Fighting Tongue Bite With Water?

[tarheel1]

I find most of my tongue bite is not from the heat but from m a chemical reaction with my body chemistry and the tobacco. Straight va's have the most followed by Va/per then least in English blends. I am guessing it is causing my mouth to become alkaline and acid would probably help. In this case a cola or citrus soda seems to help a lot.

 

[seagullplayer]

I don't really have a certain drink, but most of the time I have a drink with me.

Water works as good as anything. I prefer cold vs hot, but coffee is not unheard of for me.
And I am not one of those people that would drink "ice coffee". That ain't natural...

 

[bigpond]

The drink doesn't make a lot of difference. It's mostly there to soothe your tongue and in that respect the best you can do is probably a glass of milk. In order for the beverage to equalize the ph level of the smoke it must filter the smoke stream. A water pipe filled with soda would do it, a light coating on your tongue...probably not.
That said, I try to avoid drinking things that I know will exacerbate alkalinity or that will feel sharp on the tongue like carbonated beverages, lemonade.

 

[tarheel1]

It's not about changing the pH in the smoke itnis about addince some acid to your mouth after the smoke made you mouth alkaline. It's like using vinegar to stop a lye burn. It's all about chemistry.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Try drinking a cup of milk while smoking your pipe, ha ha. There's a reason no one ever mentions milk as a great beverage while smoking. It's nasty, nasty, nasty. Me, I want acidity to go with my acidic tobacco.
As I was acclimating to Virginias and VaPers, I noticed that I had an acidic taste at all times. I think that my mouth just had to adjust to a lower PH. But, I can only speak for my mouth. YMMV

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

With a bit of Googling it, the information I've found (various abstracts) seems to indicate that smoke PH runs the gamut, some starting acid and getting more acid, some starting acid and turning alkaline, and some starting relatively neutral and going alkaline, with some notes that pipes and cigars tend to be more alkaline. But one really must wonder what blend they were looking at.
Russ says that Burly is alkaline, and advises acidic drinks.

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/put-that-in-your-pipe/burley-the-rodney-dangerfield-of-tobacco/

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/put-that-in-your-pipe/common-misconceptions-redux/
Greag seems to indicate that discomfort could be coming from just about anything.

http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/ask-g-l-pease/ask-g-l-pease-volume-23/

 

[tbradsim1]

Lord had a good tip, I like Creme Soda sometimes, or a Root Beer, but I"m from the South so take it with a Grain of Salt YOU YANKEES, :nana:

 

[bigpond]

It's not about changing the pH in the smoke itnis about addince some acid to your mouth after the smoke made you mouth alkaline. It's like using vinegar to stop a lye burn. It's all about chemistry.

Fight club?
Adding vinegar to lye adjusts the PH and stops the NaOH from burning further. It doesn't heal or soothe a burn. To prevent a burn from occurring you need to find a way to deliver smoke that is not caustic when it reaches your tongue. The most practical means of doing so is controlling the temperature of the burn.
I'm not sure if I'm up for taking a shot of balsamic next time I get bit, but it might be an interesting experiment. Any takers?
Footnote: vinegar is mostly water, and adding water to NaOH causes an exothermic reaction which will burn the skin. Typically, water is the recommended treatment unless you have equal quantities of both on hand.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

90% of the problem is just smoking too fast. Actually, 90% of all of the world's problems are smoking too fast, ha ha.

 

[okiescout]

90% of all of the world's problems are smoking too fast, ha ha.
or .....maybe Michael, they are just going so fast they smoke! :mrgreen:
I generally find myself drinking something when I smoke. I really did not use to as I recall. But coffee, tea, water, or soda is generally involved anymore. I found that when I am going to smoke some VA's at my B&M that it helps to drink a can of tomato juice before I smoke. Sounds gross but it really cleans my tongue. I'll have to try the lemonade at home. They do not carry any at my smoking lounge.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I love tomato juice also. I can about ten gallons each of peach, pear, apple, and apricot juice from my own trees. In the winter on a cold night, nothing beats a warm pulpy apricot juice with a VaPer, IMO.

