Guess What? You Actually Don't Like the Tobaccos You THINK You Do.

[9mmpuffer]

I love German 9mm filters and I would say the same thing. Certain blends I can't smoke in a non filter pipe that taste wonderful has soon as I smoke them with a filter. So many different combinations with pipe smoking, key is to experiment, find the combos you like and then stick to that.

 

[renfield]

Add to this that the stem material itself can contribute to the perceived flavor of the blend. It’s subtle but definitely there.
When a blender is tweaking the recipe prior to release I’d imagine that most bias the recipe to present the best in briar as it’s most common pipe material these days. It’s analogous to a recording engineer tweaking the mix of an album and listening to it in different kinds of speakers so that sounds the best for the intended audience.

 

[thefishguy]

My blend tasting notes are always followed by what pipe I smoked it in. I thought some of my blends were going bad or that my tastes had changed but it was just the pipe/blend combo that was off. I was almost ready to cry after a bowl of McClelland FMC I was smoking in a cob tasted sour and bland.

 

[seacaptain]

What is this "clay pipe" you speak of?

 

[dunstanhillwell62]

Indeed, smoking a clay pipe is quite a different experience. I only have one, a 40 cm. long Gouda, but I'm definitely going to get some shorter ones. When I smoke the Gouda sitting in my armchair, I'm afraid of dropping embers in my lap or on the cat, so I don't smoke it that often.

Clear nail varnish should also work for covering the stem end, or if you're in a festive mood, have several clays with gaily-coloured stem ends.

:D
::

 

[Civil War]

Every time I smoked a new clay pipe it had sort of a clay taste. And after I smoked it for a while, it was ghosted with the tobacco I was using.

 

[smittyd]

I am interested to try this, but do not own a clay pipe . What do you recommend as far as a pipe brand and where to get it?

 

[Civil War]

PC has Old German Clay Pipes

 

[jvnshr]

While there will probably be blends that will taste good to you in a clay, it'll be mostly luck if they are the same ones you like in briar. The difference is that dramatic.

Agree. I bought a clay pipe when I started smoking pipes in 2015 and I always smoke the same blend in a cob, briar and clay pipe (unfortunately I don't own a meerschaum yet). As someone has mentioned above, at one point I was even getting suspicious of my taste buds getting screwed up. Luckily, I also hate smoking clay pipes :D

 

[jpmcwjr]

Q: Can clay pipes be made to build up a cake, and would that not mitigate some of the crapiness of smoking in one?
Also, wouldn't a clean "Le Pipe" also have a complete absence of cake and briar?

 

[irishearl]

Had a small clay pipe many years ago. While I cannot remember how it affected the taste of the tobacco, do remember the dang thing got so hot that I had to hold it by the far end of the stem to smoke it. It would have taken oven mits to hold the bowl. :P So, not a big fan of them.

 

[bluegrasspipe]

I enjoy smoking a 7" dutch clay gouda pipe with straight virginias and VaPers. I first bought one because I liked the idea of smoking the way people originally did in the times of Sir Walter Raleigh. I have some ridiculously longer ones that I don't really use much.

I haven't tried anything blends in it, but you get nothing but clean virginia grassy and hay like flavors, (depending on what you are smoking of course), and the flavor is muted in a briar in comparison IMHO. I love how Orlik golden sliced tastes in it.

Q: Can they be made to build up a cake, and would that not mitigate some of the crapiness of smoking in one?

You aren't supposed to allow cake to build or it will crack a clay pipe, but like meers they become a bit coated, and you can hold them over a flame to burn off any cake that develops. I clean it out, and find that I don't really develop much of a cake in mine.
Regarding the "sticking to your lips" once you wet them a few times they become no longer sticky. I have never coated mine with anything.

 

[mso489]

The pipe material is definitely part of the chemistry. Keeping to one material, like Meerschaum, briar, or cob, definitely gives more dependability on how particular blends taste. You can learn to pair different blends with different pipe materials, and most of us notice how cobs favor certain blends and kinds of blends. But it stands to reason.
I don't want to be Chicken Little, but I've read some warnings that smoking clay pipes with clay stems is not a good idea, and some of the clay pipe makers now at least wrap the bit in plastic to shield the lips from the clay. Neoplasms on the lips (irregular cell growth) is the suspected problem. I don't think there's research on this, since the health community recommends not smoking anything. Probably a plastic bit or covering is a good idea with clay pipes, especially if you smoke them regularly.

 

[bluegrasspipe]

MSO, once again thanks for the sound advice!!

 

[georged]

If you have a chunk of carnauba, just heat the last inch or so of a clay's stem with something like a heat gun set on high or a stove burner (don't worry, the clay won't burn) until it's hot enough to melt into the wax block. After the last inch is coated---it'll look and behave like honey---slowly move the pipe around to distribute the wax evenly as it cools. The result is almost like glass. Durable and nothing artificial like varnish or paint to worry about in your mouth.
A match or candle won't get hot enough, and leave soot besides, so I'd avoid them for this. A torch cigar lighter would work nicely though, I imagine.
Also, I'd resist the urge to use beeswax instead of carnauba. It's melting point is much lower, and the stem of your clay would forever feel and taste like Chapstik.

 

[pipesticks]

I have a question regarding the cleaning of clay pipes. I recently inherited a vintage unsmoked clay pipe but it is soiled on the outside from years of kicking around. What's the best way to clean this? Am I safe briefly hitting it with a dampened rag? Also, since on the subject, once I start smoking it, is it OK to run pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol thru it to clean the internals?
My idea for treating the bit end is to give it a paint job with either clear or red nail polish to make it non-stick. This should work, no? I do have carnuba wax, so maybe that would work better, but I've seen lots of clays with red bits and I kind of like that look.

 

[briarbuck]

Oh Great... Now your telling me that there is a whole other world of tobaccos that I need to hoard? Frankly I'm not sure if I should be excited or a little PO'd I even saw this thread.

 

[lestrout]

When the great RussO was formulating the Missouri Meerschaum tobacco line, he used our Lehigh Valley Pipe Club as a taste panel while he sorted out the recipes. After I took some home to further sort out my impressions, I told him all four tasted a little flat. Russ asked if I'd been puffing them in my usual briars, which indeed I had been. He then said they were meant to be puffed in cobs (duh!). The switch to MMs was significant, since the corn threw in a definite sweetness to the new blends.
Substrate indeed makes a difference to me, and I use olivewood, meerschaum, cobs, morta, cherrywood and strawberrywood to lend interest to the sport.
hp

les

 

[pipesticks]

Well, I got impatient and came up with my own cleaning solution. I wiped the whole pipe down with paper towel and Isopropyl alcohol with moderate success getting the big soiling off. I let it evaporate, then I came up with the idea to take a pink pencil eraser to it. The eraser worked wonderfully and it's about as white as the day it was made.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Pipesticks, I have read where members have put their clay pipes in a self-cleaning oven and set it to self-clean mode and then waited for the pipe to totally cool down, and everything organic burns off. I think you can use a fireplace or campfire to clean it also, but you run the risk of thermal-shock, if it cools down too quickly. I hope that helps.