Short cut to sweetening up your briar

Ed

Dear all,

I know that there have been many postings on this topic but I just thought I will share with you all- my normal regular cleaning routine (with maybe a little bit of twist).

It is rather troublesome to clean the pipe after every single smoke (except to remove the moisture collected at the bottom of the bowl), so I normally clean (meaning dislocating the stem from the pipe) the pipe after approximately every 3~4 smokes.

Like it has been mentioned previously, high-alcohol content liquor such as vodka or cognac is used to get rid off the dried tar left in the shank, air-hole and stem.  Though, I have also noted that depending on the liquor used for the procedure, a difference in the taste of the smoke can also be altered to one's taste (I know that it is a pretty obivious fact, however, if the type of liquor is not choosen rightly, the final result can be rather nasty)   Hence, one can never go wrong with liquors that have been mentioned in the previous postings (my personal choice is to use bourbon, as it brings out a mellower smoke from the heavy English blends and it also complements the heavy taste that is produced by the blend).

Instead of letting the moisture in the pipe dry out natually, I use a blow-dryer to speed up the process.  This may sound stupid to many, but I find it rather effective in order to help the liquor to get to work on the sourly tar taste sitting in the dark corner in the stem (I called it the blind spot, it is where the tenon comes into close contact with the air-hole and is terribly hard to get to when one has a smallish pipe such as Dunhill size 3).

Making sure that the air produced by the dryer is not too hot and keeping it at a distance away from the pipe (blow-drying into both the bowl and the shank and of course how can one forget about the mouth-piece, I am able to let the alcohol evaporate at a quicker rate).  I run quite a bit of liquor into both the stem and the mouth-piece and of couse, one must make sure to dry it out entirely!

Now, you can smell the inside of the shank to detact whether if there is still a foully smell coming from the tar, continuing the process until the smell is gone.  It normally works wonders on my pipe when it comes to getting rid off the sourly tar taste.

After smoking the pipe, I am certain that you will be able to note a greater depth in the tobacco you thoguht you once knew.  I did it with my pipe and I find the Early Morning Pipe tobacco by Dunhill which I am very fond of  taste better and sweeter than ever!

Please excuse my writing, as it all came out of my smallish head in a rush (just like my smallish pipe!) and I truly hope that you will enjoy your tobacco ever more.

Regards,

Ed[em22][em22][em22]

[此贴子已经被作者于2003-7-28 6:55:56编辑过]

[此贴子已经被作者于2003-7-28 6:56:42编辑过]

[此贴子已经被作者于2003-7-28 6:58:05编辑过]

citic

刚才经试用，此法确实效果不错，可以很方便地把榫眼内死角处积攒的焦油的异味快速“摧出”，而且残留的酒精气味也较一般的自然风干去除得更彻底一些。

不过在下有一点担心：通过热气加速受潮木质的干燥，比起自然干燥，会不会对木质有潜在的不良影响？（就好像用干燥硅胶的一些担心）

深深呼吸

我想有些方法使用适当 也不会有太大的影响
小弟现在还使用硅胶干燥 但不是象开始时 到满硅胶至斗钵 而是清理完后放上几粒
第二天会发现硅胶颗粒都变黄了 这说明不但吸了水分 还吸收了焦油
既干燥了斗钵 又除了异味 还不破坏烟斗木质的平衡
可以尝试尝试

Ed

This is my explanation on it.

Since, briar wood is nutured by mother nature to withstand the extreme heat released by the burning of tobacco, a little hot air from the blow-dryer will not do much harm to it (besides, if you have the option of cold air on your dryer then by all means, it is a even better way!).  One must take note that this should also be done from a distance, make sure there is just enough air to get through into the shank, that is more than adequate!

Just one thing that I forgot to mention, I think the pipe will be better off if one only assembles it once when it has cooled down from the drying process.

Good to see that it made a difference in your briar!

Warmest Regards,

Ed[em22][em22][em22]

[此贴子已经被作者于2003-7-28 19:45:27编辑过]