 

[newfie]

Coke Zero for me usually for a cold drink in the middle of the day. Coffee mornings and tea night times, usually a black tea.
If you can drink an acidic carbonated drink like Coke without tears coming to your eyes, your tongue bite isn't that bad in my opinion. Just sayin'!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yep, my tongue is raspy like a cat, but no complaints from the wife. :wink:

 

[bigpond]

hey now!

 

[jpmcwjr]

Water at a minimum; otherwise it depends on your own body's chemistry- whether a slightly alkaline or acidic concoction would be better. And whether the baccy is + or - on the pH scale.

 

[jvnshr]

With a bit of Googling it, the information I've found (various abstracts) seems to indicate that smoke PH runs the gamut, some starting acid and getting more acid, some starting acid and turning alkaline, and some starting relatively neutral and going alkaline, with some notes that pipes and cigars tend to be more alkaline. But one really must wonder what blend they were looking at.

I totally agree with you. Personally I have GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), when I used to smoke cigarettes I was having that heartburn thing. So, I am like a pH tester right now. I quit my daily habits such as drinking tea, coffee and took up water drinking only. I also quit smoking cigarettes. When I started smoking pipe for the first time, my nightmare was back again just because I was smoking that cheap Captain Black Cherry thing (not even tobacco). What I realized after a while is some pipe tobaccos increase the acidic level in the stomach, mostly the ones that are aromatic and smell chemicals. Like the one I stated above. I was trying Erinmore Flake yesterday and no heartburn at all. And I was having a beer with it which is acidic.

By the way I hear people drinking lemonades while smoking a pipe and saying that they balance the acid/alkaline level of their body (unless it is their tongues and I don't understand why one should balance that level on tongue). Lemons as fruits are acidic but once fully digested their effects are alkaline. They increase the alkalinity level in your bloodstream.

 

[okiescout]

. Lemons as fruits are acidic but once fully digested their effects are alkaline. They increase the alkalinity level in your bloodstream.
Exactly, and that is why, I suppose, starting my mornings with a tablespoon and a half of lemon juice in a cup of warm water seems to help my arthritis. Sometimes I have another before lunch. At any rate it sure made a difference with my knee pain.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Changing the PH of your whole body verses just changing the PH of your mouth are very different. If I drink a fruit juice, that may eventually make my body chemistry rise in PH, but for my mouth the PH will go down while I am drinking it. I could care less what my whole body PH is (unless I have some sort of medical reason for this), but to me if you mix acids and bases in your mouth, it is like mixing baking soda and vinegar = tongue bite. Sizzle, sizzle...
But, also keep in mind that the PH differences in Burleys and Virginias are very small. It's not like we are talking extremes, just "taste-able" differences.
Heck, this is all speculation anyways. PH is just something we can add to our hypothesii and speculations. There are millions of chemical compounds going on in the smoking process. Take perique for example... The process lowers the nicotine levels drastically, as Mark Ryan pointed out to me. He had it tested, and it is by products that are formed that cause the perique sensations of nicotine, or help us absorb the nicotine present in the other leafs of the blend.
Whatever works for one person may not work for another. So, if yours works for you, then great. But, I still get a kick out of watching guys try to drink milk right after smoking, ha ha.

 

[critter]

One of my most favorite parts of this hobby is finding how tobacco and drinks pair. Coffee is problably the thing I found to be most neat. Different coffee's from around the world have different tastes and some are acidic while others are not at all. I highly suggest getting "good" coffee and trying different blends with your favorite tobacco's, it's rewarding.

 

[bigpond]

But, I still get a kick out of watching guys try to drink milk right after smoking, ha ha.

He, it beats pairing your pipe with a nice slice of Feta.

Different coffee's from around the world have different tastes and some are acidic while others are not at all. I highly suggest getting "good" coffee and trying different blends with your favorite tobacco's, it's rewarding.

Plug for sweetmarias.com
All you really need is a popcorn popper, thermometer, an oven mitt and a wooden spoon.