Thanks to all............Rick

Now that you mention it, the inside of the bowl was the same color as the outside, so I guess it was dip stained. I do know that the bowl wasn't carbon coated as a Grabow is. I don't know exactly how many smokes I have through it, but I've tried to smoke a bowl at least once a week since the purchase, but with several new pipes coming in lately it's just been sitting idle for a month or so.houtenziel wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 7:03 pmHow many smokes do you have through it, and was it a coated bowl? Sometimes certain bowl coatings can taste realllly bad - particularly if the pipe was dip stained(as most basket pipes are) and the bowl coating is over top of the stain in the bowl. It could take a good 15-20 smokes before the bitterness starts to subside.
If it's a dip stain issue, then slowroll's suggestions should take care of the problem. Any issue that remains after should easily be covered up with a good layer of cake. I might give the rock salt/alcohol treatment a go before I heated the pipe in the oven, as most stains used in pipe making are alcohol based.Bamarick wrote: ↑Fri Dec 07, 2018 6:16 amNow that you mention it, the inside of the bowl was the same color as the outside, so I guess it was dip stained. I do know that the bowl wasn't carbon coated as a Grabow is. I don't know exactly how many smokes I have through it, but I've tried to smoke a bowl at least once a week since the purchase, but with several new pipes coming in lately it's just been sitting idle for a month or so.houtenziel wrote: ↑Thu Dec 06, 2018 7:03 pmHow many smokes do you have through it, and was it a coated bowl? Sometimes certain bowl coatings can taste realllly bad - particularly if the pipe was dip stained(as most basket pipes are) and the bowl coating is over top of the stain in the bowl. It could take a good 15-20 smokes before the bitterness starts to subside.