Roadtown Pipes

[Bob G.]

I recently purchased two Roadtown pipes. They both had a bitter nasty taste and made my mouth sore. I understand these pipes are made in China by different makers and some use some type of chemical in the bowl. I have since sent them back for a refund. Does anyone have any information or experience with them

 

[Grangerous]

I see them sold on Smokingpipes.com.

They look nice.

Are you certain it’s the fault of the pipes? You can clean the bowls before smoking to remove any coating. I did so with the two Peterson’s. —I don’t care for bowl coatings. Some smoke through it, others not.

 

[Bob G.]

I did not clean the bowl coating, I contacted the seller and was advised that it was because the stem was made out of some sort of organic material. Never heard of that before. That is when I did some research and found out were they were made and how some of the makers treated t bowls. Also there had been some other complaints about a chemical taste.

 

[Grangerous]

Saw your welcome post “after” I responded here. You’ve been at this 65 years, Bob. — my first thought was maybe a new smoker. Name’s Jim. Welcome to the forum. Good bunch of guys.

 

[gamzultovah]

It’s the bowl coating. I’ve broken in a couple of HS Studio pipes (same manufacturer) and it takes about 10-14 bowls before the pipe smooths out and the full-mouth bite goes away. I no longer try to break in their pipes on my own, I made a puffing tool out of a large fluid extracting syringe and I let that do the work while I puff on another pipe.

 

[musicman]

I have a couple of these pipes. I've always removed the inner bowl coating with a little 190 proof alcohol upon receiving them, and I've never experienced the bitterness you mention (at least regarding a pipe haha).

 

[anantaandroscoggin]

I have four Road Town pipes, and I have to admit that I've not experienced this chemical taste from any of them.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have a couple of their bamboo stemmed pipes. This was a few years ago, when they first hit ebay, I sent a message to the vendor asking about where and who made these. I was told that they were made by a Chinese artisan who had set up a shop in Canada. I don't have all of the details any more, but I thought that much was interesting. It seems the artisan, name I can't remember had studied under another famous Chinese pipemaker whose name I also can't remember, but mine are all great quality. I wasn't too crazy about the small vulcanite bits, so I made replacements for them. Otherwise, I still smoke mine frequently.

I can't recall what my impression was of the first smoke or the bowl coating. It has been a few years. I know that The Briary was carrying these pipes for a while, but he kept selling out of them so fast that he stopped, ha ha.