Ashy taste

[lmno1]

I'm only a half a year into pipe smoking, and I'm still getting my packing teqnique down. I'm finding that the burn is going down the middle of the bowl, with the white ash in the center, leaving the sides blackened.

Also, I haven't been able to enjoy a full bowl. It's usually gets ashy tasting at the end.

I've been smoking virginia/Perique blends, some English, balkan. They burn much cooler than aromatic for which I don't smoke anymore. I'm also trying to keep the moisture down by sticking a pipe cleaner down the stem if the pipe starts gurgling.

I hoping some veterans here might see something that I'm missing.

Thanks

 

[MadMan56]

You're tamping, right? You might want to try stirring the very top of the tobacco/ash layer that is burning. It doesn't take much, and then tamp. You can use the spoon part of your pipe tool, but sometimes I'm too lazy to pull the spoon away from the rest of it so I just push the ash/tobacco around with the tamper. Hope this helps.

 

[lmno1]

Thanks. I think I need to take a few puffs on my first light and really get an even burn. And I'm not really pulling in any air when I first tamp. It's a very intricate process!