I like Col Conk's, especially the bay rum.

Here's my technique and it seems to work pretty good.

I soak the brush in hot tap water while I take a shower. Also during this I have a small dab of water sitting on top of the soap (which I melted into a shave mug). When done I gently squeeze the excess water out of the brush, empty the bowl, then pour the little bit of water that's been sitting on top of the soap into the bowl I use to built lather in.

Load the brush for roughly 60 seconds. If the brush is too damp, it will start building lather. It shouldn't at this point. Instead the bristles should be quite loaded with thick soap.

To make lather I start to both swirl and pump in my little bowl, adding dabs of water as I go.

The trick seems to be to load the brush with most of the water squeezed out, load it a lot, then add water gradually as you build the lather in a separate bowl. I have not tried face lathering so I can't speak to that technique with Col Conks.

Keep at it, the Col really is a decent soap.

Charlie