Booze in the Bowl?

[tolstoyevsky]

As a newbie, I feel a solemn obligation to try to re-invent the wheel (this is probably why many eat their young). For example, would other woods have advantages? To the point:

Just bought my second cob. I've heard they really don't need a sweetener, but I'm trying something. After the daily cleaning, I swabbed the bowl with Forrester 100. The alcohol may take some gunk off it, but the other 50% may leave a slight residue which the cob will absorb. Thinking about a cheap brandy with the attendant sugars and flavors in the future. I probably want the 1st smoke of the day to be something uncomplicated to better evaluate it.

Every been that route?

 

[minerLuke]

I mostly use high proof rum or bourbon to clean my pipes. My Va and Whisky aro pipes get cleaned with the bourbon, my lat, burley and aro pipes get cleaned with the rum.

I will say the liquor does an okay job cleaning and freshening my pipes, but when I have occasionally run a couple of pipe cleaners dowsed with Pipemaster Clean and Cure, they did pull out some additional gunk that the high proof alcohol missed.

 

[mr_future]

These guys say there is no need to clean the bowl:

Pipe Maintenance - Pipe and Tamper (podcast)

01:05:51 - EP104 - Pipe Maintenance

amp.listennotes.com

 

[bullet08]

No need to clean cobs. Dry out the cob after a smoke is about all you need. Make sure to take the stem out and dry the shank. You might also want to clean out the chamber with pipe cleaner of something gets caught in there souring the pipe. Never seen anyone seasoning the cob.

 

[tolstoyevsky]

I mostly use high proof rum or bourbon to clean my pipes. My Va and Whisky aro pipes get cleaned with the bourbon, my lat, burley and aro pipes get cleaned with the rum.

I will say the liquor does an okay job cleaning and freshening my pipes, but when I have occasionally run a couple of pipe cleaners dowsed with Pipemaster Clean and Cure, they did pull out some additional gunk that the high proof alcohol missed.

I think we're aiming in the same general direction. The ethanol cleans, but a single halfway decent bottle costs the same as 3 cobs... as if the cobs needed cleaning at all. So the question would be about the residual.

 

[OzPiper]

So the question would be about the residual.

I use a clear, unsweetened fruit brandy (peach eau de vie) when I deep-clean my pipes.
It leaves a lovely aroma.
But this dissipates very soon after I light up.
It DOES NOT linger

 

[tolstoyevsky]

I use a clear, unsweetened fruit brandy (peach eau de vie) when I deep-clean my pipes.
It leaves a lovely aroma.
But this dissipates very soon after I light up.
It DOES NOT linger

I'm a veteran of quite a few kitchen accidents where the line is crossed between "lovely toasty smell" and "omg I burned it." As a newbie, I have heard of ghost flavors in good pipes, but I'm still playing with cobs (until tomorrow's Amazon delivery, anyway.) If I was smart, I'd get a "control pipe" that I don't experiment with so that I can compare notes of any burnt sugars and burnt flavorings.

I love how my brain - such as it is - can get involved with pipe smoking.

 

[OzPiper]

I'm still playing with cobs (until tomorrow's Amazon delivery, anyway.) If I was smart, I'd get a "control pipe" that I don't experiment with so that I can compare notes of any burnt sugars and burnt flavorings.

Cobs are a lot more absorbent than briars.
Just swab out your cobs rather than doing an alcohol soak.
And allow LOTS of dry time

I use unsweetened spirit - definitely NO burnt sugar flavouring.
A high proof vodka or gin will do as well.
Lots of recommendations for Everclear.

 

[tolstoyevsky]

Cobs are a lot more absorbent than briars.
Just swab out your cobs rather than doing an alcohol soak.
And allow LOTS of dry time

I use unsweetened spirit - definitely NO burnt sugar flavouring.
A high proof vodka or gin will do as well.
Lots of recommendations for Everclear.

That's exactly what I'm hoping for. I'm deliberately trying to get a flavor, and hoping it won't be a disaster. But sometimes disasters can be fun. I'm also counting on the cob to absorb.

And down the line, I can see playing with woods that lend flavor. For example, I'm not a fan of vanilla, but oak lends the vanilla flavor to bourbon. And cedar is what cigars are stored in. May mess up the bowl, but might it be worth it? (I'd also want to check which woods might be toxic, lol).

 

[OzPiper]

I'm deliberately trying to get a flavor, I'm also counting on the cob to absorb.

May mess up the bowl, but might it be worth it? (I'd also want to check which woods might be toxic, lol).

I have only one cob which I got new - so haven’t had a need to deep-clean it yet.

I have deep-cleaned lots of estate briars - often doing an alcohol soak for 24 - 72 hours. I’ve never encountered any lingering flavour from the spirit used. I would say that alcohol traces are superficial, rather than soaked into the wood.

Wood toxicity : lots of online articles plus several old threads on this topic on the Forums
Briar, olive and fruit woods are fine.
Cherry wood is quite hard, but I can’t speak for the durability of apple, pear or walnut, as I don’t have any experience with those.
There are lots of cheapish pear wood pipes for sale on Etsy and EBay.

I have several morta (semi-fossilised bog oak) pipes, so well-seasoned (several thousand years old !) oak is fine.

 

[minerLuke]

I will mention that I barely clean my MM cobs, way less than I probably ought to. They reside in my work truck and I usually smoke them until they get a slightly sour or ashy taste, then they get a quick clean with a few pipe cleaners and some alcohol, then right back to work. I mostly reserve the fussy alcohol cleaning for my briar pipes, although Ive been known to abuse them as well. (I have gotten a lot better about cleaning up my pipes)

 

[Sigmund]

If you want a touch of liquor flavor take a little rum or whisky flavored tobacco and sprinkle it in what you are getting ready to put in the pipe. Then the flavor will linger. I sometimes add some shavings from salty dogs plug (it has rum flavor) and sprinkle it in amidst a bowl. I dont think treating the pipe is the ideal way to achieve this.

 

[tolstoyevsky]

Something I doubt I'd have the courage to try, but I'll add this for your consideration. The video was about breaking in a brand new maple pipe. He swabbed the bowl with a paper towel moistened with distilled water. He then dipped his finger in honey, then applied that to the bowl to aid in carbonization. Filled the bowl with an aromatic, and lit up.

 

[OzPiper]

Some swear by honey when breaking in a new pipe.
I prefer mine on toast with salted butter

 

[jpmcwjr]

Some swear by honey when breaking in a new pipe.
I prefer mine on toast with salted butter

Quite right!
Honey in a pipe is a romantic notion, but messy and not effective. If you really want to get a jump on carbonization, with a new pipe, run water through the chamber, fill with sugar. Let dry. Pour out excess, and pack pipe very carefully.

 

[bullet08]

On second thought, if you put some pipe mud at the bottom hole, it might work pretty good as a miniature shot cob.