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发表于 2002-4-7 17:48:32
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[转帖]Pipe smoking- Meerschaum Style
以下有关海泡石烟斗的文章摘自 Pipe & Tobacco Magazine 2002, Spring
Pipe Smoking- Meerschaum Style
By Stephen A. Ross
Have you ever considered smoking a meerschaum pipe? The odds are that most of us have, and proudly display a couple of meerschaums in our collection. As early as the 17th century, people enjoyed smoking tobacco from meerschaum pipes and marveled at meerschaum’s ability to slowly change its color from its natural white to a reddish-brown. Most of today’s tobacconists continue to carry a number of meerschaum pipes, and there remains a strong cadre of meerschaum enthusiasts who welcome its ability to provide a clean-tasting smoke while almost magically changing color. Most of these meerschaum devotees have spent years smoking and experimenting with meerschaum pipes and have developed strong opinions about meerschaum pipes. We asked a panel of experts—SMS Meerschaums’ Beth Sermet, C.A.O.’s Cano Ozgener and Butera Pipe Co.’s Mike Butera—to share their wisdom. Each expert has kindly shared knowledge about which tobaccos smoke best in a meerschaum, cleaning meerschaum pipes, meerschaum’s coloration process, tips to enhance your meerschaum’s coloration, and the standards they use to judge a meerschaum’s color. Although they may disagree on certain points, our experts agree on one thing: They hope you will join them in their immense enjoyment of smoking meerschaum pipes.
According to our experts, the same criteria should be used when you are considering purchasing a pipe made of briar or meerschaum. Butera says, “You want to look at the same things. Although meerschaum is more porous than briar, it will still collect moisture. You want to make sure you can run a pipe cleaner through the entire pipe and you will want to check to see that the draft hole is at the bottom of the bowl.”
Another important item to consider is whether to purchase a pipe made from block or pressed meerschaum. “Block meerschaum is carved from stone that has been dug out of the earth, and pressed meerschaum is composed of meerschaum pieces that have been crushed, mixed with vegetable glue and formed into blocks. There’s a difference in the smoking quality in the beginning, but once they are broken in, they provide a similar smoking experience,” according to Butera. Our other two experts disagree with Butera and think there is a difference between the smoking qualities of block and pressed meerschaum. “It’s day and night,” Ozgener says. “The bonding material used in pressed meerschaum interferes with the natural way the tobacco smokes. The block meerschaum is lighter; it smokes much cooler; it breathes better; and it better absorbs tobacco’s tar and nicotine. Block meerschaum will also color better than pressed meerschaum, which doesn’t color without the use of artificial products. Well-made tobacco is intricate and you want it to be as unaffected as possible.” Sermet agrees, adding, “Pressed meerschaum is much less expensive than block meerschaum. Pressed meerschaum carves very much like block meerschaum, but you can’t achieve the extremely fine detail you see with block meerschaum.” Although pressed meerschaum has qualities similar to those of block meerschaum, Sermet states that a meerschaum pipe’s material should be clearly identified. “Other than our cala bash pipes, we don’t carry any pressed meerschaum pipes and we don’t think pressed meerschaum pipes should be considered equivalent to block meerschaum. Pressed meerschaum is mostly used in cigarette lighters and calabash pipes, and you must make sure that when you’re buying a meerschaum pipe, you’re buying one that’s made from block meerschaum.” Whether you decide to buy a meerschaum pipe carved from natural stone or one made from pressed meerschaum, there’s a vast variety of sizes, shapes and carvings from which to choose. A meerschaum pipe allows a smoker to display his own individuality, and someone thinking about buying a meerschaum should use great care when considering which pipe to buy.
Once you’ve decided what meerschaum to purchase, it’s time to choose your tobacco. Our panel agrees that the best tobacco to smoke is the tobacco you like. “Enjoyment of the tobacco is the first and most important thing. The fact that meerschaum also colors is an added benefit,” Ozgener says. “I wouldn’t recommend people switch blends just for coloration,” Sermet adds. “All tobaccos smoke great in meerschaums,” Butera says. “It takes a little longer for a meerschaum to break in using Latakia, but it’s great, too. Tobacco in a meerschaum smokes very dry and very neutral. There’s nothing added to the flavor of the tobacco, so what you get is the true flavor that the blender intended for it to have. It’s similar to smoking a clay pipe.” Butera has experimented with the effects of different tobaccos on meerschaum’s coloration process and found that “Latakia and aromatics will generally give the meerschaum a purplish-brown color, and Burleys and Virginias will cause the meerschaum to develop a golden hue, but eventually, all tobaccos will darken the meerschaum into a burgundy color. The most important thing is to smoke what you like, because the more you smoke, the quicker the pipe will change color.”
