Tongue Bite is a fairly common problem among pipe smokers; even veteran smokers can experience it from time to time. Aromatics tend to be the biggest villains when it comes to tongue bite. They tend to be very moist and burn hot, which produces very hot steam, which is the root cause of tongue bite. Fortunately, I have not experienced any real bad tongue bite in a few years. However, like most new pipe smokers, I did experience some major tongue bite when I first began smoking pipes.
Another cause of tongue bite is the packing of the tobacco. If it’s packed too tight or too loose, this will produce either a hard or loose draw, which will in turn make the tobacco burn hot….as a result…tongue bite. If you find you’ve packed your pipe too lightly, you can always use a packing tool and tamp it a bit tighter. But, if you’ve packed it too tight from the start, it’s very hard to loosen it up…shy of dumping the bowl and staring again.
Also, puff rate is critical. If you smoke fast, it will burn hot and produce tongue bite. Pipe smoking is meant to be relaxing and enjoyable. It’s not a race, take your time. Take the time to select your pipe and a tobacco blend. Pack slowly and lightly…fire it up and enjoy!
As I mentioned, aromatic blends and packing technique are at fault many times for tongue bite. Another reason is the type of tobacco. Virginia blends can burn hot, especially straight Virginia’s. Virginia tobaccos are naturally high in sugar, which burns hot when puffed fast. Virginia tobaccos like Russ’s Hearth & Home Virginia Memory and Virginia Night are wonderful….they have great flavor and aroma, but if smoked fast, they will rip your tongue up pretty bad. Many wonderful tobacco blends have Virginia tobaccos as a base and such things as Latakia, Perique, Burley and Cavendish are added to create unique, cool smoking pipe tobacco blends.
So, the lesson learned here is to pack less tight and smoke SLOWLY. I’ve been an English tobacco smoker for over 20 years (I love Latakia and Perique) and totally enjoy many blends. I even smoke Virginia blends, but I’ve learned that a slow smoke and light pack are the best way to truly get the most enjoyment from my pipes….no matter the blend.
God Bless your wife for being so thoughtful to you. She is certainly a keeper.
My advise is to cherish the gift, put it aside and always consider the love she has for you to have made you happy. You will look back on this many years from now and smile the smile of love.
Having said that, do not try to smoke it, it could put you off pipe smoking before you even start. That pipe is almost certainly NOT briar, and the quality is certainly suspect when they throw in all those "goodies" to make the sale. I am so leery of all these "knock off" products from China. We find out eventually their pet food kills our animals, and their toy products are painted with poisonous lead based paints.
Go to any local real tobacco shop and get your self a Missouri Meersham Corn Cob Pipe, or an inexpensive briar pipe. Any decent tobacconist should steer you in the right direction. A MM Corn Cob with a box of Medico filters will run you around $20.00. An inexpensive briar certainly a bit more.
If that does not work, take a run down the Parkway to just out of AC and I will gift you a MM Corn Cob as I have several in reserve here (in addition to 5 in the active "rotation") for the future, or to help a potential fellow piper. It would be my pleasure to get you on the right track.
Just DO NOT go off on the wrong foot as it could very well turn you off to this hobby, or lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it. And frame that pipe combo your wife so lovingly gifted to you so in 40 years or so, you can look back on it and your heart will smile, believe me.
Thank you for your kind words she is a very remarkable woman she truly is. I am blessed everyday for her. I don't know where I would be if it not for her.
I will be getting my new pipes tomorrow when I do so I will be retiring the pipe and framing it :-) Thanks again :-)
Welcome @Pipefreak2383 , and glad to have you on board for our site. You'll find that we pipers enjoy sharing tips for our hobby and helping newbies find their footing. We all started off at the same place as you, and we want to help you out any way we can.
If you get a chance to visit Dublin, Peterson's of Dublin has a fantastic shop that I've been to twice. You'll find tons of great new pipes there at a good price. If not, ordering from sites online is another great way to build a collection. I'm glad to see you picked up two cobs. Corncobs might have a stigma to them, but they're excellent pipes to have. One of the best parts about a corncob pipe is that you can smoke any blend in them without the blend leaving behind any sort of taste for your next bowl. Some blends leave behind their flavor and can "ghost" the bowl of a pipe, and wont go away until you've smoked it out with another blend or cleaned it.
