Tobacco PH and change in body PH?

thewanderingdude

So I am a big fan of burley tobaccos, especially old school burlys akin to the  Peretti's blends and old OTC's. About a month ago I thought I had burned my tongue just by over doing it one night. So i healed my tongue up and packed a bowl of some easy going Carter Hall and my first light produced a burning sensation that rolled over my tongue and mouth. It continued for about half a bowl and I called it quits. I figured my mouth hadn't healed and gave it more time. I Healed up and packed a bowl of Peretti D-9575 thinking it would be an even cooler blend having Burley and latakia in the mix. Same burning sensation in my mouth on lighting and during the smoke.So the last few weeks I have been smoking Virginia flakes, vapers, englishes and Vaburs with no problems at all. My go to's of late are Sleepy hollow, University Flake, LBF, LNF, LTF, and my one burley in the group Amphora (Brown and Full Aroma). With these mentioned blends I have had no problems what so ever. I pack a bowl of Carter Hall, Sir Walter, or Peretti however, and my mouth bursts into flame. What Gives? Could my PH have changed up on me? I use to smoke a lot of these burleys, now I'm scared to get near most of them. I may have some trading to do!

riobrusa

Don't think that your body PH has been changed. Probably is your taste buddies, they can be oversaturated with the taste and chemistry those tobaccos. My advice is to void smoke them for while, to refresh your palate.

Woodsman

Maybe the OTC's have too much Propylene Glycol(Humectant) in them. Some people have problems with it, Black Cavendish from a lot of suppliers often is gloppy with it; it's very mild, try some of that to see if that's what's keying your irritation. 

motie2

<< Pipe pH – do you know your pipe’s pH, is it acidic, neutral or alkaline? A pipe has ph like any organic substance.  It can vary from 0 – really acidic – to 14 extremely alkaline.  The soil the briar grew in and the water in it determine it. It doesn’t change when they boil the blocks.  Your tobacco also has ph. If your pipes is a low pH and your tobacco is a high pH that is not likely going to be a happy combination, unless they neutralize each other, a very big maybe.  This I am sure is the reason why a tobacco will smoke great in one pipe and badly in another. Assuming similar size and briar origin. You can determine the pH of the tobacco but very difficult to do on the pipe. So, we are still back at the try it and see method. >>   ~ Author unknown

glohman

I think you had just burned your tongue, and that the tobacco was less of a factor. Either your tongue healed or your puffing lighter out of fear of the burn.

xDutchx

I'm going to play the devil's advocate here, and say that your body is in a constant gradual change your entire life. As a male gets older, his testosterone decreases. About this time, for some strange reason, hair stops growing in the places it should, and begins to grow in other places it shouldn't.

I don't have the level of education to give you a definitive answer on this one, but since the chemicals in your body change over the course of several decades, I am guessing that your tolerances of certain tobaccos might change. I do know that I have heard more than one pipe smoker relate, that their mouths just won't tolerate burleys.

Another example of this, would be the side effects of prescription meds. Some folks experience the side effects listed on the label, and some don't. I remember a few years ago, one of my doctors suggested I try a different med to see if it was a better fit for me. There were no problems with the med I was taking, but I decided to humor him, as long as the med was available in a generic. After 3 weeks, every time I smoked a pipe or cigar, I had a horrible metallic taste in my mouth. I quickly put 2 and 2 together, and googled the side effects of the med. Sure enough, a metallic taste in the mouth was listed. I went back, requested my old prescription, and quickly got back to enjoying great tobacco.

Here's another observation. I think a lot of folks who enjoy a fine bourbon or scotch in their 30's, 40"s, and up, might have considered the same distillation one of the worst flavors to ever enter their mouths when they turned legal drinking age. Why do they struggle to get it down with a shot glass at 21, but 30 years later sip it and savor as much of the flavor as possible?

A lot of our preferences concerning food and drink change as we age. I'm just guessing that one of the contributing factors, is that we are in a constant state of change. I wouldn't give up on the burleys though, without convincing myself through trial and error that they are no longer for me.

glohman

I'm with @xDutchx , burleys are well know for being bite free, something else might be going on here.

motie2

This changing body pH thing probably explains why I smoked Latakia and VaPer blends back in the day, but after a four decade hiatus, I now smoke Molto Dolce.