Our company only uses Erica Arborea from the mountain slopes of the western part of Greece.
Our people at the forest handpick each and every piece constantly looking for better quality and try not to make any damage to the forest.
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| Briar forest.Beautiful but NOT the kind of briar we want!!! |
The briar plant we want is shorter with small white flowers when in season and produces a burl that's been used as an anchor in tough soils and severe weather conditions the plant has to withstand.
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| this is a young specimen of the "right" kind of briar. |
All roots are 30 to 50 years old(considered to be in their prime). They are been delivered to the factory fresh and wet, with all their natural juices intact, where they are kept wet until processed.
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| Future pipes? |
Then the roots are cut into Ebouchon as well as Plateaux depending on the quality.
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| Snap shot of a cutter at work |
After an initial quality control the fresh cut blocks are been boiled in copper pots filled with additive free water for a minimum of 13 hours thus loosing all its juices, wood sap and impurities so there won't be any foul tastes when smoked as a pipe.
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| Blocks been pulled out of the boiler. |
After been boiled the wood is let to cure in dark naturally ventilated rooms for a minimum of 6 months before it is sold to pipe makers around the world.
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Blocks slowly drying.Notice the floor is out of wood for smaller
temperature fluctuations |
There the drying process is monitored carefully and at the same time pieces are sorted between sizes.
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| Moisture control and size measuring. |
Blocks that have cracks from drying are returned to the saw for correction if possible. If not they make some excellent charcoal!!!
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| A pile of dry Plateaux. |
Certainly 6 months is a minimum in order for the wood to be able to be transported undamaged and not the optimal amount of time which is more than two years, however big pipe factories in order to secure the necessary quantities prefer to have the wood delivered and further dry it in their facilities.
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| Ebouchons in bags waiting to be shipped |
