Corn cob pipe tastes horrible half way through the bowl

[jakubtrojanek]

Hello everyone,

I am fairly new to pipe smoking, I bought a MM Country Gentleman and a tin of Early Morning Pipe but I have been having a problem since the first bowl. When I first light the pipe it tastes great, I try to smoke it as slowly as I can so the bowl never gets hot and I can taste the flavour alright. However whenever I smoke about half the bowl it starts to taste horrible, It gets really bitter and sour, the pipe produces more smoke and it makes my mouth and throat really sore. I clean the pipe after every use, and I have no clue what the issue could be. I´ve read somewhere that you actually need to break in the corn cob by charring the wodden shank inside the bowl but I can´t even get all the way down to it and if I do I feel real sick afterwards cause I´m puffing on what tastes like burning wood or ashes. It really spoils the whole experience and I feel like I´m just wasting good tobacco. Would any of you more experienced pipe smokers have any advice on what could be causing it? It would really be appreciated.
Thank you
Jakub

 

[crashthegrey]

I'd make a joke about you being lucky you get that far before it tastes bad, because corn cob. But I'll be nice. Try drying your tobacco a bit before you smoke it and see if that makes any difference.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Probably has nothing to do with the cob and more to do with the tobacco being too wet or packed too tight. Or both. However, who knows, it is possible you just got a bad cob. It happens with briar now and then, even with the best carvers. All I can say is I have a number of cobs of varying shapes and sizes, none of them display the problem you're describing.

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

You might possibly have to break them in a little, and if the embers get too close to the sides of the bowl, that charring taste will be present. If I were you, I would buy something OTC to break that cob in with. I think as the ash and char begin to coat the sides of your pipe you'll be fine. I would agree with you, I wouldn't want to feel like I'm wasting my good tobacco you spent more money on in a cob that isn't broken in fully yet. I'd find some Carter Hall, Sir Walter Raleigh or some similar, cheaper OTC to break it in with.

 

[aldecaker]

Let me start by saying that I love cobs, and smoke them every chance I get, so this is not a bash on cobs. That being said, IMHO, anything with an appreciable amount of Latakia in it is not a good pairing with a cob, especially a cob that is not broken in yet. The flavors are just too much of a clash, to me at least.
I have never seen the little wood part in the bowl as an issue with breaking in; breaking in a cob has much more to do with getting a good seasoning on the bowl walls. That little wood bit will carbonize quickly and you won't even know it's there anymore.
Cobs really shine with burleys and Virginias for me. For Lat forward blends, I think you'd do well to pick up a reasonably good quality briar.

 

[olkofri]

Cobs are dirt cheap. Why not buy another one and see if there's a difference.
I've smoked EMP in cobs and haven't had such problem. Except maybe only once: but it turned out that the tobacco had burned and I was just relighting and smoking ashes. I'd second the advice about drying the toby a bit, but also make sure you don't dry it too much, because EMP is a very fine cut, and it tends to burn really fast by default; thus, if you dry it too much it'll burn even faster and might burn your mouth.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I personally find cobs to smoke Latakia blends very nicely.

 

[acidpox]

Maybe you can try not filling the bowl all the way, just 1/3-1/2 full. That way you can break in the bottom and maybe avoid wasted tobacco til its fully broke in. Have you tried any other tobacco in it? That should aleast slove if it a a pipe/user problem or a tobacco problem.

 

[ray47]

Give that cob a "Sun Bath". Leave it out in the Sun for half a day. Believe me it does wonders.

 

[jakubtrojanek]

Honestly I didn´t expect such a huge response, this really seems like a great community. Thank you everyone so much for your advice, I haven´t tried any other tobacco in the cob yet, so l will just buy a cheap OTC one and figure out whether it is the cob or the tobacco that causes it. I´ll laso try to dry the tobacco for a little longer and see if that fixes it.
Thanks again!

 

[unkleyoda]

I think cobs smoke Latakia blends just fine. I smoke mainly Latakia blends, even heavy ones (Star of the East) in cobs and have no issues.
That said: is the cob new? old? sour? did this just start? Have you smoked 1 bowl in it, 10, 50? It could have gone sour. Do you let it dry between smokes? Is it your only pipe?
More info please.

 

[carolinachurchwarden]

I've had cobs both ways. My legends that came in my 7-day smokeable seconds bag had to have a little break in period, but my Charles Towne Cobbler and my Dagner Poker were ready for a little black frigate right out of the box, and they smoked fabulously.

 

[aldecaker]

Hm. I may have to give the dark leaf another go in a cob. Whenever I've tried it in the past, it mixed like smoked oysters in chocolate sauce.

 

[upnorth1]

I drill out the bottoms of my Legends, including the stem part and replace that with a hardwood plug that is the width of the inner chamber and is even with where the stem comes through, so no need for pipe mud. I remove and then reglue the stem to insure the drilling doesn't weaken the stem to bowl joint. No burnt stem taste and the bottom of the bowl stays free of debris in the channels created by the old stem..

 

[woodsroad]

You may have hit a Corn Earworm.

 

[kola]

a GMO cornworm !
I've always broke in cobs with burleys and virginias. And I enjoy the sweet break-in period.

 

[dottiewarden]

@jakubtrojanek
This sounds like a straight forward case of cadence. As I've only been piping for around 5 years, I remember perfectly well the many trials and tribulations of learning to enjoy a pipe. In fact there is still plenty for me to learn.
Let's just look at the facts:

I bought a MM Country Gentleman and a tin of Early Morning Pipe

Excellent choice! Thousands of these pipes are sold and smoked every year without a problem. The tobacco is a very mild and very forgiving blend the can easily be smoked whether a little on the moist side or a little on the dry side. I'm confident your issue is not the pipe nor the tobacco.

When I first light the pipe it tastes great, I try to smoke it as slowly as I can so the bowl never gets hot and I can taste the flavour alright. However whenever I smoke about half the bowl it starts to taste horrible, It gets really bitter and sour, the pipe produces more smoke and it makes my mouth and throat really sore.

In the beginning everything is going well, however, halfway through the bowl the taste becomes bitter and sour, and the pipe produces more smoke. Even some seasoned smokers can find a Lat forward blend turn to burning rubber tires at about that stage, but EMP is not even close to a Lat bomb. You do state that the pipe produces more smoke: whether your cob is on fire or your tobacco is producing excess smoke, your puffing can be the only cause.
Suggestion: Dramatically reduce cadence!
Sip don't puff, to the point the pipe goes out frequently. Let the pipe sit a few minutes and cool off before re-light. Repeat process with as many relights as required and never puff to keep it alight. This process will bring instant results and allow you to gradually bring up the cadence after a few bowls until you only require a few re-lights. I have witnessed life-long pipers re-light after every few puffs as they get distracted in conversation. Remember there is no glory in counting re-lights as the only true glory in pipe smoking is enjoying the amazing taste decent tobacco can provide if smoked with care.
Soon you will smoke your pipe on auto pilot with fewer re-lights and better taste further down the bowl.

 

[dottiewarden]

Sip on ::

 

[kola]

Make sure you cut out/trim the stem part which protrudes in the bowl chamber with a thin sharp blade. Otherwise it will burn and smolder along with the tobacco. And taste a bit nasty

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Usually cobs make the smoke a bit sweeter cause corn is typically sweet. Where it gets funky tasting is when you get to the bottom of the bowl and you start to get the char on the dowel that runs right into the bottom of the bowl. Takes a number of bowls to get that charred over and lose that goofy taste.
I'd agree with the above, might want to try and dry out the blend a bit more; maybe try other blends; maybe buy another MM cob in a different style cause they're all pretty affordable.