Getting a Good Bowl Going

[lasttango]

I have noticed that with my storient meer, I get a nearly perfect, cool smoking, long lasting smoke 90% of the time... I find that my brair(s) tend to be more difficult to keep lit and keeping an even cooler temp... I've read that this is par for the course... any advice?

 

[johnnyxpipe]

I do not own a meer, send me it and I will conduct further research.

 

[lasttango]

awesome ;-)
guess I need to learn more about the "break in" period.

 

[johnnyxpipe]

I've really wanted to try a quality meer, I've heard nothing but good things about them. I would love a Storient classic Billiard or the like.

 

[captainprophesy]

GOD DAMNIT! ... this is just making me want a Storient even more! :lol:

 

[baronsamedi]

Storient has a billiard on his site right now for $128 I think. http://meerschaumpipe.us/classics.html

 

[lasttango]

I feel very lucky... I saved up a little before jumping into the pipe thing... and was able to get 2 nice pipes off the bat... a stoirent bent bulldog and a stanwell bent billiard. I think it has really helped me enjoy them... I have also found a couple tobaccos that really work for me... I like the IQ (just for him) blend... shortcut to mushrooms... some esoterica ramsgate and blackpool... and I also like that haddo's delight from gl pease... but by far... the one I have been going through the fasted is the IQ... or 1Q... whatever it's named...

 

[cigrmaster]

lasttango, what type of briar pipes do you have? Are they broken in? Do they have a sufficient amount of cake? A briar pipe does take time to become a cherished friend.

 

[cynyr]

G.L. Pease said it best about briars - "Smoke the hell out of it!"

 

[hawk60ce]

I have a CAO meer and i feel like i have troubles with it. smokes hot and tastes bad. i felt like CAO was a decent brand and bought it when i went to Iwan Ries in chicago on vacation. Im starting to get turned off from meers but i feel like im doing something wrong as everyone RAVES about them. I dont have the issues with a briar smoking the exact same type of tobacco from the same tin (autumn evening) any advice?

 

[baronsamedi]

Does the smoke get hot or just the bowl? The bowl getting hot is normal on a meer, but the smoke should be cool. The taste could be beeswax inside the bowl. I've never actually seen that myself but I have heard of it. A meerschaum shouldn't impart any discernable taste of its own to the tobacco, that's one reason people like them. Maybe run a pipe cleaner with some Scotch on it through the stem and shank and swab the inside of the bowl. Let it dry and smoke a few bowls of something pretty forgiving like 1-Q through it. See if that helps.

 

[hawk60ce]

bowl is hot. smoke does stay cool. how do you clean after a smoke? same as as briar? wipe out the inside and run a pipe cleaner through? this is my first go with a meer and i couldve bought a hell of a briar for what i paid for the meer.

 

[baronsamedi]

That's all I do. Run a cleaner or two through, fold it and swab out the bowl, then wipe the outside with a cloth. Then smoke another, if I want! The bowl getting hot is the way the meerschaum dissipates the heat. The heat goes through the walls of the bowl rather than into the smoke and that's a good thing! It shouldn't get as hot as a clay, but it will be noticably warmer than a briar. I smoked a potent aro (Condor) the other day and had a ghost, so I did the whiskey swab and smoked some lat blends and that took care of it.

 

[hawk60ce]

ok i will give this a try tonight with some johnny walker and maybe smoke tomorrow. thanks baron

 

[hawk60ce]

I also notice the stem seems to get loose during smoking. but is tight when cool. is this normal?

 

[baronsamedi]

Not "normal" per se. but it happens. Put some beeswax on the stem and that should cinch it up, no problem. Since it is tight when the pipe is cool, it sounds like a good beeswax fix.

 

[hawk60ce]

where does one find standard issue beeswax? is there an NSN for it? :rofl:

 

[baronsamedi]

Well you can throw rocks at a beehive and try to outrun them, or go to Amazon and get these: http://www.amazon.com/Jordan-Beeswax-White-Filtered-total/dp/B0093KUL5C/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1351120602&sr=8-14&keywords=white+beeswax
Those should last you a good while. I was going to put some in the box pass but I was afraid of melting.

 

[hawk60ce]

cool...so its literally beeswax

 

[baronsamedi]

Yep. You can also use it on the outside of your meer to aid color, but it isn't mandatory. That one is the white beeswax, which I think is the best. When I get my other Meer back from Walker, I'll take pix of it and my Storient. I did the old meer with yellow wax and the Storient I'm using white. I also have a little one that I haven't used any wax so it will be interesting to see them all together.