Don t put it away in a case or cabinet right after a smoke- even with Meerschaum. Residual moisture can sour a pipe. Be gentle when cleaning a Meerschaum bowl. Rule of thumb is, if it can be carved by an artist, it can be gouged as well. Clean your pipe regularly.
Pipes can develop a sour taste from lack of regular cleaning.
Smoke all of the tobacco in the bowl, then use a tool to gently scrape out the ash. This layer should build and be maintained to coin thickness to make your pipe smoke cooler and drier. If after time this layer gets thicker, use a pipe reaming tool to evenly scrape the bowl s carbon back down to coin thickness, or the carbon could expand from heat and crack the bowl of your pipe. If you have a pipe ashtray with a cork knocker in the center, gently tap the bowl of your pipe on it to knock out any remaining ash or tobacco. Make certain that you hold the wood of the pipe, NOT the stem when you do this, or the stem could break off where it connects to the pipe.