Thoughts on Cherry wood vs Briar vs Meerschaum vs Olivewood vs Hardwood.
I know briar is the ole standby but what of the others.......
I know briar is the ole standby but what of the others.......
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They all have their fans and their place.
I think briar stands up to the most abuse and provides the most longevity. But Olivewood and Morta seem to be nice as well. Strawberrywood is used more so than cherrywood, I assume because it puts up with the heat a bit better.
I stick with briar as I prefer the taste. Although I have yet to try a Morta.
I think briar stands up to the most abuse and provides the most longevity. But Olivewood and Morta seem to be nice as well. Strawberrywood is used more so than cherrywood, I assume because it puts up with the heat a bit better.
I stick with briar as I prefer the taste. Although I have yet to try a Morta.
I only have one Olivewood, but it is excellent. It does have a different aroma, but you never notice it unless you put the warm bowl up to your nose, and then it isn't bad. Just a little different than briar.
It smokes about the same as briar. Looks are a little lighter colored. I like it. I have one Cherrywood, and it seems to smoke well also.
It smokes about the same as briar. Looks are a little lighter colored. I like it. I have one Cherrywood, and it seems to smoke well also.
I have two of the Ozark Mountain hardwoods from MM; they smoke great and other than the break-in period it adds no discernable flavor to the tobacco. In my experience, they smoke cooler, drier, and break in easier than a briar. The caveat: the stems are crappy and should be replaced with a forever stem.
There is a local B&M (Anthony's Cigar Emporium in Tucson, AZ) that sells a line of Czech made "basket" pipes. They are marked on the price tag as being pear wood. I have no reason to doubt this, but the pipes themselves are not marked pear wood. Anyway, I have three of them. I bought them for the shape and light weight being conducive to clenching, not for the specific material. They are lighter than briar, and like the MM's, they impart no additional taste, smoke cool and very dry, and break in easily and quickly. The caveat: you will have to center the hole in the tennon with a 5/32" drill bit and funnel it with a countersink. Well worth the effort, and I heartily reccomend them. That is the sum total of my experience with woods other than briar. I hope it helps out.
There is a local B&M (Anthony's Cigar Emporium in Tucson, AZ) that sells a line of Czech made "basket" pipes. They are marked on the price tag as being pear wood. I have no reason to doubt this, but the pipes themselves are not marked pear wood. Anyway, I have three of them. I bought them for the shape and light weight being conducive to clenching, not for the specific material. They are lighter than briar, and like the MM's, they impart no additional taste, smoke cool and very dry, and break in easily and quickly. The caveat: you will have to center the hole in the tennon with a 5/32" drill bit and funnel it with a countersink. Well worth the effort, and I heartily reccomend them. That is the sum total of my experience with woods other than briar. I hope it helps out.
The only alternative wood pipe that I have smoked are a Ropp Cherrywood pipe, which smokes good. Recently I've been interested in trying alternative pipe woods, such as Pear, etc. I'd really like to smoke one made of Mountain Laurel, which they used to make pipes during WW2.
Briar is number one in longevity without a doubt. It handles the abuse of high heat and repeated heating and cooling better than any other wood. The alternative woods are woods that also take high heat, and don't impart toxic or unpleasant by-products into the smoke, but overall they won't take the same abuse with the same grace that a briar pipe will.
You may have a briar pipe and another of pear or morta that have both been smoked to hell and back and hold up for several lifetimes. But, you will find a much higher mortality rate overall for the alternative woods.
For example, it's really common to find old Ropps on Ebay with splits and cracks when they've been smoked hard. You'll also find a metric ton of them with no issues whatsoever. But percentage wise, I think you'll find a higher mortality rate than the same number of briar pipes.
In a nutshell;
Olive, Pear, Cherry, other Fruitwoods: These are pipes cut from the tree itself, so have a regular pattern of growth rings. The grain being orderly means that strengths and weaknesses are evenly distributed. As strong as the grain is in one direction, it is equally as weak in another. I think this is what makes them prone to cracks as the material expands and contracts over time; that stress is especially felt in the weak zones inside the grain.
Briar and Strawberry Burl: Part of the strength of this material is that the grain structure itself is disorderly. It's like a stack of flat paper versus a piece of cardboard in some ways. Instead of a stack of papers all laid out the same way, you have some pieces going one way, some going another. I don't mean the visible grain as much as the structure itself. This may even out the stress of heating and cooling in some ways, instead of channeling expansion directly to weak spots in a regularly grained wood.
Briar burl (and probably Strawberry Tree) has a super high level of silicon and other minerals compared to other woods, and this likely another part of the magic heat resistance.
Now strawberry tree, madrone, mountain laurel, they are all in the same family as Briar. As long as the pipes are made from the burl of the tree, not the wood, they will likely smoke similarly. I've used Strawberry Tree quite a bit and like it a lot. It is lighter than briar and can make wild and beautiful sandbasts. It is also softer than briar, so probably wouldn't take a lifetime of being smoked to death day in and day out like briar can. It is a wood with a sweet taste to it, and may smoke some blends differently than the same in a briar pipe, but will be similar once broken in. I like it mainly for the light weight, and the amazing blasts.
Morta is semi-fossilized Oak. It is prone to the same issues as other evenly grained wood, but is compensated somewhat by its high mineral content. There is a wide range of age and conditions with Morta. Some wood will influence the taste of your tobacco more than others. I do use Morta, and once you're aware of its shortcomings, it is fun to work with. You just have to search a block for any hint of a split or crack before starting.
