Meerschaum

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thomas james

thomas james

Broken Pipe
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Dec 9, 2007
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About thirty days ago I got my first ever meerschaum. A group six IMP straight billybazooka smooth. First ever smoking experience with a meer. Been burnin va/vaper/burley in it. Mechanically it smokes very well, but SOMETHING is missing. It is just not "like" a good briar. It's NOT bad in any way, sort of. It's just flat, neutral and doesn't seem to have any character. You know how cement tastes? It doesn't. I'm not going to s'can it, it does add to my rotation. I'm not going to close my mind about it. Maybe it just takes time. Maybe it needs a white dot on the stem. Maybe I need to have a capo talk to it.

:king: tj
 
In my experience, a meer has two problems: first, most makers use those little miserable teflon tenons that won't allow a good draw, period, which makes the taste thin and bland even in a briar. My meers from Fikri Baki do not suffer from that problem, he makes his own and uses a larger tube. Second, it takes time to smoke out the raw, waxy taste. They need seasoning -- the first few times you smoke them you taste wax from beginning to end, and sort of a dry, chalky overtone, and the pipe itself smells like an airport ashtray when you're done smoking it. But, with time, those nasties fade. If you have the patience. I have one meer in particular that is a favorite.

Jack
 
Thanks Jack. I'll give it some time. It does have a delrin tenon. The pipe is a group six and seems to draw fine. I know nothing about pipe construction, but "think" everything is proportional to size. Larger pipes have larger airways.???

Many smokers have talked about "opening" airways. All of my pipes are 5's and 6's and all seem very "open." All are 5/32nd shank airway diameters, or bigger.

The "waxy" thing you talk of is still apparent. Maybe two dozen smokes by now. Not so much in taste anymore, but the bowl still feels a little "sticky" when it's smoked.

SO FAR, I still prefer briar for the above stated reasons. Will persist. Who knows?

tj
 
One of my IMP meers seems to have a real problem getting rid of that wax. Just going to have to keep smoking it.

At times I have noticed that certain blends seem to be much stronger than in a briar. Others, a bit milder. I need to study it more. I have a little churchwarden meer that HOTW is just wonderful in. The bowl is so small I cannot get my pinkie in it, but I can get 45min bowls out of it.
 
Back in the day, it was beeswax melted in sperm (whale) oil. Never did learn whether or not that taste ever smoked out of them -- after six months I was out of patience and gave them away.

:face:
 
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