Toasting the foot: is it really necessary?

[ApexAZ]

I got an email from one of the major online retailers and it featured a segment on how to properly light a cigar.

It went something like this:

Toast the foot by holding the cigar above the flame and rotate. Then light the cigar by rotating it 360 degrees while puffing. This is simplified, really, but the thing that caught my attention was how they emphasized the point that if you do not do it correctly, it will lead to tunneling, canoeing and other burn issues. In a video, Nick Perdomo event went so far as to say that most of the complaints they receive concerning burn issues can be attributed to "Operator Errror".

Do you guys think this is reasonable? Sure if you don't light the whole foot you might get an uneven burn. But to blame burn issues solely on the lighting technique seems like a diversion from a potentially poorly rolled and/or kept cigar in my view. It seems like even the environment can affect burn, such as outdoor RH and temperature.

Sometimes I'll toast the foot, sometimes I'll just plunge the foot deep into the center of the blue flame without giving it much thought. But I always try to ensure the entire foot is burning with a cherry. Usually when I have burn issues it's some kind of tunneling or canoeing and I usually have to touch up several times throughout the smoke, so I attribute it to moisture problems.

I'm just curious what others thoughts are on this? Is it really fair to blame burn issues on the lighting technique? I'm sure it happens, but seems like an overgeneralization to say lighting technique is usually to blame.

[pnoon]

I'm with you, Brian.
:2

[Solafide]

My favorite way to light a cigar is with a long cigar match and slowly toasting the foot. I don't know if it makes a difference if I were to just put it under a flame and start puffing, but it is more of a ritual for me now. I really enjoy slowly lighting the cigar and smelling the initial light and the beginning of a relaxing evening smoking a cigar.
Most of my problems I've noticed from a bad burn, unless construction is bad, is due to poor storing conditions. Or lighting a cigar straight out of the box after shipping when temptation gives in lol

[CigarNut]

Those cigars that I smoke that have burn issues would probably have burn issues regardless of whether I toasted the foot or not.

I tend to toast the foot -- but more as a ritual than anything else.

[Dude Here]

Those cigars that I smoke that have burn issues would probably have burn issues regardless of whether I toasted the foot or not.

I tend to toast the foot -- but more as a ritual than anything else.

Same here, it's more ritual to me than anything else. I was at an even last night and the shop owner offered to light my smoke for me. He shoved the big table torch about an inch from my face and I just lit the cigar that way. Burned just fine and required zero touch-ups. I tend to attribute burn issues to either poor storage or poor rolling/construction.

[stevef2005]

I initially did not toast the foot but I also used a BIC lighter when I first started smoking. So was a complete noob. I toast the foot now more out of ritual like other people. I still have burn issues sometimes even toasting the foot so I don't think it really matters. To each there own though. If you like just lighting it up, do that. If you like toasting the foot, do that.

:2

[T.G]

I subscribe exclusively to the three match technique.

[RevSmoke]

I have seen too many people who do not get a full light of the foot to begin, and they have had serious burn issues later.

I am not sure I buy the idea that you have to toast the foot before lighting though.

Sometimes it is a cigar issue.

[icehog3]

I toast the foot. Personal preference. Do as you please......but I don't buy Nick Perdomo's opinion at all. :2

[YankeeMan]

I toast the foot and I also blow across the foot once the cigar is lit to make sure the entire foot is ash. This has eliminated most of the burn problems I've come across.

[Porch Dweller]

Opinions vary. I smoke outside so have to deal with the breeze when lighting, thus use a torch. I toast when I can, but sometimes I have to get the flame up close and personal to get it lit. Either way, I don't notice any difference as long as it's evenly lit and fully burning (like Rick, I blow gently on the end to make sure the whole foot is lit).

It's funny the opinions that people have about lighting a cigar. I get FSS posts in my Facebook and once there was a picture of a guy lighting a box-pressed cigar. He had a torch right up to the foot and there was flame all around it. Some of the comments from people were ridiculous. Many were in the vein of "Well that cigar is completely ruined!" It was Churchill sized, I think a little purge after it was lit and it would be just fine. My favorite exchange was someone said "Might as well throw it out and grab a new one" to which someone responded "Do it anyway, it's box-pressed so no loss." The cigar was a Padron 1926. :rolleyes:

[Ashcan Bill]

I'll toast the foot on rare occasions just for grins, but usually I just apply fire and draw on it in a strong manly way to get her started. I've used wood matches, paper matches, soft flames, hard flames, cedar strips, and blazing branches from camp fires. I've reached the conclusion that the lighting method has zero influence on my ultimate enjoyment of the cigar. The only truth I've discovered through sad experience is that you never, ever attempt to light anything you find stuck in your mouth while riding in a top down convertible if you sport a moustache. This is an inviolatable truth.

As far as the method of lighting affecting the burn, if you don't get the complete foot lit than obviously you'll likely have a problem. But some cigars are just fated to burn in a way to irritate you. Doesn't matter how well you've cared for them, loved them or lit them - they're possessed.

