Sidebar

The impact of stem material on tobacco flavor?

Log in

Forgot your password?

SmokingPipes.com Updates

Watch for Updates Twice a Week

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Site Sponsors

Al Pascia
Blue Room Briars
Cigar World
Danish Pipe Shop
LePipe.it
Missouri Meerschaum
Pipes2Smoke.com
PipeStud.com
Seattle Pipe Club Tobaccos
SmokingPipes.com
Tabaccheria Corti
TinBids.com

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
13
Assuming a vulcanite stem is not oxidized, does the choice of stem material impact the taste of tobacco?
This is something I hadn't considered before receiving a pipe with a "bad" stem with a pronounced aroma and a lingering after taste of burnt rubber. Today I stumbled across an old blog post by Trevor Talbert about the provenance of briar in which he mentioned that people may be surprised by the ability of the base materials to affect what he taste, though he doesn't go further than this
here:

http://talbertpipes.blogspot.com/2007/04/are-there-really-differences-in-briar.html
Just curious if you've found this to be the case. I only have a few acrylic pipes and no vulcanite analogs with which to compare.

 
fishnbanjo

fishnbanjo

Lifer
Feb 27, 2013
3,030
63
So far my only negative is with the original stems that come with MM Cobs. They get to a point they begin to disintegrate and get soft to where I leave indentations which I don't to any other type of stem which includes briar. After finding replacement Forever Stems I have not had to deal with this again. Is the stem you are having problems with something the maker/manufacturer is aware of, it is possible they received some faulty material, in any event I hope you get it squared away, regards.

banjo

 
B

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
13
Cheers Banjo! The pipe is on it's way back to the vendor. It seems the issue is related to a bad batch of vulcanite. The silver lining is that I'm using this incident as a springboard to reexamine what I want from a pipe. This has already lead to a commission for a new to me carver. Happy times!
re cobs: I would be delighted if MM had an option to add a real stem to a pipe at the time of purchase. The forever stems seem to be on a bit of a hiatus.

 
mso489

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,455
Glad the stem problem is resolved. fishnbanjo, I too chew through MM cob stems, so went to Forever stems. My only cob with a filter has a softie (Forever stems make all cobs non-filter). Stems shouldn't impart flavor; their duty is to convey the flavor in the tobacco.

 
warren

warren

Lifer
Sep 13, 2013
11,717
16,288
Foothills of the Chugach Range, AK
Tobacco pipe grade rubber, vulcanite, is neutral in taste. Or, it is supposed to be in the highest grades. I sometimes think I can taste the rubber but, usually only when the bit needs a cleaning. If rubber was a problem it wouldn't have been used over the years for pipe bits.

 
B

bigpond

Lifer
Oct 14, 2014
2,019
13
Tobacco pipe grade rubber, vulcanite, is neutral in taste. Or, it is supposed to be in the highest grades. I sometimes think I can taste the rubber but, usually only when the bit needs a cleaning. If rubber was a problem it wouldn't have been used over the years for pipe bits.
Click to expand...
This is easy enough to disprove. Take your highest grade vulcanite stem, wipe the stem lightly and smell it. You'll immediately pick up a subtle burnt rubber aroma. This is more difficult to pick up on stems that have an oil treatment, but that has nothing to do with the rubber. The point is it doesn't take much heat or friction to liberate a foul taste and aroma from vulcanite. In that respect, the mouth is a hostile environment for vulcanite.
By the way, vulcanite is much easier to drill than acrylic and it's easier to polish.
edit: just wanted to add, this isn't about cobs lol.

 
saltedplug

saltedplug

Lifer
Aug 20, 2013
5,194
5,100
I come close to tasting tobacco, but I don't believe I've ever tasted stem, or bowl, be it cob or briar.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom