Burning My Tongue Just About Every Time

[tasteslikeburning]

Hi all,
I have been smoking cigars for a couple years off and on (A few sticks on the weekends maybe).
Just got my first pipe about a month ago. I think I like the pipe smoking a lot better. I find the taste generally more pleasing. Anyways, I think I'm expecting the pipe to smoke like a cigar. I keep burning my tongue, which lasts a couple days. I have only tried three tobaccos at this point... One of which seems to burn my tongue most definitely. It's called Columbian Mocha. It was bulk tobacco. There was the house brand bulk which I have been smoking and it doesn't seem to burn my tongue.
My question is this... Will a certain tobacco blend just smoke too Hot? Or is it my lack of experience or other factors I am not aware? Also, I am smoking basically what I think is a "basket pipe" will that also affect the smoke quality?
Welcome to the Forum! Fixed thread title, please see rule number 9. Pertinent portion: Please capitalize words in the thread titles. Thank you, Robert.

 

[cortezattic]

A former cigar smoker will be of more help than I, but you might be lighting-up too aggressively. In a pipe, most of the burn will come from steam, not hot air. This will be true if your smokes end with unburnt, wet dottle in the bottom of the bowl.
If not, then switch to a stronger blend, or one with more body and/or flavor. It might be that you're puffing too much or too hard, trying to get more flavor than your chosen blend can deliver.
Try searching PipesAndCigars or SmokingPipes for blends featuring "cigar leaf". Just maybe, you need a transition blend.

 

[prairiedruid]

I burnt my tongue a lot when I started pipe smoking; it took awhile for me to learn to pack a pipe properly and to sip it instead of puffing like a freight train. Having a glass of tea, lemonade, or other beverage can help prevent/lessen the burn and I also recommend Biotene which helps your tongue recover and protect it for future bowls.
Some blends will be more likely to "bite" you depending on body chemistry and your style of smoking. Experience will help more than anything. Good luck and keep at it.
Welcome to the board!

 

[shutterbugg]

I have only tried three tobaccos at this point... One of which seems to burn my tongue most definitely. It's called Columbian Mocha.

Aromatic tobaccos made by dousing cheap burley with sauces all bite like crocodiles. Those made with coarse-cut black cavendish tend to smoke much cooler. If you like aromatics, try some Lane's BCA, it's available in tin or bulk. In fact I mix it with other blends to take the teeth out of them.

 

[jmatt]

Most problems with pipe-smoking are traced to smoking too quickly. Usually in fear of the fire going out. First step: Slo down. When you think you're going slow enough - slow down. Then maybe you'll get there.
Once you're going slowly enough you'll have to live with re-lights. So what. Just re-light. Eventually, you'll get the cadence right and you won't need to re-light either.
The second big variable, which ends up affecting your smoking cadence, is how tightly the pipe is packed. Sucking air through a straw? Too light. Sucking milkshake through a straw? Too tight. Sucking Coke through a straw? Just right.

 

[rfernand]

With a cigar, one tends to draw enough smoke to fill one's mouth rather quickly. A pipe has a much smaller opening than even a slim panatela would, or a cigarette for that matter. So I understand your impulse to suck harder and get more content in. Avoid that. Slow down, and get used to it taking a little longer.
Also, as @shutterbugg said, aromatics bite. As you learn, perhaps consider smoking something like Prince Albert or Carter Hall, which are very forgiving in the bite department.

 

[hawky454]

Sometimes a certain blend just doesn't work with ones chemistry, some blends will scorch my mouth within the first draw of the charring light. It could certainly be a combination of things at this point but a lot of times just switching up the tobacco will set you in the right direction. I've been smoking for a long time now and I still have a problem with certain tobaccos and it has nothing to do with cadence and what not. Some people have absolutely no problems with any tobacco blends, I wish I was one of them. I have to be careful, especially with Virginia's and I absolutely love VA's so it puts a damper on things.
Don't give up, keep trying different things and eventually you will find out what works for you...
Good luck!

