container sliced open

[KinnScience]

I recently bought a 1 lb container of Dan's Sweet Vanillia Honeydew on sale at cigarandpipes.com (or is it pipesandcigars.com). Anyway, they said they had it in stock a while. I noted that the bag had about a 1 inch slice in it (which would expose the tobacco with air to some degree no?).

Anyway, this tobacco seemed pretty dry. When I smoked it ... it ripped my tongue with fire and brimstone. I am pretty tolerant when it comes to tobacco... I can smoke Mac B VA #1 and still like it (most complain of tongue bit on Mac B VA). This Dan's SVH was very bad.

Is it because it had an opening in the bag and was possibly aged with too much gas permeation? The whole LB cost only $19.00 ... and now I know why.

Is there anything I can do? I put a damp paper towl in a plastic bag and placed the (still bagged with the slit in it) bagged tobacco in the plastic bag with the hopes that it might mellow it a bit. I thought that maybe it was too dry .. and so burned too hot (too fast). Although the burn/bite was from the first puff (though a fast burn might still cause this no?)

Can someone please help? I don't want to throw this away (can't stand to waste tobacco). I was thinking of cellaring it for a while and seeing if that will help.,

[RJpuffs]

Originally Posted by KinnScience

I recently bought a 1 lb container of Dan's Sweet Vanillia Honeydew on sale at cigarandpipes.com (or is it pipesandcigars.com). Anyway, they said they had it in stock a while. I noted that the bag had about a 1 inch slice in it (which would expose the tobacco with air to some degree no?).

Anyway, this tobacco seemed pretty dry. When I smoked it ... it ripped my tongue with fire and brimstone. I am pretty tolerant when it comes to tobacco... I can smoke Mac B VA #1 and still like it (most complain of tongue bit on Mac B VA). This Dan's SVH was very bad.

Is it because it had an opening in the bag and was possibly aged with too much gas permeation? The whole LB cost only $19.00 ... and now I know why.

Is there anything I can do? I put a damp paper towl in a plastic bag and placed the (still bagged with the slit in it) bagged tobacco in the plastic bag with the hopes that it might mellow it a bit. I thought that maybe it was too dry .. and so burned too hot (too fast). Although the burn/bite was from the first puff (though a fast burn might still cause this no?)

Can someone please help? I don't want to throw this away (can't stand to waste tobacco). I was thinking of cellaring it for a while and seeing if that will help.,

Take a shallow dish or bowl or pot that will hold all the baccy poured in, with as much surface area when it is flattened out. The walls should be at least an inch above the baccy. Take a paper towel (doubled/tripled) or a cloth napkin that is large enough to cover the entire opening, and stiff enough so it doesn't sag in the middle of the bowl. Soak said towel/napkin with DISTILLED water (NOT tap water or spring water) till it is damp NOT dripping. Lay over the top of the container - ensure that it does NOT touch the baccy, and no water should drip in. Basically, no direct contact with the tobacco. Leave for a day. Check baccy, mix it up a bit, if not wet enough, repeat another day. Voila! Rehydration.

[Senator]

Dry tobacco is not likely to burn your tongue like moist tobacco will. Moist steam is a lot hotter than dry smoke.

I dry my tobacco to just a little less than bone dry. If the tobacco feels "cool" in the fingers...it's too wet. Put a bowl-full on a paper plate in the microwave for 8 seconds...if it has too much moisture, you will see it at this point. It will feel pretty darn wet after being heated.

There's a few things that could be wrong other than moisture content. The particular tobacco may be too alkaline for your body chemistry...if this is the case, you may want to blend something else in with it (perique tones down this problem...but it may not be to your liking). Or, it could simply be a matter of the pipe being packed too tightly and causing you to draw too hard on it. This will create a hot smoke.

Anyhow...good luck!!

[KinnScience]

"Too alkaline for body chemistry". Very interesting. I have discovered that when I am dehydrated ... or even slightly thirsty, tobacco will not impart any sweet taste but instead provide a tongue burn, etc. As a noob I have discovered that a tobacco that was absolutely horrible one day ... tasted like dripping honey a week later.

This has been the situation with the Dan's SVH. Tonight I pulled out the 1 lb bag .. along with a few others, and began packing jars for my cellar (recently started). Since I had some small amount left over after filling a Ball Jar, I decided to smoke it. I immediately tasted a completely different tobacco than I had tried last week. I am amazed at this difference. There can have been no change in this tobacco over such a short period of time ... the only variable likely would be my body chem.

I may do some research on this. There are a multitude of factors within our bodies that can create variations in blood chem, ..though very subtle only. That is to say for example: blood pH cannot vary much before it can be detrimental. Anyway, vertebrate biology is not my favorite subject, (I'm an invertebrate -especially arthropods- kind of guy ), but this is interesting.

Thanks for the input. I'm ordering a couple more lbs of the SVH.

[Z.Kramer]

Cellaring it can possibly help, but probably not if it is too dry. As far as rehydration goes, I have had much success simply using a spray bottle. Not the kind for cleaning products, but the kind that sprays a very fine mist, like a perfume bottle might. And distilled water of course. Just lay the tobacco out as thin as possible on some wax paper or paper towels, and spritz it with the water. I then roll the tobacco back and fourth a couple times and return it to its jar. Be careful not to over-moisten.

[Professor Mike]

Brian:
Blood PH is between 7.35-7.45 which is directly influenced by electrolyte balance and serum osmolaity. A state of dehydration will effect all of these due to hemaconcentration. As to its relation to taste sensors I am not sure, I do know that a vitamin B12 deficency will result in a burning sensation of the tongue and markedly effect taste.

Prof. Mike