Having Trouble Tasting Tobacco

[donatello]

Hello I am fairly new to pipe smoking and have asked a few questions on this forum and have received lots of great advice, I am stuck however….I am very discouraged because I am no longer able to taste tobacco and not sure that I have ever really tasted it correctly, I am at a point now where I really only taste the heat from the smoke and my tongue really feels sort of dry feeling most of the time. When I started smoking originally I tried several aromatics and liked the aroma but rarely tasting much so I moved to english blends…mostly nightcap, early morning pipe, 965 because of the fuller flavors and I think at first I was getting some flavors from these but I am at a point now where I really don't taste much except heat, I smoke about 1 time in the evening and on my days off maybe 3 times in a day, I have cobs, peterson, and camenetto pipes that I smoke. I try to smoke as slow and gently as I can, been trying to clench and puff in cadence with breathing not sure what to do? I wonder if I have burned my taste buds a little? I am very passionate about learning this hobby but I'm getting super discouraged, any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Edit: Corrected capitalization in title per Rule #9. L.

Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine

 

[northernneil]

Donatello, there is not much I can say to help other than to be patient (are ya sick of hearing that yet?). When I first started smoking a pipe a little over 2 years ago, there was a time where I was burning my tongue with ever smoke. And I felt that I was smoking slowly at the time. Nonetheless, with practise, and a little patience, I got past it. There is no question that I am still learning, and I like to think my technique improves everyday. Just keep plugging away!

 

[donatello]

Did you have any problems tasting tobacco when you were learning and or burning your tongue? Did you continue smoking during the stages when your tongue felt burned?

 

[kashmir]

If there's heat involved, it means you're smoking too fast. Got to slow down. Bowl should never warm to the point where its hot to the touch. The object is not to make clouds of smoke, but to engage in gentle sipping. Also, try drying your tobacco out. Pinch test. Burning hot is God's way of telling you to downshift and slow down. Burned tongue is the punishment. Make sure pipe is clean clean clean. Always clean before you smoke. Clench pipe to form union with your cadence, and sip to maintain a cool burn. Chasing the ember does not mean you ever catch up to it! Remember the moth and the candle flame story. Like drying your snowy boots in front of the fireplace.

 

[shutterbugg]

I can't taste the nuances in wine, to me it's either sweet or dry, strong or weak. With tobacco, it's sweet or tangy. I can get all the nuances from the smell but not the taste. I guess some people are just like that. Try letting the smoke out slowly on exhale and through your nose, re-savor the room note. Let your sense of smell work along with your taste buds. They are quite related. That's why things taste bland when you have a cold.

 

[donatello]

I kind of wonder if some of it is that I don't get it lit properly at the beginning and then after 8 or 9 relights it just gets to hot from relighting? I really try not to puff but just kind of use the air in my mouth to move it around so that the pipe doesn't get too hot but all I end up with is hot tasting smoke? I also wonder if packing to loose is causing problems, I pack it so there is barely any resistance? It really seems like if I really slow down and barely smoke it goes out very soon…relight and after doing this several times the pipe becomes hot?

 

[peter70]

I have had phases, where my favorite tobaccos would taste bland, or smoking in general would not bring the usual satisfaction. Take a few days off from smoking and try again. Usually this helps to reset the palate, may it be from smoking too much, or a cold, which influences your tastes. Sometimes a change in direction can help. At a time, I smoked a lot of Latakia mixtures and from one day to the other, I lost my taste for them. I changed to Virginias, and a whole new taste spectrum developed.

 

[cortezattic]

Barring illness or medication that may interfere with your taste, consider that MOISTURE is the enemy of flavor.

Try drying the tobacco far more than you think is necessary: up to, but not past, the point where the tobacco will

lose its suppleness. Then too, pack your bowl more loosely than you think you should. Too firm a pack will require

more force to draw on, and this will generate moisture. Consider also the relative humidity of the room air as a source

of moisture. Sources of moisture (by condensation) are: long stemmed pipes; deeply bent pipes; gadgets like filters and stingers;

and smoking a pipe that is relatively cold. I'm not a big fan of corncobs either. Their smoke is on the humid side to me.
Of course, what others have said about smoking more slowly is the common wisdom since fast puffing generates moisture

-- as does the combustion process itself.
Aside from the aromatics, the tobacco choices you've made seem to be good -- if smoked in well rested pipes. But I would

recommend trying G.L. Pease blends as benchmarks. Just about all of them are marvelously flavored and at nearly the right

moisture level for most smokers (though for you they may need more drying.) Haddo's Delight is very flavorful -- if you

can't get flavor out of that, you may be in for a rough time.
That's my 2¢

 

