Off Flavors in a new pipe

Subtilis87

I recently had a new briar pipe commissioned.  The inside of the bowl is not carbonized.  I have noticed that there are some off flavors (Sulfur sour) during my smoke of blends that I have had before.  Questions:

1. Is this something others have experienced?

2. Is this perhaps because the briar was not aged long?

3. Will it go away with time?

xDutchx

Subtilis, if it were me, I would give every new pipe a quick cleaning with your preferred spirit, to remove any possible shop residues. Sometimes, this is all it takes to eliminate any funky leftovers from the carving process. I usually always experience a sub par smoke the first bowl or two in a new pipe. Once the briar begins to season from smoking, the majority of the time, the pipe just keeps performing better and better. As a last resort, I would try sending the pipe off to Mike Myers at Walker Briar Repair, and have him place the pipe in his ozone machine. I believe he only charges $5 per pipe plus shipping. http//:walkerpiperepair.com/

IMO, around 98% of pipes are carved of quality smokeable briar. 1% are carved from exceptional pieces that taste beyond fantastic, and the other 1% taste horrible. In a sense, even when you buy a new pipe from a reputable source, the quality of the briar and it's smokeability are a crap shoot, even when the briar has been dried and aged properly. The reality is, that even exquisitely carved straight grain pipes selling for thousands of dollars, can be carved from bad briar. The carver really has no way of knowing for certain, how a particular pipe will smoke.

Is it possible that your briar wasn't aged properly? Absolutely. Age costs money, and briar is no exception. If you want to know why a tobacconist is asking $30 for a particular cigar, most likely he will explain that the tobacco in that cigar was aged well over a decade, sometimes longer. Same goes for bourbon and scotch. More age usually always equates to a higher price point.

Having said that, most likely your pipe isn't carved from a bad piece of briar, it just needs all the bases covered, and a couple tins of quality tobacco to break it in.

Subtilis87

Thanks @xDutchx.  I will give a the insides and the bowl a swab with some bourbon, and be patient. 

ThePipeDean

I wonder if used coffee grounds would work to help with this. I read on another discussion here on TPL some people have used them to help with a sour pipe?

ThePipeDean

@subtilis87 I went looking and the coffee trick was more for when a pipe gets ghosted I think the discussion was "the salt method of exorcism". I copied a section that I read below from pappyjoe.

PappyJoe

Professor

January 16

 Morton's rock salt and Everclear. I personally like to set this up
later in the day and let it sit overnight. Some guys I know won't let it
set for more than 4 or 5 hours and say they get good results.

Another
trick I learned and tried is instead of salt and alcohol, use used
coffee grounds that are still damp. I have one of those Keurig coffee
makers and will just take a cup out of the machine and use the grounds
from it. Plain coffee though none of the flavored blends. Again, just
let it sit overnight, dump the grounds and then rinse the bowl under tap
water. 

I know that sounds strange to some,
but more than a few old timers told me that it won't hurt briar (don't
do it with meerschaum) because you aren't soaking the wood in water,
just rinsing it out and to let it air dry for a day before smoking. The
coffee ground method doesn't damage the finish on the bowl like grain
alcohol will either.

PappyJoe

The coffee ground trick is more for cleaning ghosted or estate pipes. I don't think it would work with new briar.

You may want to try a light coating of honey in the bowl instead of alcohol. The honey will sweetened the bowl and help form cake faster. I think Yello-Bole used to advertise their pipes as have a honey coating.