[Oshay]

:h5

[Oshay]

:h5:h5I'll toast the foot on rare occasions just for grins, but usually I just apply fire and draw on it in a strong manly way to get her started. I've used wood matches, paper matches, soft flames, hard flames, cedar strips, and blazing branches from camp fires. I've reached the conclusion that the lighting method has zero influence on my ultimate enjoyment of the cigar. The only truth I've discovered through sad experience is that you never, ever attempt to light anything you find stuck in your mouth while riding in a top down convertible if you sport a moustache. This is an inviolatable truth.

As far as the method of lighting affecting the burn, if you don't get the complete foot lit than obviously you'll likely have a problem. But some cigars are just fated to burn in a way to irritate you. Doesn't matter how well you've cared for them, loved them or lit them - they're possessed.

[AdamJoshua]

I'd say that in some ways "toasting the foot" has changed, with more and more people using torch lighters, it's less about rotating the cigar / holding the soft flame (match, cedar strip, etc.,) and more about holding the the stick still and moving the flame around the foot, just an updated method.

That all being said I'll still rarely just put flame to stick and take a few big puffs, I don't know if it matters but seems like drawing that much heat and flame into the stick will change some of the basic flavor profiles of the tobacco. I know that when you puff puff pass sometimes the stick get's too hot and it can turn tannic, of course it's only my opinion. :2

[shark]

I always toast the foot and very rarely have burn issues. That just seems to me to be the most efficient way to light a cigar

[shark]

I'd say that in some ways "toasting the foot" has changed, with more and more people using torch lighters, it's less about rotating the cigar / holding the soft flame (match, cedar strip, etc.,) and more about holding the the stick still and moving the flame around the foot, just an updated method.

That all being said I'll still rarely just put flame to stick and take a few big puffs, I don't know if it matters but seems like drawing that much heat and flame into the stick will change some of the basic flavor profiles of the tobacco. I know that when you puff puff pass sometimes the stick get's too hot and it can turn tannic, of course it's only my opinion. :2

I guess I got stuck in that habit since I still rotate the cigar when lighting. Never does me wrong by using that technique!

[icehog3]

:h5

:h5:h5

Shoot for three? :sh

[WaRevo]

I have tried it many many times. I have to say I get the odd looks when I am doing that while lighting up away from the house. Some have said it is a waste of time. Honestly I at times feel it was a waste of time. When I cut my cigars and take a pre Draw I can tell what kind of Cigar it will be. If it is hard to Draw it will be nothing but a nightmare of a smoke. There are a few that get in the mix that has a Perfect draw and lights/burns perfect 1/2 through the thing and then it gets nasty and tight. I avoid them in the future.

However to say that Roosting your foot before you light your cigar for me is BS. There are just some Cigars that have issues no matter how you light it. I just try and keep an eye on the cigar and play touch up if needed before it gets out of hand.

James

[Tidefan73]

I don't really 'toast' the foot, it's the way I light all my cigars. I don't puff them when lighting, I simply 'toast' them until they're lit, then puff away! One thing, I ensure to keep the flame far enough away so I don't burn anything.

[CigarNut]

I don't really 'toast' the foot, it's the way I light all my cigars. I don't puff them when lighting, I simply 'toast' them until they're lit, then puff away! One thing, I ensure to keep the flame far enough away so I don't burn anything.

:tu :tu

I do it the same way.

[pektel]

I don't really 'toast' the foot, it's the way I light all my cigars. I don't puff them when lighting, I simply 'toast' them until they're lit, then puff away! One thing, I ensure to keep the flame far enough away so I don't burn anything.

This is my preferred way to light my cigars as well. Does it make a difference? For me, it does.

Smoke what you light, light what you smoke. Or something like that.

[Tidefan73]

I found that puff or 'kissing' while lighting causes it to taste bitter for the first 1/4 or so. Had a guy at a B&M in San Antonio show me the 'new' way and I've stuck with it since.

[pektel]

Exactly my reasoning for it as well. I find The cigar doesn't need the time to "settle in" anymore.

[icehog3]

I don't really 'toast' the foot, it's the way I light all my cigars. I don't puff them when lighting, I simply 'toast' them until they're lit, then puff away! One thing, I ensure to keep the flame far enough away so I don't burn anything.

That pretty much sums up my method too, Theron. Maybe semantics if one calls this "toasting" or not, but it's right on for me.

[ColdCuts]

Twenty years ago, when I was just getting started, I tried to adhere to the oft prescribed lighting ritual. But, like Porch Dweller, I do all of my smoking outdoors where conditions for lovingly toasting my cigar just aren't there. So my method adapted over the years.

Today I spend all of about five seconds "toasting". Whereby, like AdamJoshua, I hold the cigar more-or-less stationary and move the flame of my torch briefly over the foot. (Note: I've already clipped the cap. There are those that say the cigar should only be cut post toast.) After my five-second toast, the light. I'll take two very short puffs with the flame just under the foot, or maybe even touching the foot--for me it's tough to judge, especially when lighting a longer cigar. Maybe this technically screws-up the quick toasting I just gave it. I don't know. But, at this point I'm pretty confident my cigar is well-lit. To be certain, I examine the foot for an allover glow. If it's got one, success. It it hasn't, one or two more mini blasts targeting just the problem areas and we're good. If I suspect that I somehow gave my cigar a bad time, I'll purge it once, then let it rest for as much a whole minute. Done.

