Why dry?

[PipeIT]

I’ve certainly found for my own personal tastes that a lot of blends moister, yielded more flavor, but they also had more irritation to them, especially Red Virginia’s.

I don’t get tongue bite, the roof of my mouth starts feeling sore and irritated and will even throb.

Red VaPers like WCC Rougaroux, can irritate the roof of my mouth and I have to dry it a bit.

Depending on the VAs in a blend, I run in from time to time this roof of my mouth irritation with VAs

 

[hairvise]

I think that all of this advice is excellent--thanks @sablebrush52 for encapsulating your 50+ years of smoking knowledge! One suggestion, if not obvious, would be to smoke a particular tobacco with varying levels of moisture content to see what tastes best (and doesn't cause tongue bite) to you.
I do see that a lot of people prefer their Virginia's very dry. On the other hand, I notice that @shaneireland, in his videos, really doesn't provide a lot of drying time for any tobacco. Certainly nothing like the hours of dry time that some folks here recommend. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it just shows that there are many ways to enjoy a tobacco!

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Yeah, l prefer some of my blends with more moisture than others. I appreciate the most C&D blends come ready to smoke. However, the flake of SG & GH require, at least for me, about 15-30 of dry time after being rubbed out. And, still those flakes/plugs are quite moist still IMHO. I mean has anyone tried to keep ? and bit of SG right from the tin? It can be a bitch on occasion. For me, that’s the culprit most times with moist flake/blends.

No harm, no foul…do what you like. And, hooray for others opinions…they help forge our own and help us enjoy a fuller smoking experience. ?️

 

[jpmcwjr]

The times others mention for length of drying tobacco is extremely narrow. I.e., two hours may not be enough, or one hour too much. Overnight for some, just breathing a few minutes, perhaps, is plenty. So any given time might be perfect for xyz blend in abc conditions, but terribly wrong for another.

 

[sablebrush52]

I think that all of this advice is excellent--thanks @sablebrush52 for encapsulating your 50+ years of smoking knowledge! One suggestion, if not obvious, would be to smoke a particular tobacco with varying levels of moisture content to see what tastes best (and doesn't cause tongue bite) to you.
I do see that a lot of people prefer their Virginia's very dry. On the other hand, I notice that @shaneireland, in his videos, really doesn't provide a lot of drying time for any tobacco. Certainly nothing like the hours of dry time that some folks here recommend. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it just shows that there are many ways to enjoy a tobacco!

He may also be constrained by the necessity of creating a video narrative.

Every time I try out a new blend, I try it out at different moisture levels to see what works best for me. With Virginias, it's best for me when dry. But just how dry will vary a little with different blends.

 

[hauntedmyst]

Because if you don't dry Samuel Gawith flakes, trying to keep them lit requires a welding torch.

 

[OSOBUCO]

I've never had a problem keeping a bowl lit all the way through.

You must be a wizard. Can you share what you do?

 

[Mtlpiper]

I can't give a straight answer as I find It really depends on what blend I'm smoking.

I can't enjoy SG blends that are too wet, so they get dried out a bit. I've been smoking quite a bit of the Tabac Manil stuff which is conversely bone dry and very pleasant...

I don't dry out most of the British Aromatics (Bob's Chocolate Flake etc.) or plugs/flakes from home. But it really seems to depend on the blend for me and the cut. Some stuff rubbed out smokes better a tiny bit damp than it does bone dry. I find if it's too dry it's often missing out on something.

Then again, I find rollcake or curly-cut sometimes seems dry, but actually isn't (i.e; Dark Twist). I always experiment when trying a new blend.

 

[mikecronis]

Ignore the dogma. Smoke it how you like. Presonally, I think some blends smoke better wet and others dry. And some smoke lousy either way cough cough dark star.

I actually like Dark Star.. I hear it's hard to find now, I bought it 10 years ago and kept it sealed in its tin in my humidor.. perhaps it aged well?

 

[mikecronis]

You must be a wizard. Can you share what you do?

You betchya. I do the standard, 3-pack technique (bowl fill up, pack down to 1/3rd full, full-up again, pack down to 2/3rd full, full-up, and pack to top) then I actually do a 4-light system (gasp). Drawing while rotating the flame over the bowl for about 4 seconds, tap a bit with the tamper, and repeat FOUR times. The last time (4th) I don't tamp. Works every time. If I sense it's going out a bit (rarely) I "stoke" by thumbing the top of the bowl and drawing a few times lightly and it goes back to awesome-mode again. That's it. Pretty normal.

