I have my first one on the way so I’ll let you know. From what I understand they’re more absorbent than briar but not quite as absorbent as Turkish meerschaum. Theyre supposed to be still absorbent enough to smoke all day which can be more tricky with a briar. They’re also much more hardy than Turkish meerschaum as the meerschaum is more calcified.African meerschaums look fantastic. Will probably get one soon. But I don't think that they're much different at all from briar in smoking performance? Since they're supposed to be denser?