Mason jars are a great way to store bulk tobacco and keep them fresh. If you can't find a mason jar, any jar that has a tight seal on the top is a good bet.
For pipe tobacco, don't be afraid to stick with aromatics for a bit while you get the hang of the hobby. I think we all got into pipe smoking by smelling the aroma of a passing piper puffing on an aromatic. Once you're ready to broaden your horizons, look into good English, Virginia, and Burley blends to try. I'd start with English blends first, as they have a nice campfire scent to them while smoking. Virginia's, VaPer's (Virginia Perique blends), and Burleys are excellent, too. Be sure to check how strong a blend is first, though, as some can hit you hard with nicotine if you're not careful.
If you have some spare time to read, get in contact with @motie2 with his wealth of PDF files. You'll learn a lot of excellent information on pipes and tobacco from his collection.
Finally, my biggest advice to you is this: learn how to properly pack a pipe. This is the most essential part of the process. As a new piper, there's the temptation to stuff the bowl with as much tobacco as you can. This is a mistake, and you'll have a hard time lighting and enjoying your pipe. I'll post a video below, but here's a good method. Fill the pipe to the top loosely with tobacco. Tamp it down with your finger, then fill again. Tamp once more, and fill one last time. Place the pipe in your mouth and draw on it. When you do, the air flow should feel like drinking a milkshake from a straw. If there's not much of a draw, dump the tobacco and try again.
Also, when packing a pipe, fill it over a piece of paper. That way, all the loose tobacco that falls out goes on the paper, and you can easily put it back in the tin/jar.
@Pipefreak2383 I would think the temperature swing in your garage may be a bit high, especially the upper range. You might have to be mindful of mold growth. The low temps are fine, but aging tobacco would be slower. Just make sure to keep them dry and out of the sun. If you have high humidity, the jar lids may rust, and more so with the temperature swings. I keep my tobacco on the main floor (I only have one floor) and the temperature between 68-72 year round. Mind you, that is with the furnace and AC the outdoor temperature here in Billings, Montana swings anywhere from -25F maybe lower to 110F or a bit higher. A bit of trivia, the record for the largest temperature swing in one place in a 24 hour period was set on January 15, 1972 in Loma, Montana when the temp. rose from -54F to 49F. Montana also holds the most extreme temperature ranges experienced in the United States of 187F, the lowest recorded temp. -70F at Rogers Pass in 1954, and the highest 117F at Glendive on July 20, 1893 and tied in Medicine Lake on July 5, 1937. The greatest 12 hour temperature change in the US was also in Montana, December 14, 1924 in Fairfield, Montana the temp. went from 63F to -21F in 12 hours for a swing of 84 degrees. Another record was set in Great Falls, Montana on January 11, 1980 for the fastest rise in temperature when it went from -32F to 15F in seven minutes. That is a 47 degree change in seven minutes. It was caused by Chinook winds. Hope you all liked the trivia.
I "store" my pipes in wall shelves or a small desk cabinet. I have a leather roll up that will hold three pipes, a couple of Ziplock style bags of tobacco and accessories for weekend trips. Some of my new pipes came with drawstring bags and my wife has made some out of flannel for some of my others. For longer trips, I but the pipes in the pipe bags and stick them into a canvas shave kit I've converted into a pipe kit. For pipe club meetings, when I usually take 5 or 6 jars of tobacco for sharing and 5 or 6 pipes, I put everything in an old camera bag I have.
where do you guys get your pipe cleaners from ? here is a site on amazon where I can get a BUNCH of them ....now as I have message you both about pipe cleaners I know they have the art and craft ones here as well...
it seems if I can get any of these that it would be a LOT cheaper then buying them from pipeandcigars.com or any of those places
also on pipes that has a unfinished finish (like one I bought) @motie2@Pappyjoe I am noticing the outside of it is getting greasy dirty how do I clean the outside of the pipe and keep it looking good?
