Drugstore Blends biting me like a Rattlesnake

[sparroa]

So, I've been trying really hard to love Prince Albert and Half & Half...
I like the straightforward, slightly sweet tastes (so far I prefer the more distinctive H&H) but I've been absolutely plagued by tongue bite on the 2-3 occasions I've smoked these blends.
They do not appear to be too moist and I smoke them as slow as possible to the point where the bowl goes out on me after awhile, despite the fact that they are quick burners that have no problem lighting.
I haven't been bitten like this since I first started smoking with Captain Black and Sail Green - the difference then being that I didn't have the slightest clue what I was doing and the tobaccos were really moist.
A couple years later I'd like to think I have gained at least half a clue! So what's the problem? Is it me? The tobacco? Both?
Escudo, 5100, Westminster, Bob's Chocolate Flake, and Epiphany have not treated me like this recently and I can't ever remember experiencing this level of discomfort with any of the other "high end" blends I've experimented with...
I'm not ragging on these classics for its own sake but I'm seriously down about not being able to enjoy these in peace. After my last smoke, I'm going to have to take a day off so my mouth can recover. I don't know if I'll be able to taste anything tomorrow or not...

 

[crpntr1]

Wow ...never had that out of pa.

 

[ejames]

I have the same problem with H&H,it bites me-hard! PA though is my no.2 smoke,never bites. Could be a body chemistry thing.

 

[whitebriar]

I have the same problem with H&H,it bites me-hard! PA though is my no.2 smoke,never bites. Could be a body chemistry thing.

it's likely Ed's right--

i can't use Virginia for just about the same reason--no matter what i do they tear up my mouth--got to be a body chemistry thing in my case--likely the same in yours sparroa--
i never get that kind of reaction out of burley unless it's too wet--then it's not true tongue bite, but steam burn--

 

[sparroa]

I'm going to dry them out tomorrow to totally eliminate the possibility of steam burn, but to me they seem like they are at a nice moisture level already. There could be operator error of some other kind but like I said even when I was trying to bring it to a crawl I couldn't enjoy the stuff for the irritation I was experiencing...
ejames and whitebriar, I hope it is not a body chemistry thing but I guess I won't find out until I eliminate the other possibilities. I've only had them for a few days - it remains to be seen if I'll get over it.
WB, sorry to hear about your Virginia troubles! They are among my favourites so I'd be disappointed if that happened with me.
How long would you dry these suckers out for? I might give it a bowlful an hour on paper towel to remove all doubts. It doesn't seem like they need it but it can make things much worse...
I hope it is a moisture thing because I was considering a tub of one or the other as an inexpensive and no fuss smoke. Not so easy to handle as I first thought, though!
PS: Do you gentlemen consider the tubs of these products to be ready to smoke right away? I've heard they've got less humectant than the pouches? (I 've got bulk from 4noggins, so IDK where that stands)

 

[whitebriar]

I'm going to dry them out tomorrow to totally eliminate the possibility of steam burn, but to me they seem like they are at a nice moisture level already. ....
ejames and whitebriar, I hope it is not a body chemistry thing but I guess I won't find out until I eliminate the other possibilities. ....
How long would you dry these suckers out for? ....
I hope it is a moisture thing because I was considering a tub of one or the other as an inexpensive and no fuss smoke. Not so easy to handle as I first thought, though!
PS: Do you gentlemen consider the tubs of these products to be ready to smoke right away? I've heard they've got less humectant than the pouches? (I 've got bulk from 4noggins, so IDK where that stands)

Give 'em a try at really drying 'em out--i don't usually have to do it with OTCs, but it may help--worth a try anyhow--
it really would be a shame to have a chemical reaction to those old favorites--i smoked PA and to a lesser extent Carter Hall for almost 50 years before i discovered C&D burlies--
sometimes the tubs might be just a tad damp; but not excessively--a short dry is usually enough--
some time back i received some samples of John Patton's Blends--they were really really dry; a couple of them almost crispy--BUT they smoked quite well that way--Storm Front and Hannay's Danube Blend really surprised me--i thought they might be hot burners, kinda like a fuse, but i was wrong--both were nice meaty blends with plenty of flavor--John has always said his blends should be smoked very dry--
you might see what a bowl of you OTC dried under a lamp to a 'crispy critter' status does--it may burn the heck out of you but one bowl invested might be a good thing if it works for you--

