I'm a Noobie and I Need Help with Tongue Bite! Please!

[BROBS]

try drying the tobacco more and try other tobaccos.. you are trying cheap and highly flavored tobaccos..
try one or the other but not both.

try drying your tobacco to the point it's "crispy". probably drier than you think it needs to be. It will rehydrate anyways as soon as you start to smoke it.

 

[cigrmaster]

No one escapes tongue bite in the beginning. Biotene is your friend. Deal with the pain fight through it and then it will be no more. Don't be a pussy, tongue bite is a ritual.

 

[anotherbob]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9) - Bob


The other angle I have not fully grasped is the issue of pH. I gather that some types of tobacco are more acidic or basic than others and that their pH level can therefore have an appreciable impact on whether or the degree to which they will burn or bite your tongue.

Any information, resources, guidance or advice you may would be greatly appreciated.

you know how when you try riding a bike the first time you fall over. Tongue bite is like that. It's almost like you just kind of learn not to burn your self. And the advice here is pretty solid most of the time, and if you try it you'll certainly find out what to do different. I'd say lighting is probably important to learn. For example don't touch a bic flame to the tobacco it will light better from a distance (it is easier to do then it sounds), a zippo can certainly have the flame go into the tobacco. For me personally that was the real key to not burning myself.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

It may well be that you'e having a chemical reaction vs a heat reaction. First thing I would do is shitcan the Aro's. Get a few different blends. Most people seem to have a bad reaction to Virginia, especially reds. My tongue actually doesn't like Latakia. I have found that C&D Seersucker smokes about as cool as any blend I've smoked while still providing enjoyable flavor. Try some different things, make sure the tobacco is very dry and smoke slowly. Good luck!

 

[mikefu]

Great advice here. Dry it out and puff slowly is the best advice out there. There are some blends and brands out there that are just bitey, so switch it up. For example, I love MacBaren VA #1, Plumcake, and Mixture Scottish, but if I have more than a couple bowls of these a day I definitely feel bitten, and switch to other friendlier blends. So experiment with the particular blends you are smoking too, and find what works best for your body chemistry.

 

[mikefu]

It may well be that you'e having a chemical reaction vs a heat reaction. First thing I would do is shitcan the Aro's. Get a few different blends. Most people seem to have a bad reaction to Virginia, especially reds. My tongue actually doesn't like Latakia. I have found that C&D Seersucker smokes about as cool as any blend I've smoked while still providing enjoyable flavor. Try some different things, make sure the tobacco is very dry and smoke slowly. Good luck!

You said what I said while I was typing. Great minds and whatnot...

 

[bullet08]

Don't puff at all. Initial gentle pull should be all you need to get the smoke rolling into your mouth. Dry the tobacco. Pack loose. Get the tobacco lit evenly accross the top. Gentle pull and enjoy the smoke.

 

[chopper]

Your mouth is acclimating to pipe smoke atm.

Have you tried lightly topped blends such as Orlik Golden Sliced or Carter Hall for example? Carter Hall is also a good mixer to 'lighten' an aromatic.

Charcoal filters are really good at combating tongue bite.
A meerschaum lined Dublin works for me when smoking MacBaren Plumcake which bites me terribly in a briar.

 

[Chicken Cod]

Thank you, everyone for the detailed responses. I found much of the advice applicable and useful. I was already able to get through a bowl last night with noticeably less bite than before. You’re not kidding when you say slow down and sip gently. It feels like there is an inverse relationship between the strength of your draw and the amount of flavor you obtain from the pipe. It’s truly mesmerizing. Thanks again, brothers.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

Everyone gets the bite in the beginning. I still occasionally get bit if I don’t pay attention to what I’m doing. I’d suggest not learning to puff with heavily cased blends. I scorched my mouth on Capt Black in the beginning and it almost turned me off completely from piping. A seasoned smoker recommended starting with Carter Hall, not packing too tight, and sipping slow. This helped greatly. Don’t rush it and enjoy cause piping is awesome in so many ways!️

 

[Chicken Cod]

Everyone gets the bite in the beginning. I still occasionally get bit if I don’t pay attention to what I’m doing. I’d suggest not learning to puff with heavily cased blends. I scorched my mouth on Capt Black in the beginning and it almost turned me off completely from piping. A seasoned smoker recommended starting with Carter Hall, not packing too tight, and sipping slow. This helped greatly. Don’t rush it and enjoy cause piping is awesome in so many ways!

