My mouth tastes like an ashtray

[KarlMaldensNose]

Third bowl since starting yesterday. Switched from aromatic to an English blend. It went very well. Packed well and tamped nicely throughout. Had to re-light only twice. Tasted great, much more flavour than the aromatic blend. But after I finished, my mouth was very smokey tasting. No problem, I thought a meal with strong flavours--tuna w/ lime marinade and asparagus--would take care of the potty mouth. Nope. Okay, a nice strong after-dinner coffee will do the trick, right? Nope. Still feels like I was frech kissing an ashtray. What gives? I don't want to brush my teeth just yet. Not until I go to bed. I want to treat this as an experiment for now, try to figure out if this is normal, and what, if anything other than toothpaste and mouthwash, will get rid of this taste in my mouth. Any ideas what's going on here? Did I smoke incorrectly? Maybe some tobaccos just have this effect? I welcome your thoughts.

[jdto]

My limited experience e is that yes, some tobaccos have this effect. Others leave a wonderful sweet aftertaste. Keep experimenting.

[cb91710]

I believe you have experienced what is referred to as "bite".
This can be a problem with the 'baccy blend, but any blend can and will produce this if smoked too "hot"...

The multiple relights leads me to believe that you are perhaps packing too tightly, which is causing you to HAVE to draw too hard in an effort to maintain the cherry, which in turn overheats the bowl and results in a "hot" smoke.
Lately, I've been packing more loosely. It was indicated that a "good" draw is about the effort that it would take to pull a Rice Krispy through a soda straw.
The looser pack results in a shorter smoke (some blends in some of my pipes can go 90 minutes), but it also results in a much cooler bowl, cooler smoke, and no relights until I start getting to the end of the bowl.

[Kentos]

Cigars give the same thing, sometimes lasting overnight till morning.

Pipes seem to do this less, but my wife would beg to differ. ;)

[KarlMaldensNose]

I believe you have experienced what is referred to as "bite".
This can be a problem with the 'baccy blend, but any blend can and will produce this if smoked too "hot"...

The multiple relights leads me to believe that you are perhaps packing too tightly, which is causing you to HAVE to draw too hard in an effort to maintain the cherry, which in turn overheats the bowl and results in a "hot" smoke.
Lately, I've been packing more loosely. It was indicated that a "good" draw is about the effort that it would take to pull a Rice Krispy through a soda straw.
The looser pack results in a shorter smoke (some blends in some of my pipes can go 90 minutes), but it also results in a much cooler bowl, cooler smoke, and no relights until I start getting to the end of the bowl.

I've heard of bite before and was under the impression it referred to stinging or burning the tongue from smoking too hot. But there definitely wasn't any mouth or tongue discomfort during any of my smoking sessions. The smoke never seemed hot coming out of the the draw hole (or whatever it is called... lip? stem?).

Regarding the draw and how it's related to the pack, you're probably right about what I'm doing. In an effort to achieve more resistance during the draw, I'm under the belief that packing it tighter will create more resistance. I'm still trying to make it feel like a cigarette and that's most likely what's causing these problems. I t will take a while to let go of these deeply ingrained notions and behaviours as I've been a cig smoker for most of my adult life.

Appreciate the help, guys.

[haiku44]

I'm still trying to make it feel like a cigarette and that's most likely what's causing these problems. I t will take a while to let go of these deeply ingrained notions and behaviours as I've been a cig smoker for most of my adult life.

That was tough for me to get over at first also. It will happen eventually though.

I wouldn't be worried about relights at first. It was a while before I was able to smoke a bowl completely without relighting. That was probably the most annoying part for me to get over as a cig smoker. Coming back to a half smoked bowl a couple hours later isn't like a cigarette. It has because a normal part of my routine if I'm out and about for the day.

[morganjg]

Sounds like you smoked Latakia for the first time! English blends tend to be heavy on Latakia, which has a very charred taste and leaves the same taste in your mouth. It is a blend that is either loved or hated, but occasionally can just be dealt with. I personally don't care for it, but then find the Balkan Sobronie to be wonderful despite the addition of Latakia. Guess the rest of the blend is properly "pefected" to take away some of the strength of the Latakia. Sounds like you will either find it an acquired taste, or perhaps you will find other blends that contain less Latakia or none at all.

[Red Horn]

My limited experience e is that yes, some tobaccos have this effect. Others leave a wonderful sweet aftertaste. Keep experimenting.

This phenomenon his recently affected me. My mouth has a sweet Va taste all day long. Funny thing is I smoke twice as many English backy's as Va's.

[cb91710]

Sounds like you smoked Latakia for the first time! English blends tend to be heavy on Latakia, which has a very charred taste and leaves the same taste in your mouth. It is a blend that is either loved or hated, but occasionally can just be dealt with. I personally don't care for it, but then find the Balkan Sobronie to be wonderful despite the addition of Latakia. Guess the rest of the blend is properly "pefected" to take away some of the strength of the Latakia. Sounds like you will either find it an acquired taste, or perhaps you will find other blends that contain less Latakia or none at all.

Ditto.

I keep finding that I'm going back and forth on Two Friends English Chocolate.

