Bare Wood Chambers on Brand New Pipes

olkofri · Mar 17, 2019

Well, just had my second session with my no longer brand new churchwarden. I've a bit of an issue, though.
The christening was with Capstan Yellow ready rubbed, and I could taste a bit of the grassiness of the VAs. I fired the second bowl to-day with Blockade Runner, and... man, all I could taste was burnt wood. How long till the chamber gets primed and I can start tasting the actual tobacco? This experience is making me want to avoid uncoated chambers from now on.

workman · Mar 17, 2019

Really? I have broken in a couple of Chacoms with no inside coating, and they both tasted fine from first puff. No issues at all.

ashdigger · Mar 17, 2019

I have artisan pipes with no coating and the first couple of bowls were a bit "woody".
Try some Prince Albert, since it cakes at near record speed.

olkofri · Mar 17, 2019

Won't an OTC ghost the pipe? I had intended this pipe to be dedicated to VA/VaPer blends. It is my understanding that VA/VaPers have a very subtle taste profile and can be easily overshadowed by stuff like latakia or aros.

cranseiron · Mar 17, 2019

Yeah, it varies per pipe. I have a commissioned pipe that took forever to get past the new briar stage. It was worth the wait, though so give it some time. Like Ash said, change tobacco's.

carolinachurchwarden · Mar 17, 2019

Honestly, I've ended up removing the coatings in my pipes that had it. I'd rather pop in some Carter Hall and let it slowly build that carbon layer. Not sure I've ever heard of something like CH ghosting a pipe, but if it did, you could always run PA through it to cleanse it a bit.

olkofri · Mar 17, 2019

Have no access to either OTC. What's in Lane's department that matches them? My local B&M carries bulk Lane's blends.
In my 'cellar' I've HGL, MV-1000, and... well, I have to ask which is the actual number for what the local shop sells as 'Commodore'. I've also BCA.

Chasing Embers · Mar 17, 2019

Won't an OTC ghost the pipe?

Ghosting is blown out of proportion. Most ghosts can be cleared out with one or two smokes. Even a Lakeland can be killed with a lat bomb. If you had a good experience with Capstan in the pipe, finish breaking it in with that. : puffy

:

onestrangeone · Mar 17, 2019

I like to use Carter Hall for break in, Briar Fox is another good one but pretty much any straight Burley will work just fine. I would stay away from the heavily topped aro’s.

workman · Mar 17, 2019

I also think ghosting is overrated. A light aro won't ruin your pipe. Even mild virginias will eliminate the ghost after a few bowls. I haven't had a lakeland blend yet, so I don't know about those. Lat ghosts are stubborn and for my palate unpleasant, so I try to avoid those, but a light aro ghost like vanilla or liquorice is no problem.

olkofri · Mar 17, 2019

Gotcha. Thanks, mates!

seanv · Mar 17, 2019

Don’t stress olkofri. Keep smoking slow and build some carbon

balkisobrains · Mar 17, 2019

I started to avoid coated bowls, you never know what's hiding under there. Plus, I like the new briar flavor, & I've found some coatings to taste weird. If I get a pipe with a coating, I wipe it out with alcohol.

oldmansmoking · Mar 17, 2019

Hate the coating in new pipes. Bought a new Peterson K Briar the coating covered a poor drill into the chamber. Coating come of exposing it, thankfully carbon has covered the area.

All the pipes I have had that were coated tasted bad for 3 or 4 smokes.

Much prefer a bare wood chamber.

hoosierpipeguy · Mar 17, 2019

I like to break in with Virginia blends. I think you can tell more about how neutral the pipe smokes with that genre than any other. And a Virginia won't ghost the pipe. Perhaps you're smoking a bit hot but it isn't totally unusual to taste a bit of wood on a new pipe.

olkofri · Mar 17, 2019

Yeah, I have a fast cadence. It doesn't help either that my Kiribi's flint died and the large flame of the Bic tends to char the rim (cobs) or the inner edge of the rim (this particular pipe). I'll just keep at it with Capstan, I guess.
I don't mind pre-carbs/coatings, as long as they're not an exaggeration like the one applied to the Nording Compass I recently got: man, it took like 60 swabbings with vodka for the Q-tip to come out grey instead of black!
Maybe I'll follow the pipe maker's (MacQueen) advice and apply some honey to the chamber. Not keen on coatings of my own, but maybe.

crashthegrey · Mar 17, 2019

Ah,a MacQueen. Is it briar? A lot of their pipes are hardwood and more likely to taste burned. Take it slow.

pianopuffer · Mar 17, 2019

I ageee with Embers. Smoke what you want in it and scare those ghosts away.

olkofri · Mar 17, 2019

Ah,a MacQueen. Is it briar? A lot of their pipes are hardwood and more likely to taste burned. Take it slow.

Yup, Crash; it is that one, the one with the 'pits'.

aldecaker · Mar 17, 2019

I've never met a bowl coating that didn't taste far more disgusting than bare wood. As far as the Lane question, try Lane Limited Ready-Rubbed. It is pretty spot-on as an old-school burley OTC. I love the stuff almost as much as Prince Albert.

Bare Wood Chambers on Brand New Pipes

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