Thanks. Product photography I think is some of the hardest and we have some people who are really good at it in the group. That calendar is going to look great.
A bowl of Lord Methley in a Hardcastle Billiard on the way home. I might smoke more today in a different pipe to compare.
Second bowl of Lord Methley, this time in my Dublin Meer. A novice comparison - the Meer smoked cooler, and the briar did impart something not unpleasant to the flavor. The Meer seemed less intense some how. I'm sure this sounds like nonsense, thanks for indulging me.
This is helpful and interesting i dont have alot of extra money to spend on wine, but i wouldnt mind grabbing one and making it a special smoke night...maybe for the upcoming holidays
Not nonsense at all my friend. In Briar pipes, you build up a carbon "cake" that protects the wood and helps the tobacco stay lit and burn better. BUT, for better or worse, the cake also will retain flavors. This can be removed by filling the bowl with uniodized salt and then clear liquor, like vodka, rum, moonshine or everclear; and letting it set over night. You should do this every so often (6 months to a year), to keep a pipe "fresh". Meers on the other hand should NEVER have a cake. Always wipe the bowl with a damp paper towel or cloth after every smoke, on the inside. Cake in a meer will cause it to crack and break. Also never smoke a meer in the cold. Anywho, the lack of cake in a meer means no imparting of any flavor from said cake. So your analysis is actually pretty spot on.
Wow. Nearly none of that syncs up with personal experience. I hardly baby my meerschaums at all anymore and we're talking about pipes going back to the 70s. Of course I'm not trying to keep them pristine, but they are very functional. In either case -- meerschaum or briar, reaming somewhat is how I deal with build up but I never completely remove the cake from either. I used to use brandy to start a pipe on an unseasoned pipe but it's been a long time since I had a virgin pipe like that.
It's always been my experience and advice I've gotten from others, that you NEVER build a cake in a meer. Cake expands from the heat and it expands at a different rate than the pipe material itself. In wood pipes, this isn't a big deal because wood has some molecular give. Clay and meer however does not and will crack and break as the cake expands. Russ Oullette actually has a how to article about it on P&C I believe. And the not smoking them in cold I learned first hand. Again, the whole hot meets cold thing goes bad fast, lol.
Well, not as much cake right now as I was expecting to find. But here's the meerschaum I typically smoke. Dates back to 1972 or 73. You got me nervous now!
When I got my one and only Meerschuam pipe (present from my son), I was advised by the owner of The Briary to wipe the inside of the bowl with a dry paper towel after each smoke. He didn't go into why it should be done; but I have known Skip for close to 40 years, and he is an expert in all things pipe related. More specifically, he recommended wadding up the paper towel, inserting it in the bowl and twisting it to remove any cake buildup.
That's how I learned about it. I had one break on me, and Daylon, the owner of The NewsShop (the tobacconist I used to go to before the mall upped their rent fees =( ), asked if I had let a cake build up. I said yeah, you're supposed to; and he chewed me a new one and explained why not to, lol. Also told me to not smoke them in the cold because it was like pouring cold water on a hot stone, *CRAAAACK*. And yeah, the papertowel wiping is a must.
PS Nougat is perhaps the only bulk aromatic I like. Unlike most that I have tried, it doesn't seem overly sweet, and the chocolate isn't overwhelming. It does change some as you smoke it down, but not as much as most aromatics do IMHO.
Carbon cake has a different (higher) coefficient of thermal expansion than meerschaum. That's not enough cake in the photo to bring the house down, but since meerschaum won't burn at tobacco temps like wood, it requires no real break in. A carbon cake allowed to build up badly, think quarter inch, can exert an unbelievable amount of force as it absorbs the bowl heat and expands. I have seen a pipe where this allegedly happened, a pipe shop owner kept it in display to demonstrate the peril of cake in meerschaum. My meerschaum on the other hand, met its demise via a concrete floor, not a zealous smoker. Edit: @Lo'Gosh killed this answer earlier, with a great explanation. I missed it.
Briar (cake actually) is the difference. Many perceive the difference as a warm nuttiness or a pleasant warmth, not unlike umami. And the part about meerschaum being cooler, you're right, and it's physics again. Personally, the taste produced by a briar pipe is preferable, and I dedicate specific briars to very specific types of tobacco. It's pretty much the only way around the lingering flavor aspect of briar, though it is this same characteristic that makes briar ultimately taste better.
