PIPE CARE When cleaning a new pipe, use pipe cleaners frequently but cautiously. Running them all the way down into the bowl may peel away the new cake before it has a chance to set. Rest your pipe at least a full day after smoking it. Give the accumulated oil and moisture a chance to dry out. Be sure to set the pipe at the proper drainage angle, with the bowl lower than the stem. Your reward will be a dry pipe that smokes cooler and sweeter. Rotate your pipes. Owning and smoking a number of different shapes and styles...

Three Steps to Properly Loading a Pipe Step 1: Gravity feed tobacco into the bowl of the pipe. Gently level off the excess with the top of the bowl. Press the tobacco down gently about 2/3 from the top Step 2 Again, gravity feed tobacco into the bowl; gently level off the excess with the top of the pipe. Press slightly harder, this time until the tobacco is about 1/3 from the top. . Step 3 Once more gravity feed the tobacco into the pipe to overflowing. Press firmly. The tobacco should be slightly springy and level with the top...

Smoking your pipe Smoking Your Pipe? (This is the Best Part!) Your greatest smoking pleasure will come from learning and practicing the basic techniques employed by pipe experts. A cool, dry, flavorful smoke time after time will be your reward. Once you know the secrets of loading, lighting and tamping your pipe, you will enjoy the full richness and flavor of your tobacco. Your pipe will stay lit longer and give you full smoking satisfaction. How to Break In Your New Pipe Breaking in your new pipe simply means developing a thin layer of carbon or cake on the inside...

 Selecting the right pipe How to Select a New Pipe Due to the inconsistencies of nature and the conditions under which Briar grows, only a small percentage of the thousands of pipes produced each year will have a uniformly fine grain pattern and perfection of finish upon which a manufacturer will stamp his name. These perfect pipes, which may cost $100 or more, are sometimes called firsts and represent the pinnacle of the pipe makers art. Serious pipe smokers and pipe collectors take great pride in owning and smoking these fine pipes. The remaining Briar pipes may have tiny,...

 Briar pipes On the Nature of Briar... A briar pipe begins as a Burl (or growth) on the root system of the White Heath Tree, a squat, hearty, shrub-like plant which grows primarily in the dry, arid, rocky wastelands around the Mediterranean Sea. Of all woods, the Briar Burl is unique for making pipes; it’s tough, porous and nearly impervious to heat. Burls for fine quality pipes can often be 50 to 100 years old when harvested for pipe making. And Briar Pipes Once harvested, the Briar burls are cut by skilled craftsmen using large, circular saws to remove...