Smoked the Tebak Especial! Also need pointers.

Salem

It's a nice mild day here so I thought it was the perfect time to go outside, sit on my back porch and smoke the Tebak Especial Infused that my friend here sent me. It was really a great experience. It smelled like cocoa, but only had a hint of the taste during smoking. I smoked about half of it before it went out on it's own, so I called it a smoke. I was trying not to make it hot by taking puffs too often, but I guess I was too slow. I have questions. Does one take deep draws or short puffs? I'm trying to maximize my pleasure by taking it slow so I can get all the flavors. Slowing down to experience the numerous flavors of a cigar is an art I see, one I have not mastered yet. So, any suggestions about how to get the best experience will be appreciated. All in all, a really nice experience!!

The_Kid

To me theres no right or wrong answer when it comes down to what kind of puffs? Whaever you feel comfortable with, a Puff which allows you to get enough smoke to sample/exhale. I tend to be a slow smoker, Its what works for me. Dont worry too much about oversmoking the cigar, If the cigar is tunnelling meaning more of the filler is burning than the wrapper its probably being enjoyed too slowly. Be sure to keep your lighter handy and toast the wrapper around the burn line when that starts occurring, also if it goes out, knock off as much of the ash and relight.. I read somewhere about a puff a minute but I think thats even slower than my pace.

boydmcgowan

Salem:

I have questions. Does one take deep draws or short puffs? I'm trying to maximize my pleasure by taking it slow so I can get all the flavors. Slowing down to experience the numerous flavors of a cigar is an art I see, one I have not mastered yet. So, any suggestions about how to get the best experience will be appreciated.

Salem, glad things are going well so far, and I guess you survived the stale ashtray morning breath experience the day after your first cigar well enough to want to smoke again. hahaha, so far so good.

The Kid has some great advice about the cone of the cigar after you ash it so keep that in mind as you figure out your speed. Basically, the reason behind it is that if you smoke too fast things will get too hot and bitter and if you smoke too slow then it will go out and be really boring in the process. Obviously, this is also affected by how thick the cigar is. The thinner cigars take practice to find the right speed while a thick 60 ring cigar can take a beating and still perform. So the moral of the story is to just keep messing around with it and try different methods to find what you like best and keep in mind that cigar thickness is a factor as well.

As far as your question about the draws, a while back Alex, I think made a comment about taking 2-3 short shallow puffs and then one long draw out of it to get the right right amount of smoke. So give that a shot the next time you fire one up. I tend to do that if I've lef the cigar alone for a bit between puffs, but usually I smoke quick enough that the end is still hot so I get nice and full draws right away. Basically the hobby is all about relaxing and doing it the way you like it, so as long as the end that on fire is not in your mouth, and your enjoying it, then your doing it right.

The_Kid

boydmcgowan:

Salem:

I have questions. Does one take deep draws or short puffs? I'm trying to maximize my pleasure by taking it slow so I can get all the flavors. Slowing down to experience the numerous flavors of a cigar is an art I see, one I have not mastered yet. So, any suggestions about how to get the best experience will be appreciated.

Salem, glad things are going well so far, and I guess you survived the stale ashtray morning breath experience the day after your first cigar well enough to want to smoke again. hahaha, so far so good.

The Kid has some great advice about the cone of the cigar after you ash it so keep that in mind as you figure out your speed. Basically, the reason behind it is that if you smoke too fast things will get too hot and bitter and if you smoke too slow then it will go out and be really boring in the process. Obviously, this is also affected by how thick the cigar is. The thinner cigars take practice to find the right speed while a thick 60 ring cigar can take a beating and still perform. So the moral of the story is to just keep messing around with it and try different methods to find what you like best and keep in mind that cigar thickness is a factor as well.

As far as your question about the draws, a while back Alex, I think made a comment about taking 2-3 short shallow puffs and then one long draw out of it to get the right right amount of smoke. So give that a shot the next time you fire one up. I tend to do that if I've lef the cigar alone for a bit between puffs, but usually I smoke quick enough that the end is still hot so I get nice and full draws right away. Basically the hobby is all about relaxing and doing it the way you like it, so as long as the end that on fire is not in your mouth, and your enjoying it, then your doing it right.

Well said my friend.. Another component that goes with the size of the cigar is the draw, some cigars have tighter draws meaning one has to suck harder (I know) to get the smoke through the cigar. In this case one has to do what I would call a double puff to get the desired amount of smoke. Other times the draw is too loose and doing a double puff will give you way too much smoke more than is desired. boydmcgowan brought up an excellent point by mentioning the cigars rg (ring gauge) "thickness" As this affects a cigars draw as well,, Alex gave us an excellent illustration in a video that Boyd reminded me of.. Ill look for it

The_Kid

Heres a good read, I'm still looking for video
http://www.cigar.com/cs/blogs/alex_ccom/archive/2008/07/09/7610.aspx

The_Kid

Heres a great video brought to you by the Wonderful folks here at Cigar.com...Enjoy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK1B-56P7lE

Rhamlin

Yeah I like to take 2-3 small puffs and 1 good one. Then let it set in my mouth a moment so the smoke can coat my palate before retrohaling. Then let the stick rest a moment.

Toombes

Rhamlin:

Yeah I like to take 2-3 small puffs and 1 good one. Then let it set in my mouth a moment so the smoke can coat my palate before retrohaling. Then let the stick rest a moment.

Not like I'm an expert, but this is also my preferred method. I really like a good mouthful of smoke to be able to get all of the flavors from the cigar. But, like the rest of the Brothers have mentioned, it's all about personal preference and trial and error.

kuzi16

until you get your own rhythm down, aim for about a puff a minute.

i generally do one of two things when i actually puff.
1) -1,2,3 method
or
2) 1 and 1

the "-1,2,3 method" is a take off of the "1,2,3 method." the 1,2,3 is where on each draw you actually draw three times: two extremely short quick puffs followed followed by one long slow easy draw. the theory is hat the first two puffs will make sure that the entire foot is lit and the long draw will draw in a nice cool smoke.

i dont do that

i do -1,2,3 its the same as 1,2,3, but the first puff is "negative"
in other words, i purge and blow out lightly then puff in once then a longer slower draw.
i do that about 20% of the time.

the other 80% is 1 an1.
this is just 1,2,3, minus the first puff.
i find that the extra puff at the beginning heats up a cigar more than i want.