How to Smoke a pipe for beginners

The Three-Layer Method

• The first step is to do a “gravity fill”; this is where you grab a pinch of tobacco and simply drop it into the bowl of the pipe with no tamping or pushing down. Another way to do this is to scoop right from the bag or jar of tobacco with the pipe itself. Fill it this way to the top, and then tamp it so that the bowl is about halfway full. This is the first layer.
• You’ll do the same thing again, filling it loosely to the top, then tamping it down, this time to 2/3 or 3/4 This is the second layer.
• Finally, you’ll do it once more. Put some more tobacco loosely on top, and tamp it down to just below the rim of the bowl.

                With each layer it should feel like the pressure increases with the tamping; the first layer won’t need much pressure at all, and by the third you’ll really be pushing on the tobacco.

Test the draw on the pipe at this point; it should be reminiscent of sucking soda through a straw. If it’s like an empty straw, it’s packed too loose (tamp it, and add more tobacco); if it’s like sucking a milkshake through a straw, it’s packed too dense (use a thin nail to poke a hole down the middle of the tobacco; I usually do this anyway, even if it’s packed correctly, just to have better airflow). This is the method that I prefer, and have had the most success with.

The Pinch or “Frank” Method
With this method, you’ll start the same by gravity filling the bowl with tobacco. No pressing or tamping, though. Next, grab a large pinch of tobacco; in fact, you want more than what it seems like will fit into the pipe. Place the large pinch on the bowl, using your thumb on the opposite hand to hold it in place. Now, using both your thumbs, gently press the tobacco into the bowl. Do this until all the tobacco is in the pipe, tight enough so that when you tip it upside down, no tobacco falls out. As with the three-layer method, test the draw. It’s likely you’ll need to use the small nail to poke a hole down the center to let some air in.

2. Lighting the Pipe
The first step in getting a pipe lit is the charring light. Holding the flame above the bowl, take about half a dozen shorter puffs, while moving the lighter in a circle around the bowl, in order to char the top of the tobacco. After this, tamp it down once more to create a nice caking on the top.

After this charring light, once again hold the flame above the bowl, and this time take a half dozen deep draws to really get the flame down into the tobacco. Once lit, continue to take some deeper puffs to make sure you get a nice ember that will last a long time.

Especially for the beginner, you’ll probably have to re-light your pipe multiple times to get through the bowl of tobacco. As you get better at packing, and lighting, you won’t have to do this. It just takes practice; I can get a bowl to last about 45 minutes, with only having to re-light once.

3. Cleaning the Pipe
Your pipe should ideally be cleaned after each smoke. After letting it cool for an hour or so, remove the stem, and run a pipe cleaner through it a few times. It should be noted that you don’t ever want to remove the stem from a hot pipe, as it can easily warp over time. Most pipe smokers, myself included, opt to not clean the bowl at all, besides getting any ash or unsmoked tobacco out. Not cleaning the bowl allows a nice cake to build up, which imparts even more flavor

Troubleshooting the Pipe
If the pipe ever gets too hot to hold, you’re smoking it too hot. Let it die out, try re-lighting, and take fewer puffs next time. Most smokers puff every 10-30 seconds or so; it’s not constant. The same is true if you ever feel burning in your mouth, called “tongue bite.”