I Hate Breaking in a New Pipe

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seanv

Lifer
Mar 22, 2018
2,958
10,405
Canada
It might be the pipes or Blends that you smoke.

The same blend tastes radically different to me in my new pipes versus old ones that have been broken in.

YMMV
I have a new Chacom that is also quite stubborn. I loaded some Victorian match in it and it tasted awful. I've been smoking burleys in it since and have noticed it is rounding into form. Patience is key.
 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Samuel Clemons, known as Mark Twain, said he hired a local slacker to smoke his new pipes until they were broken in. I think that was for comic effect, but apparently he didn't like the taste of a new pipe either. Many folks must be more sensitive than I am about this. I fire them up, and mostly I'm a happy camper. Keep that in mind when I am reviewing a blend or commenting on a blend; I may lack discernment.
 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,565
27,066
Carmel Valley, CA
A hundred years ago, rich folk in London and Paris paid others to do the first several dozen smokes. Or perhaps high end tobacconists were the middlemen.

"Here's a lovely pipe for you, Sir. Shall I send it out to be broken in, and have it delivered to you in a month?"

Cosmic had written he loves the taste of briar in his first smokes.

Anyway, with time and smoking, it'll be fine.
 

Sonorisis

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 24, 2019
853
4,578
I've encountered no break-in issues with pipes I've gotten in the past few years, except for one dark, briar, Falcon bowl that was awful for a dozen, or so smokes due to their getting stain down, into the chamber. I'll never go through that again!!!
 

shanez

Lifer
Jul 10, 2018
5,188
24,080
49
Las Vegas
Smoked some WCC Old Dominion for the first time in my new Dunhill yesterday and it was one of the best bowls of WCC OD I've had so far.

I've also had some fine first smokes in my Savinellis that weren't estates.
 

fightnhampster

Part of the Furniture Now
Aug 14, 2019
920
2,562
Indiana
I don’t know if the issue here is with breaking in a new pipe. Some pipes don’t smoke as good as others. And they never smoke as good as others. In general I’ve found pipes are similar to tobacco. Great tobacco smokes great from day 1 and just gets better with age. Crap tobacco still tastes like crap 10 years later.

Could be. If that's the case, I will certainly never buy another Neerup again.
 
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dcicero

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 23, 2019
591
2,880
Michigan
Some problems with a new, or new-to-you pipe, might be getting used to it or finding out it just isn't your kind of pipe -- like a too restrictive draw, or even too airy an airway, or an uncomfortable stem. Part of breaking in a pipe is learning to smoke it -- its balance, its weight, its shape chamber. But mostly people think about the status of the chamber, the carbon layer, taste, and size and shape of ember that affects the flavor. I'm one of those who usually goes right at it with a new pipe. I don't find it a long laborious task. I'd say one out of five pipes actually requires twenty or more smokes to come into its own. Other pipes smoke fine from the outset but suddenly improve remarkably after a year or so. Who knows what that's about -- dryness of the briar, carbon layer, learning its characteristics. Mostly though, I find new pipes (and estates) just fine from the start.
Insightful. I have one that the draw is just too tight. Never thought of this as breaking it in/learning how to smoke it. Too bad. I like the way it looks.
 
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