Why Choose Clay Pipe?
Currently, pipes made from wood, especially briar, are the most popular type of pipe. However, clay pipes were quite popular for many years, and in fact for a long time were the only type of pipe available in Europe for the smoking of tobacco. The advantages of briar are numerous, and generally fairly well known by the pipe smoking community. Many people seem to be unaware of the advantages of clay, however.
1. Clay pipes are more forgiving:
The material from which they are made is not flammable, so one need not be concerned if one has a habit of smoking too hot. Burnout is impossible.
Since clay pipes tend to have longer stems, have a higher specific heat (meaning they can absorb more heat) and radiate heat more readily than briar, even if one is smoking too hot and hard, it is unlikely that tongue bite will be an issue for most tobaccos (some tobaccos would bite you even if you just sprinkled them on an incense brazier, however).
Ceramic suffers abuse more stoically than either briar or meerschaum. While it is true that clay pipes are brittle, and unlikely to survive a fall or a sharp blow, it is vanishingly unlikely that you will damage your pipe through over-vigorous application of your pipe tool.
2. Clay pipes do not seem to require any break-in period or seasoning to smoke well. No cake is necessary, and the material being incapable of burning while you smoke it does not influence the flavour of the tobacco. While a seasoned clay pipe does smoke a little better than a fresh one, the difference is not a great one, and a new clay pipe comes essentially "ready to rock" with whatever tobacco you choose to put in it.
3. The absence of any foreign material (burning briar, flavours from the curing oil in meerschaum) in your smoke will result in a brighter, clearer flavour, making clay pipes an excellent way to sample new tobaccos or simply to rediscover an old favourite. While smoking a given tobacco in a well cured pipe does add a certain something, it is sometimes nice to get nothing but the taste of the tobacco in question. This is particularly true if you are going to be smoking "pure" tobaccos, such as a straight Virginia or Oriental. Some people also find the spice and exotic flavours of latakia and perique fuller in a clay pipe, probably due to less absorbsion into the walls of the pipe bowl.
4. Since clay pipes can be cleaned completely, or nearly so (see Fire Cleaning), they can be used to try completely unfamiliar tobaccos without risking wood or meerschaum pipes, which can have a long memory for particularly intense flavours. If the experiment was a failure, and you truly loathe the tobacco in question, you need only fire clean the clay and it will return to pristine condition, ready for your next foray into the unknown. For this reason, clay pipes are also excellent for experimenting with non-tobacco smokes such as sage, corn husks, indian tea and the like. While you might not like the experience, one sometimes gets that curious feeling "what would that be like in a pipe?", especially about things that smell good while they are burning. It's nice to have a pipe about that can be used for such an experiment without worrying about ruining it.
5. Quality clay pipes are much cheaper than briar or meerschaum pipes in the same class, since both the material and the labour involved is much less. This makes clay pipes an excellent addition to the collection of any pipe smoker who needs to pad his or her rotation, but doesn't have the money to spend on the quality of briar pipe he or she likes.
1. Clay pipes are more forgiving:
The material from which they are made is not flammable, so one need not be concerned if one has a habit of smoking too hot. Burnout is impossible.
Since clay pipes tend to have longer stems, have a higher specific heat (meaning they can absorb more heat) and radiate heat more readily than briar, even if one is smoking too hot and hard, it is unlikely that tongue bite will be an issue for most tobaccos (some tobaccos would bite you even if you just sprinkled them on an incense brazier, however).
Ceramic suffers abuse more stoically than either briar or meerschaum. While it is true that clay pipes are brittle, and unlikely to survive a fall or a sharp blow, it is vanishingly unlikely that you will damage your pipe through over-vigorous application of your pipe tool.
2. Clay pipes do not seem to require any break-in period or seasoning to smoke well. No cake is necessary, and the material being incapable of burning while you smoke it does not influence the flavour of the tobacco. While a seasoned clay pipe does smoke a little better than a fresh one, the difference is not a great one, and a new clay pipe comes essentially "ready to rock" with whatever tobacco you choose to put in it.
3. The absence of any foreign material (burning briar, flavours from the curing oil in meerschaum) in your smoke will result in a brighter, clearer flavour, making clay pipes an excellent way to sample new tobaccos or simply to rediscover an old favourite. While smoking a given tobacco in a well cured pipe does add a certain something, it is sometimes nice to get nothing but the taste of the tobacco in question. This is particularly true if you are going to be smoking "pure" tobaccos, such as a straight Virginia or Oriental. Some people also find the spice and exotic flavours of latakia and perique fuller in a clay pipe, probably due to less absorbsion into the walls of the pipe bowl.
4. Since clay pipes can be cleaned completely, or nearly so (see Fire Cleaning), they can be used to try completely unfamiliar tobaccos without risking wood or meerschaum pipes, which can have a long memory for particularly intense flavours. If the experiment was a failure, and you truly loathe the tobacco in question, you need only fire clean the clay and it will return to pristine condition, ready for your next foray into the unknown. For this reason, clay pipes are also excellent for experimenting with non-tobacco smokes such as sage, corn husks, indian tea and the like. While you might not like the experience, one sometimes gets that curious feeling "what would that be like in a pipe?", especially about things that smell good while they are burning. It's nice to have a pipe about that can be used for such an experiment without worrying about ruining it.
5. Quality clay pipes are much cheaper than briar or meerschaum pipes in the same class, since both the material and the labour involved is much less. This makes clay pipes an excellent addition to the collection of any pipe smoker who needs to pad his or her rotation, but doesn't have the money to spend on the quality of briar pipe he or she likes.
Labels: Clay Pipe
posted by Shang Ning | 9:33:00 AM
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