The impact of stem material on tobacco flavor?

[bigpond]

Assuming a vulcanite stem is not oxidized, does the choice of stem material impact the taste of tobacco?
This is something I hadn't considered before receiving a pipe with a "bad" stem with a pronounced aroma and a lingering after taste of burnt rubber. Today I stumbled across an old blog post by Trevor Talbert about the provenance of briar in which he mentioned that people may be surprised by the ability of the base materials to affect what he taste, though he doesn't go further than this
here:

http://talbertpipes.blogspot.com/2007/04/are-there-really-differences-in-briar.html
Just curious if you've found this to be the case. I only have a few acrylic pipes and no vulcanite analogs with which to compare.

 

[fishnbanjo]

So far my only negative is with the original stems that come with MM Cobs. They get to a point they begin to disintegrate and get soft to where I leave indentations which I don't to any other type of stem which includes briar. After finding replacement Forever Stems I have not had to deal with this again. Is the stem you are having problems with something the maker/manufacturer is aware of, it is possible they received some faulty material, in any event I hope you get it squared away, regards.

banjo

 

[bigpond]

Cheers Banjo! The pipe is on it's way back to the vendor. It seems the issue is related to a bad batch of vulcanite. The silver lining is that I'm using this incident as a springboard to reexamine what I want from a pipe. This has already lead to a commission for a new to me carver. Happy times!
re cobs: I would be delighted if MM had an option to add a real stem to a pipe at the time of purchase. The forever stems seem to be on a bit of a hiatus.

 

[clickklick]

Quality material for stems shouldn't impart flavor on the smoke.
Briar will.

 

[ray47]

The forever stems seem to be on a bit of a hiatus.
Forever Stems will back around August 1st under new management.
http://oldlogcabinpipeworks.com/

 

[mso489]

Glad the stem problem is resolved. fishnbanjo, I too chew through MM cob stems, so went to Forever stems. My only cob with a filter has a softie (Forever stems make all cobs non-filter). Stems shouldn't impart flavor; their duty is to convey the flavor in the tobacco.

 

[warren]

Tobacco pipe grade rubber, vulcanite, is neutral in taste. Or, it is supposed to be in the highest grades. I sometimes think I can taste the rubber but, usually only when the bit needs a cleaning. If rubber was a problem it wouldn't have been used over the years for pipe bits.

 

[bigpond]

Tobacco pipe grade rubber, vulcanite, is neutral in taste. Or, it is supposed to be in the highest grades. I sometimes think I can taste the rubber but, usually only when the bit needs a cleaning. If rubber was a problem it wouldn't have been used over the years for pipe bits.

This is easy enough to disprove. Take your highest grade vulcanite stem, wipe the stem lightly and smell it. You'll immediately pick up a subtle burnt rubber aroma. This is more difficult to pick up on stems that have an oil treatment, but that has nothing to do with the rubber. The point is it doesn't take much heat or friction to liberate a foul taste and aroma from vulcanite. In that respect, the mouth is a hostile environment for vulcanite.
By the way, vulcanite is much easier to drill than acrylic and it's easier to polish.
edit: just wanted to add, this isn't about cobs lol.

 

[saltedplug]

I come close to tasting tobacco, but I don't believe I've ever tasted stem, or bowl, be it cob or briar.