 

[rcstan]

Dry enough for a small bowl on a paper coffee filter in a recycled all-metal tin if you have one, and smoke it up. If that doesn't do it, then it's a body chemistry thing.

 

[sparroa]

rcstan, thanks for the tip...
whitebriar, I've got a feeling that even if I still get a little bit of bite from them, bringing PA/H&H to the dry side of smokeable will be an improvement. It makes sense that steam is part of my problem.
I've heard the tubs keep moisture nicely, as well. (Middleton ones at least) Would you agree with that?
I like the look of the tubs and it's also much cheaper for me if I take a liking to this stuff.
I can see how people get attached to these blends and smoke them for so long. PA's aroma reminds me of milk chocolate and H&H has a little something special about it - Tobacco Reviews calls it anise but that's not sold on that. Whatever it is, I like its taste a little bit more so far... I'm sure if I get them smoking right I will be a fan of both. They seem to have good honest burley flavour.
I will consider some Storm Front in the future. Can you taste the cigar leaf in it? Is it really strong nicotine wise? I've never had that in pipe tobacco before... I've still got some Moe's Confetti on hand from last year, but I don't know if it is smokeable or not. I thought it was decent but I gave up the pipe for a period of time so it has lain dormant. Maybe it is worth mentioning that I had no troubles with the MC despite the fact that they are very similar blends - maybe because of the reduced moisture content... (Cool Hand Fluke is on my list, by the way, supposed to be a great va/per)
I'm definitely going to try and "dehydrate" PA and H&H just to see what gives. I've already dumped out two bowls of each when I was only half way finished because it was biting me so badly...

 

[doctorthoss]

Might I suggest trying Carter Hall? Both Prince Albert and Half & Half bite me some, as well, although not to the extreme degree you seem to be describing. Thankfully, I also prefer the taste of CH so it's more or less my daily smoke.

 

[portascat]

The only codger blend that I enjoy, at least so far, is Sir Walter Raleigh.
They are all so inexpensive, it may be worth buying a half dozen 1.5 oz. pouches to find one you like.

 

[sparroa]

I've got plans to try Carter Hall, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sugar Barrel in future orders. (Considering Walnut, too)
Between both of these blends and Moe's Confetti I have enough OTC style burley on my hands so it could be a little while...
(I can't get them locally; I'd get them right now if it was as simple as heading over to the store!)
With that said, it probably wouldn't hurt to order the others sooner rather than later because I've got the PA and H&H jarred up as we speak - time might be on my side if a little bit of the PG breaks down...
By the way guys, I smoked some PA today after drying it for a few hours and it was better but I still had a touch of tongue bite. (I haven't touched the H&H yet) So it's possible that I may be a tiny bit sensitive to it, plus it had more moisture in the first place than I thought... Does burley hold moisture than other tobaccos or something, because I really thought it was at a decent level. (It had been in a bulk bag for two weeks while it was in the mail, so it didn't seem "moist" - especially considering I'd air it out for a few minutes before packing the pipe)
BTW: doctorthoss - how would you describe the difference between PA and Carter Hall? Or what do you like about Carter Hall?
portascat - What do you like about Sir Walter Raleigh compared to the others you have sampled?

 

[zanthal]

I think there's a decent chance this will pass, sparroa.
I think it's a bodily thing. You eat something unusual, change toothpastes, burn your tastebuds on coffee, or some other seemingly unrelated event, and your palette becomes ultra-sensitive to your favorite tobaccos for a few days ... this has happened to me a couple of times since last year

 

[baronsamedi]

I think the only one I still smoke is 1-Q (well a little MV-1000). SWR is probably next down the line, but with tobacco prices in Texas, I can order 8oz of the good stuff from P&C for what it costs for two measely pouches of OTC stuff.

