Does Tongue Burn Effect Taste of Tobacco?

[cwalker816]

Been smoking for about a week. I’ve been having trouble tasting the tobacco from the beginning. Is this normal for a new smoker? I have a good briar, and I’m smoking good tobacco (Orlik & Solari), so I don’t believe those are the issue. I’ve had tongue burn from the beginning, too. Does that maybe hav something to do with it?
Edited by jvnshr: Title capitalization (please check Rule #9)

 

[aldecaker]

The way I look at it is this: you can have a bowl of the world's most delicious food in front of you, but if you take a bite of it when it's so hot it burns and blisters your mouth, you won't taste anything but pain.
Wet, steamy tobacco steams your tongue and smoking too hard burns the hell out of it, giving you no flavor. Dry your tobacco and smoke slower for better results.
If the pH of the tobacco just doesn't agree with the pH of your mouth, you will get tongue bite regardless and will have to try a different tobacco.

 

[bassbug]

If your tongue or the inside of your mouth is irritated, chances are you're smoking "too hot" or taking in too much smoke.
Slow down.
Find out what the minimum amount of puffing you can do is before your pipe goes out and stick to that cadence. Your tongue and taste buds are pretty sensitive and it takes very little smoke to actually taste it.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Yes, tongue burn can affect the taste of tobacco. For better effect:
1.) Dry your tobacco more than you think is right.

2.) Smoke slower than before.

3.) Light lightly

 

[cwalker816]

So, should I keep at it? Or should I wait until my tongue irritation goes away? It’s not bad, but it’s noticable.

 

[sablebrush52]

Yes, tongue burn can affect the taste of tobacco. For better effect:
1.) Dry your tobacco more than you think is right.

2.) Smoke slower than before.

3.) Light lightly

To which I'll add, puff when lighting to get your tobacco burning, then sip to draw the smoke. To get the most flavor, keep the tobacco simmering at the edge of going out. This takes some practice and patience, but eventually you'll be rewarded with wonderful flavors and no tongue bite.

 

[cwalker816]

Funny thing is I can only seem to taste something when I get a huge mouthful of smoke where the bowl is red hot. Should I keep working at it, or do I need to take a few days off given that my tongue is a little fried?

 

[olkofri]

I'd wait a few days till it's healed. Keeping at it will only increase the torture and can cause more serious damage.
Lay it off for a few days, preferably a week.
In the meanwhile, try helping the healing with aloe juice and/or a teaspoonful of honey (the real pure bee honey), just let the honey melt in your mouth. Avoid irritant foods like spices and chilli peppers and salty chips.
FWIW, it does take time for beginners to start getting flavour. First times I smoked, I practically tasted nothing. Mind, I'm still a beginner and I'm still getting tongue bite every time I smoke, but I've continued working on my packing, sipping, and cadence techniques, and also trying to find which tobaccos don't agree with me. By now, it's easier for my tongue to detect flavours, though.

 

[cwalker816]

Perfect! This gives me hope!

 

[olkofri]

Here's some info on tongue bite/burn. The first post by Javan (jvnshr) is very informative.
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/bad-experience-with-tongue-bite

 

[jaytex1969]

Which Orlik are you using?
I'm recently into my first Orlik tin, Golden Sliced.
I've been challenged by Virginias from the get-go and flakes of lighter VA's present the biggest challenge to me to find the flavor.
The McClellend's style reds are just not for me. They burn me. But, I have been able to enjoy the Orlik Golden Sliced, mainly because I went through the suffering and retraining to get my technique "right". A work in progress, using the above mentioned suggestions.
If you're using flakes, try setting a load out for 2 hours before using. (even longer in high humidity)
Drink unsweetened beverages with your smoke. If I have coffee with just a bit of cream, I can really enjoy the Golden Sliced. The GS sweetness can be subtle at first and a Coke or juice can override the lesser sweetness of the VA's and make it seem "tasteless".
When my tongue gets fatigued, I go to an easy going ribbon cut burley blend to recover. My current "relief pitcher" is Cornell & Diehl's Winchester.
You'll get lots of suggestions here. Try them all until you find the set that works for you. And, welcome to the forum.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

Biotene mouthwash all the way, similarly mr.JayTex, I'm challenged by any bright Virginias,no matter ribbon or flake, but some sort of additional condiment leaf,be it Perique or Kentucky in brighter Virginia blends seem to make them more supportable for me.

 

[thesmokindragon]

+1 on Biotene mouthwash - I would let your mouth heal up first, no sense of trying to enjoy a bowl while in pain. I had the same problem when I started, smoking too fast/hot and not allowing proper air time of the tobacco all equals some nasty mouth burn. I learned breath smoking and it was well worth it, it taught me to slow down.
Breath Smoking

One can find a handful of different step-by-step instructional videos and articles hanging out on the web that map out the breath smoking technique. I suspect that many of us have probably stumbled onto the method, but here's the gist. Roughly speaking, the pipe smoker learns to breath in and out of his or her nose at a tempo at odds with the cadence of imbibing the pipe. Bifurcating the acts of breathing and smoking can provide the smoker with incredible control over smoke volume and puffing cadence, improving flavor, decreasing the potential for tongue bite and palate exhaustion, and keeping in check the overall temperature of the pipe. Though not tough to figure out, mastery requires both a little patience and practice. Solitude recommended.

 

[gkr1]

Great Advice here. Hang in there! Let your mouth heal. We all have been there. I was bit hard last time I smoked an aromatic blend. Took me 4 days to heal.

 

[fredo]

To avoid tongue bite, let your tobacco dry for a while, and then puff slowly while you're smoking.
To taste the tobacco, (while smoking slowly as aforementioned), retrohale (that is:blow out about 30 % of your puffs through your nose).

 

[cigrmaster]

For anyone who is being challenged by their Virginia flakes, I would recommend trying a tin of Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake, Astleys no 109 and no 44. In my experience they are totally bite free. I cannot handle McClellend red virginia's as they burn my tongue off.

 

[npod]

Funny thing is I can only seem to taste something when I get a huge mouthful of smoke where the bowl is red hot.

That is a very common misconception when first starting to smoke a pipe, especially if you are a cigar smoker. For pipe smoke you actually get the MOST flavor with the least amount of smoke, that’s what guys mean by sipping the smoke. Sablebrush52 above and others mention it as well. The longer you smoke the more you learn to enjoy slow cadance and complex flavors. The red hot furnace sure makes a big smoke plume, but it just burns the tobacco hot.
Also, be careful smoking outside if the wind is blowing hard. That can stoke the ash in the pot and increase risk if tongue burn.

 

[luigi]

My main mistake in the first month of smoking was too fast puffing.

The second one was tobacco not dried enough.

The third one which still gets me sometimes are relights: still working on it, matches help a little but a few seconds of impatience can easily be destructive for flavours and painful for tongue.

Taking it easy is a way to go, it will reward you with all that tobacco is meant for: the biggest pleasure a man can experience.

 

[midwestpipesmoker70]

You are experiencing what I experience after a weekend at a pipe show smoking too many bowls and too many different blends lol. My tongue and roof of my mouth are pretty much raw. After around a week I am healed and ready to go. But I'd listen to these guys and really slow down your puffing cadence. Sit back and as slow as you can smoke just enjoy the experience...the tastes and flavors will come in time.

 

[jpmcwjr]

A couple of seconds on a relight is way too long! Though I am speaking specifically, and you may be using a general phrase.
But I disagree on the biggest pleasure a man can experience. While far shorter than a bowlful, there are experiences that surpass pipe smoking. No drying necessary!