How do you smoke straight VA?

[alfredo_buscatti]

It eats my mouth alive! I know you're going to say slow down, but the pace at which I smoke is fine for any other tobacco class.

 

[RDPipes]

Your body chemistry must be just the opposite of mine. It doesn't seem to matter how much I puff, how hard I draw or how wet it may be, I never get bit by VA's.
Now on the other hand it don't matter how slow or light I sip, Burley sets my tongue on fire!
Stick to burley my friend. But, I do find that coffee with cream helps keep bite down like milk does for mouth burn from peppers. That's the only advice I can give.

 

[BriarBrad]

I smoke Virginia's exclusively. I smoke hot and fast with no bite except:

Union Square
Newminster Navy Flake

Those two are like the surface of the sum to me.

I burn through a tin of Jacknife ready rubbed every five days and a portion of Cumberland for a change.

 

[monbla256]

WHAT variety of Straight Virginia are you smoking? Red's seem to smoke cooler than the Brights and the orange Va's are kinda in the middle. At least to my way of thinking and smoking. But generaly, you do have to smoke Va's MUCH, MUCH slower than you would with a Burley or Va /Oriental/Latakia blend. I SIP mine just barely keeping it smoldering and don't really get great wafts of smoke when I sip. It takes me almost twice as long to smoke a bowl of a straight Va than it would to smoke a Balkan blend in the same pipe. That's been my experience for what its worth :twisted: 

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I have zero problems with straight VA's. Burley gets me. I bought a big sack of Uhle's 00 and it's like acid on my tongue.

 

[Briar Spirit]

That'll be them bright Va's I should imagine Buddy, kinda like filling ya pipe with wood-chips unless you keep the backy at a gentle smoulder, Browns and Reds, that's the ticket for me.

If you haven't tried it yet give this a blast: http://pipesandcigars.com/bestbrown.html one of the best smokes I ever had. :cheers: 

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

FVF was the bitey one. I also couldn't smoke MB VA #1, but while with the FVF there is a wee bit of light at the end of the tunnel, with the MB there was none, no way Jose, not in this lifetime.

Monbla, for you to say that you cut your normal smoking rate in half tells me what I'm doing wrong. I'm trying to smoke them at my normal rate. Learning how to go slow is the hardest thing for me about pipe smoking. I think I'm smoking slowly and then the bowl gets hot and I know I'm not.

I'll report back when I get up the courage to try again.

Many thanks! Mike

 

[Kelhammer]

Just last weekend I made great strides in going slow 8) . Take out a cob. All my MM cobs have a WIDE open draw. If while drawing on your pipe,  you can feel ANY air on your tongue, I would say you are puffing to hard. Now I still puff stronger during the lighting phase. When I need to back off is after I get it going.  I often hear the vets here speak of a cool smoke. About how the bowl on their pipe will only just get warm, not hot.  It's taken me two and a half years to get to this point. It is a great feeling and has greatly increased my smoking pleasure. I have even considered having another go at Embarcadero, as I now believe my disgust with this blend must have been due to my smoking pace. The thing is I have previously thought I was smoking slow. This is probably the 6th time I have relearned to go slower. I have no idea where the curve will stop. All I can share now is when I puff it is like nothing happened in regards to air flow, yet my mouth still fills with smoke.

 

[Briar Spirit]

Aye, it's all too easy to draw slightly too much on the pipe, getting the packing right is key I find to a truly great smoke, slightly too loose and you have a bonfire ember on your hands slightly too tight and you draw too hard getting the bowl super hot, and you can feel you're just sipping slow but that tiny bit too much on the draw will get the bowl unpleasantly hot if the bowl is packed slightly too tight. Of course how you pack the pipe differs with virtually every single blend out there, about the only fill I have trouble with these days is gravity fills on cube cuts, just can't get it right, you'd think over 30 years smoking a pipe I would have it all cracked by now, nope, still learning and very happy to be doing so I must say. :cheers: :sunny: 

 

[monbla256]

FVF was the bitey one. I also couldn't smoke MB VA #1, but while with the FVF there is a wee bit of light at the end of the tunnel, with the MB there was none, no way Jose, not in this lifetime.

Monbla, for you to say that you cut your normal smoking rate in half tells me what I'm doing wrong. I'm trying to smoke them at my normal rate. Learning how to go slow is the hardest thing for me about pipe smoking. I think I'm smoking slowly and then the bowl gets hot and I know I'm not.

I'll report back when I get up the courage to try again.

Many thanks! Mike

Mike,
Don't get me wrong, there are times when I'm not paying attention when I do get stung by a straight Va. It's taken me over 40 years of smoking to be able to get to where I can confidently do this but even so, sometimes ya just get bit !! I have found that it does depend quite a bit on the TYPE of St. Va I smoke and as I've said, for me it's the Red and Orange and darker Va's that are my preferences these days. And from what I've discovered over this time, there are VERY FEW purely st. Va mixtures made as most are BLENDS of more than one type of Va and many have various amts. of Burly or Kentucky leaf added as well. Hang in there as time will work things out for you.  

