128. Peterson’s New Bowl Coating.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you bought a new pipe (no matter if it cost $80 or $800) and it smoked really great at the first bowl? This is just a brief note to document my experience with Peterson’s the new bowl coating. It is also an invitation to hear from other Peterson users who’ve recently purchased and are smoking Petes with this new coating. As of this writing, I’ve only seen it on the 406 Large Prince, the Aran Rusticated and the Rosslare Rusticated lines, but there may be others. You can distinguish it from previous treatments because it’s quite glossy and very slightly tacky to the touch. I wrote Peterson to ask about it and they responded that they’ve recently begun using what they believe is a coating superior to the previous paint-on vegetable-base product. To aid in the binding process, the company has for the first time in its history lightly sanded the inside of the chamber, removing the classic set of pin points caused by the chuck marks. Never fear, purists, as these will remain in the high-grade natural finish lines. I hate breaking in new pipes and always have, which is the only reason I have unsmoked pipes laying around. I hate break-ins for two reasons: first, they're just plain stressful, since there’s always the danger that I’ll burn out the pipe, even with a bowl coating (I’ve been called “the Human Torch”). Then second, there’s the off-putting taste of the bowl coating, and I’m not actually talking about Peterson’s last bowl coating, which was better than most. Many artisan-factory pipe makers as well as artisan makers all over the world will tell you quite openly they use medical-quality charcoal powder combined with water glass (potassium silicate) and a bit of water. This, they say, makes a good point-of-sale appearance as well as providing insurance for both maker and smoker that it won’t burn out before its broken in. Well, I don’t mind so much that it looks like gray 220 grit sandpaper, only that it tastes like it. As I said, water glass and charcoal haven’t ever been used on Peterson chambers, but while the vegetable-based product they used was better, it wasn’t as good as bare wood. Especially if any stain was lurking beneath it, as could sometimes be the case in many Dublin Era pipes, even those that weren't dip-stained (a practice used on lower and entry-grade lines which ceased around the year 2000). So, what about the new coating? I don’t know what ingredients Peterson has used, but my first smoke in the Aran Rusticated was the best I’ve had in any new pipe (not just Peterson, but from other factories and artisans), at least apart from the unfinished or virgin chamber of the Rogha System last May. After the first smoke and "ashing" Peterson’s new coating doesn’t seem flavorless to me, but mildly sweet. I smoked Gawith FVF first time out, and beyond the normal sweetness of the virginias there…