Tobacco PH

While I don't know for sure, I think it is alkaline, because coffee turns down the bite for me. I have had some tongue bite that is straight-up, wet tobacco steam burn. A sip of hot coffee ain't gonna help that, let me tell ya!

The smoke of Virginia is absolutely acidic. The leaf is acidic too (as measured with a pH meter).

I'm not the smartest egg in the carton, but just from experience I don't put a lot of stock in the alkalinity theory. Sure, it may have some effect, and some people it may affect differently than other people, but I think tongue bite comes mainly from the hot steam in the smoke. And the way you smoke.

Ever notice that if you smoke until you get tongue bite, you usually have some damage to your inner lips as well? The affected area puckers up a little, and turns white where you hold the stem in your mouth, or where the smoke is hitting most often. It goes away in a couple days. And your taste buds, which lost their tasting ability, come back about the same time.

Looks a lot like steam damage to me. How do I know? Ever taste something that is too hot? You get the same kind of damage.

If it was caused by the ph factor, seems more of your mouth would be affected. Just my take on it.

As far as drinking something when smoking, or what to drink? I don't know about others but I usually get something to sip along with my pipe. Keeps my mouth cool and just taste good. I do not ever drink water while smoking. I just don't like the taste of water and tobacco. Or milk. Milk and tobacco just taste nasty to me.

Coffee, hot black tea, fruit juices, lemonade, or alcoholic beverages seem work fine. But that's just me.

+1 to limonade! I never had tongue bite (not just because of the lemonade but who knows? )

but I think tongue bite comes mainly from the hot steam in the smoke.

Click to expand...

Which is why a lot of folks differentiate between "tongue bite" thought to be caused specifically by body chemistry and/or type of tobacco, and "tongue burn" which is largely a result of technique.
Article by Russ Ouellette with a section on this very topic...

+1 phred
Its a bit of both steam and PH IMO. Tea is a great beverage to pair with a pipe. strong enough to wash out excess taste and doesn't agitate bite. Wont help with burn though, unless it is iced of course.

I personally believe that tongue bite has to do with chemistry (alkaline pH and clashing "body chemistry") and nothing to do with high temperature of the smoke. I'm sure it's possible to smoke a pipe so hard that the smoke gets hot and steamy, but when smoked calmly and with a reasonably good technique pipe smoke shouldn't be hot when it reaches the mouth.
My reasoning is based on own experience of some tobaccos causing immediate discomfort of mouth right from the start, while some don't. No matter how slow I smoke. I've smoked a pipe for fifteen years and would like to think my technique is reasonably good by now, but some tobaccos still bite me. Most don't. I do understand that people who don't have this problem have hard time imagining this effect.
Also, I've read an old study in which they measured the temperature of cigarette smoke in a cig holder before it reaches smoker's mouth and the temps averaged around 30 C (86F) and only rising up to 50C (122F) in the very end. In that same study they measured burning temps of different tobaccos in pipes and cigars, which both had lower combustion temp than cigarettes. So I can't figure out how pipe smoke should be any hotter than cigarette smoke. And why don't cigarettes cause tongue bite if they indeed burn hotter?
EDIT: The old study I mentioned: http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/16/6/490.short (.pdf linked in the abstract)

All natural tobacco is acidic. Someone had posted the actual numbers a year or so ago, and the difference between a Virginia and Burley is just a few numbers (like 7 to 9 for example). But, also keep in mind that the difference between nitric acid and lemonade is just a few numbers as well. Acids of similar acidity can also affect different material, such as nitric which can melt metals and hydrochloric which can burn skin. However, as Phred pointed out there is a difference between bite and burn, and most just getting into the hobby cannot (do not) differentiate well.

Steam is the biggest threat. If you reduce the steam, you reduce both bite and burn, as hot acid is more dangerous than cold acid on any material.

My favorite drink to have while smoking a tangy Virginia is Mountain Dew or a tangy fruit juice, but these do nothing positive for my pant size, ha ha. But, I also like to dry my Virginias out to crunchy, and I smoke very slow, no puffing and never smoke when I don't have the time. For me, slow plus dry means more flavor without any burn to the tongue.
Body chemistry comes up a lot. Maybe it is like when people start drinking beer, how they gag at first, ha ha. They have to develop their tongues. Because the more acidic Virginias are the more golden zesty tobaccos, whereas reds are due to the color cure of the leaf. There is no natural red Virginia plant. I know that some reds come from a smoky fire cure instead of the clean, dry flue cure, like the difference between the red color of pork barbecue verses roasting a pig in an electric oven. However, the industry is tight lipped about most of what it does. But, in the growing side of the hobby, we find people get that richer red flavor from smoke cure of the leaf, slowly with low heat or age curing, to get that red color and flavor. To me, the reds have a smoky barbecue like taste also, a fuller flavor. But, all in all, they come from similar (if not the exact same) plant, and the reds should have less acidity. So, maybe body allergies could come into play with the added smoke process. maybe it is the things added to the tobacco in the curing that they are affected by.
But, all in all, I think that steam and body chemistry affect the tongue more directly than the acidity. Some burley blends will strip my tongue fast also. But, there is also the acidity of the casings to take into consideration.

