Insane tongue bite from Bothy Flake

[MonarchistPiper]

So I just opened a tin of Bothy Flake, jarred it all except for a flake, left that flake out to dry (rubbed out) for a while until it was almost a smidge too dry, packed it in my Dunhill Pot and tried to smoke it, first of all it was a pain to light, it just would not take the flame, second it bit me a lot, I had not experienced this kind of bite since being a beginner or trying to smoke Gawith blends sopping wet. I really dont know what I did wrong. I can smoke 1792 no problem, same with Best Brown Flake, and St James Flake (tho this one is a bit more difficult for my tongue). What could I be doing wrong?

 

[Roach1]

I don't have enough experience to judge what f anything you have done wrong,but have tip that works for me.
If available drop a few White Elephant Meerschaum chips in the bottom of the bowl. Worked for me.

 

[coming to_falling too]

I have to really work at rubbing out a Gawith flake. Perhaps it wasn't rubbed well enough and trying to light it gave you bite? Can't really say for sure... Could be it just doesn't agree with you. I love St James, but unfortunately it seems to bite me everytime I smoke it. I'm good with every other Gawith blend I smoke, though.

Also maybe trying it in another pipe would help.

 

[Tbaggins]

It’s definitely on the wet side, even dried out it’s like smoking asbestos. Really tough to keep lit but I don’t get that bad of tongue bite from it.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Rub it down to nearly dust, allow it to dry overnight, and gravity fill it.

 

[OzPiper]

@Searock Fan posted in the “Things I Found Thrifting” thread about a coffee grinder he used on flakes.
Pipestud has mentioned whizzing long stranded blends in a blender.

It will certainly make drying, loading and lighting much easier.
And reduce the need for relights.
Sounds like it might be something you could try

I have been using meer chips and Nording Keystones for a while.
They may not be a necessity for most.
I find they have been a real help in minimising dottle, gurgles or relights.

 

[seanv]

Unfortunately that happens. There is good advice here. Rub it out more, leave it to dry overnight (packed or not) and try a grinder to really break it up. The meer chips and keystones I also find helpful. They help prevent me from my worst behavior of over tamping.
I would leave this blend alone in the tin for about a week. Open the lid occasionally for a bit to speed up the drying

 

[cosmicfolklore]

That's really strange. I would have sworn that Bothy was a bite free flake. It is easy to get excited with this one and puff a little harder when you start to get those unique flavors, but that is just an assumption. I have no idea how hard you were puffing.

What blends do you usually smoke? Sometimes stepping over into new genres like switching from Virginias to burley or vica versa can cause some burn in the change in PH.

 

[Auxsender]

Try a cube cut.
I only smoke Sammy G and McC flakes with a cube cut and it works great for me. It was a bit of a breakthrough actually.
Here’s what I do:

1) Dry that shit for a while. How long? Your call.
2) Cut the flakes width-wise into roughly 1/8” “cubes”.
3) Add Keystone chips or meerschaum chips into the bottom of the bowl.
4) Gravity fill the bowl.
5) Aggressively char the top of the tobacco making sure to tamp down whatever rises.
6) Repeat number 5 until it ts truly charred.
7) Begin smoking for real however you do.

At the end of the day, it’s possible this flake just isn’t for you.
One of the most sought after and popular pipe tobaccos, Full Virginia Flake is like acid being sprayed on my mouth the second the flame touches the tobacco. I tried it a few different ways and then gave up because there’s something in there that makes it not for me.
Not all tobaccos are for all pipers.

 

[HeavyLeadBelly]

Along with all the other great advice I find that packing GH/SG blends, especially the flakes, a little looser than normal also helps a lot.

 

[Sgetz]

A lot of Lakeland flakes smoke really well if cube cut. Dice up and dry. Perfection

 

[MonarchistPiper]

That's really strange. I would have sworn that Bothy was a bite free flake. It is easy to get excited with this one and puff a little harder when you start to get those unique flavors, but that is just an assumption. I have no idea how hard you were puffing.

What blends do you usually smoke? Sometimes stepping over into new genres like switching from Virginias to burley or vica versa can cause some burn in the change in PH.

I tend to smoke VaPers and Englishes/Balkans, also the occasional bowl of 1792.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I tend to smoke VaPers and Englishes/Balkans, also the occasional bowl of 1792.

Yehhh, so... there goes my theory. Yeh... pack lighter and smoke slower. Sory, that's all I got.

 

[LeafErikson]

Something with the blend might not agree with your tongue chemistry. You might just have to toss this one in a jar and try it again in a few years if changing the pack/dry time doesn't help you. It sucks to get all excited to try a new blend and have it bite ya.

 

[Skippy Piper]

It sure sounds like you've done everything right, rubbing out the flakes to a ribbon cut consistency and drying the tobacco until it's almost crispy before smoking, and you've had good experiences with other Gawith flakes so my best guess is that there's just something about Bothy Flake—maybe a casing or topping on it—that just doesn't agree with your mouth chemistry.

I've had a similar experience with Briar Fox. I've smoked a dozen Virginia/Burley mixtures from a variety of companies and never gotten tongue bite from any of them, nor have I ever gotten tongue bite from any of Cornell & Diehl's other blends I've had, but there's just something about Briar Fox that makes it bite like the devil for me. Mouth chemistry is weird.

 

[crashthegrey]

Maybe an off day? I have never found bothy to bite.