Sooooo, a newb question....

[mike_68]

Ok - I've begun being able to identify when a certain blend marries well with a certain pipe(ie-my Habana Daydream LOVES my Great Dane cob).

Now I'm trying to ascertain which leaf is causing the "astringency" on my palate and tongue when I smoke it. That's the best description I have of what is going on since it isn't "tongue-bite" specifically...I THINK it's the Cyprian latakia, most of the blends I have with little or no Cyprian(the Syrian seems to not do this) are pretty much okay I believe.

Case in point - Saturday morning I had a bowl of Habana Daydream - NO issues, then around lunch I had a bowl of PS Bullseye which I let dry for 30 minutes before smoking. That was PERFECT...then that evening I had a bowl of Brebbia Balkan and wow! Didn't "bite" but made my mouth feel strange the WHOLE time and I could still sorta feel it the next morning! I've tried to do the balkan earlier in the am but I still get the same thing.

Has this happened to anyone else and if so, do you think it's the Cyprian latakia? I'm a bit stumped as I don't remember having an issue with Brebbia early on but now I'm at a loss...

Any/all thoughts would be appreciated! :?:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Are you speaking specifically of the somewhat leathery "dryness" post smoke, that can even continue 12 hours later?

If so, that still happens to me, especially if I have two bowls in a sitting, or even a day.

The term "astringent" is a very subjective one (go figure...) so it's tough to point out exactly what you mean. Is it a chemical taste or just a mouth feeling?

I know when I'm around too much Perique I get some pretty hefty chemical taste I don't like that I had to attribute to the fact I don't like the stuff in huge amounts. The flavor won't go away for hours and hours, even with food and drink.

 

[Airborne]

Get a large glass of hot salt water (about 3 or 4 teaspoons of salt) and swoosh it around your mouth vigorously. (You can hum your favorite tune while doing it to entertain yourself, but it’s not absolutely necessary.) That should do the trick!

 

[mike_68]

Kyle- yeah, like I said I wasn't sure the best way to describe but it IS a feeling of the mouth not so much a taste. I guess you could say it's like the tingling when something goes numb if that makes sense?

John - not a bad idea, I'll give it a shot!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Gotcha. Nothing to worry over, happening to me right now. Too much smoke in one sitting. You can just keep going and toughen up your tongue, back off a little and let the mucous membrane tissues settle down, or try sme soothing food or drink. I prefer cold water, beer or hot tea. Spicy, salty and highly alcoholic stuff was... Not so helpful. :lol: to me anyway. 8)

 

[mike_68]

Cold water hasn't worked...maybe the fact that I typically have coffee in the morning which might "coat" the tongue and palate...hmmmm....interesting...thanks guys for the replies!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Well, to be precise, there is no "fix" until your mouth chemistry and oral tissues realign with the Balance of The Force, so many of my suggestions are to just make it tolerable. Cheese? Bacon? Milk? Pop rocks? :lol: Something might help, but only time will ease the dryness and leathery feeling.

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

Even if you find that water is an instant fix, I'd keep at it. What often happens to me is that my tongue starts to get dry and that can result in all sorts of unpleasant things. You make also want to take a drink of water and hold it in your mouth for a few seconds before swallowing, that may help. I learned that highly bitter beer, IPA in particular seem to wreak havoc on the tongue when smoking, but YMMV.

 

[mike_68]

I'm worried that my mouth is just not cut out for 3+ bowls a day...during the week that isn't an issue, I may get 1 in the evening. But my weekends are for relaxing and these days that means a pipe of SOMETHING....if I can't I can't but that would just stink...

Okay, I'm done whining now - on with the rest of my day!

 

[Airborne]

I think that many problems can be avoid for most people by slow puffing (AKA sipping) your pipe and not smoking one bowl after another. A small bowl with flake tobacco can last me about 1 1/2 hours. On the other hand, I usually slow smoke one bowl after another while writing at my desk. I'm constantly putting the pipe down when I have to concentrate hard on something. Who cares how many times you relight? But when I'm done for the day (about 3 or 4 pm) I brush my teeth and do the hot water/salt routine and don't smoke again until the next day, about 18 hours later. My mouth feels refreshed at that point. Sometimes I don't smoke at all for a day or two. I go through 3 to 4 bowls a day depending on the size of the pipes with no problems.

