When your down to the last 25% in the bowl?

[bigballdbenny]

Hey Everyone, Super Newbie here (been a pipe smoker for 10 days after 25 years of cigarettes).........I have been enjoying the pipe immensly, but I have been noticing that I haven't been enjoying the last fourth of the bowl as much! It tastes flat (for lack of a better term), and is often too hot to smoke. Do any of you veterans just dump that last bit and start fresh or do you smoke every last drop till you just can't light it no more? If you do smoke all of it, are there any tips you can give me?

 

[seacaptain]

As another new guy, I just dump the last bit if it goes out. Re-lights with less than half a bowl usually don't taste that good anyway.

 

[danielplainview]

I've only smoke a bowl down to a "fine white ash" a few times. If the last bit of a bowl turns sour just dump it.
Welcome to the forum. Don't worry, you'll have plenty more questions, burnt fingers, tongue bite, etc, before you get the hang of it.

 

[gloucesterman]

You're smoking for enjoyment. If the last quarter of the bowl doesn't agree with you dump it. If it's just to hot, slow down and sip instead of puff. The pipe won't get as hot. When tobacco gets hot it tends to loose its flavor. The two may be related so try a slower smoking cadence.

 

[jpmcwjr]

It it's not tasty, dump it asap!
If you're concerned about how hot it gets towards the end, dry the tobacco a bit more before loading, and don't blow torch it on re-light.

 

[weezell]

You're smoking for enjoyment. If the last quarter of the bowl doesn't agree with you dump it.

Agreed! End of subject, do NOT over think it...

 

[wilson]

There are no bonus points for smoking the last bit of the bowl. If it is not enjoyable, then it is time to stop. Many experienced pipe smokers dump some dottle (unsmoked tobacco/ash mixture). I have two pipes that I almost always smoke clean to the bottom. The rest of the time, I waste a little tobacco.
A lot of the problem is moisture that collects in the bottom of the bowl, coupled with the fact that you have distilled off, already, a lot of the components of the tobacco that are responsible for the tobacco taste. As you gain some experience and slow down your smoking, you may find that you get deeper into the bowl. Very likely (coming from cigs) you smoke a little too fast. Also, you might also try drying your tobacco a little before loading your pipe. That may help you get further.
Nevertheless, don't fret about it too much: pipe smoking should be a joy and relaxation, not a chore. In a hundred subtle ways you'll get better at this as time goes by.
And, welcome. Don't be shy about posting questions. We were all new at this, once.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

I dump as soon as I feel even the slightest bit of annoyance about tamping/fluffing/relighting. I want to leave my pipe feeling better than when I picked it up, so no need to fight with it and get frustrated when it stops cooperating.

 

[mrenglish]

Yep, just dump it if its not tasting good. Seems like I jumping on the bandwagon but bottom line is you are meant to enjoy the pipe. Slowing down on your puffing is excellent advice for a previous cig smoker. I would also go for fuller bodied tobaccos as they seem to help when getting off cigarettes. Lighter bodied tobaccos tend to cause you to smoke faster, for more flavor, since you are used to cigarettes.
Another thing you can try is to pack 1/2 a bowl and see if you can smoke that down to the bottom. This will help build a cake at the bottom, which in turn, helps keep the bottom cooler. The cake buildup is like an insulation between the tobacco and the wood. Just something to try out if you are so inclined, I've had success with it.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

If that last bit tastes like ash, or is bitter or is burning hot I dump it out. No since smoking something that doesn't taste good.

 

[sablebrush52]

What they said. Smoking a pipe is supposed to be a pleasure, not an endurance test or a stunt. As you become familiar with more blends you will be able to find what works for you with each of them. Some blends smoke well nearly to the bottom of the bowl. Others get a bit nasty, outlive their welcome, and need to go. As a general rule, don't attempt to smoke every last vestige of leaf. The heat that will be generated in the attempt is not good for the pipe.
.

 

[sjfine]

I also dump a bowl if it has lost its flavor.
I have found, however, that smoking slowly, and scraping the ash from time to time, the last 1/4-bowl doesn't have to be wasted. It won't taste like the first light, of course, and it depends on the pipe, but my dumpings have become far and fewer between in the last year or so.
Surprisingly, I never have to dump a cob. Sometimes, the only way I know that a cob is finished is when I (quite literally) suck the flame. Crazy, right?

 

[cortezattic]

Welcome to pipe smoking and the enjoyment of luxury tobaccos, as well as to the forums. :clap: +1 on dumping when the flavor stops.

 

[voorhees]

I will usually get a bit of ash, once that happens I dump.

 

[tarak]

If a bowl is flavorless, ashy, or burning my mouth, I dump. However, as you develop your technique I'm sure you'll find this will be a lessening problem. A lot of my success has centered around learning to properly tamp. My journey sort of looked like this:
1. Never tamped. Ever. Seems crazy an entire tool exists just for the charring light.
2. Began tamping to manage ashes. Usually extinguished pipe.
3. Learned to tamp lightly.
4. Tamped constantly, obsessively. Every tamp resulted in a relight.
5. Half way down every bowl, pipe went flat or ashy. Began dumping ash half way through bowl, flavor was better, but pipe was hot.
6. Learned to tamp occasionally, lightly, while drawing in on the pipe. This was the game changer. When I notice the pipe is beginning to go out, or taste odd, I tamp very lightly to keep the ember in touch with the tobacco below - I do this while I'm actually puffing on the pipe.
#6 has drastically reduced relights, flavorless pipes, and the need to dump ashes. Its probably one of the most important things I've learned.

 

[cigrmaster]

I am lucky in that I find flavor at the bottom of the bowl. There are plenty of times where I get a mouthful of hot ash while chasing the flavors at the bottom of the bowl. Definitely dump your ash if you are not getting great flavors at the bottom.

 

[stanlaurel]

Thanks OP for starting this thread.
Thanks tarak for taking the time to write those details.
Very helpful and encouraging. Great thread.

 

[tarak]

No problem stanlaurel. Its taken me a couple years to figure that out- but when I learned to tamp while drawing in...then sort of developed a feel for "when" I needed to tamp....man that's been a big deal. Probably only second to learning to slow the heck down when I smoke.

 

[brudnod]

+2 for Tarak's take on tamping. I have found that I usually tamp twice during the typical smoke: once for the char, once about 1/2 way down to keep lighted. The shape of the bowl has something to do with how much tobacco you have left at the bottom. Dublins seem to do the best because of the conical shape. Good thread!

 

[pipesmokingtom]

Tarak speaks tamping gospel.. Even though he's an electric player. :roll: