Welcome to Pappy’s Porch! You’re a pipe smoker? Pour yourself a drink or a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and light your pipe. Sure, go ahead and ask me some pipe questions. I’ll answer them the best I can but remember, these are my answers and opinions. Other pipe smokers may have different answers and opinions.
Hey, Pappy! How long after smoking a pipe could you have another? I was told to wait 24 hours in between pipes.
I’m just going to go on a limb here and assume you meant smoking the same pipe. The answer to that varies from pipe smoker to pipe smoker. Basically, you can’t go wrong waiting 24 hours between sessions with a briar pipe. However, in the past, pipe smokers have been known to smoke the same pipe all day long without any immediate damage to their pipes. My grandfather, for example, usually smoked the same pipe all day. He would just dump the ash, wipe out the bowl and reload. He passed away in 1979 and I still have two of his pipes and they still smoke good.
Even today some smokers will smoke the same briar pipe throughout the day. Some will wipe out the bowl and run a pipe cleaner through the stem and then let the pipe sit for an hour before reloading. I have occasionally done this but then let the pipe rest for a day or two.
I would also say it depends on the type of pipe you are smoking. Resting a briar pipe between use is more important than either a corn cob or a meerschaum in my opinion.
Hey, Pappy! I’m a new pipe smoker and my tongue stings after smoking. I also notice the taste of the tobacco stays in my mouth for a while after smoking. Is this normal.
Let’s talk tongue bite and tongue burn. Tongue bite or irritation is usually caused by a chemical imbalance between the tobacco and PH level in your mouth. Some pipe tobaccos are more alkaline than others, some are more acidic. When the balance between the PH level in the tobacco conflicts with the PH level in your mouth, it may cause tongue bite. (Disclaimer: I am not a scientist or a chemist but that’s is my understanding of tongue bite.) If you start getting an irritation from smoking a tobacco, try drinking something with either a neutral PH level (like water) or something acidic (like lemonade or coffee).
Tongue burn on the other hand is just what it says. You are burning your tongue with hot smoke. This can be from puffing too fast, smoking a tobacco that’s too moist or even smoking too long.
Puffing on your pipe to fast is like blowing on a smoldering fire. The more air you introduce, the hotter the fire is going to get. With a pipe, that means getting hotter and hotter smoke in your mouth. Smoking a tobacco that is too moist while puffing to fast is like filling your mouth with low pressure steam. It’s going to start cooking your tongue. That’s why you will get tongue burn if you smoke 5 or 6 bowls one right after the other for a few hours.
One “cure” for tongue burn is to smoke slower or to sip your pipe instead of clenching. Another is to let your tobacco air dry some before lighting your pipe. This will allow some of the moisture to evaporate and lead to a dryer smoke. Some pipe smokers use pipes with longer stems or filters. The longer stem allows the smoke to cool some and the filter will filter out some of the moisture in the smoke. And, of course, let your mouth rest between smoking bowls.
Hey, Pappy! How do you store your tobacco and keep it from drying out?
In my opinion, you can’t beat glass jars with good screw on lids for long term storage (cellaring) tobacco. I don’t care whether its Mason jars or Ball jars as long as you can find the two-piece rings and lids that will fit them. If you want the tobacco to age, make sure you fill the jar but leave a little space at the top for air. The tobacco will not age as well if there is no air in the jar.
I also have 5 or 6 different bail type jars that have good rubber or silicon seals. Some people say these aren’t good for long term storage but I am smoking some tobacco that’s been in one of these jars for 4 years and it’s still fresh and moist.
There are some things I do with my tobacco that I recommend new pipe smokers to follow:
- If it’s bulk tobacco, I jar it within a day or two of receiving it. The plastic bags are not good for long term storage and the tobacco will dry out.
- If it’s an unopened tin, I just toss it into my cellar or storage until I’m ready to open it. If the tin is opened, but I’m not going to smoke all of it in a couple of weeks, I jar it. That being said, some 100 gram tins are not vacuumed sealed and the tobacco is in cello pouches inside the tin. Those blends get jarred immediately.
- I abide to the store in a cool, dry place rule. Some of my jars and tins occupy a drawer in my filing cabinet. Some sit in a small wooden footlocker. Both are in my home office so the temperature stays whatever my thermostat is. I have a couple of the bail type jars sitting on my desk, but they are never in direct sunlight.
- Not all tobacco will age. As a general rule, aromatics do not age because of the flavoring and casing used to make them aromatic. Non-aromatic blends will age. Cornell & Diehl produces a “cellar series” and they are made to be aged but you don’t have to age them to enjoy a good smoke. Personally, I think some aromatics improve by sitting because the flavor additives can mellow out or meld with the tobacco. It’s like cooking red beans and rice or gumbo here in the south. It may be good the day you make it, but letting it sit overnight enhances the flavor.
As I said earlier, the answers here are my opinion. Others may have differing opinions and others may have answers that are “more correct” than mine. If you have any questions, email me and I’ll see if I can find some answers.
(© J. Gibson Creative Services 2017)
