Pipe Smokers Forums

Ok, so I have been struggling with something for a while here, and it's driving me nuts so I figured I would ask about it. I really truly enjoy burley heavy blends, particularly OTCs or those some might call "all-day blends". When I smoke them in a cob, I don't have any issues with bite. It doesn't really matter which blend I smoke, the smoke is usually pretty easy going. Filter/No-Filter doesn't seem to matter.

When I put those same blends into a briar, I get a kind of burning sensation which I attribute to "chemical burn" on my tongue wherever the end of the button resides in my mouth while I am smoking. If I point the stem towards the roof of my mouth, that gets burn-ey to, like I just rubbed some hot sauce around there. This sensation even occurs while I am not actively drawing, where smoke is just lightly/passively meandering out of the stem. Weirdly enough, the CDL I just acquired doesn't seem to display this issue. I notice this particularly with Middleton's blends(CH, PA), which pains my heart to no end. When I smoke something like a Va/Lat in those same briars, I don't have the issue.
Is there something about a cob that tames the alkalinity of Burley? Or maybe the cob does a better job mopping up the burninators in Middletons casing?

Before you say, "just smoke those blends in a cob", I have considered that.. but I do really enjoy the brightness that briar imparts on Burleys.

houtenziel wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 11:36 am
Is there something about a cob that tames the alkalinity of Burley? Or maybe the cob does a better job mopping up the burninators in Middletons casing?

Dunno - I have never experienced anything like this.

Yeah, sorry H, I'm like Tom. I haven't ever had that happen to me and I am woefully ignorant of chemistry.

Yeah, that makes sense. I tend to exist inside my own little chronosynclastic infundibulum when it comes to these sort of things
I kind of expected a "you crazy" response.. lol.
I tend to keep cake in my pipes to a minimum.. perhaps I need more cake? More cake usually seems to be the answer to a lot of life issues, so I'll go with that.

houtenziel wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 12:43 pm Yeah, that makes sense. I tend to exist inside my own little chronosynclastic infundibulum when it comes to these sort of things
I kind of expected a "you crazy" response.. lol.
I tend to keep cake in my pipes to a minimum.. perhaps I need more cake? More cake usually seems to be the answer to a lot of life issues, so I'll go with that.

I don't think you are crazy. We all experience things differently. I have never gotten the dreaded Mac Baren tongue bite for example, and that is legendary and seems fairly common.

Sounds like a body chemistry thing to me.

Maybe it's because the cob absorbs more moisture and you don't get that "Steaming" effect.

MikeDennison wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 2:26 pm Sounds like a body chemistry thing to me.

It could be, but how does that explain it not being an issue with a cob? That's the thing that has me scratching my head.

Ray Mackessy wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 3:07 pm Maybe it's because the cob absorbs more moisture and you don't get that "Steaming" effect.

That seems like the most likely explanation.. It's just weird that CH and PA would cause a steam issue and some soggy Gawith Va/Lat wouldn't. Maybe it's just because I love burley so much that I am freight trainin' it unconsciously?

You've pointed something out that I've experienced with almost every blend I have tried.In a briar tongue bite and off putting flavors is all I get.Had I not tried a cob I probably would've put the pipe down long ago.Now all those beautiful briars just sit on the mantel.......while the cobs do all the work.I'm mostly a vaper smoker and not one of those Vapers has ever tasted worth a tinkers damn in a briar.

Whistlebritches wrote: ↑Sun Sep 02, 2018 1:47 pm You've pointed something out that I've experienced with almost every blend I have tried.In a briar tongue bite and off putting flavors is all I get.Had I not tried a cob I probably would've put the pipe down long ago.Now all those beautiful briars just sit on the mantel.......while the cobs do all the work.I'm mostly a vaper smoker and not one of those Vapers has ever tasted worth a tinkers damn in a briar.

After doing some side by side experiments on my taste buds, tallying up the number of briars I have been unsatisfied with, and the amount of time I will get back not constantly looking for the magical briar that will deliver a smoke free of the burning.. I have concluded that my experience coincides with yours. Any perceived flavor difference I could detect seemed to mostly just be placebo. I guess I will have to spend my time finding ways to hotrod my cobs.
You'd think after being ~10 years in, I would have come to this conclusion already.. and you'd be right. I just chose to ignore it