Whatever works!

 

[williamcharles]

For years I smoked burley, english/balkan/scottish blends as well as aros with no problem. When I got into virginias, tried to is more the case, they bit me like rabid wolves. Like Kyle says, the tongue will toughen over time and smoking. I call your condition "tongue fatigue" for lack of abetter term. Just too much smoking during the day. Some days I can get away with 10 - 12 bowls and other days only 4 - 5. I keep a mug of coffee at my side and take a sip now and then. I fought thru a pound and a half of a good virginia flake. It always messed with me so I traded my other 1.5 lbs of the same mixture for other tobacco. Now I'm back to the same virginia and love the hell out of it but still get the tongue fatigue if I smoke too much of it in a day. You could try smoking smaller bowls or half bowls after you identify the tobaccos that cause the problem. Later you'll be able to smoke more of it with no problems. The tiongue is a tough little sucker give time to toughen up. It took mine almost a year!

 

[idbowman]

You might have some luck if you try hydrating your mouth/throat while smoking. If you know you're likely to be smoking multiple bowls a day/sitting, you might consider keeping some water, fruit juice, or tea at hand. Of course, you may not want something with a strong flavor (juice, for example) as it might throw off your enjoyment of the smoke...then again, you may find it enhances things. I've actually started trying to "pair" various tobacco's with different varieties of tea.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I'm worried that my mouth is just not cut out for 3+ bowls a day...

...I can barely handle one a day, and that's pushing it for me... I'd say space out your time a little more, at best. Keep some water or a palette cleanser handy, and you'll be right as rain. 8)

 

[mike_68]

Some good ideas all around...I usually drink water while smoking but I'm gonna mix it up a bit..and try to determine the toby's that cause this issue more often. Hopefully there is some "tongue conditioning" that will happen too, make it a bit easier.

Thanks for the input guys..most appreciated!

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Squadron Leader just shouldn't be this good. Otherwise my tongue would be fine. :lol:

 

[Boxerbuddy]

Can I make a suggestion? This may not work for you but it's seemed to work for me....if I find my tongue feels "coated" and numbish....not able to taste things as good and such, at the end of the day before I go to bed, I scrub the SHIT out of my tongue witha toothbrush while I'm brushing my teeth. Its a little unpleasant at the time...abrasive and a little irritating, but in the morning everything is as right as rain...and I'm ready to go at the thickest smokiest tobaccos all over again.

 

[mike_68]

Good call Boxer...I'll start trying that as well!

 

[mike_68]

To beat a dead horse, and after seeing a thread about perique I've developed a theory after doing some research. It seems that perique may well be present in each of the blends that seem to have affected me in this way....

I have some additional things to try and, of course, some other tobaccos to purchase and test but I'm wondering if this is my issue...MAYBE perique in high enough quantities or some such are causing this issue of mine.

More to follow later...

 

[Kyle Weiss]

It may be Perique, or just circumstantial. I've been torturing myself in ecstasy with Jackknife lately, and well, if anything makes your tongue turn into a leather strap, that stuff will. :twisted:

Most of the discussion of this nature a month ago has dissipated for me, and things are mighty fine.

I still occasionally get a chemical turn-off by certain Virginias (rare) and heavy Perique blends (more common).

There are also Perique blends like Marlin Flake, Old Gowrie, Golden Sliced and a few others that are very light in Perique that I can't seem to get enough of. Could be the blender, could be the source of the Perique. Or both.

There's quite a few Brothers here that would like nothing more than for me to say "I love VaPers," but the verdict is still being held back... :lol:

 

[jlong]

I get tounge bite occasionally and have found yogurt and bananas to be soothing on my tounge. I just savor on them.

The way I've read it is tounge bite is really tounge burn from pipe steam settling on the tounge while drawing. That bits such as Peterson p-lips divert the steam away from the tounge.