr

Lifer
Oct 12, 2019
1,155
5,712
Florida Panhandle
Reading the thread: what 1 thing you would pass on to someone starting out: What is meant when some of you say "dry your tobacco". I tried a search but not finding anything that is giving me a clue. Do you literally dry out every ounce of tobacco when you remove it from it's container or? Sorry but as you can see a pretty complete noob here.
Here you go! Many different discussions about that. Ranging from simply laying a bowl full of tobacco out on a paper towel, paper plate, coffee filter etc, desk lamps and heat lamps, warming trays to even using regular and microwave ovens!

I think the simplest is to pack a bowl into a pipe and just let it sit. Maybe a few hours, maybe overnight etc etc. Depends on a lot of factors- personal preference, type of tobacco, any many other things.

Search results for query: drying tobacco - https://pipesmagazine.com/forums/search/634212/?q=drying+tobacco&c[title_only]=1&o=date
 
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OzPiper

Lifer
Nov 30, 2020
5,756
30,560
71
Sydney, Australia
Reading the thread: what 1 thing you would pass on to someone starting out: What is meant when some of you say "dry your tobacco". I tried a search but not finding anything that is giving me a clue. Do you literally dry out every ounce of tobacco when you remove it from it's container or? Sorry but as you can see a pretty complete noob here.
Tobacco comes out of the tin in varying degrees of dryness.

The drier the tobacco, the more easily it lights and stays lit. Moist tobacco will require more relights.
It is difficult to smoke a bowl of moist tobacco entirely to ashes. Inevitably you will be left with a moist dottle at the bottom of your bowl if you start off with moist tobacco.

I take a few pinches of tobacco and leave out in a bowl some time before my smoke. If the tobacco is quite moist, it may require an hour or more. If I haven't allowed any dry time, I leave the bowl in full sun for 10 mins and that usually suffices. Others have suggested putting it under or on top of a lamp to dry.

Opinions differ on how dry is optimal. You don't want crisp tobacco strands. Some say that you lose flavour if the tobacco is too dry. Experiment to see what suits you. Different blends smoke differently and may require different moisture content.

The other factor is the ambient humidity of where you are living. Very different conditions in a desert compared to the tropics or equatorial regions. And if you have air-conditioning or heating in the house.

There is no "one size fits all"
 
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Gavrin

Starting to Get Obsessed
Nov 1, 2021
130
206
Idaho
Tobacco comes out of the tin in varying degrees of dryness.

The drier the tobacco, the more easily it lights and stays lit. Moist tobacco will require more relights.
It is difficult to smoke a bowl of moist tobacco entirely to ashes. Inevitably you will be left with a moist dottle at the bottom of your bowl if you start off with moist tobacco.

I take a few pinches of tobacco and leave out in a bowl some time before my smoke. If the tobacco is quite moist, it may require an hour or more. If I haven't allowed any dry time, I leave the bowl in full sun for 10 mins and that usually suffices. Others have suggested putting it under or on top of a lamp to dry.

Opinions differ on how dry is optimal. You don't want crisp tobacco strands. Some say that you lose flavour if the tobacco is too dry. Experiment to see what suits you. Different blends smoke differently and may require different moisture content.

The other factor is the ambient humidity of where you are living. Very different conditions in a desert compared to the tropics or equatorial regions. And if you have air-conditioning or heating in the house.

There is no "one size fits all"
understood , thanks
 
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Reactions: OzPiper