"It's worse than I thought" he replies, shaking his head sadly. "You have a case of...vaper's tongue!"
What is Vaper's Tongue?
While it (probably) won't lead to any situations like the one above, vaper's tongue is an inconvenient side effect of vaping that some people experience. Maybe you've just had a moment where you suddenly realised you can't taste your vapour properly any more. Or perhaps it feels like your e-liquid has been slowly lacking flavour over the weeks. If this is the case, then you've probably contracted the deadly disease of...vaper's tongue!
In actual fact, there's no real need to panic, since it's not particularly serious, and it's not permanent. It can be a real nuisance though, which is why we've outlined some of the ways you can beat vaper's tongue.
Science
Before we continue, it might be reassuring to know that there's nothing really wrong with your tongue or your taste buds (wait, why is it that colour??), but rather the condition has more to do with your olfactory senses (ie. your sense of smell). In fact, a better name for the condition might be 'flavour fatigue'.
Flavour fatigue/vaper's tongue can cause you to go off a particular flavour, lose taste for other food and drinks, and in rare cases it could also be down to dehydration, vitamin deficiency or illness. However, in most cases the condition is temporary and will soon resolve itself, though there are things you can do to speed up the process.
How to Beat Vaper's Tongue
In many cases, the solutions are fairly simple. Here are a few things you can do to combat vaper's tongue:
Switch up your flavours - if you get too used to a flavour you might get desensitised to it, and the experience might become less enjoyable. By rotating a few different flavours you're ensuring that no one flavour will get old. With so many e-liquids available, why wouldn't you use more than one?
Use a stronger flavour - sometimes it might take a shock to the system to get your taste buds working properly again. You can do this by vaping strong flavours such as mint, cinnamon or menthol.
Wake up and smell the coffee - funny as this one sounds, this is a trick often used by wine testers or perfume samplers. Inhaling the scent of fresh coffee beans can apparently help reset your taste buds. Why not give it a shot? It's never too latte to try!
Drink water - an easy potential solution, drinking water can both cleanse your palate and help to rehydrate you. Water good idea.
Steep your e-liquids - if you don't know about steeping, why not check out our blog about it? Steeping is just leaving your e-liquids and allowing the flavours to mature over time. This may help you taste more while vaping.
Use mouthwash - there's mixed opinion on this one, with some people thinking it's a cure, and others the cause of vaper's tongue! If your palate needs cleansing it's probably worth a shot.
Keep Calm and... Buy from Vape Mountain
The main thing is not to panic. Vaper's tongue will go away in time, and you should be able to enjoy your flavours properly again. If you need to top up on your e-juices then have a browse of Vape Mountain E-Liquids, you won't be disappointed!