A pipe consists of a head or bowl into which the tobacco is placed, a handle, and a mouthpiece through which the smoke is inhaled. The bowl of a pipe is usually made of briar, corncob, meerschaum, or clay.

A briar pipe is made from a knot or outgrowth in the root system of a thorny, shrub-like plant that grows in dry, arid, rocky areas around the Mediterranean Sea. Of all the wood species, briar is unique for making pipes - it is hard, porous, and heat-resistant. The briar used for high-quality pipes can be 50 to 100 years old when it is harvested for making a pipe. Many smokers prefer to smoke a pipe with a rough surface because the surface of the bowl radiates more heat than a smooth surface. This results in a much cooler smoke.

Smooth pipes are sanded several times to produce a silky surface. They are pre-painted with paint that covers the fine particles of the wood. After painting, they are sanded again, thus making it easy to see the beautiful contrast between the particles of the wood. For a long time, the mouthpiece was made of ebonite - a hard, black material that contains a large amount of sulfur. With prolonged use and exposure to light, the mouthpieces become greenish in color and acquire a bitter taste. Therefore, some time ago, manufacturers began to use mouthpieces made of black acrylic. A material that is much more expensive, but retains its qualities for a long time.

The meerschaum pipe is made from a mineral that is found in small shallow deposits mainly in Central Turkey. It has a white color and surprising lightness, which makes it highly valued and preferred for engraving with decorative shapes. Meerschaum is a very porous material that absorbs the elements of tobacco during smoking and gradually changes its color to golden brown. The meerschaum pipe made its debut in the tobacco world about 100 years before the discovery of the briar.

The corncob pipe first appeared in a small town on the banks of the Missouri River in America. Farmers grew a special type of corn that had particularly large and hard ears. They sold the ears to pipe factories, and the grain was traded separately. Before being processed, the ears are dried for a minimum of two years. A corncob pipe should be smoked slowly, allowing it to cool between puffs.

Ceramic pipes were used in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries in England. They were so cheap that they could be thrown away after one or two uses and replaced with new ones. The vast majority are still made by hand from good quality clay. The moist clay is placed in a metal mold in the shape of a pipe with a long metal needle forming the smoke channel in the handle. The pipes are then dried, fired and varnished. The decorations can be obtained from the mold or shaped later.