Hookah Tobacco - Everything You Wanted To Know

If you are an individual who enjoys smoking the hookah, you'll find a wide variety of shisha tobacco to choose from. Many online stores offer this is a wide variety of types of hookah tobacco for your enjoyment.

The tobacco that is used for smoking hookah pipes is different than the type of tobacco used in cigarettes. It is also called shisha and in the past came in a damp-blend of freshly picked tobacco leaves that were dipped in molasses or honey. The Turkish-blend of shisha tobacco was one of the more popular choices.

The present times, however, have a variety of different flavors as the shisha tobacco is often mixed with fruit extracts and other flavorings and there is now a wide variety of different flavors and aromas to choose from.

Some of the more popular flavored tobacco includes that which is mixed with vanilla, apple, mint, and lemon and often, different flavors are combined to provide a more exotic blend. On the market today, you can even find shisha tobacco in the flavor of cream soda and mint chocolate chip. As the popularity of smoking shisha tobacco increases, you'll find the assortment of flavors may be added to.

The hookah tobacco that you purchase is only about 30 percent tobacco and the rest is the fruit flavorings, along with the molasses or honey that it is mixed with. Many types of shisha tobacco contain no tar and many only have .05 percent nicotine in them. What makes the hookah tobacco so popular, however, is the variety of aromas and tastes you can choose from.

The Many Flavors Of Hookah Tobacco

How Hookah Tobacco is Manufactured

Apart from the quality and design of the pipe itself, one of the keys to a satisfying hookah experience is the quality and flavor of the tobacco. Contrary to popular belief, most hookah smokers are merely smoking tobacco, although at one time opium and hashish were commonly smoked. Hookah tobacco is smoked for flavor rather than effect and most smokers find it relaxing and satisfying.

Hookah tobacco is different from the tobacco used in cigarettes or cigars, most hookah tobacco is traditionally blended from fresh tobacco leaves along with various additives such as honey, molasses or fruit pulp. This mixture is known as maassel or tobamel.

Rose oil or the juice from pomegranates has also occasionally been added to the mixture, which added more flavor to the smoke. During the 1980s, Egyptian hookah tobacconists started adding all sorts of flavors to their tobacco, fruits and spices in particular. The result is a strongly flavored tobacco sometimes called shisha.

More recently, many hookah tobacco manufacturers have also started adding glycerin because of its sweetening ability and ability to keep the tobacco moist. Because it is so wet, shisha tobacco must be smoked using hookah charcoal.

Hookah Pipe - The Ancient Design

The hookah pipe is actually a water pipe and they have four main parts to them. The base or chamber is what holds the water and it should be partially filled. The bowl or head of the hookah pipe is where the tobacco is placed. The heating device sits on top of the hookah pipe and the pipe itself connects the bowl and the base with a tube that goes into the water. The hose actually connects to another tube in the pipe that is for the air in the smoke chamber. 

While the parts of the hookah pipe functions do not change, they do vary in decoration. For example, the heating device is most often charcoal, however, in places such as the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia, the heating device may be an electric heater. Another change to the design may include instead of two hoses, there may be three or more attached to a single chamber. These hoses may be permanently connected or ones that are detachable, depending upon the elaborateness of the design.

For many artists, the hookah pipe was another way to express themselves and show off their skills. The glass bottle was often made from a colored glass that was blown into a variety of shapes and then it was etched or painted. The hose may have been decorated with beadwork or even embroidery and the mouthpiece was often made from a precious amber or fine porcelain and if the hookah pipe was to be unique, it was often made with gems inserted into the design.

step # 9 clean your hookah

Okay, now you ask, how to clean? here are the steps :

1. Clean the jar - no need to expand into words, pour the old water and fill the same amount of new

For the sterile among you, can and should clean the vase with suitable tools or twig caught.

2. Bowl cleaning - Remove the elastic band head, clean first with a sponge tools where possible, then put in a deep cup, boil water and pour into a cup, let the boiling water to clear the head for fifteen minutes or so

3. Exile base Cleaning - unscrew it carefully, place the ball in a plain place and not drop it, clean the ball base ,you can clean the hole but to do so you should clean it gently with Q-Tips.

4. Pipe cleaning house - cleaning the same way as we cleaned the exile base

5. Cleaning the barrel - break down the barrel from below (only if it's screwed, of course) and clean the body hookah  from top to bottom and vice versa, pour tap water, and remove all dirt, stuck to the hookah barrel ,look through the barrelto see if there is dirt if not work was done, if there continue to rub until it's completely clean

6. Clean forceps and an ashtray - just as you wash dishes, so clean both of these accessories.7. Cleaned with water all the disassembled parts, components and enjoy a clean hookah.I recommend changing the water every day, and clean as I explained once a month if you are heavy smoker once every two weeks.

step # 7 fluid filling

The following article series will deal with using and preparing the hookah for the best.

The first stage is filling the vase and for that various options, diverse and surprising .. But before we expand on all of them will describe and explain how far should you fill the fluid.

The method is very simple and easy, taking the body hookah without the pitcher, place simultaneously captured (as like we connect tthe jar), see where the hookah barrel ends in relation to the vase, subtract cm to inch and a half (about a finger's thickness ), there will be fluid, no less.

