Balsa Filter Experiment - What the H_ll?

[TreverT]

I'm also a big fan of filter pipes, especially the 9mm charcoal ones. It's something like heresy to say this in the US, where the overwhelming popular opinion is that filters=bad, but really, they work quite well once you get accustomed to them and learn how to use them to best advantage. For me, they greatly broaden the range of pipe tobaccos I can smoke and enjoy, because they take the bite out of many that would otherwise not be particularly pleasant in unfiltered form. The restricted draw is odd at first, but one adjusts to compensate for it fairly quickly and I've come to enjoy the toned-down flavors of some tobacco blends that are a bit OTT in their unfiltered form.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm also a big fan of filter pipes, especially the 9mm charcoal ones. It's something like heresy to say this in the US, where the overwhelming popular opinion is that filters=bad, but really, they work quite well once you get accustomed to them and learn how to use them to best advantage. For me, they greatly broaden the range of pipe tobaccos I can smoke and enjoy, because they take the bite out of many that would otherwise not be particularly pleasant in unfiltered form. The restricted draw is odd at first, but one adjusts to compensate for it fairly quickly and I've come to enjoy the toned-down flavors of some tobacco blends that are a bit OTT in their unfiltered form.

Interesting Trever.....
I may give them another bash!
Balsa, really works well for me in 6mm!

 

[Slow Puffs]

Good thots coming in.

A found a box of "adsorba" 9mm charcoal filters among my pipe thingies. I decided to try it in a Lorenzetti. First, I couldn't figure out which is the "ceramic" end so with the help of my wife, decided it it was the "white" not the "green" end. First thing I noticed was how it impeded the draw dramatically. Next I went to pass a pipe cleaner (opps - force of habit). I'll be interested to examine the shank after the bowl is finished.

Well, I finished one pipeful using the 9mm charcoal. Taking out the filter and looking at it, I certainly wouldn't use it again for a second pipeful. But cleaning the pipe shank to my satisfaction still took a number of Q-tips. The shank wasn't as gunked up as when I used the balsa but then I did use it repeatedly.

I'm coming to the conclusion, that filters give little advantage in keeping a shank clean, if any.

But TreverT raised an interesting thought about managing the "bite" or "toning down" a blend. I'm going to give this a go with Mac Baren's Va No 1 that I always need to add something to "tone it down".

I can see this as a "plus" in using a 9mm charcoal

 

[Anonymous]

Good Idea SP...... Mac Baren VA 1 has a nasty bite to it if you are not careful, this could be interesting, keep us posted!!!!

 

[Sasquatch]

There was an article in P+T last year, a sort of head to head of filtered and "machine" pipes (falcons, aerodomes etc) and the writer really figured that the Brigham maple filter and somewhat the savinelli balsa cut out a lot of bite. He was just over the moon about the brigham ones.

 

[Slow Puffs]

There was an article in P+T last year, a sort of head to head of filtered and "machine" pipes (falcons, aerodomes etc) and the writer really figured that the Brigham maple filter and somewhat the savinelli balsa cut out a lot of bite. He was just over the moon about the brigham ones.

Interesting Sasq. Rarely do I experience tongue bite and I've given up using the Brigham filters long ago. BTW, I use the Brighams for Balkans, English and Orientals... . Again too much fuss with the filter.

 

[Slow Puffs]

Well I am surprised...

A while ago, I loaded a Lorenzetti constantine with Mac Baren Virginia No. 1 using the 9mm charcoal filter. The initial light went well. I got through a third of the bowl (about a group 5-6) and it wasn't bad at all :shock:

Instead of waiting, I decided that this needed a side by side test, after all the tobacco has two years age on it.

So I loaded up a comparable pipe, a Lorenzetti caesar augustus. The initial light was sharp... hmm... when I lit it up again, there was the sharpness.

This isn't a"slight" difference but a difference that has finally made Va No 1 pleasant to smoke. I never thought I'd say that :shock:

I know one tobacco that I'll be using the 9mm filter with.... thank you Mr. Talbert.

 

[Sasquatch]

Just stay away from my Club Blend, old man. irat:

 

[Sasquatch]

And for the record, I'm not "anti-filter". I don't smoke any filtered pipes, I simply smoke tobaccos that agree with me, for the most part. I just find the filters too much of a headache, and I don't live anywhere near where I can get em. And I suffer a weird morbid fear that if I start liking some brand of filter, they'll stop making them.

My life is easier without them.

I know Natch, here, for example, is a dedicated filter pipe user, and he seems okay.... :cheers:

 

[babysinister]

Six of seven of my pipes are 6mm filter Savinellis. Since I sometimes smoke 5-6 bowls a day, I grab the filtered pipes to avoid getting pipe tongue by the last two bowls and to cut down on the tar and nicotine, to which I've developed a low threshold in my old age. So my purpose is to filter the smoke, not necessarily to keep the shank cleaner. After every bowl, filtered or unfiltered, I pipeclean the shank and stem with Brebbia or Denicotea pipe cleaning fluid. Letting the soaked pipecleaner sit, as Sasquatch advises, brings out the gunk and oxidation not only from the shank but also the hard deposits in the stem itself, which are insidiously deceptive but do alter the taste of the tobacco over time. I also clean the bowl this way, after every smoke, as I find that it prevents the pipe from going sour on me.