 

[OSOBUCO]

You betchya. I do the standard, 3-pack technique (bowl fill up, pack down to 1/3rd full, full-up again, pack down to 2/3rd full, full-up, and pack to top) then I actually do a 4-light system (gasp). Drawing while rotating the flame over the bowl for about 4 seconds, tap a bit with the tamper, and repeat FOUR times. The last time (4th) I don't tamp. Works every time. If I sense it's going out a bit (rarely) I "stoke" by thumbing the top of the bowl and drawing a few times lightly and it goes back to awesome-mode again. That's it. Pretty normal.

funny - I do something similar I always have to relight - again you must be a wizard! I will try to follow your technique to the T!

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Because if you don't dry Samuel Gawith flakes, trying to keep them lit requires a welding torch.

 

[North Pole piper]

From what I’ve read over the years, blenders (like Pease, Ouellette, Reeves) usually recommended the tobacco be on the dryer side as oppose to the wetter side. This works for me but like much in the pipe smoking world, to each his own.

 

[Casual]

I found that you need to smoke slower with drier tobacco. If you just dry it more and don’t change your pace, the smoke will be hot and harsh.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

You betchya. I do the standard, 3-pack technique (bowl fill up, pack down to 1/3rd full, full-up again, pack down to 2/3rd full, full-up, and pack to top) then I actually do a 4-light system (gasp). Drawing while rotating the flame over the bowl for about 4 seconds, tap a bit with the tamper, and repeat FOUR times. The last time (4th) I don't tamp. Works every time. If I sense it's going out a bit (rarely) I "stoke" by thumbing the top of the bowl and drawing a few times lightly and it goes back to awesome-mode again. That's it. Pretty normal.

The charring light is so important in my experience. I try to really hit on that point hard when showing someone new to pipes how to do it.
It can set the tone for the entire bowl.

 

[cigrmaster]

I cannot count the number of tins that I cracked and immediately began smoking from the tin prefer a bit of moistness in my tins. When something is bone dry, I believe the bowl smokes hot and looses most of its flavor. There are only a few of my blends that need dry time.

 

[kcghost]

I like to dry mine for maybe an hour before smoking. I don't smoke aromatics.

 

[Parkland_Puffer]

I used to pull tobacco out of my jar and put it on a plate.
When it was at what I thought to be the correct moisture I would load the bowl and the rest stayed on the plate till later.
What I discovered was that the bowl I packed later with the leftovers from the plate smoked and tasted better to me.
I kept drying the first bowl a little more each time until I got to the point where the original bowl smoked better than the "leftovers".
That was the magic dryness for me and now it is instinctual.

The only time I smoke really damp tobacco is in a clay. The heat from the bowl dries it out plenty through the smoke. Something that would leave a goopy mess at the bottom of a briar smokes dry to the bottom in a clay.

 

[anotherbob]

You must be a wizard. Can you share what you do?

zippo fluid in the bowl a good three to six second stream should handle any average sized chamber.

 

[anotherbob]

I used to pull tobacco out of my jar and put it on a plate.
When it was at what I thought to be the correct moisture I would load the bowl and the rest stayed on the plate till later.
What I discovered was that the bowl I packed later with the leftovers from the plate smoked and tasted better to me.
I kept drying the first bowl a little more each time until I got to the point where the original bowl smoked better than the "leftovers".
That was the magic dryness for me and now it is instinctual.

The only time I smoke really damp tobacco is in a clay. The heat from the bowl dries it out plenty through the smoke. Something that would leave a goopy mess at the bottom of a briar smokes dry to the bottom in a clay.

great avatar. Sting if he was even cooler . Or at least that's what it looks like to my untrained eye.
That's the trick with dryness find that point where you go that's just right.
My suggestion for finding that level is to buy a tin open it smoke a bowl right away. Wait a week smoke a bowl and then every couple of days while checking the moisture smoke a bowl. At some point you'll have a moment of that was a really great one (could be when you open the tin, depending on your tastes and the blend) could be when it's on it's death bed and the mummy making priests start looking at their yacht catalog.