English Questions

[gilgawulf]

So I heard that if one is going to smoke Englishes, one ought devote one pipe strictly to them. However, when I did this it wasn't long before the pipe got a horrible 'briney' taste in it that stayed in my mouth for an hour or so afterwards. It was an old pipe (one of my Grandpa's) which I had, perhaps foolishly, reamed down almost to the briar. So now it doesn't have much cake at all to it.
I guess what I'm wondering is:
1) Is it true that you should devote one pipe strictly to briars.
2) If so, will a better cake mean less of that overload of briney taste?

I hear some people talk about how they like some of the carryover lakia flavours, but right now I'm still trying to identify what I like, and so I like to be able to have a clean palate in my pipe, so to speak.

Sorry if this is inarticulately worded. I'd welcome any suggestions you guys have on the subject.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

1) Is it true that you should devote one pipe strictly to briars.

I think you are asking about dedicated pipes here (you only smoke a certain blend in one pipe, and that pipe/blend combination only). "briars" as the last word in this question is, I would say, incorrect as most pipes are made from briar, except meerschaum, cob and clay, cherry or other exotic wood.

2) Cake, as defined by Vito, is charcoal and the partially or completely incinerated remnants of tobacco. If you've reamed the pipe down to wood, you've taken away one component of how a blend will taste, as cake does influence taste. Generally it is recommended that the cake be the thickness of a dime. If you want a consistently full taste to the blends you smoke, dedicating a pipe to these blends and building up that dime's worth of cake from that tobacco is recommended. It is also possible to build up a new cake on top of the old cake from a new blend. For instance the pipe I'm smoking now last saw action smoking a VA/Perique; right now I'm smoking Maltese Falcon, an Oriental, in it. The MF didn't require laying down a new layer of cake, so sometimes you have to build up a new cake and sometimes you don't; it depends on the compatibility of the tobaccos.

I'm unfamiliar with a "briney" taste; I don't ream my pipes down to bare wood. When I break in a new pipe with no bowl coating, just bare wood, I don't taste it either.

 

[Justpipes]

Alfredo pretty much nailed it down! I will also add that I have never experienced a briney taste. It could be a ghost from your grandpa's smoking days.

 

[Anonymous]

right now I'm still trying to identify what I like, and so I like to be able to have a clean palate in my pipe, so to speak.

I would suggest getting several corn cob pipes and dedicating one per type of tobacco, this will help to keep a pure clean taste (palate) without too much expenditure. This way you can experiment and find 'your' baccy.
I don't smoke much English but I do have an old cob dedicated to them as well as one for burleys, most of my briars just see Va's (with a few exceptions).

 

[Anonymous]

A point from LL's review of Westminster that seems relevant here :

The tin aroma of full and medium-full English blends usually falls into one of three groups. The fruity/fermented undertone; the burnt/toasty undertone; and those with a dry-ish, "sour and musty in a good way" scent.

:face:

 

[the macdonald]

A point from LL's review of Westminster that seems relevant here :

The tin aroma of full and medium-full English blends usually falls into one of three groups. The fruity/fermented undertone; the burnt/toasty undertone; and those with a dry-ish, "sour and musty in a good way" scent.

:face:

Assuming that it is something other than the blend, you pipe might need a good cleaning. I have had a pipe or two that just got fowl because I didn't clean them properly. I usually run a pipe cleaner through it dipped in alcohol.

 

[Anonymous]

Yep

That too.

:face:

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what you mean by briney, but it could be we perceive flavors differently. You don't mean sour do you?

I do have some pipes dedicated to types now, but I will admit that for years (over 10), I really didn't worry about which blend went in each pipe. As a result, I smoked for most of my life not knowing what blends actually tasted like.

I'm not going to say that I am better for smoking VA in my VA pipes, but when I want to smoke VA, I am certainly glad that I have some pipes that allow me to taste ONLY VAs. I'm one of those freaks that ghosts a pipe on purpose to get the flavor combination.

I will say that I Do Not like to smoke arromatics in anything but pipes dedicated to arromatics, which are my original pipes since I ghosted them all.

Cake really affects how the pipe smokes (hot or cool) as well as how dry, I believe. I try to always break in a pipe with VAs, not sure what would happen if you formed a cake with other flavors.

WHen I had fewer pipes, seemed like I was reaming all the time (duh! I smoked them more often). I find now that I rarely ream.

 

[glpease]

I'm not going to say that I am better for smoking VA in my VA pipes, but when I want to smoke VA, I am certainly glad that I have some pipes that allow me to taste ONLY VAs. I'm one of those freaks that ghosts a pipe on purpose to get the flavor combination.

Yes! Sometimes, those "crossover" smokes offer some wonderful surprises.

I try to always break in a pipe with VAs, not sure what would happen if you formed a cake with other flavors.

I don't remember who it was (it might have been Ken Graham, who worked for Drucquer's when I first started hanging out there in ca. 1980), but I was offered the pearl that, sometimes, smoking virginias in a dedicated latakia pipe can "sweeten" it up when the pipe seems to have gone a bit flat. It's one of those little tidbits that's always served well, and offers more opportunities for the "Magical Mystery Smokes."

 

[gilgawulf]

Thanks for all the info, guys.