[phred]

Dunno if anyone's mentioned it to you, but if you are suffering from tongue burn (as opposed to tongue bite), you might just need to take some time off, let the tongue heal up, and rinse with Biotene mouthwash - it's been a big help to me while learning to slow down, and even though my tongue doesn't need it nearly as often anymore, I still gargle with it post-smoke to help hydrate the back of my throat (after brushing my teeth). There are generic versions of the stuff as well - Walgreens has their own house brand, for example.

 

[donatello]

Thanks for all the posts, I really don't want to but I think I will take several days off and see how that goes, also I have never tried any G.L. Pease tobaccos I am anxious to give them a try when I smoke again

 

[i8ball]

i haven't been smoking long yet but there was a point were i was getting tongue burn a lot and were i felt like i couldn't taste my tobacco anymore so the tongue was just annoying but it didn't make me loose taste to food or other things so i started drinking some aloe juice i find it at target and it seems to really help with soothing the burn and for the flavor if you have to keep relighting try doing a 3 pack method could be more but start with your first one like your shaking a baby's hand nice and loose the second pack should feel like you are shaking a woman's hand and the third should feel like you are shaking a mans hands then tilt it on its side tap it 3 times to knock loose stuff off and then take your thumb and lay it on top and spin the pipe around in circles 5 times to twist the tobacco together i find it helps keep that ember going all the way to the bottom it takes a little to find just the right about of force and twist to your liking but when i had to relight all the time it did seem to loose some flavor once it gets going it really helps the flavor coming out. hope you find your right method and dont give up just got to find that right way of packing and puffing.

 

[howulikeit]

I'll try not to ramble too much because I have a couple of ideas... I'll generally assume you don't know things so that yourself and anyone reading this might benefit.
As you may know, scent and taste are closely related senses. That is why when you are stuffed up and sick you can't taste anything. Sometimes I blow my nose before smoking to detect tastes better. A key thing you might be doing that effects the flavor is inhaling. A lot of smokers that have come to pipe smoking from the cigarette world have inhaling engrained in their puffing. If you inhale, you're going to muddy up your palate.
Instead, try puffing and then holding the smoke in your mouth for as long as comfortable. When you exhale, do so out of your nose instead of your mouth. Because of the way that smell and taste are related, you should be able to notice more by running the smoke both through your mouth and your nose.
It may also be important where the stem and mouthpiece of your stem rest in your mouth. I tend to prefer to have my tongue directly behind the mouth piece because I feel that the smoke plays more on my taste buds. However you run the risk of tongue bite if you puff too hard or too frequently so if you try it that way proceed with caution.

 

[mso489]

donatello, backing up a bit, do you have trouble tasting other things? Do you feel you have a full range of taste

from foods and beverages? Lose of the sense of taste and smell, which as you know interact closely,

can be a symptom of other health situations. If tobacco is the only thing you don't taste, then adjusting

your smoking habits and techniques might fix it. If not, I'm not sure pipe smoking is for you, unless you

just enjoy the ritual and the sensory experiences you do have. However, if your sense of taste and smell

is diminished over all, you might want to have that checked. For correcting pipe technique, I think members

have given you the right advice.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

+1 howulikeit - Definitely, inhaling kills the ability to taste.

 

[andrew369]

I have the same problem a lot, thought it might be a problem with my ability to taste tobacco but can taste cigars perfectly fine. I am still pretty new to pipe smoking only been doing it on and off for a year or so but I still wouldn't have considered my method to be that bad. I think it is just a matter of getting used to pipe tobacco blends, I find that towards the end of a tin I can taste it a hell of a lot more than at the beginning when I could not taste it at all. Sort of like the taste buds grow accustomed to it, and then back to nothing if I go for a new blend. Probably due to my erratic smoking nature and my palate for tobacco hasn't been built up yet. More a matter of experience and technique with pipe tobacco which is a pain for impatient sods like me :P but don't give up on it yet, is always the chance of that eureka moment

 

[johnnyiii]

are you cleaning and resting your pipe?

 

[johnnyiii]

Sorry .. duplicate post

 

[donatello]

Thank you very much for all the posts, Im still plugging away, sometimes I have a smoke and it is very good and sometimes I can't taste a thing but I will keep on!