Cleaning a meerschaum pipe is very similar to cleaning a briar, but there are some special considerations to keep in mind. Sermet advises that when cleaning a pipe, it’s important to make sure the bowl and the shank are equally supported. “Don’t hold only the bowl, or the shank will twist off. It’s also important to periodically check the mortise and tenon to make sure the fitting is tight because moisture can deteriorate the fitting. I would also swab out the meerschaum’s bowl with a soft pipe cleaner to prevent cake accumulation. I wouldn’t use any cleaning fluids except perhaps brandy.” Ozgener agrees with much of Sermet’s advice, “The quality of the smoke from a clean meerschaum pipe is much better than from an unclean meerschaum pipe. Clean the stem with a pipe cleaner and disengage the mouthpiece only when the pipe is cool. You have to support the shank of the meerschaum when you disengage the stem. Then you clean the pipe’s shank and clean the inside of the bowl with a blunt object. In my opinion, you don’t want any cake residue in meerschaum. The cake can expand and contract at a different rate than the meerschaum, which could cause the pipe to crack.”
Butera generally agrees with Ozgener and Sermet, but thinks that decisions about cake or cleaning fluids should be left to the individual. “I personally like to have cake on all of my pipes because I think it provides a cleaner, drier and more delicious smoke. Some people think that cake will prevent a pipe from coloring as quickly, but I don’t think that’s true. If you decide to build a cake, don’t let it get any bigger than a nickel’s thickness. I’ve smoked a lot of meerschaum pipes in my life and I’ve never had one break because of the cake in it. As far as cleaning a meerschaum is concerned, you can use pipe sweeteners, but avoid getting them on the outside surface of the meerschaum.”
The meerschaum’s ability to change color is enhanced by a coating of molten wax. Each carver has his own formula for mixing in the proportions of beeswax and paraffin to create this wax. According to Sermet, “The more beeswax mixed in with paraffin, the better the pipe will color.” Sermet once cut open a meerschaum to see how wax helps a meerschaum color. “The moisture of the tobacco and the residue bleed into the pipe from the un-waxed smoking chamber. The meerschaum acts as a sponge and pulls these liquids into the pipe. The wax holds the residue on the surface instead of letting it evaporate.” Butera says, “Meerschaums are easy to color. Smoke your meerschaum pipe a couple of times each day for three or four weeks until it’s become saturated. You’ll know it’s saturated because it will be heavier and it will take a lot more pipe cleaners to keep it clean. Once it’s saturated, let it dry out for approximately one month. The residue that was absorbed by the pipe will slowly move toward the pipe’s surface and the beeswax will keep it from evaporating.”
The beeswax is the most crucial factor in developing a nicely colored meerschaum pipe. There are two important things to avoid if you want to preserve your beeswax—don’t handle the pipe with dirty hands when it’s warm, and avoid getting the pipe too hot. Ozgener says, “The softened beeswax can pick up dirt or leave the impression of fingerprints on the pipe’s surface.” Sermet recommends smoking the pipe 10 times holding only the stem. “After your 10th time smoking the pipe, the wax should be adjusted to your smoking style. After that, handle it however you like.” Butera admits that he handles his meerschaums when he smokes them, but emphatically warns, “You have to have clean hands because the beeswax will pick up dirt. When it softens, the beeswax will take any dirt on your hands, which will then penetrate into the wax and be extremely difficult to get out. Another thing to watch out for is to keep the pipe from getting too hot—otherwise, you will melt the wax.”
Butera has revived the use of the coloring bowl, a tool that smokers used a century ago to aid the coloring process. Butera’s coloring bowls fit into a meerschaum’s bowl and allow you to smoke your tobacco without getting the pipe too hot. “It turns your entire meerschaum pipe into a shank and allows the pipe to color more evenly, because it won’t get too hot and you won’t melt the wax.” If you decide to use a coloring bowl to help you color your meerschaum, Butera suggests you attach it to your pipe before you smoke it for the first time.
A meerschaum’s color is judged by three factors—its uniformity, depth and beauty. “Uniformity of color is most important for me,” Ozgener says. “I look to see if the pipe is colored throughout its surface, or if there are splotches where it doesn’t color as well. Sometimes a pipe colors darker in some areas than in others, but I would prefer to see a pipe that’s colored all around even though its coloration isn’t dark. The second thing I look for is depth of coloring, or how dark the pipe has become. It tells you how much a person has smoked his pipe.” Butera agrees that uniformity is more important than depth, but adds, “You’ve got to realize that block meerschaum is a natural substance. Like other natural substances, block meerschaum will have varying degrees of porosity throughout its structure that will make it absorb moisture at different rates. This will cause the meerschaum to color unevenly. You have to look at the pipe’s color with the knowledge that some areas aren’t going to color as well. If its color is nearly even, you know that the smoker didn’t overheat the pipe. I think the pipe’s darkness is not as important.” Sermet agrees that uniformity and depth of color are important, but argues that judging how a meerschaum’s color enhances the overall composition of the pipe is paramount. “There are some examples of pipes I’ve seen that didn’t have an even coloration but were simply stunning to see. It really depends on the pipe’s design. I look to see the overall effect of the coloring on the pipe and ask myself if it’s more beautiful after it’s been colored.”
Meerschaum pipes have been around for a long time, and they have developed a devoted group of admirers through the years. These advocates of meerschaum smoking have created techniques and methods that each believes will best transform a white meerschaum pipe into a stunning work of art through the coloration process. Now that you’ve read our experts’ advice, you are armed with the information you need to develop your own works of art while enjoying one of your favorite pastimes. Go ahead—now’s the time to smoke your pipe, meerschaum-style. P&T
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