The generalization given to the smoke police is that the tobaccos used in pipes and cigars are more alkaline than the tobaccos used for cigarettes, thus, pipes and cigar tobacco is not inhaled. The fact that the more acidic tobacco in a cigarette is inhaled can up the nicotine absorbed by a factor of 100. Those are the facts as reported in an old issue of NASPC's Pipe Collector. As someone who has spent time with some pretty bad head spins from pipe tobacco, I'm not sure about the numbers but it sounds good.

"Abstract
The pH of tobacco smoke is a determining factor in its acute toxicity. With a rise in pH above 6·2, the smoke contains increasing amounts of unprotonated nicotine, the most toxic form of this agent. The pH was determined by puffing smoke over a highly sensitive combination electrode. Measured were the pH of the total mainstream smoke of some domestic, foreign and experimental cigarettes, as well as of some cigars and little cigars. The pH of individual puffs of cigarettes made from Bright tobacco and blended tobacco decreased slightly, from pH 6·3 to 5·6, with increasing puff number. The pH of puffs of cigars and little cigars increased from about pH 6·5 to above 7·5. The pH of smoke from cigarettes made from Bright tobacco varieties increased significantly as the height of the leaf position on the stalk increased. Total nitrogen, total alkaloids and total volatile bases of the tobacco showed a high degree of correlation with the pH of the mainstream smoke. Data on sidestream smoke are also presented. The findings of this study are discussed with regard to tobacco-smoke toxicity and inhalability

" Food and Cosmetics Today, Vol 12, Issue 1, 1974
The reason cigarette smokers inhale is because flue cured (aka Virginia) tobacco has a lower pH than a Burley. Because of the lower pH the nicotine is bound and not absorbed very well. By inhaling, the smoke comes in contact with the aveolar sacs which dramitcally raise the pH thus turning it into free nicotine.

Thanks for sharing that. It explains a lot.

I am very sensitive to red Virginia's and get an acid burn the minute the smoke hits my tongue. I can smoke every other Va or Perique or Burley with no bite what so ever. I smoke Va, Vaper and Vabur flakes exclusively and have 32 blends in my cellar and rotation that are tongue bite free for me. It took me a long time to realize the acid burn I was getting was due to the red virginia's, but finally figured it out. Now I have no idea about the technical aspects to this or what ph red virginia is, but after years of suffering trying to smoke the stuff, I am just glad I have found so many great tasting blends, that don't burn my tongue off.

So, hopefully I'm not being dense here. Say I am sitting with a fellow piper, smoking an identical blend out of identical pipes with the exact same technique (impossible I know), and we both experience tongue bite. We take sips of identical coffee at identical temperatures; I am immediately soothed, and he feels like is rolling hot coals on his tongue. Does this make the pH of the tobacco smoke itself irrelevant, and put the ball squarely in the court of what the pH becomes as the smoke interacts with our own personal pH?

Someone had posted the actual numbers a year or so ago

Click to expand...

I think that was me in a conversation regarding nicotine content in relation to pH:

I am very sensitive to red Virginia's and get an acid burn the minute the smoke hits my tongue... It took me a long time to realize the acid burn I was getting was due to the red virginia's, but finally figured it out. Now I have no idea about the technical aspects to this or what ph red virginia is...

Click to expand...

Harris, if you have no idea what the pH of red virginia is, you shouldn't be calling your symptoms an "acid burn".

Everything I've read seems to indicate that pipe tobacco (smoke or leaf) has a pH between 4.7 and 8, which seems pretty neutral, especially compared to common foods ( pH of common foods ).
Is tobacco smoke on the acidic side of things? Probably. Virginias generally more acidic than burleys, blends with high sugar generally more acidic than those with low sugar, etc. But even the worst of the worst would be about as acidic as a banana.
There might be other irritants in the smoke of particular blends that cause negative reactions in individuals, but I doubt it's as simple as "acid burn" or pH.