Palate Fatigue?

[Spinkle]

Here's one for the more experienced smokers - how to you qualify "palate fatigue"?

Based on what little I've read about it, it would seem that it normally kicks in later in the day after you've had a number of bowls.

I think that I have experienced it, as sometimes on a day where I've had more than an average amount of bowls, I find that all the blends I try seem to all have an overpowering and offputting "citrus" taste. Does this sound like it?

I tend to call it quits for the day when I can't discern a burley from a Virginia.

If any of the old-timers among us have tips from trial and error as to how to avoid this, your comments would be most welcome as well

 

[Parsimonious Piper]

You’re onto it. I’m normally a 1-bowl/day smoker. When I do have a lazy day where I can smoke all day, I stack my blends with lighter or less complex blends first, and work my way up to Latakia/Oriental at the end. Otherwise I don’t taste anything after a few bowls.

 

[jttnk]

If I smoke too much or get a bit too hot, I get a charred mouth feeling. I just don’t feel like smoking. I take a day or two off. Next pipe is usually delicious! I’m a one bowl a day smoker usually, if that helps.

Also there are just some blends that seem to not work for me. I try them in several pipes, but they still taste ehhh or don’t burn we’ll for my style. Jar and move on, there are so many blends to try.

 

[verporchting]

Yup, when nothing tastes good or you can’t tell your favorite blends from your least favorites or especially when you get no taste at all it’s time to take a break from the pipe.

I usually restart with burley or straight VA and work back up to English or Lakelands or whatever.

 

[logs]

Sometimes it's a taste in the mouth that doesn't go away, other times it's a numbing effect where your taste is dulled down and your tongue feels over-used. It varies greatly depending on the blend you smoke as well as your individual mouth chemistry. Some blends are much more likely to cause fatigue than others. Aside from tongue bite, it's probably the main factor that determines whether a blend is to be considered an all day smoke or not.

My method of avoiding it (or at least delaying it) is to change what I smoke from bowl to bowl. A Balkan followed by a VaPer, a burley followed by a straight virginia, basically trying to balance out the load or stress I'm putting on my tongue.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Eat and/or drink something to cleanse your palate. Brush your teeth. Get one of the squirt bottles of Biotene. Use a tongue scraper. And as suggested before, start with milder horns and progressively smoke stronger horns.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Eat and/or drink something to cleanse your palate. Brush your teeth. Get one of the squirt bottles of Biotene. Use a tongue scraper. And as suggested before, start with milder horns and progressively smoke stronger horns.

This.

As slow as I smoke, don't think I've ever experienced it as my smoke is only slightly perceptable and doesn't overly saturate my mouth. I do smoke two group 4-magnum pipes per day.

 

[JimInks]

Ice water works best for me, drink wise. Apples are the best palate refreshers I know. I also switch my smokes constantly, and most of the time, I switch genres from smoke to smoke, too. That helps a lot.

 

[mngslvs]

I smoke two bowls a day at most, and usually one. While smoking, I take small sips of Amontillado sherry from time to time, and also ice water. I find the sherry to be a good foil for the heaviness of the tobacco .....refreshes the palate, as it were.
If I smoked more than two or three bowls a day, palate fatigue would be an issue for sure. I agree with jttnk that pipes taste better with a day off.

 

[seanv]

I smoke 1-2 bowls a day. During summer weekends that number can double. I usually start the day off light with a Virginia or an aromatic, drink lots of water and gradually smoke my way into vapers to end the day on heavy days. If I notice that my body needs a break from pipes I will take a week off, more if needed.

 

[blues4goose]

I've never really gotten palate fatigue, I've always joked that I have an elastic palate. Bounces back to neutral after anything with just a few sips of water. I went from 4 cigars a day to about 10 pipes, and I really have no system for what I smoke and when. I just grab whatever tin or cigar I'm in the mood for. I usually have coffee beside me, but I've found coffee clashes with what I'm smoking more often than what I smoked before.
I imagine someday palate fatigue will catch up to me, but I really haven't had to worry about it after 5 or 6 years.

 

[Casual]

The most I can smoke is once or twice a week, on weekends. I’ve gotten used to having a bowl Friday night after at least 5 days of rest, and maybe one on a Sunday. So if I have even two bowls in a day, the second one definitely doesn’t have the same richness as the first.

Just a guess, but I imagine we all settle into a frequency where we become familiar with the smoke at our normal rate, and notice when we increase or decrease by a significant amount.

 

[kurtbob]

Smoke at least 10 bowls a day. The tobaccos range from light Danish Burley flakes to Hal O The Wynd on most days. I do always have something to drink on hand though. Never can say I’ve ever had palate fatigue

 

[mso489]

Most of us have sensory limits, a zone where we are alive to sensory stimulus and a tapering off. Food, booze, certainly music, though people numb themselves by having a soundtrack on most of the day. A pipe should be most all pleasure, then quit for the day. Likewise, rotating blends is a way to stay alert to the experience.

 

[timt]

Mondays are my heavy smoking days where I smoke 4+ bowls. Last night I reached the point where I knew I was done and didn’t finish the bowl. My throat and sinuses let me know when I’m done.

It’s a similar sensation as the beginning of a head cold.

 

[Spinkle]

Eat and/or drink something to cleanse your palate. Brush your teeth. Get one of the squirt bottles of Biotene. Use a tongue scraper. And as suggested before, start with milder horns and progressively smoke stronger horns.

Hi Hoosier, I've seen you mention this before in the context of tongue-bite. I'm not sure I've ever experienced tongue-bite, but perhaps I'm misinterpreting the "palate fatigue" and that's what I'm getting? I was under the impression that they were distinct problems but perhaps they are one and the same.

 

[Spinkle]

Ice water works best for me, drink wise. Apples are the best palate refreshers I know. I also switch my smokes constantly, and most of the time, I switch genres from smoke to smoke, too. That helps a lot.

I will try the apples trick as we always have close to a bushel around the place as its one of the only snacks my son will eat. Thanks Jim.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Hi Hoosier, I've seen you mention this before in the context of tongue-bite. I'm not sure I've ever experienced tongue-bite, but perhaps I'm misinterpreting the "palate fatigue" and that's what I'm getting? I was under the impression that they were distinct problems but perhaps they are one and the same.

I suppose they could be distinct or overlap for some. I mentioned Biotene because the primary benefit I see from it is to stimulate salivation and get rid of dry mouth. The side benefits of that would be to help alleviate tongue burn and also refresh the palate. Kind of like killing two birds with one stone.

 

[mortonbriar]

+1 On Jim's palate refreshing apples, even a slice does the trick for me.

Isaac

 

[diamondback]

I really enjoy F&K Black Bayou Mist (the DFK and Oriental interplay beautifully to me). It tends to burn on the fast side, dry from the jar so I don’t dry it at all, and I always smoke two bowls from a Sav Hercules.

It beats the absolute h**l out of my mouth and throat no matter what. When I decide on this blend, it’s just the rule: I’m having two bowls of it that day, nothing else, and that’s just that.

Sorry for the ramble, but this qualifies as a palate a$$ whipping on my end! With this blend though, it’s worth it.

ETA: I’ll have to try the apple trick, regardless of blend. Thanks