Numb and Dry Mouth

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I would suggest maybe reducing your smoking to just four pipes a day, until you can build up some calluses on your tongue. Space those four out a little, like maybe a cup of coffee between them. I also wouldn't drink alcohol with your pipe till you get some tolerance built up. I mostly drink coffee and ice water while I smoke. YMMV
 
Also, smoking through my rotation of tobaccos through the day, I will start with an aromatic, if I am going to smoke an aro, and then move to Virginias, Vapers, burleys, and then latakias at night. This makes it so that really strongly flavored tobaccos don't overtax my palate before I get to more subtle ones.
If I do smoke a latakia earlier in the day, I just have a hard time tasting tobaccos for the rest of the day.
 
Jun 25, 2021
1,369
4,443
England
Drawing or pulling on the pipe can be a recipe for a dry mouth.
But if you breathe in through your nose with the back of the throat closed, and then breathe the smoke out through your mouth, things should improve.
Definitely make sure you drink plenty, but not alcohol, as this strips bare the delicate linings of the tongue and cheeks.
 
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cigrmaster

Lifer
May 26, 2012
20,249
57,280
66
Sarasota Florida
When I start my day I always start drinking my coffee and smoking my pipes. I always start with Cafe Dumonde coffee. I drink 2, 30 oz cups in my Yeti. After my coffee is done for the day I usually drink some kind of vitamin water with my pipes for the rest of the day and night. I never smoke without having a drink next to me.

The one blends that dried my mouth really bad even with a drink in my hand were Boswell aromatics which I dabbled in back in 2012. I thing the PG in them was just way too much.
Now the only aromatics in my cellar are Cult Blood Red Moon and Sutliff Molto Dolce and neither of them dry my mouth.
 

anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
15,678
29,400
45
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
I have been trying different blends, everything from Vapers to Englishes and Aros. Some blends kinda make my mouth feel super dry and even numb sometimes. And this does not happen everytime. Is this normal for new pipe smokers?
normal. Different blends effect me differently. Latakia gives me a weird numb feeling. Not a bad thing and it doesn't last. Like a mild anesthetic thing. Like lidocaine if it was watered down a lot. Some tobaccos are just harsher not to a point of being an issue but to the point I can feel a difference. Seems normal to me.
 

Effortlessdepths

Part of the Furniture Now
Feb 7, 2020
502
1,060
Micanopy, FL
I have been trying different blends, everything from Vapers to Englishes and Aros. Some blends kinda make my mouth feel super dry and even numb sometimes. And this does not happen everytime. Is this normal for new pipe smokers?
I've noticed that the astringency is oriental and Turkish tobaccos will dry my mouth out in a heartbeat. Another reason to leave Englishes until the end of the day. Abingdon come to mind. Great blend though
 

Bivymack

Lurker
Sep 25, 2021
42
89
Tennessee
I swish with CVS dry mouth mouthwash, you might find an equivalent mouthwash, but it should have enzymes to promote healthy saliva production and restore pH when you’ve finished smoking. From what I’ve read Biotene changed their formula and no longer have those enzymes. I’ve also learned perique heavy blends irritate the heck out of my mouth, a heavy handed Vaper will tear me up.
 

verporchting

Lifer
Dec 30, 2018
2,879
8,933
Smoke a little slower and maybe a little less each day until it gets better. Drink something nonalcoholic. Use Biotene regularly. A brief resting period is a good idea - maybe a week. All great advice above!

You might try smoking a single blend or genre for a week and make notes about the mouthfeel. Rest your palate for a few days. Repeat with a different blend or genre. It’s possible your body chemistry is just not loving a particular leaf or something and if you can isolate and identify that component you can avoid it in the future. Red Virginia is infamous for that. Orientals can annoy some people’s palate. Perique is wonderful but I need to be a little careful with it or my lips tingle for longer than is comfortable or pleasant. Latakia is great but too much leaves my palate feeling “greasy” for lack of a better term and makes it difficult to taste the nuances of, well everything.

Good luck, I hope you can figure it out!
 

chopper

Lifer
Aug 24, 2019
1,480
3,317
I have been trying different blends, everything from Vapers to Englishes and Aros. Some blends kinda make my mouth feel super dry and even numb sometimes. And this does not happen everytime. Is this normal for new pipe smokers?
It's not just a newbie thing. I've been smoking weed for over 45 years and . . . oh, you're talking about tobacco. Right.

I'm unable to recall dry mouth when I first switched to a pipe.
Tongue bite and mouth irritation was an issue at first. Apart from poor technique, certain blends were usually the culprit but after some time my mouth just became accustomed to pipe tobacco.

The one exception was when I first tried a VaPer with a decent percentage of Perique.
Love aged Aj's VaPer. That's got a nice balance of Perique for my tastes.
I've noticed when a bowl has a few chunks of Perique, that will leave my mouth tingling, a touch numb and a little dry.

Not that that stops me from finishing the bowl. puffy
 
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Grangerous

Lifer
Dec 8, 2020
3,251
13,104
East Coast USA
Smoke a little slower and maybe a little less each day until it gets better. Drink something nonalcoholic. Use Biotene regularly. A brief resting period is a good idea - maybe a week. All great advice above!

You might try smoking a single blend or genre for a week and make notes about the mouthfeel. Rest your palate for a few days. Repeat with a different blend or genre. It’s possible your body chemistry is just not loving a particular leaf or something and if you can isolate and identify that component you can avoid it in the future. Red Virginia is infamous for that. Orientals can annoy some people’s palate. Perique is wonderful but I need to be a little careful with it or my lips tingle for longer than is comfortable or pleasant. Latakia is great but too much leaves my palate feeling “greasy” for lack of a better term and makes it difficult to taste the nuances of, well everything.

Good luck, I hope you can figure it out!
“You might try smoking a single blend or genre for a week and make notes about the mouthfeel.” - @verporchting

I agree. PH varies for each of us. When you find, as I have, a tasty blend so agreeable that one can retro every puff… it’s hard to not reach for it. — I don’t envy those whom have a wandering pallet, tongue-bite etc come with the territory. — I understand many don’t envy those of us whom enjoy a handful of favorites. To each his own. ??
 
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