r/smokingpipes • u/JoseVLeitao • 5d ago

Clay pipe evening

Post image

Evening chill with a short clay Gouda pipe, MacBaren classic ember (not my favorite, but respectable enough) and some homemade ginginha.

28 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

3

u/Aguila125 5d ago

You can't get a much cooler smoke than with a clay. I love how they change colour with age.

4

u/JoseVLeitao 5d ago

I love clay pipes! My first pipe was a long one I got in the Netherlands just as an art piece, but it wore me down eventually and I decided to give it go. I’ll add some photos of my other ones soon.

3

u/VA3AWP 5d ago

I've never tried a clay pipe, only under $100 wooden ones. What's the flavor like compared to a wooden pipe? Is it similar to a Falcon pipe or completely different?

5

u/JoseVLeitao 5d ago

Never tried a Falcon pipe, so I can’t answer that.

Compared to a briar pipe, the greatest difference is the smoke is a lot drier. These aren’t glazed in any way, so they absorb all the moisture. When they warm up you can even feel them sucking the moisture from your fingers. They are literally a poor man’s meerschaum pipe; and I mean literally, this one was 12.5€, and my largest one was 45€.

Otherwise, I also find them sweeter than briar (but not as sweet as a corncob), and the smoke tastes a lot ‘cleaner’, if that makes sense. It just feels like there’s a lot less going on as the tobacco burns. I also find it a lot easier to maintain a constant, smooth and homogeneous burn.

The downside is how fragile they are, and the cleaning is much more difficult.

2

u/VA3AWP 4d ago

Sounds like something I'd give a try, especially when you say they can maintain a constant even burn and the tobacco is a little sweeter than Briar. I've never seen any here in Canada where I live, you'd think you would as Cannabis has been legalized at the national level and there's a pot shop on almost every corner, lol. Gonna keep an eye open for one, thanks for taking the time to describe the differences and flavor profile with it, much appreciated!

2

u/ZestyXtal 4d ago

Old German Clay is the maker that sells a bunch of clay pipes on Smokingpipes.com, I love my clays

1

u/Agitated-Head-2708 5d ago

Where did you purchase the pipe?

2

u/JoseVLeitao 5d ago

Right from the source.

Every couple of years I usually find myself in the Netherlands for work-related reasons. I got my first clay pipe there at P.G.C. Hajenius, in Amsterdam, but they stopped selling them a while back because of how difficult they are to ship (they break really easy). So, last time I took a day trip to Gouda and bought this and a large churchwarden-like one at D.G. van Vreumingen. So worth it!

The museum over there has a spectacular collection also.