More About Tongue Bite

stanlaurel · Feb 11, 2015

I am still a very new pipe smoker. I have just read the recent thread on tongue bite and I have found this useful. That subject stayed mostly on the role played by moisture. I would like to ask about 2 other contributing factors that I have heard about. One is pace of smoking and the other is experience. I read a post by someone who tried to say that the moisture and pace theories are nonsense but that you just need to "get used to" pipe smoking and the bite will go away. What do people think about that? My second question is about pace. I am managing to make my smokes last 70-90 minutes. That doesn't sound too fast does it? I can still get tongue bit even this slow. Or is this still not slow enough?

newbroom · Feb 11, 2015

Welcome!

Some blends will burn some people and not others. I do think that an acclimatization period with a blend may improve the condition.

The general rule is that the sweeter the tobacco the hotter it can burn.

Most of the otc burley blends are easily adapted to, but I do have difficulty so far with Half and Half.

Virginia tobacco has more sugar than burley so it's often pressed into cakes and sliced into flakes to be smoked with minimal rub out so that they burn slowly keeping that burn propensity low.

The coolest smokes can be those with latakia, I think.

Don't confuse tongue bite with a spicy taste.

Good luck, and enjoy the journey.

Mike

stanlaurel · Feb 11, 2015

Yes. Thanks. I was wondering about that. How do I differentiate spice from tongue bite?

newbroom · Feb 11, 2015

The spice taste/sensation will depart relatively quickly. Tongue bite is lingering and uncomfortable.

I've read and believe that some people are affected by some tobaccos due to their own particular susceptibilities.

One guy can chuff on Half and Half, and I can't.

khartman · Feb 11, 2015

I realized the difference between tongue bite and spicy when I was trying a few types of tobacco at a local shop where I had to smoke outside. They just relocated and didn't have it set up to smoke in the shop. It was cold outside so I was ripping through bowls pretty quick. I did get the spicy hits here and there but towards the end of bowl three there was a completely different feeling and that bite didn't go away for a good hour or so.

billypm · Feb 11, 2015

What tobaccos are you smoking? And what pipes? Knowing that might help us to figure out what's going on. I'll echo the idea that some blends just bite some people and not others. But there are plenty of technique issues that can affect your tongue. For instance, packing that's too loose or too tight can make a blend burn hot . How hot does your pipe feel while you're smoking it?

sjfine · Feb 11, 2015

Yes. Thanks. I was wondering about that. How do I differentiate spice from tongue bite?

I have scars from the first week of smoking a pipe. Scars.
That's how I differentiate.

stanlaurel · Feb 11, 2015

I'm smoking Blackhouse in a highly bent billiard. I smoked a bowl on Sunday afternoon after drying the stuff for a few hours and really had a nice experience. But then on Monday and Tuesday a read a bunch of reviews that said it was fine right out of the can so last night I packed it tight and full without drying and it was dirty and ashy and bit my tongue and throat too. A lot a reviews have similar comments about being dirty ashy and biting if you push too hard and it is also mentioned as being too spicy for some people. Because I was fine on Sunday, I'd like to blame my technique.

ming · Feb 11, 2015

My main blend, MacBaren Virginia #1, is notorious for biting. In taming that blend I pretty much tamed all others. For me the secret is simple. If a pipe is well on its way to going out, let it. Nursing a bowl back to life by trying to puff it back to life is the surest way for me to get bit. Unless you are in a slow smoking contest there is no award or benefits to smoking a pipe on one or two lights. Don't hesitate to relight.

jcury · Feb 11, 2015

Hi to all, I was a smoker for 12 years and switched to pipes for a month now, I have the problem of Tongue Bite, no matter what I do I can't get rid of it. I smoke about 5 to 7 bowls a day.

It is really bad with me, I lost about 70 80 % of taste. It gos away if I stop smoking for a day or 2 but I just love my pipe and tobacco. Any help?

billypm · Feb 11, 2015

I'll summarize a lot of the wisdom offered here:
Dry your tobacco out til it's not damp feeling. Slow down the speed at which the smoke enters your mouth, even during lighting-- just a slow trickle is best. Try for less smoke rather than more. Experiment with different tobaccos to see if you can find one that bites less. Packing your pipe too loose or too tightly will cause it to burn hot. If the pipe feels very hot in your hands, STOP smoking and let it cool off before relighting. Don't give up, but experiment and try to learn from your mistakes. Trial and error (and lots of each) wins the day.

newbroom · Feb 11, 2015

Ming, I totally agree with that observation about attempting to keep a straggling bowl lit. I think that's really a big part of what's happening to many of us.