 

[sparroa]

Thanks for the reassurance, zanthal. I see where you are coming from; I'll probably be fine if I put them away for awhile and don't rush things...
baron, the OTCs aren't cheap for me because I have to pay around $6-7 for 4noggins bulk. When you factor in the cost of shipping it is just as expensive as higher end blends to me. (Unless I eventually buy a 14oz tub) I mostly just wanted to experiment with all of the old standbys that I've heard about...
1Q and RLP-6 are still on my list. I used to like Captain Black but I'd air out the pouch for a few weeks before it was truly smokeable. Way too sticky; I still have a drawer that smells like CB White because I had the stuff stored in there for so long... Sir Walter sounds like the plainest of the bunch (closest to a straight burley) but that opinion is just based upon the reviews I've read.
Talking about tobacco taxes it'd be $35 for me to buy a 2oz pouch of Captain Black around here; I can remember two old men when I was a boy that used to smoke the Captain out of 14oz tubs - that must've been before the taxes were hiked for political reasons - either that or they used up an awful lot of their pension to get pipe tobacco!

 

[portascat]

portascat - What do you like about Sir Walter Raleigh compared to the others you have sampled?

They mostly smoked, to me, dry and like a cigarette.
The SWR, to me, has just a bit of mild sweetness to it. Hard to place what it is, but it is noticeable to my palate.
The kind of smoke that you could have at odd moments of the day, enjoy, burns well, easy to light, but if you have to dump half a bowl for some reason, it isn't a blow to the wallet.

 

[portascat]

As well, it is odd you like Ephiphany. To me, it was the vilest smoke ever. I sent what I had to EJames to torture him, and he liked it. He sent me some Roma Vita once to punish me, and I buy a tin of it a month.
http://wvsmokeshop.com/sirwalterraleighpouches.aspx
BTW, I can only speak for the NON aromatic SWR.

 

[sparroa]

Haha. I actually wasn't in love with Epiphany; it was alright but I waited too long to smoke it - it was almost two years old and in my opinion the latakia and perique weren't noticeable and the fruit topping had receded. It just tasted like burley with a little twist but I couldn't tell what it was... I might get a new tin one of those days and smoke it straight away just to see what it's "really" supposed to be like...
Original SWR is what I'm interested in so it's all good... The aromatic is apparently quite a bit different. It is intriguing you say that it is sweeter than the others because I've heard the opposite more than once. I guess I'll have to try for myself!
The appeal of these drugstore burleys is their simplicity, I think, and that is why they are still around... I wouldn't feel too bad wasting them, you are right, but from my recent experience I'll have to take my time with them all the same for fear of getting bitten!
They aren't very similar to the cigarettes I am used to; perhaps that is why I don't make that association when smoking them...

 

[baronsamedi]

Lane BCA is another one you might like. It's like a better CBW.

 

[sparroa]

Is there a big difference between BCA and the other two I mentioned, baron?
I only had the CB White so the Royal/Gold distinction doesn't mean much to me. From reading tobacco reviews, they all sound pretty similar in the flavour department although I understand the constituent tobaccos are different... (I know they have less PG and are a bit different in general from the CB versions, but I'm moreso wondering what distinguishes them from each other)

 

[topd]

I keep Carter Hall and Prince Albert in the boat and smoke them almost exclusively on the lake. I've seldom had

any bite problem from them, but have on occasion when I get frustrated and not paying attention. I usually use

a cob or a no name bull dog with a clip-on wind cap as the wind is usually moving out there. I wonder if it might

be the pipe your using for these tobacco's, or under what conditions your smoking them.... Is it while your using

your hands... not paying all that much attention? Also, what are you lighting with?

Consider what your doing in addition to smoking when you get the bite....