I actually do switch off between Everclear and Bacardi 151, and I DO run some through myself as well!
3 things I learned to improve my pipe smoking experience
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I agree with Kevin, if you clean with alcohol, its always good practice to "test" it before and after you clean your pipe to be sure that the liquor hasn't spoiled or turned. I've never had that happen, but you never know, better safe than sorry.
"Now that I stopped wiping out the bowls, they are starting to build better cake which results in a cooler, tastier smoke."
I had the confusion about this and I am confused again!!! My first question in this forum was that- "should I leave the ashes inside the bowl to build up a good carbon cake?" But every member told me not to do that.They suggested to wipe the ashes out with paper towel or pipe cleaner after every smoke,the cake will build up automatically.
1.Please tell me,should I leave the ashes as it is after each smoke?
2.Next time when I put fresh tobacco,isn't it going to mix up with the burned ashes and taste will come bad??
I had the confusion about this and I am confused again!!! My first question in this forum was that- "should I leave the ashes inside the bowl to build up a good carbon cake?" But every member told me not to do that.They suggested to wipe the ashes out with paper towel or pipe cleaner after every smoke,the cake will build up automatically.
1.Please tell me,should I leave the ashes as it is after each smoke?
2.Next time when I put fresh tobacco,isn't it going to mix up with the burned ashes and taste will come bad??
@ Sagar: I agree and disagree with leaving ashes in the bowl. I would never leave the dottle and ash in the bottom of the bowl. But, I do leave what clings to the walls of the bowl. When I finish a bowl, I take the spoon end of my tamper and push the ashes away from the draft hole so that I can see the hole. I then slide a pipe cleaner down the shank till I can see it poking through the draft hole into the bowl. I then back the cleaner off so that it is just inside the shank, place my thumb over the tobacco chamber hole and shake the pipe causing the ashes to coat the walls of the bowl. then I dump the ashes via gravity and push the cleaner into the bowl to remove anything that may have stuck to the draft hole. I then run the cleaner back and fourth a bit to wipe the tars out of the shank, remove cleaner and set pipe on rack to await another smoke. This has always worked for me and built very uniform cake.
No everyone told you to wipe out the bowl and not build a god cake. After 41 years of smoking a pipe, I more than ever find a good cake in my pipe to be a great way to have a cool smoking, sweet pipe. I never wipe out my bowl but I do blow through it and pass a pipe cleaner throught the shank after every smoke. No matter what kind of pipe, I like a cake, briar, cob, meer etc.
i think the issue comes from how everyone defines the term "wipe" to some, wipe is just that, get a piece of paper towl, and run it through your bowl with your finger quick, others might think of it more as bunch it up and clean every bit of ash out, some might be in between, or have their own idea even from them! for me, as i said, i find it best to just run my (clean) finger into the bowl, give it a twist and wipe on a towl. that gets any loose ash you didn't knock out, but leaves any carbon alone.
I agree with all 3 - with one caveat. While building up a cake on a briar or other wood pipe is great, not so for a meerschaum. My meer was building up a bit of cake, which I kept smooth at least. However, it was not coloring except for the shank/stem join. I finally completely got all cake out of it and carefully sanded the inside of the bowl down to the meerschaum, as it was originally. Now I wipe out all ash after every smoke, even if I am immediately going to smoke it again, and the outside of the bowl is starting to have a nice, orangy, beginning of coloring look. The oils need to be near the meerschaum to soak in....
I do the same as Shimmra - I poke my finger in the bowl and rub lightly around it to get the loose ash out then I go wash my finger. I use the same pressure as I do when wiping crumbs off of the kitchen table.
Using one finger is how Dad says you can cut down on TP, too. You poke a hole in the TP, poke your finger through and wipe your "bowl" with the finger. Then you use the TP to wipe your finger. :lol:
Using one finger is how Dad says you can cut down on TP, too. You poke a hole in the TP, poke your finger through and wipe your "bowl" with the finger. Then you use the TP to wipe your finger. :lol:
In general I agree with Kevin. I rarely use alcohol in my pipes. Only if I feel the need to sweeten things up .
Living in India, world's #1 destination for dysentery, I can agree with this albeit with some reservation. Id est, if you can afford the gear go with a bidet. :nana:
I can keep my pipe smoking by creating a vacuum. When my pipe starts smoking weak I place my palm over the bowl and gently puff while occasionally removing my palm and then placing it back over the bowl. Not including the charring light I put a flame to my bowl 2 times at most.
#3 I will have to try. I am going to mention something that I am not sure a lot of pipe smokers know. That is blowing back through the pipe and bowl several times during a smoke. 1. It helps keep the fire going. 2. It helps loosen up the ash so it is less likely to clog the bowl down near the bottom.
i can agree here... to many re-lit's remove a lot of taste from the tobaccoe probably due to drying the tobaccoe out... so, i try not to re-lit to many times...
i can agree with all three things Kevin mentioned in first post of this thread and can add something for #3 - do not tamp to often (or more than really needed) because to much ash will drop down towards the draft channell and this will be sucked into the channel and will not taste good (i assume that this is what happens) - i have tried not to tamp to many times and also to tamp a lot - the difference is huge... these days, i use one more trick to make my smoke taste better - before i relight the pipe, i just clean the draft channel (airway)with a cleaner (my pipes usually do not have to much moisture so cleaning is not needed but i have experienced that cleaning the airway from time to time helps the smoke being "cleaner" too... hope this helps a bit...
i can agree with all three things Kevin mentioned in first post of this thread and can add something for #3 - do not tamp to often (or more than really needed) because to much ash will drop down towards the draft channell and this will be sucked into the channel and will not taste good (i assume that this is what happens) - i have tried not to tamp to many times and also to tamp a lot - the difference is huge... these days, i use one more trick to make my smoke taste better - before i relight the pipe, i just clean the draft channel (airway)with a cleaner (my pipes usually do not have to much moisture so cleaning is not needed but i have experienced that cleaning the airway from time to time helps the smoke being "cleaner" too... hope this helps a bit...
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