@Pipefreak2383 - You should still be able to find pipe cleaners at local brick & mortar cigar and pipe shops, drugstores, cigarette shops and places like Walmart. In a pinch, the ones from a craft store will work but they are fluffier than normal pipe cleaners.
If you order on line but from one of the reputable pipe and cigars sites. They will be just as cheap.
@motie2 - Al Pascia has been in business since 1906. Don't know about those color pipes or that shape, but if their pipes were no smokeable, they probably wouldn't have been in business for as long as they have.
Generally, I purchase pipecleaners everytime I place a large tobacco order or when I visit my local brick and mortar. Always a good idea to have a good supply on hand. I keep some in my car, my briefcase, my pipe bag, and in my coat pocket.
@Charles as many know I am new at pipe smoking in fact my first ever pipe was about a week ago lol....so I only had what was giving to me with the pipe my wife gave me for Christmas
Comments
God Bless your wife for being so thoughtful to you. She is certainly a keeper.
My advise is to cherish the gift, put it aside and always consider the love she has for you to have made you happy. You will look back on this many years from now and smile the smile of love.
Having said that, do not try to smoke it, it could put you off pipe smoking before you even start. That pipe is almost certainly NOT briar, and the quality is certainly suspect when they throw in all those "goodies" to make the sale. I am so leery of all these "knock off" products from China. We find out eventually their pet food kills our animals, and their toy products are painted with poisonous lead based paints.
Go to any local real tobacco shop and get your self a Missouri Meersham Corn Cob Pipe, or an inexpensive briar pipe. Any decent tobacconist should steer you in the right direction. A MM Corn Cob with a box of Medico filters will run you around $20.00. An inexpensive briar certainly a bit more.
If that does not work, take a run down the Parkway to just out of AC and I will gift you a MM Corn Cob as I have several in reserve here (in addition to 5 in the active "rotation") for the future, or to help a potential fellow piper. It would be my pleasure to get you on the right track.
Just DO NOT go off on the wrong foot as it could very well turn you off to this hobby, or lifestyle, or whatever you want to call it. And frame that pipe combo your wife so lovingly gifted to you so in 40 years or so, you can look back on it and your heart will smile, believe me.
Good luck, let us know how you make out.
Thank you for your kind words she is a very remarkable woman she truly is. I am blessed everyday for her. I don't know where I would be if it not for her.
I will be getting my new pipes tomorrow when I do so I will be retiring the pipe and framing it :-) Thanks again :-)
If you get a chance to visit Dublin, Peterson's of Dublin has a fantastic shop that I've been to twice. You'll find tons of great new pipes there at a good price. If not, ordering from sites online is another great way to build a collection. I'm glad to see you picked up two cobs. Corncobs might have a stigma to them, but they're excellent pipes to have. One of the best parts about a corncob pipe is that you can smoke any blend in them without the blend leaving behind any sort of taste for your next bowl. Some blends leave behind their flavor and can "ghost" the bowl of a pipe, and wont go away until you've smoked it out with another blend or cleaned it.
Mason jars are a great way to store bulk tobacco and keep them fresh. If you can't find a mason jar, any jar that has a tight seal on the top is a good bet.
For pipe tobacco, don't be afraid to stick with aromatics for a bit while you get the hang of the hobby. I think we all got into pipe smoking by smelling the aroma of a passing piper puffing on an aromatic. Once you're ready to broaden your horizons, look into good English, Virginia, and Burley blends to try. I'd start with English blends first, as they have a nice campfire scent to them while smoking. Virginia's, VaPer's (Virginia Perique blends), and Burleys are excellent, too. Be sure to check how strong a blend is first, though, as some can hit you hard with nicotine if you're not careful.
If you have some spare time to read, get in contact with @motie2 with his wealth of PDF files. You'll learn a lot of excellent information on pipes and tobacco from his collection.
https://forum.thispipelife.com/discussion/1303/the-ever-growing-pdf-library-remains-open#latest
Finally, my biggest advice to you is this: learn how to properly pack a pipe. This is the most essential part of the process. As a new piper, there's the temptation to stuff the bowl with as much tobacco as you can. This is a mistake, and you'll have a hard time lighting and enjoying your pipe. I'll post a video below, but here's a good method. Fill the pipe to the top loosely with tobacco. Tamp it down with your finger, then fill again. Tamp once more, and fill one last time. Place the pipe in your mouth and draw on it. When you do, the air flow should feel like drinking a milkshake from a straw. If there's not much of a draw, dump the tobacco and try again.
Also, when packing a pipe, fill it over a piece of paper. That way, all the loose tobacco that falls out goes on the paper, and you can easily put it back in the tin/jar.
Hope that helps!
I would think the temperature swing in your garage may be a bit high, especially the upper range. You might have to be mindful of mold growth. The low temps are fine, but aging tobacco would be slower. Just make sure to keep them dry and out of the sun. If you have high humidity, the jar lids may rust, and more so with the temperature swings. I keep my tobacco on the main floor (I only have one floor) and the temperature between 68-72 year round. Mind you, that is with the furnace and AC
A bit of trivia, the record for the largest temperature swing in one place in a 24 hour period was set on January 15, 1972 in Loma, Montana when the temp. rose from -54F to 49F. Montana also holds the most extreme temperature ranges experienced in the United States of 187F, the lowest recorded temp. -70F at Rogers Pass in 1954, and the highest 117F at Glendive on July 20, 1893 and tied in Medicine Lake on July 5, 1937. The greatest 12 hour temperature change in the US was also in Montana, December 14, 1924 in Fairfield, Montana the temp. went from 63F to -21F in 12 hours for a swing of 84 degrees. Another record was set in Great Falls, Montana on January 11, 1980 for the fastest rise in temperature when it went from -32F to 15F in seven minutes. That is a 47 degree change in seven minutes. It was caused by Chinook winds. Hope you all liked the trivia.
that my friend is the best....I smoke that the other day and I just LOVE the smell and smoothness from it....that's some good stuff there
it was smooth. It wasn't strong very pleasant. it's pretty much my go to smoke when I want to smoke a pipe lol..
@motie2 @PappyJoe
where do you go to get cases to store your pipe? I got my pipe in from https://www.pipesandcigars.com/https://www.pipesandcigars.com/ and they just shipped it with nothing in it
do they have ones small enough for pipes? if so where ?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-6pcs-Brown-Flannel-bag-Pipe-bag-For-Tobacco-Smoking-pipe-Fdai04/132213615080
thank you very much
@Pappyjoe that is a nice collection you have there.
where do you guys get your pipe cleaners from ? here is a site on amazon where I can get a BUNCH of them ....now as I have message you both about pipe cleaners I know they have the art and craft ones here as well...
a bunch different ones
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2/140-4074041-5144006?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bulk+pipe+cleaner+for+pipes&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Abulk+pipe+cleaner+for+pipes
are these meant for pipes??
https://www.amazon.com/Mantello-Pipe-Cleaners-Bundles-Count/dp/B0752Z2T5P/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1515946944&sr=8-4&keywords=bulk+pipe+cleaner+for+pipes
it seems if I can get any of these that it would be a LOT cheaper then buying them from pipeandcigars.com or any of those places
also on pipes that has a unfinished finish (like one I bought) @motie2 @Pappyjoe I am noticing the outside of it is getting greasy dirty how do I clean the outside of the pipe and keep it looking good?
If you order on line but from one of the reputable pipe and cigars sites. They will be just as cheap.
@motie2 - Al Pascia has been in business since 1906. Don't know about those color pipes or that shape, but if their pipes were no smokeable, they probably wouldn't have been in business for as long as they have.
And my collections is anemic compared to what some guys on here have.
That is very beautiful. Do you smoke out of all of them or are those just collectable ones you have?
do you know of any online retailer that sell good pipe cleaners ?
last time I got pipe cleaners was from https://corncobpipe.com/