I've worked through a bag of Pipes & Cigars "Light English", and paralleled my home evening/weekend blend is their "Byzantine" (both from the "Strictly English" sampler), and I like both of those... But I'm really undecided about the FTEC.
I like the initial taste, but hours later I'm finding that I don't care for the "room note" (actually cab-note since I smoke in my pickup on the way home from work).
It also seems to be pretty high in "Vitamin-N" and one or two inadvertent draws that go just a bit deep (not full draws, not enough to make me cough), will leave me with a queasy and light-headed feeling.
I was smoking a pack a day of Camels until about a year ago. Didn't smoke anything for 6 months, then moved to the pipe to get away from the nicotine intake.

I'll probably finish the tin, but I don't think I'll be buying it again.

[Blade Boy]

What are you smoking?

[COHunter]

Pay attention to your cadence (how fast you're puffing) also. I've heard many a former cigg smoker that they puff too fast on the pipe just because that's the way they smoked cigarettes so that's what they're used to. Slow it down, and another trick about it being hot, put the pipe on your cheek, it should be warm at most and you should be able to hold it to your cheek indefinitely with no discomfort. Draw should be like soda through a straw, not a milkshake and don't sweat the re-lights. That happens all the time, and can be due to a bunch of factors like cadence, humidity of tobacco, what the weather is doing where you're smoking etc...

I find I love latakia blends, they smell very strong but I find the taste very mild with an earthy sweetness that's quite nice.

[KarlMaldensNose]

What are you smoking?

It was a shop blend called Modern English. I went back to the shop and checked, and it did in fact have Latakia (along with cavendish and something else I forget) in it. I just picked up another blend called Heart of Gold that has a higher proportion of Viginia in it to smoke out the differences. Also grabbed a straight Viginia Flake but I haven't smoked either of these yet as I've been fighting my way through a cold the last couple of days. I'll try to post after I try them. Oh yeah, I also have a couple aromatics to try out -- Three Cherry and Peaches 'n' Cream. Don't laugh. Everyone needs to experience those sweet aromatics, if only once or twice to see if it's something to pursue. So far I'm finding them to be way too light for my tastes. They smell fantastic in the pouch but that's about as far as the pleasure goes.

Pay attention to your cadence (how fast you're puffing) also. I've heard many a former cigg smoker that they puff too fast on the pipe just because that's the way they smoked cigarettes so that's what they're used to. Slow it down, and another trick about it being hot, put the pipe on your cheek, it should be warm at most and you should be able to hold it to your cheek indefinitely with no discomfort. Draw should be like soda through a straw, not a milkshake and don't sweat the re-lights. That happens all the time, and can be due to a bunch of factors like cadence, humidity of tobacco, what the weather is doing where you're smoking etc...

I find I love latakia blends, they smell very strong but I find the taste very mild with an earthy sweetness that's quite nice.

I've read about that before and wonder if the fact that I'm smoking out of corncobs makes any difference. I mean, corncobs seem to have thinner bowl walls, and I imagine the material (corncob vs briar) is more suseptible to heat. So if a corncob feels hotter (than briar, and only to a certain extent, of course) on the outside, it doesn't necessarily mean it's hotter inside, right?

[Argonaut]

Actually a cob should feel cooler to the touch than a smooth briar. If your getting your cob that hot, some of what you're tasting is likely burnt corncob.

[chrissss]

I have the same problem when my bowl is nearly empty.
I'm not able to smoke the last part of the tobacco remaining, let's say the last 2/3 mm , it's like I smoke ashes only but there still have tobacco, I do not understand.
I've tried several methods of packing the pipe and always have the same problem.

[ouch]

They say that kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray, which is nice to know if you ever get lonely.

[Blade Boy]

I have the same problem when my bowl is nearly empty.
I'm not able to smoke the last part of the tobacco remaining, let's say the last 2/3 mm , it's like I smoke ashes only but there still have tobacco, I do not understand.
I've tried several methods of packing the pipe and always have the same problem.

Yeah, I know what you mean, this is worse with some blends than others, Burleys and Virginias can be this way sometimes, they don't have little "screen pads" that can help with this but I think it might be the tobacco you are smoking, I usually don't smoke the last little bit except in my gourd Calabash which I don't seem to have this problem may be due to the hole being directly at the bottom rather than the side like a briar...

[allawd]

I have the same problem when my bowl is nearly empty.
I'm not able to smoke the last part of the tobacco remaining, let's say the last 2/3 mm , it's like I smoke ashes only but there still have tobacco, I do not understand.
I've tried several methods of packing the pipe and always have the same problem.

I've had that with certain blends. Especially after following online suggestions to "stir the bowl" to get it to smoke down yuck. I have found running a pipe cleaner can sometimes help, but it's not 100%, only a temporary help.

[COHunter]

That's a farily common issue that frankly I have all the time. The last wee bit of tobacco in the bottom of the bowl won't burn. My $.02, not a huge loss, that's the stuff that's been gathering all the tars from the stuff above it. Also if you have a tendency to breathe back through the stem (which sometimes helps keeping it lit) the humidity from your breath moistens that last bit of dottle in there.