The complete procedure takes longer to read than perform, about fifteen to twenty seconds, provided my lighter isn't fighting with me. I know there are those who would say I'm doing it wrong, but I've been happily lighting cigars this way for a long time. Either I've got the palate of a goat and don't know any better, or this is a perfectly effective way to light.

[RevSmoke]

I don't really 'toast' the foot, it's the way I light all my cigars. I don't puff them when lighting, I simply 'toast' them until they're lit, then puff away! One thing, I ensure to keep the flame far enough away so I don't burn anything.

That pretty much sums up my method too, Theron. Maybe semantics if one calls this "toasting" or not, but it's right on for me.

My thoughts exactly. I didn't think it was called toasting the foot, as I thought toasting had to be done with a soft flame, and the cigar may, or may not be, lit. I usually use a torch, trying not to let the "blue" flame touch the foot, but the heat at the end of that blue flame is enough to get it lit. When the entire foot is cherry, I will puff away.

Peace of the Lord be with you.

[Stinky]

The topic of 'toasting' or 'roasting' (or 'roosting' as stated by WaRevo) always makes for an interesting discussion. It's been a regular, reoccurring topic on cigar boards since I started online in 1997. After years of reading varying opinions on numerous boards and in numerous cigar-books, while at the RTDA (now IPCPR) conventions, I started watching how the cigar makers & blenders light their cigars. Some do. Most don't. The ones who do, don't make a big, long process about it. I usually give the foot a little roasting before drawing. In the end, it's just your personal preference. 'What ever tightens your bolt.' :)

Will a bad light cause a bad burn? Yes. However, a quality, well made cigar will straighten out as you continue to smoke it, even after a somewhat marginal lighting. In a properly stored/humidified cigar, Poor Burn, canoeing, tunneling, etc. is more commonly a result of poorly rolled or poorly cured tobacco. I still recommend and encourage a "good light' to fully enjoy a cigar.

Soft Flame vs Torch:
Throughout the history of cigars, cedar sticks (not the paper-thin slip sheets) and/or matches have been used to roast/toast and light cigars. Then came soft-flame lighters. A soft-flame source (be it a cedar stick, wood match or butane) is only effective in a no-wind environment. Lighting a cigar in a windy/breezy condition is too much work, IMHO. The torch lighters are a 'fool proof' method because it's such a clean, super hot burn and controlled ignition source.

Given the time and interest of fellow cigar enthusiasts, I have a little demonstration to show how to use a soft flame. In a calm (wind/breeze) free environment, use a metal (stainless steel) ashtray and hold a match, cedar stick or butane soft-flame lighter and hold the flame about 1/2 inch below the side of a metal surface. You can see the metal surface heat up with a vapor pattern around the hot spot. No scorching. Just heat. Then, take the same soft flame (match, cedar stick, soft-flame butane lighter) and hold the flame into the surface of the metal. The result is a black deposit of carbon on the metal surface. And, that black carbon is what you're putting into the foot of your cigar when you put the foot into the flame. That black carbon material is simply "UN-burnt fuel". Understand that what the human eye sees as the yellow part of a soft flame is burning fuel (be it wood or butane). The hottest part of the flame is not visible to the human eye, it's the area just above the yellow part of the flame. Torch lighters burn clean and hotter. Try the same experiment with a torch. No matter if you put the metal ashtray surface into the torch flame or just above the visible blue part of the flame, there is no scorching either way.

Using the hottest part of a soft flame to light a cigar creates an illusion that the flame "JUMPS" up to the foot of the cigar when you puff during the lighting process. No, it didn't jump. It's the oils in the tobacco igniting from the heat. We should make a video! :)

[ApexAZ]

I think that toasting the foot is perfectly fine, and I also agree that if you don't get it fully lit from the get-go then it can lead to burn issues. I just think it's unfair to assume that burn issues are a result from Operator Error and I was a little turned off when NP suggested that in his video. It just came across as a little disingenuous. I feel that cigars that have burn problems for me are typically not a result of a poor light, but improper moisture and/or construction.

If he had said that it's a hand made product and there will be some inconsistencies from time to time, I would have respected that answer far more than his attempt to blame the "operator".

I too will often toast the foot out of habit, but like many have stated it is more of a ritualistic thing than anything. I do not believe it has anything to do with the quality of the burn unless I somehow miss a spot, which I almost never do.

[Dave128]

I don't really 'toast' the foot, it's the way I light all my cigars. I don't puff them when lighting, I simply 'toast' them until they're lit, then puff away! One thing, I ensure to keep the flame far enough away so I don't burn anything.


This. :tu

[pattersong]

I'm one of these guys who spends some time toasting the foot. Whether it is the proper method is irrelevant to me.

I find it to be a great way to slow down a little and get into the relaxed frame of mind that I enjoy while smoking a cigar. As an added bonus, it offers the opportunity to appreciate the aroma of the smoke before I take that first puff.