Meerschaum Dilutes Flavor?

[The Novice Piper]

Got a question for you guys about meerschaum's effect on the taste of tobacco.

It's often said that a meer allows for a much cleaner or "pure" tasting smoke than briar. But do any of you find that it makes the baccy taste diluted, or weaker than a briar pipe does?

I'm breaking in my first meerschaum and so far every bowl tastes very watered down, the way an ultralight cigarette tastes as compared to a full-flavored. It's enough to ruin the experience for me. If I had to put a figure on it, I'd say it seems like 40% of the taste is lost.

Is this typical of smoking a new meer? Someone told me that once the bowl has been blackened with a thin carbon film this taste loss should go away. Any truth to this?

 

[Sigmund]

That is what is generally said. I dont know that its so much diluted as much as people state it tastes odd. It is possible that when raw the material soaks up some of what would be flavor.

Stick in some strong burley or something neutral but full tasting and get it broke in.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I, too, am smoking my first meerschaum. I find that they don't do very well with tobaccos that have such a mild flavor, such as Virginias, but they do well with my stronger burleys and latakias.

 

[Hillcrest]

I, too, am smoking my first meerschaum. I find that they don't do very well with tobaccos that have such a mild flavor, such as Virginias, but they do well with my stronger burleys and latakias.

Maybe that was the problem I had. Do you find that the smoke is hotter in the mouth? I could never understand how people say it is a cooler smoke experience. I always found smoking a meerschaum to be hotter and shied away from it as a result. I've been meaning to try one again but hesitate.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I haven't found the smoke to be hotter, maybe dryer. But, I try my best to smoke as slow as possible.

 

[telescopes]

I may be the outlier, but I doubt that will be the case with what follows. But let's see. I don't find any difference in taste other than a meerschaum can smoke cleaner. I've smoked them for 40 years; my first pipe was a meerschaum. They do smoke dryer - by and large for the most part. My calabash certainly does. I agree, smoke them slow. I actually use a meerschaum to taste test a tobacco if I am curious as to what it actually taste like. The pipes are easy to keep clean - what you may be noticing are the presents given to you by "ghost" of tobaccos past. Briar loves to accumulate and in terms of previous tobacco taste, it is your friendly neighborhood hoarder. A relatively new and clean briar that hasn't known the smoke of "spirited" tobaccos can provide the smoker an experience relative to a meerschaum. But this is only my experience. Let's see what other long time Meer smokers caught up in terms of lit and illuminating information.

 

[johnnyflake]

To be honest, I light up any of my Meerschaum Pipes with any tobacco I choose, and it taste just fine to me, new pipes as well. I have never experienced what you are referring as a diluted flavor. I have a hard time understanding how that could happen. I mean, the tobacco burns, the smoke goes down the bowl and up the stem to your mouth. Where does it get diluted?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I was told that the first couple of dozen smokes would taste a little chalky. I rinsed mine out with water really well before smoking and after each smoke, but maybe the first ten smokes did taste a little chalky, which could be interpreted as diluted.

 

[anotherbob]

Got a question for you guys about meerschaum's effect on the taste of tobacco.

It's often said that a meer allows for a much cleaner or "pure" tasting smoke than briar. But do any of you find that it makes the baccy taste diluted, or weaker than a briar pipe does?

I'm breaking in my first meerschaum and so far every bowl tastes very watered down, the way an ultralight cigarette tastes as compared to a full-flavored. It's enough to ruin the experience for me. If I had to put a figure on it, I'd say it seems like 40% of the taste is lost.

Is this typical of smoking a new meer? Someone told me that once the bowl has been blackened with a thin carbon film this taste loss should go away. Any truth to this?

it takes a few smokes for that to go away. Yeah new meer can dilute the taste.

 

[Sig]

Ive never noticed a diluted flavor with a Meer, but the first few smokes can taste "off". Some say it tastes soapy.
But, I only smoke Latakia blends in Meerschaums. I used to smoke everything in them, but over time I just began only smoking Latakia in them. My thought has been that I like Lat blends in big pipes, which my Meers are all big, but maybe subconsciously there is something else going on....like my favorite VAs taste less good.

 

[Chasing Embers]

But do any of you find that it makes the baccy taste diluted, or weaker than a briar pipe does?

Until the material starts to saturate with tobacco oils meerschaum will mute flavors. A gourd calabash does so even more.

 

[telescopes]

To be honest, I light up any of my Meerschaum Pipes with any tobacco I choose, and it taste just fine to me, new pipes as well. I have never experienced what you are referring as a diluted flavor. I have a hard time understanding how that could happen. I mean, the tobacco burns, the smoke goes down the bowl and up the stem to your mouth. Where does it get diluted?

I am with you on this. Of course each person‘s own experiences are their own, but I’ve never noticed and dilution or muting. My gourd calabash does just fine as well. It may well be that reading a pipe forum can often determine your reality - you come to expect what you’ve been told to expect. Meerschaums are almost always an excellent experience for me and I currently have four of them.

 

[LeafErikson]

The first dozen smokes can taste chalky. Depending on the piece of meerschaum you have, the first few dozen smokes can actually even have a briny taste. After that I think it enhances the flavor even more as it absorbs the tobacco juices.

 

[sardonicus87]

In my experience, meer tends to dull flavor until it's broken in more than briar... but comparing my already broken-in meer with already broken-in briars, all blends taste stronger in the meer than the briars, regardless of how strong or subtle the flavor is or the genre of the blend.

And it doesn't take long to break-in a meer at all, a good 7-10 smokes and it should be broken-in.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

The only pipe I've smoked more neutral than a Meer is a Clay. Some Meers seem to give off a flavor during the first 5 to 10 bowls. I've experienced that with 1 with any significance and it was gone before 10 bowls.

 

[hakchuma]

I don’t know man. I bought four new top tier meers this year and I’ve noticed it. I haven’t been smoking them much because the chase was more fun ;

My two old meers I recall feeling the same way but was unsure of what to think about it at that time. They smoke well now and in my opinion are starting to look like every other old meer, disgusting and dirty like I smoke dung in them.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Yep, when cake has formed, the sometimes odd or muting taste disappears.

 

[HeavyLeadBelly]

So I don’t have a meet, but should cake form in the bowl or is it a different kind of cake you’d want in a briar?

 

[condorlover1]

Never had that problem as the 'dead dudes' who were the previous owners of most of my pipes in the 19th century has done all the work for me. I have not smoked a new meerschaum since the early 1990s and that one I gave that away to some guy from Georgia called 'Eric' who used to post on here. My advice for what its worth is buy something that is ancient and your problems are solved!

 

[The Novice Piper]

Thanks for the help, guys. Good to hear some experienced opinions.

My working theory here is that the chamber walls continue to absorb flavor-holding oils until the oils have created a seal of sorts in the chamber. From then on, new oils are stopped by the established seal and get carried down the stem with the smoke. But if oils migrate through the walls of the chamber there must be a certain amount of time required to make the seal. Thicker the walls, longer the time required.

My meerachaum has very thick walls, so maybe it's going to take a long time for a seal to form?