 

[mark]

Natch sent me filters a while back and explained his procedure using them as outlined a couple posts back. Works like a charm and although it's a little more work, I'm in no rush before, during, or after enjoying a pipe. You'll find it'll close the draw a bit, but it cuts the harshness of some blends. May be worth a try for you just as an option to keep in mind when a particularly bitey tobacco is harassing your tongue,,,,

 

[Anonymous]

Diff'rent strokes yet again.

In dedicated pipes, the more residue that accumulates (up to the point where the draw's affected), assuming proper rest, the better they taste to yr. obt. svt. here.

The whole flippin' point of dedicating pipes is to bring them, over time, to this condition. In which each new smoke awakens the spirits of previous ones who join in.

:face:

 

[Anonymous]

Well I am surprised...

A while ago, I loaded a Lorenzetti constantine with Mac Baren Virginia No. 1 using the 9mm charcoal filter. The initial light went well. I got through a third of the bowl (about a group 5-6) and it wasn't bad at all :shock:

Instead of waiting, I decided that this needed a side by side test, after all the tobacco has two years age on it.

So I loaded up a comparable pipe, a Lorenzetti caesar augustus. The initial light was sharp... hmm... when I lit it up again, there was the sharpness.

This isn't a"slight" difference but a difference that has finally made Va No 1 pleasant to smoke. I never thought I'd say that :shock:

I know one tobacco that I'll be using the 9mm filter with.... thank you Mr. Talbert.

Way to go SP!!!!!!!! thats good news!
thanks for sharing!! :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

 

[Slow Puffs]

Diff'rent strokes yet again.

In dedicated pipes, the more residue that accumulates (up to the point where the draw's affected), assuming proper rest, the better they taste to yr. obt. svt. here.

The whole flippin' point of dedicating pipes is to bring them, over time, to this condition. In which each new smoke awakens the spirits of previous ones who join in.

:face:

Patience Yak with my tangent :lol: When it's minus 30c outside or lower and I'm smoking in an unheated garage, I'll not be spending a great deal of time with my mad scientist experiments. I've actually had those little vodka sample bottles turn to slush, it's been so cold. :roll: . That's the time of year when much of my smoking is done in the vehicle as I drive about, unless the weather isn't that bad.

I likely won't use filters unless it is Mac Baren Va No1., but it's good to know. I'm a "Fog City" guy and I never mind Fog City remnants in my pipes.

But having said that... it sure is nice to have my pipes a lot cleaner than they were a few weeks ago.

 

[TreverT]

Glad to hear your filter experiment is working out for you! These days, I pretty much have my tobacco selection broken neatly into those which are better with filter pipes and those which are better without. FWIW, one thing I have found filter pipes to be REALLY handy for is Christmas, of all things... When you have family and guests around, you can load up with one of those sweet smelling aromatic blends that make the whole house smell like ginger cookies or whatever - You know, the ones that are so hot and biting as to be almost unsmokeable in unfiltered pipes - and they're perfectly mild and enjoyable through charcoal filters. And everyone will tell you how wonderful your pipe smells, instead of asking what tires you're burning. It is also a subtle and sneaky way to pass on the pipe thing to future generations, since they'll have warm happy memories of Christmases that smell like rich, aromatic pipe smoke, and get that forever wired into their perception of holidays. 8)

One interesting thing I learned while in Europe - For years, I had wondered who actually enjoyed some of those super-sweet Danish aromatics, which always burned so hot for me that the bite made them nearly unsmokeable. The toppings and sugar content always seemed way OTT to me. However, they're blended in a home market that primarily favors filtered pipes (Germany, especially) and it got me to wondering, so I re-sampled some Danish aromatics in a few 9mm charcoal filters pipes I had and geez, what a difference! What was previously biting was toned down, and what was previously over-topped was simply sweet and enjoyable. I've since found that 9mm filters work a treat for any biting aromatics or VA blends, seeming to take a lot of the harshness off and leaving them mellowed out enough to be really nice. It left me wondering if some of the unpleasantness I've found in MacB's and such might simply be because they're taste-geared towards a filter pipe smoking market. I've often wondered what would be the result if a blender taste-tested a new blend entirely in a filter pipe until it was perfect... What it might then smoke like in an unfiltered pipe? I'd be willing to bet it would be a bit too harsh, a bit too bitey.

 

[Anonymous]

Trever,
Love your take on Chrismas Aro's, brilliant!
Will pay close attention round this time of year!!

 

[Slow Puffs]

That makes wonderful sense to me. I have a small aromatic section in my cellar and may even take some along tonight when we visit some friends.

(I never thought this thread would develope into so many good suggestions)

Now where did I hide that walnut :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Look behind the hornet spray and the rat poison :lol!:

:face:

 

[Joseph76]

Trevor,

Your comments got me curious. I've read many of your posts over the years and you seem to approach things without bias. On the weekend I ordered a 9mm Stanwell pipe to try with a bunch of Vauen filters... time to experiment a little.

 

[LL]

No mystery. Absorbent filters simply wick away the liquid-form smoke components, which allows the solid ones to coagulate, "plate out" (in engine-speak), and semi-harden.

Ugly stuff, that. If your eyes could see what mine have... etc. :lol!:

There's no such thing as a free lunch.