So, I recently changed my tobacco and I noticed every draw has a sour taste. It leaves a bad taste on my tongue at first and it fells funny/sour. Now I've smoked Mac Baren Classic until last week and I bought Skandinavik Sungold. I don't know if this is due to the tobacco or if my pipe needs a deeper cleaning, so I decided to ask for your help.
Sour Taste
- Thread starter Ajsnow93
- Start date
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Some Va and Orientals have what I'd call a tart taste. Sour would more likely be from a dirty pipe.
Can you share some advice with me? Leaving the stem perhaps in water?
Is this the same thing as STG's Danske Club Sungold? I believe that has oriental tobaccos in it, some of which have a kind of sour flavor. It wouldn't hurt to dip a pipe cleaner in some alcohol and run it down the bore just to make sure that your pipe isn't sour, but I bet it's the tobacco.
Deeper cleaning. Maybe another pipe or two to give a cleaned pipe a chance to dry out and otherwise rest.
clean the mortise. Get some q-tips and some strong 80 proof alcohol. Dip the q-tip in the alcohol and swab out the area where the stem goes into the shank until your tips come out clean. Take a pipe cleaner dip the tip in alcohol and run it through the stem and the shank.
According to TobaccoReviews, the blend is comprised of two Bright Virginias, and a Cavendish. The topping is described as Fruit / Citrus, Other / Misc, Vanilla.
As far as toppings go, they can have a different "sensation" for lack of a better term for different palates, and to some people, have the apparent sour flavor that you describe.
Obviously this tobacco is not for you...
While there is the possibility that the pipe itself is the contributing factor, unless you've been smoking it nonstop for several weeks without a rest, I would tend to discount that.
Wipe out the bowl good with a paper towel, Clean out the airway with a pipe cleaner and go back to smoking Mac Baren Classic...
As far as toppings go, they can have a different "sensation" for lack of a better term for different palates, and to some people, have the apparent sour flavor that you describe.
Obviously this tobacco is not for you...
While there is the possibility that the pipe itself is the contributing factor, unless you've been smoking it nonstop for several weeks without a rest, I would tend to discount that.
Wipe out the bowl good with a paper towel, Clean out the airway with a pipe cleaner and go back to smoking Mac Baren Classic...
So, you only ever smoked one tobacco before getting this Scatvadick crap?
I bet it's the pipe needing a deeper clean. It happens to me too on my workhorse pipe.
This right here. When I was just starting out in the hobby, one of my two pipes (A Peterson Aran) went sour. Nothing tasted good in it. It turned out to be the mortise, which was filthy with residue. I had always run a pipe cleaner through it without really scrubbing the inner walls, and that wasn't enough. A thorough cleaning with everclear ended up being the fix.
yeah and the other possibility is the stem might be heavily oxidized magic erasers work well for that.
A sour pipe can be attributed to the level of repeated use without rest, how well you clean afterwards, or in rare cases just something funky about the briar.
Removing any remaining dottle or tobacco bits is probably most important. Excess moisture can be wiped from the bowl and swabbed from the airway, and the pipe left to dry for a period of time.
Briar is not very absorbent, and in my experience dries rather quickly, usually a matter of minutes.
I don’t remove the stem during cleaning. I don’t think it’s necessary. Maybe once every 30-40 smokes I will remove the stem and clean the internals. I used a round nylon brush dipped in alcohol to loosen and remove tars, etc. then follow up with a paper towel wrapped around the brush to swab the mortise.
Some people use water to rinse the inside of the pipe after smoking. I do it semi-regularly, and it does work very well for keeping the pipe clean.
For stubborn sour pipes I’ve also read of people putting them in the oven for several hours with activated charcoal in the chamber. I’ve used vinegar to clean out funky tasting bowls on estates with success also.
Removing any remaining dottle or tobacco bits is probably most important. Excess moisture can be wiped from the bowl and swabbed from the airway, and the pipe left to dry for a period of time.
Briar is not very absorbent, and in my experience dries rather quickly, usually a matter of minutes.
I don’t remove the stem during cleaning. I don’t think it’s necessary. Maybe once every 30-40 smokes I will remove the stem and clean the internals. I used a round nylon brush dipped in alcohol to loosen and remove tars, etc. then follow up with a paper towel wrapped around the brush to swab the mortise.
Some people use water to rinse the inside of the pipe after smoking. I do it semi-regularly, and it does work very well for keeping the pipe clean.
For stubborn sour pipes I’ve also read of people putting them in the oven for several hours with activated charcoal in the chamber. I’ve used vinegar to clean out funky tasting bowls on estates with success also.
+1 for a deeper clean. Just some pipe cleaners dipped in alcohol and see that fixes it first.
I bet it's the mortise. That spot can get funkier then any other part of a pipe.
Cleanliness is next to godliness and all that other good stuff. Make sure to use only 100% Vatican approved Holy Water in sealed bottle from Italy. By the way, watch out for alcohol. Don't drip it on the finish. Some might rub off.
Anyone else use whiskey instead of plain alcohol or everclear. Hell I've even used good rum if out of whiskey.
There is a lot of great advice on this thread. I have become a bit maniacal in my cleaning habits lately, doing a minimal clean of the bowl and stem as I finish smoking, then a pretty thorough cleaning with pipe cleaners and q-tips the next day. I catch any char on the top of the bowl at this point too...q-tips and a little spit go a long way. Every few months I do a deeper clean with barbed pipe cleaners and grain alcohol.
I also take it relatively easy on my pipes. I tend not to smoke the same one more than once a day.
I suspect this is more than most people here would want to do, but it keeps my pipes in very good shape.