I’ve found using the breathe method from mutton chop piper revolutionized my smoking.
Any Advice? Killer Tongue Bite
- Thread starter ukparagolfer
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Whatever you're doing stop doing it. I really mean that. Learning to smoke a pipe is all trial and error. Make small adjustments. Start with the drying of the tobacco. Actual time how long you're drying it. Use that to figure out the speed of the burn. Too dry and it'll burn too hot. Too loose and it'll burn to hot. Packing is subjective start looser then slowly pack it tighter. Different tobaccos expand differently. Finding a good dryness for the tobacco will give you a little wiggle room when packing the pipe. And remember it's not a race. I would also stick to one tobacco. Learn to smoke it and move on to another.
All good advice. Have a ghost pepper afterwards, it will make the tongue bite seem tame by comparison.
There is a ton of good advise on this thread, including this ↑. Tongue bite is one of the major hurdles in pipe smoking. I honestly can't remember the last time I had it and I imagine most of the veterans here can't either. Pipe smoking is about all technique and to a degree, overcoming tongue bite is about getting your tongue used to it. I would recommend starting off with a non-aromatic tobacco since they are easier to push to burn hot.
I would definitely go with 9mm filters. For starters, as you point out, 6mm filters feel a bit restrictive. Additionally, you'll find a significantly larger selection of 9mm pipes. From what I can quickly surmise, from a few major European (where filtered pipes are prevalent) web sites, 80% of the filtered pipes are 9mms.
I think the first page of replies alone answered every question I've ever seen on this forum. 
I have found over the years that my most enjoyable smokes are when I am sitting on the back porch with nothing on my mind and no tasks in front of me, it’s almost a meditation mindset where I can sip my pipe and just revel in the flavors of a high quality tobacco, also I find if I pair a good drink it amplifies the enjoyment and also will cleanse the pallet and soften a harsher tobacco. Happy smokes
Lots of good advice here already, but here's my prio list of things to consider. I think technique is the key here. All tinned tobaccos I've tried since I systematically refined my technique has worked just fine. That includes englishes, vapers, burley/cavendishes and a couple of aromatics from Samuel Gawith, Rattrays and Peterson.
In order of importance, most important first:
1. Packing and tempo. You need to pack hard enough to just the right resistance in order to allow a slow smoking tempo. Too loose and you will puff more to keep it going, which will lead to overheat.
2. Use the breath method when pausing between sips to keep the pipe going. It will then just slowly calm down until you take the next sip.
3. Moisture. Too dry can overheat the pipe, which requires a 5 minutes pause and then relight. Too moist makes the heat more easily access the surface of the tounge which can also bite.
In order of importance, most important first:
1. Packing and tempo. You need to pack hard enough to just the right resistance in order to allow a slow smoking tempo. Too loose and you will puff more to keep it going, which will lead to overheat.
2. Use the breath method when pausing between sips to keep the pipe going. It will then just slowly calm down until you take the next sip.
3. Moisture. Too dry can overheat the pipe, which requires a 5 minutes pause and then relight. Too moist makes the heat more easily access the surface of the tounge which can also bite.
A 9mm is less restrictive, but mighty hard to cram into a corncob pipe ?
... which is what the original enquirer said he was smoking.
Avoid aromatics, smoke slow, and dry, dry, dry. Drying beyond what I thought was enough was a game changer for me.
There's a lot of factors on tongue-bite. Usually it's the speed of puffing combined with being a bit too loose I've noticed. Some blends are inherent of bite. Sometimes it's the pipe stem or pipe brand is not great.
Petersons and Savanellis are pretty good choices, and the P-Lip system of the former can prevent bite pretty well, such as in the Pub and House pipes they offer.
Finally, a churchwarden should save you from all your worries, though I suspect your puffing-speed versus sipping is a big culprit here. Also, try changing up your blends and brands.
I agree with your assessment. Never had a bad Savinelli or a Peterson as far creating tongue bite, the pipe is not the problem. Cadence and the type of tobacco is the key with any pipe style. But then again, wtf do I know?
They are more common.
I will be up at 6 to watch your team yield to the struggling Spurs..... COYS! Semi joking, hope it's a great game for both teams.
Perhaps, but my experience is that over time something happens where you no longer experience. Perhaps its the cadence, maybe the lighting method, or you settle into a rhythm. I don't use tobacco enough to have "shoe leathered" my tongue. I just know it is no longer a problem.I think the first page of replies alone answered every question I've ever seen on this forum.
Dunno how much you know!
But the way the chamber is loaded, and the moisture content of the tobacco, is more important than cadence, for most definitions of "cadence". I am leaving out freight-training, for one.
Where in So Cal are you?
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