Puffing

Puffing is a technique to bring smoke (usually tobacco) into the mouth cavity. This is achieved by sucking deeply on the filter end of a cigarette, allowing smoke to flow into the smoker's mouth before being inhaled into the lungs. One hereby produces a negative pressure, so that the smoke arrives at the mucous membranes and to the taste receptors. In this way, nicotine is absorbed, and the flavors in the tar particles can be tasted.

After the time of moment of effect (from a few seconds at maximum), the smoke is blown out again. With cigars and pipes, one takes a draw every few minutes according to preference. Some smokers may choose to do so less often.

The smoke is mostly not directly inhaled into the lungs, as with tobacco smoking. When puffing, the taste is at the center of attention, which is why many varieties of tobacco are produced with added flavors and aromas such as vanilla.