 

[tasteslikeburning]

Thanks for the feedback everyone you know how to make a newbie feel welcome. I think I am trying to keep too much smoke going continuously... I will try to slow down and probably get a lighter cuz I'm already tired of matches. I am going to try some more tobaccos as well.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

I'm starting to think that the best advice for beginners is just "smoke Carter Hall".
On that note, I have yet to have a bad bowl of Hearth and Home Black House, it's probably the best burning English blend I've ever seen.

 

[shutterbugg]

As you learn, perhaps consider smoking something like Prince Albert or Carter Hall, which are very forgiving in the bite department.

Yeah but their taste department is in the basement.

 

[andrew]

If it's black cavendish, which there's a good chance it is as they flavor that stuff usually with stuff like Mocha etc... I found that stuff to bite the heck out of my tongue. I smoke cigars and pipes and I find I probably get more smoke output from a pipe, but you have to learn to slow down and not puff puff puff. Also I find with something like black cavendish I find myself puffing too hard trying to get some flavor from it, and the result is a burnt mouth. I would try some fuller blends, something like dunhill 965, if you're really set on aromatics try some McClellend's or something. You may also be packing the bowl too tight which makes you puff really hard trying to smoke. Also the tobacco could be way too moist which I find with stuff like black cav aromatics.

 

[rfernand]

Yeah but their taste department is in the basement.

@shutterbugg: tobacco flavor, religion, sports, and politics; All prime subjects for respectful disagreement.
Except for Mixture No. 79. God knows there is no betting chance it'd be acclaimed good by any human, even under executive order.

 

[jvnshr]

Welcome to the forums Tasteslikeburning.
I just wonder what you are going to feel about your username after getting used to pipe tobacco
There is a slight difference between pipe tobacco smoking hot and pipe tobacco biting tongue. I guess everyone can tell the difference. If the tobacco bites your tongue, it will bite all the time. It doesn't matter for it to smoke hot or cool. Aromatics are the leaders in this field. After a while your tongue will get used to it and you will become as it is said veteran with leather tongue.

 

[newfie]

Here's some advice from a cigar / pipe smoker who struggled same as you, and still do, at times. Some very good advice above, but here's my take on what I've learned from the mistakes I've made.
1./ Pack loose, VERY loose. You are much better off tamping a bit after lighting and enjoying the bowl than packing too tight and not enjoying it. Start by packing the bowl so there is no change in the draw characteristics of the empty pipe.
2./ DO NOT try to mimic the draw characteristics of your favourite sticks, especially if you enjoy cigars with a fairly snug draw (see #1 above).
3./ On lighting, you will get mouthfuls of flavourful smoke, but don't get used to that. A good cigar will give copious quantities of smoke each draw, if burning correctly. If you try that all the way through the bowl, you'll make the pipe burn uncontrollably hot and will surely scorch your tongue. Someone said above to "sip the bit" and that is great advice. You will learn to appreciate and taste the (relatively) small amount of smoke.
4./ A good cigar can be, and normally is, a flavour bomb the whole length, as is a good pipe tobacco on initial lighting. But as you go through the bowl, you need to understand the intricacies of appreciating the flavours presented to you.
5./ Slow and easy takes practice. General guidelines with a cigar are a draw ~ once every 60 secs, obviously dependent on the RG of the smoke. With a pipe, if you puff only once a minute, you'll never keep it lit. You need to puff .........., no, sip, more often, but how often is entirely on so many factors; the blend you're smoking, the Rh of the blend, the size of the bowl, how well it's packed, etc.
6./ When learning, if you feel the bowl start to warm up, put it down for a few and let it cool. As you become more experienced you will learn to judge how warm the bowl can get and still be able to smoke cool. Many say you should not let the bowl get so hot it's uncomfortable to the fingertips. Well, if you get that far you've already got it too hot and the tobacco will never smoke properly. If for some reason I DO get to that point, I'll dump the bowl.
That's about it for now, but I'm sure I'm missing a few things. Any questions, ask. Cliche alert: "Only stupid question if the one you don't ask!"
Jamie

 

[tasteslikeburning]

Thanks Jamie. I can relate to just about every comparison you made against the cigar smoking. When I am first lighting up there is "the normal" amount of smoke you would get from a cigar. Then the whole time I am smoking from my pipe I am trying to achieve that same amount of smoke and flavor. Within minutes the bowl gets so hot I could poach an egg with it.
Here is another question, maybe deserving a new thread but here goes... By increasing the size of your pipe can you achieve a greater amount of smoke? I.E. double the bowl size and bore hole is much larger, or am I starting to defeat the purpose of smoking a pipe?

