Described herein is a method of generating aerosol from an aerosol-generating substrate using an aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-generating device comprising at least three heating zones disposed so as to each heat a different section of the substrate to generate an aerosol without burning. The method comprises sequentially generating aerosol from each different section of substrate, wherein during heating; (i) a section of substrate is heated to an aerosol-generation temperature; (ii) another section of substrate which is heated to an intermediate temperature which is below the aerosol-generation temperature but and approximately equal to or above the minimum operating temperature; (iii) at least one of the remaining sections of substrate are heated to a minimum operating temperature which is at least sufficient to prevent condensation of volatilized components on or in the vicinity of those sections; and wherein once aerosol has been generated from a section, (a) the temperature in that section is reduced from the aerosol-generation temperature to the minimum operating temperature, (b) the section previously heated to the intermediate temperature is heated to the aerosol-generation temperature, and (c) a further section is heated to the intermediate temperature.