Summer Smoking

I'm rather used to smoking in the extreme summer heat but it seems we're in the midst of a country wide heat wave so I thought I'd take a little time this month to offer some tips that might help you get more enjoyment from your pipes as the mercury rises.

The first thing that comes to mind is tobacco choice. Try to smoke tobaccos that you know from experience to burn a bit on the dry side. This is especially important if it is humid as well as hot.

Burning pipe tobacco creates steam. This is one of the reasons why wet tobacco tends to "bite". Wet tobacco also has less flavor as the steam masks the tastes while cooking your taste buds. Excessive seasonal humidity adds to this problem. What I do to help matters is pre dry a day or twos worth of tobacco overnight in the driest part of my house. I'm not talking crispy dry but dry enough to where the tobacco burns correctly on a hot humid dry. A little trial and error will be necessary but you will be rewarded for your effort.

As for choice of pipes … there is really no right or wrong. There are two schools of thought. Some think that smoking a thinner wall pipe helps to dissipate heat better. Others think a thicker wall pipe is better because the last thing you want on a blistering day is to be holding a red-hot pipe. You'll just have to try each and report back. Myself? I'm in the latter camp.