Very Very Long Learning Curve

[bigpond]

Hot bowl, furry tongue that lasts for days (maybe?) and 72 hours as a longish rest. Classic case of smoking too hot. I hesitate to say "too fast" because cadence is only one contributor to a hot smoke, even though it can be a rather large piece of the puzzle. I would suggest you keep a hand on the bowl for your next smoke and set it down once it feels hot. Work on your cadence and see how slow you need to go to keep it merely warm. I think you'l only need to do this once or twice as you'll learn your pipes rhythm pretty quick. This works a little better with a thin walled pipe.
I think your other potential pitfall is not resting your pipes long enough between smokes. Imo a pipe can be smoked back to back the same day without souring, but it may taste muddy if smoked again without a week between smoke days. Pick a pipe you're familiar with and put it aside for a week. If it doesn't taste better the next smoke I'll eat my hat.
Best of luck, but I think you're well on your way.

Thanks bigpond. My tongue is never sore or painful but I do guess that it feels sort of furry - to use your word. It often feels like I've been eating black jelly beans.
Yes I do taste during the initial light but then I usually lose it. I use matches. The pipe does feel hot fairly often even though I think that I'm going slow. Obviously not slow enough.
When I think about it, my best smokes have been on Tuesdays which is when I usually have not smoked for over 72 hours. I guess that this argues for the fact that my tongue needs a rest.
I will continue to work on my technique of going even slower so that I can smoke more often and enjoy it. I still think that using dryer tobacco will help me keep it lit more easily and not be tempted to puff rather than sip.

 

[perlasca]

I rarely get a huge amount of flavor (taste). The large majority of taste for me is the flavor (smell) I get when smoke escapes my mouth and goes to my nose.

 

[cigrmaster]

It could also be your packing method. When I smoke Esccudo, I cut it into big chunks and the load the bowl in three to four stages. When I am done, I want there to be good resistance, like sipping a milk shapke through a straw. If you are packing too loosely, you will loose flavor and you will get a hotter smoke. New people tend too pack too loosely. If it is even a tad too tight, light it up anyway and you can always loosen it up with a pipe cleaner put all the way into your stem and then the bowl.
When packing, I fill the pipe to the top and then gently press down with my finger, stage two, fill to the top then press down with more pressure. Stage three fill to top, put even more pressure. Then I check the draw and if it does not feel like a milk shapke through a straw, then add a little more and put even more pressure. You want some good resistance. Also I would get a bottle of Biotene to use after every smoke. Also try drinking some iced tea that is sweet( no lemon) while smoking. I also drink coffee with cream and sugar as that gives my mouth a nice coating. Try all of the things I mentioned and let us know how you make out. Don't give up before the miracle happens, one day you will get that great smoke and you are on your way. Just pay attention to every bowl in terms of what you did to prepare it so if you get that great smoke, you can duplicate it.
Also, do not dry your tobacco too much, you want some moisture as if it is too dry, you will not get any flavor.

 

[buckaroo]

Some great info by Harris right there. Very concise.

 

[cigrmaster]

Guys, suggesting to anyone they just quit is really not a great idea. For some of us it takes a long time. I burned my tongue off for a couple of years trying to smoke red virginia blends. I finally found blends that tasted great and did not burn me. If I had quit, I would never be enjoying my pipes and my tobacco like I do 13 years later. Instead of saying just quit, let's try to figure out a solution. As older more experienced pipe smokers it is our job to help the new folks. If we want to grow our ranks then it is on us to figure out why someone is having so many problems. In the case of stanlaurel, it could be as simple as him packing tighter and not drying his tobacco too much. Now if I had not seen this thread and suggested this, maybe he would have quit before the miracle happened and we would have lost a potential new pipe smoker. I am glad that Stan did not take the advice of quiting and that he is determined to figure this out. Persistence is really needed when we are new and we need to support the new guys as much as possible.

 

[newbroom]

Yeah, Mr. Harris, but...Escudo?...If you can't get a pleasurable puff or two from a flake no matter how you put it into your pipe...from Escudo...maybe a pipe isn't for you?

 

[Chasing Embers]

Always preferred LBF to Escudo. Escudo is just a bit bland to me.

 

[newbroom]

I tried LBF first. My take was the opposite. Escudo is the shit. LBF is a wannabe. LNF is better.

