Chasing Smoke - Tongue Bite for Beginners

[jpmcwjr]

Hah! Well, if no jumping on, a bit of sniping here and there. And the occasional whinge.... But as Sir Winston would say, "KBO"!

 

[shutterbugg]

I have been bitten by overly wet tobacco (Squadron Leader, I'm looking at you). With some dry time, the bite went away. Since the moisture was the only variable that I can think of - must have been the excess water they ship with.

SG does seem to ship their wares pretty soggy. At least the two I smoke are (Kendall Chocolate and Firedance). Sadly, both seem to lose their top note (cocoa and blackberry, respectively) with drying. Perhaps because they come so wet it takes hours if not overnight to get them to where they'll take an easy light and stay lit. The only reason I like these blends is for those top notes however, so I tend to smoke them somewhat moister than I'd like, and deal with the finnicky burning qualities. Sometimes I just have to let them go out and sit a half hour in the pipe before relighting. Which unfortunately does affect the flavor, just not quite as much as it did when I pre-dried it. Never had them bite though. If SG shipped their blends a little drier I'd smoke more of it. It's a lot more relaxing for me to just open a tin and smoke away, as I can with Dunhills.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

It's a lot more relaxing for me to just open a tin and smoke away, as I can with Dunhills.

Dunhills have been 100% perfect for me every time - even the flake.
It's sort of a chicken and egg situation. Is it biting because it's wet, or is it biting because it's hard to keep lit because it's wet and you puff harder/faster.

 

[tennsmoker]

I fired up some fairly moist VaPer the other day. I used the Franck method of packing the pipe and was determined to slow my pace.
Low and behold, I got one of the best experiences of my 40-plus pipe-smoking career! Sweet, a little grassy, but mostly sweet Vas, augmented by the peppery Perique. It was a great experience!
Slowing the pace, and maybe the packing method, added to the overall enjoyment.
But, mostly it was not smoking like a hunting hound, and not worrying about relights. I let the pipe go out. Set it aside several times, relit and just enjoyed the whole process.

 

[echie]

Great write-up, Tom! I wish I'd seen it exposed as eloquently when I was plagued by tongue bite. Beginners will often be afraid it doing it "wrongly" and being spotted as beginners if they need a relight, and therefore will scorch the tobacco, the pipe, and their poor tongues. It was only when I "learned to stop worrying and love the relight" that I started getting a truly pleasant pipe smoking experience.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"At least the two I smoke are (Kendall Chocolate and Firedance)."
Shutterbugg, have you ever tried tobacco only flavoured blends? I ask as they tend to behave quite differently from aromatics when it comes to moisture content?
Regards,
Jay.

 

[joshb83]

This is definitely a well thought out and written post. Boy what pain I would have saved if I had learned to dry my tobacco out more the. As well as a sipping instead of expecting a full on cloud all the time. It's pain and tribulation, but I felt that I paid my dues, and now I can say due to you gents I can enjoy myself much more thoroughly then before