Light it again, don't try to suck it back to life. Some of us are stubborn. :puffpipe:

stanlaurel · Feb 12, 2015

Thanks for all the advice so far. I smoked a bowl of Blackhouse again last night. I probably should have given my tongue a day off but I wanted to get right back on the horse. I dried the tobacco for 3 hours before packing and sipped very small amounts during lighting and smoking. The bowl lasted 80 minutes. My tongue and throat were much better this time. I think that I am still healing from Tuesday but that I did not bite myself again last night. But now I do think that I am plastering myself with the high level of spiceyness that the reviews of this tobacco discuss. This is made more complex by the fact that I think I still have a very immature palate and only really taste smoke and don't catch any of the subtleties of the blend. I plan to give the Blackhouse a rest and smoke Virginas for a few days and then try a milder English blend over the weekend.

menuhin · Feb 12, 2015

I think tongue bite is basically a chemical 'burn' on your tongue and oral cavity tissue, and it depends a lot on the pH value / alkalinity of the tobacco you are smoking (of course also your style and habit of smoking). It in turns depends on the alkalinity resistance of individual smokers, and such 'resistance' of your mouth and tongue tissue cannot be built up like the resistance to alcohol.

I personally give up a tobacco when I tried it the 2nd (or the 3rd, if it is really delicious) time and if it still bites me. Sometimes ageing of a tobacco for a few months or even a few years will greatly reduce the bite.
I found this link has quite detailed information on tongue bite:

On Tongue bite as a chemical burn

delro · Feb 12, 2015

I plan to give the Blackhouse a rest and smoke Virginas for a few days and then try a milder English blend over the weekend.

Try Orlik GS or Dunhill Flake both straight VAs that I have never been bitten by. Then again blackhouse never bit me either...I didn't really enjoy that blend in comparison to other English baccy's I have had. Gaslight by GL PEASE is great if you want another stout english.

stanlaurel · Feb 12, 2015

Thanks for the article. Very good. I think that if I apply what I have learned in the last couple of days, I can see that this incident was my fault and probably not the fault of Blackhouse. I only really got bitten bad one time out of 6. I will still give that stuff some time in the cellar and smoke somethng else for a while. I have 2 GLPease blends in my cellar: Abingdon and Meridian. Any experience with these? Gaslight looks interesting.

freakiefrog · Feb 12, 2015

There are a couple of things that can happen in my limited experience.

#1 - Steam burn: this is where your tobacco is to wet or you have spit that gets into the stem and/or bowl that steams your tongue. Both are avoidable with tobacco drying or not clenching[/*]
#2 - Ph Burn: As a chef you learn that different peoples mouths react differently to different ph levels in foods. Some people can eat lemons like an Orange and claim it tastes good. Other like my wife if they eat a lemon raw it will cause their tongue to bleed, literally weep blood. This is because their mouth ph is so neutral to start with that really acidy foods or really base(bitter) stuff is an extreme. Smokers will experience this with different tobaccos. The key is to figure out which way your mouth is and counter act it. By eating or drinking something. While you smoke I can't drink a soda but a little lemon water helps balance my mouth with some blends[/*]
#3 - Heat burn: This is where the you're lighting and drawing the flame to far down into the bowl. Essentially sucking the fire into your mouth or you're puffing so much that the heat in the bowl is causing the air you draw in to burn your mouth. You might have a very dry tobacco or you're just puffing to hard and to often. [/*]

Hope that helps alittle

jcury · Feb 14, 2015

Thanks guys for the help. Well I never clench my pipe although I sometimes get the gurgling sound when I smoke so I think the tobacco may be too wet.
I often drink Konyak with my pipe but it doesn't help. I will try to drie the tobacco more before packing.

jmmize · Feb 14, 2015

Repetitions! :D

didimauw · Feb 25, 2015

I have a hard time smoking anything but Carter Hall, or Prince Albert. Everything bites me it seems. I actually love Orlik Golden Sliced, but after finishing my tin, my tongue was raw for 2 weeks.
I like virginia's but they obviously do not like me.

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