French inhale

The French inhale is a smoking trick. I have no idea if it originated in France or what, because I couldn't be bothered to do a little research.

It involves taking a good-sized drag off your cigarette (cigar|hookah|pipe|joint|etc), but not immediately inhaling the smoke. Instead of inhaling, gently push, with a very light exhale, the smoke out of your mouth and into your nostrils, while slightly inhaling with them. This trick (maybe a slightly different version) is known in musical circles as circular breathing and is usually used by horn/clarinet/etc players. After a little practice, you should be able to push the smoke out of your mouth and into your nostrils simultaneously. Once all the smoke goes out of your mouth, into your nose and through your lungs, exhale it through your mouth.

I particularly enjoy doing this with clove cigarettes because the smoke is thicker than "regular" cigarettes, such as Marlboros and the like.

See also: blowing smoke rings, shotgun, how to smoke.

I've also heard this called a French pull.

To do a French inhale, you take a drag of smoke into your mouth (not into your lungs) and push it out of your mouth while inhaling through your nose. With a little bit of practice, you'll get used to the rate you push smoke out and the rate you inhale smoke through your nose, and will be able to adjust each to be equal. This can be done with any type of smoke, but thicker smoke (such as cigar smoke) usually looks better.

It always came easily to me, but many people have trouble with it. You can practice by exhaling, filling your mouth with water, and squirting the water out as you inhale through your nose. If you know how to circle breathe (you know, like Kenny G), it's very similar.

Usually, it's done so a flat stream of smoke floats gently out one's mouth and leisurely into one's nose, but it's easy to get carried away. In a still room, you can create some beautiful billows of smoke and gracefully peel them away into your nose. An excellent example of this is in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, when Bacon enjoys a rather large joint.

Somewhat like this is the habit of snorting smoke rings — I have a friend who will blow a smoke ring and just before it starts to lose its form, he sticks his nose nearby and inhales. The part of the ring closest to his face is quickly sucked into his nose, and the rest slowly stretches in.

briglass says ...don't you mean Freedom inhale?

The French Inhale is one of those cool tricks smokers do to impress people in bars. It's also another great way to get more cancer, because it introduces all the fun stuff in tobacco smoke into your nasal passages, as well as your throat, mouth, lungs, etc. Basically, the smoker breathes smoke out of the mouth while simultaneously breathing it in through the nose. If done correctly, this results in a white stream of smoke cascading upward between the lips and the nostrils, only to reemerge later out of the mouth again. It takes some practice to get it right, but the payoff is the cool factor (of course), as well as an increased buzz. Technique

First off, you have to be smoking. Pipes work surprisingly well, cigarettes work pretty well with practice, and cigars are also an option. I've heard of it done with other substances, but I have no experience there. It also helps to have clear nasal passages, so you might go on and blow your nose right now. The "trick" to the French Inhale is to not breathe the smoke all the way into your lungs. Just take a hit into your mouth and hold it. Next, evacuate all of the air out of your lungs via the nose. Now, open your mouth slightly, letting some of the smoke escape. Breathe in through the nose at the same time, and feel the burn as the smoke enters your nasal passages. Cough. Cough again. Feeling better? Good. Try once more. Once you actually start to get smoke to come out of your mouth into your nose, try and get the whole hit out of your mouth before you're done breathing in. You can use a pushing motion with your tongue to get the smoke out without blowing. Just let it slowly flow out, in as even a stream as possible, and try to catch it with your nose. You will start to feel it, especially with a pipe or multiple cigarettes. Probably has something to do with oxygen deficiency, but I'm not a doctor, so I'm just going to say it's all that coolness going to your head.

Tips and Tricks:

Don't try it in a windy place. In fact, even a slight breeze will blow the smoke away from your nose enough for you to miss some of it, which isn't nearly as cool as drawing two white columns of smoke across your upper lip. If there is a breeze that can't be avoided, like a ceiling fan or a mild wind if outside, then face away from the wind and let the back of your head shield your face.

Practice in front of a mirror, while it sounds idiotic, is actually quite useful. Or, just get a bunch of drunken smokers together and all try it out, offering each other tips and pointers as you figure it out.

You might run into problems if you take too much smoke into your mouth, and then try and take it all back in through the French Inhale. You'll eventually figure out the right amount of smoke, but mistakes will usually end with you coughing and choking, but sometimes the coolness factor hides the blemishes.