Yeah. I’m starting to get it. Really diggin’ Prince Albert with a cup of coffee. It’s nice. But you really do need to remember to slow down. It’s almost zenlike in its need for deliberate slowness.

 

[Misanthrope]

I’ve only been smoking pipes for a short while, but for me at least, I find that I get on better with some blends than others. Prince Albert doesn’t bite me at all. Carter Hall only bites me if my cadence is too fast and I’m using an unfiltered pipe, and doesn’t bite at all when using a filtered pipe. Lane 1-Q/Wilshire doesn’t bite me unless I really provoke it. Other Tinder Box blends that I’ve tried are similarly easy so far (Chartwell, Midnight, Sunset).

Stokkebye Norwegian, Amsterdam, and Turkish are much less forgiving to me and require attention. I’m a lot better at managing my cadence with those than I was several weeks ago, but it doesn’t take a lot to make ‘em all mad and bitey. I think a large part of my issue is not smoking slowly enough still, and part of it is a bit of sensitivity. I’m gonna try drying them out a bit further, even though they’re already pretty dry to begin with.

 

[stokesdale]

Stop smoking aromatics which include anything that's topped and/or anything with strong, unusually cured tobaccos in it like perique.

 

[bryguysc]

The number one cause of tongue bite is moist tobacco, followed by smoking too fast. All nonsense about packing technique is just that. If your tobacco is at the right moisture, you need no "technique"; just load it and light it. Same with charring light(s). Bullshit. Not needed until and unless it the ember goes out.

This leaves out specific constituent tobaccos and toppings vs. personal chemistry- so try to note which blends irritate, even if just a little, and try something different.

This.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Have to really agree with that sharp observation.....

 

[jdb67]

For some reason Carter Hall let's me get away with being...less than intelligent. Just the other day I decided to load up University Flake. I don't recall ever being bit by UF in the past. I thought it might be too moist, but that was a fleeting thought. I rubbed it out, loaded the pipe and then proceeded to put a hempwick flame right on top of the tobacco while drawing in aggressively on the initial light. Boom. I felt it on my tongue right way and I stopped and did not smoke the bowl. Too late. I took a few days off and let my tongue feel normal again. This particular thread has been very helpful to me as well as I know I have to dry the tobacco more than I think I need to and figure out a way to light it without being so aggressive. I will try not putting the flame directly down on the tobacco. So, I'm convinced of the truths stated prior. It is moist tobacco and lighting/relights that are getting me. If you add certain tobacco's to that combination, it can mean true burn and not just bite. I mentioned in another thread to find your baseline tobacco (CH and Old Dublin for me) and don't smoke anything else for a good while. I think I should take my own advice on that!

 

[bullet08]

Check moisture level by touch. If it's not dried, it will feel damp and cold. Just grab it with thumb and index finger and give it a good pinch. Don't just wait so many min and say it's dried. Packing, check the draw after each time you put the tobacco. It should have free draw. It is possible to pack the pipe to a point you can't get any air. Packing tight won't help.

 

[Pipe Daddy]

Lots of new pipe smokers want to start with heavily cased blends with all the vanilla, cherry, rum, or honey.... whatever. Of course these smell great, but they're wet and hard to keep lit. Then the smoke fast, relight often syndrome begins and leads to tongue bite.
My advice is to smoke a blend from Cornell & Diehl, Sam Gawith, GL Pease, or other blender that doesn't put much casing on their tobacco. Whatever you choose, get it dry, pack it gently and smoke it slowly. You'll be fine.

 

[cigrmaster]

Did you get your Biotene? I am erious it will be your best friend especially after you swish real good after every bowl. You can even swish before each bowl. The only thing I wouldn't use it for is massaging your nut sack. I tried it and didn't get much of a result. I figured it was worth a try.

 

[anotherbob]

EDIT: Fixed Capitalization in Title (See Rule 9) - Bob



The first blend I developed any ability to enjoy was Lane 1-Q. Since then, I have expanded my menu of enjoyable smokes to include Autumn Evening by C&D, No. 150 Mark Twain by Sutliff, and Prince Albert. I have been averaging anywhere between one to three bowls per day, depending mainly on how badly burnt my mouth is by the time I succumb and how much pain I can tolerate once I light up.

find blends noted for being gentle. I think part of the issue is the choice of tobacco. I also think the body adapts to pipes and it's not just skill. Which is commonly accepted in the smokeless world. The burn goes away it stops making you sneeze so much when you take nasal snuff. It's accepted the body adapts. I think that's part of the reason newbes always get burnt. Honestly I have not had tongue bite like I used to even when I smoke under the worst conditions.