Olive will impart a bit of an Olive flavor to your smoke until broken in, and may smoke specific blends differently than briar will. Overall though much the same as briar when broken in. Just some extra care to not smoke it too hot all the time, and let it rest a bit more than briar. The number one reason for using olive in my opinion is that it can just be so beautiful. Theres nothing else is the wood world with quite the same look as good Olive.
That's all the woods I have experience with. Briar is the best, but there are good reasons to pick a pipe made from other wood. As long as you take a bit more care to not abuse them, all of the "accepted" woods should make good pipes, and may bring you a new experience from familiar blends.
You may have a briar pipe and another of pear or morta that have both been smoked to hell and back and hold up for several lifetimes. But, you will find a much higher mortality rate overall for the alternative woods.
For example, it's really common to find old Ropps on Ebay with splits and cracks when they've been smoked hard. You'll also find a metric ton of them with no issues whatsoever. But percentage wise, I think you'll find a higher mortality rate than the same number of briar pipes.
In a nutshell;
Olive, Pear, Cherry, other Fruitwoods: These are pipes cut from the tree itself, so have a regular pattern of growth rings. The grain being orderly means that strengths and weaknesses are evenly distributed. As strong as the grain is in one direction, it is equally as weak in another. I think this is what makes them prone to cracks as the material expands and contracts over time; that stress is especially felt in the weak zones inside the grain.
Briar and Strawberry Burl: Part of the strength of this material is that the grain structure itself is disorderly. It's like a stack of flat paper versus a piece of cardboard in some ways. Instead of a stack of papers all laid out the same way, you have some pieces going one way, some going another. I don't mean the visible grain as much as the structure itself. This may even out the stress of heating and cooling in some ways, instead of channeling expansion directly to weak spots in a regularly grained wood.
Briar burl (and probably Strawberry Tree) has a super high level of silicon and other minerals compared to other woods, and this likely another part of the magic heat resistance.
Now strawberry tree, madrone, mountain laurel, they are all in the same family as Briar. As long as the pipes are made from the burl of the tree, not the wood, they will likely smoke similarly. I've used Strawberry Tree quite a bit and like it a lot. It is lighter than briar and can make wild and beautiful sandbasts. It is also softer than briar, so probably wouldn't take a lifetime of being smoked to death day in and day out like briar can. It is a wood with a sweet taste to it, and may smoke some blends differently than the same in a briar pipe, but will be similar once broken in. I like it mainly for the light weight, and the amazing blasts.
Morta is semi-fossilized Oak. It is prone to the same issues as other evenly grained wood, but is compensated somewhat by its high mineral content. There is a wide range of age and conditions with Morta. Some wood will influence the taste of your tobacco more than others. I do use Morta, and once you're aware of its shortcomings, it is fun to work with. You just have to search a block for any hint of a split or crack before starting.
Olive will impart a bit of an Olive flavor to your smoke until broken in, and may smoke specific blends differently than briar will. Overall though much the same as briar when broken in. Just some extra care to not smoke it too hot all the time, and let it rest a bit more than briar. The number one reason for using olive in my opinion is that it can just be so beautiful. Theres nothing else is the wood world with quite the same look as good Olive.
That's all the woods I have experience with. Briar is the best, but there are good reasons to pick a pipe made from other wood. As long as you take a bit more care to not abuse them, all of the "accepted" woods should make good pipes, and may bring you a new experience from familiar blends.
Where the briar comes from doesn't matter too much in my opinion, as long as it is processed/cured properly. Just because a mill is in Italy doesn't mean the Briar is Italian, it's really bought from all over.
I think each mills processing effects the wood as much or more than where it grew. So you just get to understand each Mills end product. From Mimmo you can expect certain qualities, Amadeus will be a bit different , Giordanos, Yazid, each source will have a bit different qualities, good and bad.
I know a whole lot of pipemakers, very few of them buy from one source exclusively. Perhaps *mostly* from one source but not exclusively. Usually if you do only buy from one mill, it's because of a personal relationship with the cutter more than the wood itself.
I think each mills processing effects the wood as much or more than where it grew. So you just get to understand each Mills end product. From Mimmo you can expect certain qualities, Amadeus will be a bit different , Giordanos, Yazid, each source will have a bit different qualities, good and bad.
I know a whole lot of pipemakers, very few of them buy from one source exclusively. Perhaps *mostly* from one source but not exclusively. Usually if you do only buy from one mill, it's because of a personal relationship with the cutter more than the wood itself.
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I have no experience with the Strawberry or Madrone but do collect WW2 era non briar pipes,many of which are made from Mt. Laurel and some such as the Monterrey Mission Briars and Grabow West Coast Briar that are made from Manzanita. Mt. Laurelis as Ryan said is lighter and softer than briar,Manzanita seems to be about the same hardness and weight as a comparable briar to me.
The D&P Pipe Co. was formed in N. Carolina specifically to make pipes from Mt. Laurel. They processed it by boiling it in boric acid which supposedly made it more heat resistant.
My favorite alternative wood is still Mulberry.
Best pipe I've got is pear. Smokes like a dream. I still have some cake work to do on my briars so I cannot say it's better. It's just the best I've got.
Like that Mulberry pipe. Would like to find a strawberry wood. Sounds interesting. Grains are similar to briar I would assume?
Like that Mulberry pipe. Would like to find a strawberry wood. Sounds interesting. Grains are similar to briar I would assume?
Strawberry tends to be more chaotic in it's nature. Once in awhile it will blast like briar, but usually has it's own character.
This is what I consider "typical" Strawberry Tree, deep pockmarked birdseye and rambling stright grain.
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