Tongue bite - which is it?

[richjw]

Okay, I've only been at this for a couple of months and still trying to find my 'tempo' but I seem to read confusing comments in tobacco reviews. Some seem to imply that it's packing too dry and loose that will give tongue bite because the tobacco will be 'burning hot'; others seem to suggest that smoking too wet and packing too firm will induce tongue bite because it's excess steam which actually burns your tongue. Which is it?!

 

[hawke]

Both. Each blend can have its own characteristics is my experience. To me moisture and faster puffing often the major cause. Other times its the dryness and the temp a tobacco burns at. Dry tobacco burns too fast and hotter and since the combustion process always causes "some" moisture to develop there will be tongue bite risk.
Basic rules of thumb are to puff slowly and don't smoke tobaccos that are too wet. Dry them out some. There's a balance here however, some dry tobaccos may need some hydration.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

In my case, neither.

I'm pretty sure there's just a maximum amount of exposure I can have with any given bowl and I've been puffing too much just to try and keep the bowl lit.

Dry it out, rub it out, chop it, pulverize it, use a cheap coffee grinder, do what you have to so that the tobacco burns nicely and you aren't worried about it going out all the time.
Also, try drinking something along with your bowl, it helps.

 

[jvnshr]

it explains everything:

When smoke from tobacco has a higher degree of alkalinity, it will produce painful irritation of the tongue, regardless of its temperature. A principal cause of alkaline smoke is a tobacco containing little or no sugar, such as Burley. Soil chemistry where the tobacco was grown can also influence the pH of the leaf. Virginias and other tobaccos with high sugar content generally produce an acidic smoke, which is easier on the mucous membranes and tongue. However, if combustion temperature goes too high, then the hydrocarbons (especially sugars) join with oxygen to form water and turn neutral, thus leaving the alkaline components to predominate in the smoke.

link

 

[jvnshr]

so both

 

[dutch65]

There are two types of tongue bite,chemical bite and steam bite.
Chemical bite comes from the casings and toppings used in pipe tobacco. If you smoke cigars, you will notice you never experience this bite, because those casings and toppings are not used in cigar production.
Steam bite comes from tobacco that is too moist, and over zealous huffing. This sometimes happens to a new smoker who doesn't dry their tobacco properly, and in turn struggles to keep the pipe lit. Every blend has it's sweet spot when it comes to moisture content, and knowing when the tobacco is "just right," is something that comes with pipe smoking experience.
If you are smoking tobacco that is too dry, I suppose you can scorch your mouth from heat alone, but most smokers know better than to try to smoke tobacco with zero moisture content.

 

[brass]

+1 Dutch. I differentiate between tongue bite (allergic reaction to alkaline levels) and tongue burn (damage caused by steam and/or super hot air.)

 

[mso489]

It's the chemical bite with aromatics that gets me. Even the milder ones. The full-strength non-aromatics so far don't give a problem.

 

[tarheel1]

My main cause of tongue bite comes from straight va's then va/per. I dont really smoke burly blends and english and oriental blends don't usually give me tongue bite. Now if I smoke any blend too wet and fast I am sure it will give me bite, but not usually the case.

 

[ccdeere]

Heavy casings irritate my tongue, but I've managed to avoid tongue bite since about my forts the month of pipe smoking. I try to keep the tip of my tongue down so the direct smoke doesn't hit it, that protects my tongue I think even when smoking too hot. Or else the charring I did my first month killed all sensation in my tongue and now I don't feel it lol.