Tongue Bite

[pdlsteelkev]

Why do pipes bite and cigars don't?

 

[bentbulldog]

Maybe you should try a different cigar? :cheers:


Padron 1964 did a number on me and I didn't recover for days. :affraid:

 

[Ocelot55]

I have hypothesized that it has to do with the filtration of the smoke. When you smoke a pipe I'd wager that the tobacco is packed more loosely than a cigar and you are also much closer to the smoke. If you smoke a cigar the smoke has to travel through densely packed tobacco to reach your mouth. This gives it time to cool so you won't get steam burn. Here's an experiment, shred a cigar and pack it into a pipe. I'd wager you would experience more bite from it that way. In addition pipe tobacco is almost always treated with a casing or some sort of topping. That might affect the smoke as well.

Any experts on the subject?

 

[kaiser83]

A lot of what I thought was tongue bite to start with was just the spice of the tobacco. That said tongue bite happens for a lot of reasons and most of them tend to be easily rectified. There's the idea to pack loosely, but if I pack too loose I get bite. If I smoke too fast and hot I get bite. I normally have a soda sitting nearby that I sip on while I smoke and the acid there helps. Aro's tend to cause me more bite than others I assume because of the casing. Try not to concentrate on your smoking and do something else while you smoke. Some of the best smokes I have had were while sketching or doing something else to concentrate on and just letting the pipe smoke itself more or less. granted you occasionally need to tamp, but you can feel that as you smoke.

 

[blr1911]

I think the propylene glycol used in aro's (some are saturated) adds to the bite.

I recently cooked my tongue with Half and Half.

As my packing and lighting get better, I'm getting less and less bite.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Chemistry.

8)

 

[Dutch]

Aside from the fact that I prefer pipes over cigars for the monetary tobacco saving difference, I primarily prefer pipes because they provide so much more flavor, and there is the rub I suspect.

That extra flavor comes at a cost, and without pipe smoking experience to reduce the variables, you can end up with a bad case of steam or chemical tongue bite.

I suspect that Jesse is right when he says that the cigar itself filters the smoke, as well as the moisture from burning tobacco that causes tongue bite. This is why most cigars turn bitter during the last two inches, and all the flavor gets washed out.

The cigar provides an easier smoking experience, but at a cost of flavor, as well as the cost from your wallet.

Here is another thing to consider. Jonathan Drew markets a large line of cigars that are highly aromatic, however even those cigars do not produce tongue bite. It is a known fact that heavily cased pipe tobacco produces chemical tongue bite.

The differences in aromatic cigar tobacco and aromatic pipe tobacco processing however, would need to be explained by someone far more knowledgeable than myself.