The sap inside the burls of the heather shrubs that grow around the Mediterranean tastes the best.
If you like the sap taste from Algerian briar it has lots of it.
he got the tightest, oldest burls full of good tasting sap the makers had
Tannins are bad sap.
But for example, red cedar is blatantly aromatic. Heather burl briar is much less so, but there’s still “good sap” in the briar so long as the pipe hasn’t been smoked to death and saturated with tars.
The amount of “good sap” in a piece of briar depends on how many lines of what was bark grew on the burl, the tighter the tastier.
There are good saps, and bad saps
There was lot of reddish “sap” in Algerian briar.
It was a problem for the makers of the very highest dollar pipes.
This is very true! But, I would make the point that “all else being the same” the wood is the only variable that nature controls, so discussion of the differences it may present is certainly a valid topic of discussion.@Briar Lee you hold way too much weight in the wood and not enough in the stems for smokeability. The stems, slots, tenon, etc all make a big difference.
Its not all else being the same. The stems on those Marxmans look terribleThis is very true! But, I would make the point that “all else being the same” the wood is the only variable that nature controls, so discussion of the differences it may present is certainly a valid topic of discussion.
How scientific and reliable that discussion may be, is of course, debatable
Yes, on that you are correct, in the anecdotal examples used in this thread it goes to shit, I was speaking hypothetically about the general topic, not lending validity to the way it’s been presented.Its not all else being the same. The stems on those Marxmans look terrible
Good illustration. Fine piece of workmanship. But no where near 100 to the inch, which prompted my first question. If there is such a piece of briar, I don't see how anyone could count that fine, unless raw wood and under a microscope.GROWTH RINGS!!!!!
Hahaha agreedGood illustration. Fine piece of workmanship. But no where near 100 to the inch, which prompted my first question. If there is such a piece of briar, I don't see how anyone could count that fine, unless raw wood and under a microscope.
Forgive me but I don't see any growth rings in that pipe; birdseye and Xylam (capillaries) yes but no growth rings.
How Pipes Get Their Grain | A Closer Look at the Heath Tree Burl
Learn more about the grain of the heath tree burl and how it affects the look of briar pipes.www.smokingpipes.com
That is just cross grain. Aka straight grain sideways.Here’s some more of whatever those lines were.
Where did you read this?It was utterly hell to try and make a perfect, straight or flame grain or birdseye Algerian.
This thing with sap is pretty sappy if you ask me. There is absolutely no evidence that briar sap from different regions of briar makes any bit of difference in how a pipe smokes. If it does, cite previous articles on the subject.
I’ve tried to do my own research on Algerian briar but all web results lead back to Briar Lee.
Is beeswax the sap you’re tasting?Alfred Dunhill built the White Spot Dunhill Shell briar brand using only ancient Algerian briar. He had to patent a way to use the soft, powdery stuff.
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In producing the "shell", Dunhill used only Algerian briar, then in great abundance, because it had a softer character than the Italian briar used in the smooth "bruyere" finish. This soft character, in combination with the heat derived from Dunhill's unique oil curing process, led to an unusually deep and craggy sandblasted pipe. In the early years of production, Dunhill would not even stamp shape numbers on his "shell" pipes, since the shape of identically turned bowls varied so after curing and sandblasting.
A Tail of Two Briars - Pipedia
pipedia.org
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If I can only claim one thing remotely new about Algerian briar it’s this:
1. Ream out all cake. Every trace of black in the bowl. For whatever reason cake barely clings to Algerian briar. Get the bowl and rim brown again, it’s actually easy.
2. Remove all varnish and wax and all finish, leaving bare briar only. Scrub using soap and water and Brillo pads, they don’t melt. Get it clean.
3. Smoke while you rub beeswax on it.
Viola:
Before, as unboxed this afternoon
View attachment 277090
After two smokes, using beeswax.
Algerian briar was soft and it was an amazing insulator of heat, and something inside comes out to get trapped by wax, just like a meerschaum.
Beeswax gets soaked up like water inside a sponge in the briar. Carnauba is too hard, too high of melting point.
View attachment 277091
Or, hear me out, what is causing the rapid coloring is the soft Algerian briar absorbing your beeswax, and not some Algerian super sap.Algerian briar was soft and it was an amazing insulator of heat, and something inside comes out to get trapped by wax
Buying one now. Supposedly all the “good” Algerian briar was fire bombed in WW2. I find it hard to believe all the good stuff was bombed or foraged. Even if the new Algerian briar is only 70 years old, briar growth rings grow out. Does that make the briar denser or end up with more material to make a pipe?