I have recently bought a meerschaum pipe. So far, there’s been lots of problems. Firstly, is smokes very hot. I can’t hold it in my hand at all most of the times. Consequently, the tobacco doesn’t taste as good as it should. I mostly taste ash and air. I’m using the same packing and lighting techniques as with briar pipes and the same tobacco. The pipe is true Altinay, with a logo on the side. It’s a bent billiard, very very small. Is there anything specific about meerschaum I should know?
Problems with Meerschaum
- Thread starter DamienPiper
- Start date
Meerschaum doesn't insulate against heat very well and they will mute tobacco flavors until the chamber is saturated with oils from the tobacco. How hot are your briar pipes getting? If they are becoming more than just slightly warm to the touch, you may be smoking too fast.
Yeah, it happens. And how fast do you smoke? What’s the optimal interval between draws? I’ve thought about, but if I don’t smoke at my tempo, pipes tend to go out
What Chasingembers said.... A Meerschaum is a GREAT pipe with which to learn cadence and proper draw. The feedback is almost immediate.
Slow down. Smolder the tobacco. Don't burn it. There's a whole new flavor profile in there if you smoke a smoldering pipeful of tobacco as opposed to a burning pipeful of the same blend.
Try it. You won't be sorry...
Slow down. Smolder the tobacco. Don't burn it. There's a whole new flavor profile in there if you smoke a smoldering pipeful of tobacco as opposed to a burning pipeful of the same blend.
Try it. You won't be sorry...
Thank you for replies! Very helpful! Guess I’ll have to learn to smoke slower
The single biggest issue imo is drying out the tobacco before smoking. If too damp, you're going to have to puff hard to keep it lit or have continual relights.
There are 2 issues here
Firstly, you are almost certainly puffing too hard/ fast
Secondly, different materials transmit heat differently. Meerschaum pipes will heat up more than a briar pipe of similar size and wall thickness. Porcelain even more so - I have a double-walled Royal Copenhagen i hardly ever smoke because the walls get uncomfortably hot, and it is too heavy to clench comfortably. Morta also heats up more than briar, but cools more rapidly.
Other factors are the moisture content of the tobacco, as well as the cut. In my experience, shag cuts seem to give the "coolest" smoke (although this may be open to debate)
Try smoking more slowly and dry out your tobacco more or try a different cut.
Firstly, you are almost certainly puffing too hard/ fast
Secondly, different materials transmit heat differently. Meerschaum pipes will heat up more than a briar pipe of similar size and wall thickness. Porcelain even more so - I have a double-walled Royal Copenhagen i hardly ever smoke because the walls get uncomfortably hot, and it is too heavy to clench comfortably. Morta also heats up more than briar, but cools more rapidly.
Other factors are the moisture content of the tobacco, as well as the cut. In my experience, shag cuts seem to give the "coolest" smoke (although this may be open to debate)
Try smoking more slowly and dry out your tobacco more or try a different cut.
Update: found a cool way to smoke this pipe. Somehow it’s best when I only clench it with my teeth, don’t hold it with my hand. I used breathing method with an addition of opening my mouth a few times shortly after inhaling with my nose. It was cool, continuous with only a couple relight + there was A LOT of flavour. The tobacco is Peterson Irish Cask and I’m ashamed to say I only now realised just how good it was! Thank you for your help! It’s really nice to know you’re not left alone with your troubles. It was really good to brush up on my breathing method and work on the cadence. Meerschaum seems to be the great way to learn, true. However, drying tobacco didn’t really work for me, seemed to lose the flavour a little and didn’t make much difference. Maybe, it will be different for other tobaccos.
DamienPiper,
I'm really pleased to hear you found what works for you. Congrats.
I'm really pleased to hear you found what works for you. Congrats.
One can learn a great deal from others, but where an art or a practice is concerned, there is no substitute for trial and error.
Your experience kind of echoes mine when I first tried pipes after being a years-long cigar smoker. It was like a revelation when I finally realized that smoking tobacco out of a pipe is much more passive than I had ever thought. I accidentally discovered what everyone calls the “breathe” or “breath” method when clenching my pipe to do things with my hands, and then it all clicked. I figured out how to smoke a pipe when I quit trying to smoke a pipe, if that makes sense.
I'm not Meerschaum experienced, but I've noticed that cuts like flake, coin, rope, and plug burn a little slower, maybe because the pieces are bigger and retain a little moisture. This might keep your smokes cooler and also, with the small bowl, make them last longer. Just a thought.
Altinay makes a good variety of pipes. Their small pipes have very thin walls and I agree that they are hard to handle when smoking. On the bright side, they're light as a feather and color very quickly. If you want a meer that's cooler to the touch, try a IMP. Regardless of which type, thin or thicker walled and exterior temp of the pipe, I haven't noticed a big difference in how they smoke.
I had two meerschaums that I ended up throwing away until I found my current one (Rattray's White Goddess). The issue with the previous ones was that the draw was way too narrow, so I had to suck really hard to keep it going, burning my mouth in the process.
Oh no! You could’ve drilled them out. I did that with mine. Smokes fine now.
I smoke 3 Meerschaum pipes regularly. They all smoke great and none of them get hot to the touch, just warm like a regular pipe. Either you're packing too tight which requires you to draw too hard which will heat up the pipe or you're smoking too fast. Very unlikely it is the pipe.
Very true. When I was learning to smoke a pipe 26 years ago there were no forums or youtube. Heck there was barely an internet. A lot of what I learned back then (and have kept with me--because it works) I learned either from talking to tobacconists (back then B&M pipe shops were a bit more common) and the occasional pipe smoker I found in the wild. (Florida has a lot of retirees so pipe smoking codgers can be found from time to time.) But mostly I tried different things until I found ways that worked for me.