 

[newfie]

You're welcome!

By increasing the size of your pipe can you achieve a greater amount of smoke? I.E. double the bowl size and bore hole is much larger

I would have to say yes, but most likely to the extent you're looking for. Think about the difference between a Lonsdale or a Lancero and a Robusto (or any large RG stick). With the same draw through both, which will burn hotter, albeit getting the same amount of smoke? Now with pipes, the larger bore bowl will draw more air with a cooler ember & smoke but again, I think not to the amount of smoke from a cigar.

or am I starting to defeat the purpose of smoking a pipe?

I dunno, that is a question only you can answer because only you know what ""your purpose" of smoking the pipe is.
Looking at myself, what hooked me on smoking a pipe was walking by Blatter & Blatter one fine August afternoon. They had their door open and the sweet smell of pipe smoke coming through the door was wonderful. I went in and bought a basket pipe and an oz each of a few blends.
Fast forward to now and I have never been able to match what I taste to what I smelled that day. But I've learned through trial and error to "learn to smoke, smoke what I like and like what I smoke".
If someone who has smoked cigars for eons but has never puffed a pipe "properly" tried some of my favourite blends (FVF, LBF, LNF, PPP, etc) they'd probably think it was like smoking air.
To me, and some may call it blasphemy, I have never smoked a blend that gives me the pleasure of a Padron Anni or 6000, a Fuente Hemingway Signature, a Fuente Don Carlos, or many of my favourites from Cuba. However, a good pipe filled with a favourite blend gives pleasure in ways a cigar can't.
But I digress. To go back to your question, ask yourself what you want to get out of smoking a pipe. If it's a more relaxing experience, with more gentle flavours, etc, then keep at it and don't give up.

 

[grue]

As a novice pipe smoker too, with just a few blends under my belt, I have found that it depends on the blend for me.

I started with Skandinavik Mixture which felt like tearing chunks out of my tongue with even the slightest sip.

Now I am working through a pouch of Aphora Full Aroma (after lunch) and a tin of Erinmore Balkan Mixture (just a bowl before bed) and even though my pipe smoking has gotten better I get bitten by neither of them even on long draws.

 

[weedsnager]

Prince Albert is your friend. It's cheap. It stays lit really well, doesn't bite, and I really like the taste of it.

 

[shutterbugg]

YMMV but given the choice between smoking an OTC crap blend just so it won't burn my tongue regardless of technique or learning to smoke decent blends properly so they don't burn my tongue, I would choose the latter.
And btw it is total bs that PA, CH, SWR and all the rest of those PG-soaked low-quality burleys won't bite. Right now I'm treading my way through a pouch of Amphora Red (or as I prefer to call it, Amorphous Dread). It was reviewed as not biting no matter how hard it's pushed, so of course I had to see for myself. Hahaha horsepucky! Stoke up a good head of smoke and it bites like a crododile.

 

[sablebrush52]

Lots of good suggestions here, but one important consideration has not been mentioned, the moisture content of your tobacco. Many blenders ship tobacco at higher moisture levels than are ideal for smoking. A primary contributor to tongue bite is wet tobacco. When combined with overzealous puffing, tongue bite is often the result.
Try letting some tobacco air dry for 20 to 40 minutes before packing your pipe. Let it get to the point where it feels dry to the touch while still pliant.
Pack so that the tobacco is lightly firm and springy.
Puff a few times to get the tobacco going, then sip - like sipping scotch - to enjoy the flavors. Tobaccos deliver the most flavor when kept burning at the lowest possible temp. If the pipe goes out, just relight. There's no "attaboy" for smoking to the bottom of the bowl with one light.
The combination of slow smoking combined with tobacco at the proper moisture level should both end tongue bite and offer much more flavor.
There are some smokers who have reactions to some varieties of tobacco, like red Virginia. Some experience a bit of sting, but it's a more general sensation than tongue burn.