Meerschaum for a beginner?

[mathoozula]

I tend to smoke hot and was wondering if I should stay away from a meer pipe until I get better technique?
Are meers for more English or Balkan blends or can I smoke Aros out of them?

 

[dryseason91]

My advice would be to 'train' more on the briar and leave the meer for a few months down the line. It's a cliche to say this to beginners but do get a few cobs if you don't already have any, they might help you smoke a bit cooler.

 

[jgriff]

They're fine for a beginner. I would suggest avoiding real expensive meers, or briars for that fact, for a new smoker anyhow.
They smoke aros great. The real advice is to keep them clean and don't let a cake form. Wipe it out after every smoke with a paper towel. Aros can be a little more work to clean up afterwards but nothing serious.

 

[billypm]

I don't think you'll do a meer any harm by smoking it too hot-- certainly won't burn it out like a briar-- but it will color over the years less where it got the hottest. My eagle claw is so cool looking because the bowl got hotter than the claw part, so the bowl is lighter and the claw darker.
That being said, you owe it to your palate to slow down, and I know how hard that is. It helped me when I was learning to realize that smoking slowly doesn't necessarily mean how often you puff, but how slowly the smoke moves from the bowl into your mouth. Give it a try. Pretty much every tobacco tastes way better smoked slowly.

 

[floridapiper]

I like that advice, billypm. I have a hard time with slowing down and will try it out.

 

[sfsteves]

I'd suggest holding off on that meer until you've got a pretty good idea of how you like some particular blends in a cob or a briar ... to me, meers add a characteristic all their own that influence the way blends taste ... without being able to differentiate between the way a blend tastes otherwise and the way it smokes in a meer, my take is that it could make your journey into pipe smoking more complicated than it should otherwise be ...