 

[cobguy]

... and St. James Flake or St. James Woods is even better! :mrgreen:
Hey Mike ... did you try that GH Louisiana Flake yet? Also very good stuff!

 

[cigrmaster]

newbroomm, if you pack way too loose and dry it out way too much even escudo will have no flavor. This is why packing methods and humidity are so important to tasting the tobacco.

 

[settersbrace]

Guys, suggesting to anyone they just quit is really not a great idea. For some of us it takes a long time. I burned my tongue off for a couple of years trying to smoke red virginia blends. I finally found blends that tasted great and did not burn me. If I had quit, I would never be enjoying my pipes and my tobacco like I do 13 years later. Instead of saying just quit, let's try to figure out a solution. As older more experienced pipe smokers it is our job to help the new folks. If we want to grow our ranks then it is on us to figure out why someone is having so many problems. In the case of stanlaurel, it could be as simple as him packing tighter and not drying his tobacco too much. Now if I had not seen this thread and suggested this, maybe he would have quit before the miracle happened and we would have lost a potential new pipe smoker. I am glad that Stan did not take the advice of quiting and that he is determined to figure this out. Persistence is really needed when we are new and we need to support the new guys as much as possible.
Thank you Harris, I've been biting my digital tongue on this thread. This is a Q&A beginners forum where new smokers can get a little mentoring from experienced pipe smokers. The OP not once expressed disgust or made mention of having a desire to quit. Anyone that would suggest such a thing belongs somewhere other than on this sub forum. I've been smoking a pipe for many years and still find myself learning new things from people who maybe have more experience, and some maybe less. I struggled big time in the beginning but no one ever told me I should just put it down and move on to something else. Come on folks, lets not discourage anyone just because they have a hard question that your inexperience can't help answer.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I didn't have anyone to ask, but kept trying. No internet back in those days. Perhaps stanlaurel is attempting too much at once, and desensitizing his taste buds. Perhaps a lighter tobacco, or smaller proportions are in order.

 

[cobguy]

I'll play devil's advocate and say that if you smoke your tobacco too moist it will be steamy and tasteless also. There is a fine line and everyone has a spot on one side or the other. Personally, I prefer to start off on the dry side because as I breathe back through the pipe, the tobacco will be moistened further.
To each his own, but definitely try it both ways before deciding for yourself.
What I like to do with a blend I've never tried is to smoke it right out of the tin, then try drying it for an hour and finally try it after it's almost completely dried out. What you will find is that each tobacco has that sweet spot and it's not the same for all.
Keep at it, keep asking questions and most of all relax and just enjoy the journey. ::

 

[Chasing Embers]

Definitely. Very complex hobby here, but very rewarding once everything clicks.

 

[warren]

I can only write from my inexperience of 50 years plus with a pipe. And, after some 90 bowls of different blends and still no taste, stanlaurel might want to seek other avenues for spending his money. Not everyone who tries the pipe will become a smoker, much as some of you may wish the opposite were true.
Not everyone who tries a fine wine will find it palatable. Oenophiles will just shake their heads and feel pity for such a person. I think some pipe smokers react in the same vein, "Who, in their right mind, wouldn't enjoy a pipe? It's the greatest diversion in the world?"
stanlaurel might learn to tolerate, even love the pipe, but we mustn't get hysterical over the fact that he might not. Hard as it might be to believe, most of my peers in school dropped the pipe pretty quickly after graduation.
I am sure there are better ways of spending money and then sitting back in a comfy chair, glass near at hand, with a good book, watching your hard earned cash gently wafting towards the ceiling as a wisps of smoke. I enjoy that, some wouldn't.

 

[papabatman]

well i am so glad i found this thread. i grew up in the 80's and 90's so my nose is shot can't smell or taste very well. been smoking for years on top of that. switch to a pipe a year or two ago. was just smoking cheap tobacco. found this forum started experimenting. got a bottle of Pierre Ferrand Cognac Ambre. i take a small sip breath it in and out, then hit the pipe WOW my taste buds came alive. now i am having a great time blending my own tobaccos and enjoy it

 

[wolfe64]

Glad I read this thread as I am in a dry spell right now where everything tastes like ash and I have fuzzy mouth. Very frustrating but this thread has given me incentive to keep trying'
Mark

 

[cigrmaster]

I love a tight draw that is nice and moist that gives me a ton of flavor.