 

[williamcharles]

Mike, I have a Pete 305 that smokes hot if given the slightest chance. Very hot. I decided I'd tame it or toss it and since I like the looks of the pipe.....long story short.....it taught me how to smoke Va's and it still smokes hot easily but I've learned to slow way down in order to keep it cool. Getting great smokes now but the first two or three were like French kissing hell itself. Bullseye flake is what I was smoking in it then and still am. I think you guys pegged it. Slow waaay down.

Slowing way down and not being too concerned with how many times I have to relight is what lead to me getting cool, usually bite free, smokes from most Virginia's.

Va#1 still bites me and so does Sweet Vanilla Honeydew.

 

[Anonymous]

VAs had a definite learning curve for me and I had issues with bite. I also get a little OCD about the bowl being filled to a certain level from the rim and I sometimes pack the bowl too tight trying to get a little more flake in there. Standard 1.5" x .75" bowls always fail me with VAs.

I'm going more for smaller and smaller bowls the more experience I get. This is mainly because of my experience and enjoyment with FVF. I'm saving up for a Peterson 999 (1.25" x .75/78" is my target) to dedicate to VA flakes. FVF has a curve where if I load too much or smoke to fast, I get bad results (bite, heat, gurgle, bitterness). Pretty obvious fail of course, but with a smaller bowl this tends to match its natural burning rate and flavor curve(?).

I also "trifold" one FVF flake per smoke and load the pipe with the flake grain vertical. I tamp it just enough to flatten the top a bit and really hold back on the tamping after the charring light.

I'm over-analyzing, I know. Just stuff I ponder.

 

[ftrplt]

All I can tell ya' is smoke it slow!! Sip it in small doses. If I get cranked up, the bowl gets hotter'n hell. Rule-of-thumb for all briar pipe smokers. Hold your pipe against your facial cheek for a count of ten. If you can't make it to ten; you're smokin' too fast! FWIW FTRPLT

 

[mark]

A simple thing that has worked for me in the past when tongue bite hits is to sip on a pepsi. The acid in the soda seems to counteract the alkaline in the smoke.

 

[RDPipes]

A simple thing that has worked for me in the past when tongue bite hits is to sip on a Pepsi. The acid in the soda seems to counteract the alkaline in the smoke.

Now that is surprising! If I just take one small sip of any soda it'll increase the burn ten fold.

 

[sisyphus]

when I first started smoking a pipe I read that you should sip and that your pipe should always be on the verge of extinguishing itself. So the first 6 months I smoked a pipe I consciously tried to live by that. By the seventh month it was just how I smoked and I couldn't smoke differently unless I made an effort to. Never had a problem with Va's, but didn't develop a taste for them until after about a year. Now they're all I smoke and a group 3 Lovat gives me a 2 hour smoke.

I think it's very important to fake it til you make it with pipe smoking, and the same goes for undoing bad habits. Just exert your will toward good technique and after a few months good technique will be automatic.

 

[Kelhammer]

I think it's very important to fake it til you make it with pipe smoking, and the same goes for undoing bad habits.

I love this statement.  :cheers:

 

[cigrmaster]

I have 28 Va, Vaper and Vabur flakes in my cellar, and only Solani Silver flake has a small amount of red virginia as my body chemistry does not allow me to smoke the reds. It is like acid on my tongue the minute the smoke hits it. I learned the hard way, that I cannot smoke anything from McClellend, Rattrays and others due to the reds in them.

All of my 28 blends are no bite as I know what moisture level they need to be as that plays a huge role in avoiding tongue bite. I call my affliction to the reds, tongue burn as any tobacco can bite if it is too moist and it is smoked too hot.

The Viriginia flakes that I cut my teeth on were Astleys 109 , Fribourg&Treyer Cut Virginia Plug and Hamborger Veermaster. When I smoked those back in 01 it was like an epiphany, I was amazed I could enjoy Va flakes without getting my tongue lit up.

 

[i.keenum]

Certain brands kill me. Mac b bad , other than that I just fully rub out lightly pack and tamp after lighting to get just right. I like light sweet va's and I puff like a train

 

[Brewdude]

I just rub out pretty fine, after drying if it needs it. It's a feel kind of thing.

Pack kind of loose in the first third. Last third is firmer, but not too firm. Try to sprinkle the fines on top.

Keep an eye on how the ember goes. Tamp only when necessary. Just enough to keep it going. Various tobys dictate this.

Don't have a problem with bite. If it heats up, back off and let it rest.

Rinse and repeat.

(seems to be the dictum that is touted frequently around the forums, and it works)


Cheers,

RR