If we put less, then the hookah not work or we'll have more oxygen if we fill it too little and will cause us to choke, and if we fill too much  water, than we'll have less smoke and more likely to go in liquids where we smoke a pipe, so be mindful.

Photo illustration later

Various liquids Options

I concentrated advantages and disadvantages table, show a more comfortable (1-10, where 10 is best)

Liquid	Costs	Pleasure	Cleaning	Healthy	Avarage Score
Water	10	9	7	8	8.5
Ice+Water	9	10	7	8	8.5
Water+Lemon	8	8	10	10	9
Juice	4	6	1	8	4.8
Milk	3	7	7	7	6
Vodka	2	1	10	3	4
Wine	1	3	2	5	2.7

Well as you can see from the table the most fun to smoke when filling ice with water.

Cheapest option is to use water.

It's the least messy water with lemon and vodka that the level of oxidation and disinfection which help maintain a clean pitcher more or less dirty if you will.

The least risky option is smoking water with lemon, since there is a large amount of bacteria that accumulate water and the jar itself, it is advisable to take your attention to that choice.

the best score is the ultimate option of water and/ or water with ice , which is my recommendation.

In summary, there are so many interesting possibilities, choose wisely.

step #5 adjusting the jar

We chose a hookah, we examined the body and the pipe and now we will review the issue of the jar. here are the steps to select and test a good jar :

1. Test Match - almost all waterpipes are taped in order to fit the jar perfectly to the hookah, but not always! Jars can fit excellent to your hookah, without unnecessary tapes, the matter of duct tape is not that critical, but still, you paid money for a new hookah, then ask if there is a better jar.Look at the bottom end of the hookah and check the area in the jar, if the barrel is too short you'll have less room for smoke, if you want to enjoy the smoke thick and tasty, near the bottom of the jars is more recommended

2. Another test is the stability of the jar, check and examine that the jar firmly seated on the ground, there are vases that were damaged in their production stage and has a  slightly curved tube, causing the hookah and the jar to sway a little, check it well.

3. Select a shape - there are various jars, you should choose a wide bottom and narrow at the top, so you will enjoy smoking more thicker smoke, think less about the beauty but more on quality and efficiency, in my opinion

4. ** Screw pitcher - think carefully before you choose to take a water pipe with a screw cap jar, because our jars sometimes broken, and it's very difficult to find a suitable jar later, which makes you to buy an entire new hookah

5. Color - It is advisable to select appropriate colored hookah vase to the head and/or the hose, there are also black jars or very dark ones which are not recommended, since it is hard to see where the water comes.

don't forget to comment, thanks.

step # 4 Hookah pipe integrity

We chose a hookah, examined the body and now it's left to choose and test pipe (hose) fitting.

Check connections - pipe three main parts that require examination: the connection with the hookah, the fairy we smoked through and the covered partsof the pipe, the hose.Check that the pipe is connected properly and not loose, check the fitness  for both hookah pipe and tube and another rubber band will be asked for spare, just in case.

Nozzle of the hose connected to a hookah sometimes comes loose, ask to strengthen it or choose another tube, checking the decorations that adorn it are not worn, check to see if she hooked up with a rubber band or tape? And whether the connection is correct?the smoking fairy, check that the nozzle is not clogged, crooked, loose, excessively dirty, well reinforced and not worn. Check the pipe decorations are not loose and worn.

Tightness test tube -  approached the tube into your ear and blew the second nozzle, check the outgoing air is strong, the same test on the other.cover 1 fairy and blew a second mouthpiece, check that air flight (Noise in the tube indicates the escape), then checked again the second mouthpiece. During these tests, "play" a little with the hose (turn and bend it slightly), and investigated whether there is  escape of air.  

step # 3 checking the hookah's body normality

We have chosen our hookah, we have chosen and we conducted a head right, now we must examine the body of the hookah, this is the most important hookah part, try to buy a body by itself and you'll see that the price is almost the same as if you buy a new hookah.Hookah body integrity

1. Visual examination - look at the body from top to bottom, and try to discern whether there are cracks or breaks in the body? Is it curve? is there unnecessary welding parts / corrections  ? Is there a different screwed metal parts ? (Sometimesthe shopkeepers 'improvise' hookahs).

2. Disassembly and assembly - screwed hookah has it advantages and disadvantages and we'll talk about it later, unscrew the different parts : the bowl grommet, the ashtray, the base grommet.
after you unscrewed it, reassemble the parts and check if everything is made ​​up correctly, if the opacity of the hookah correctly, if the different holes are covered entirely (seals and easily released), if the pieces fit and not "improvised".

3. Tightness test - after all the complex parts properly, put the hookah jar (base), seal the bowl grommet, breathe out (check if the ball is released easily) and breathe in (Check that no air is released from any part of it - if there is no noise so it's a good sign).

Here's a picture to illustrate all parts of the hookah

step # 2 select a proper hookah bowl

We have chosen our favorite hookah,  our new "Baby", now It remains to check whether she properly  meet the requirements. 

The Bowl:

Step 1, a visual examination - check that there are no cracks and fractures, that the holes are not blocked, wide or too narrow.

Step 2, Match Review - there are different bowls with openings of different sizes, check that the bowl sits well on the hookah. Check that it's not loose or too tight, and do not forget the rubber of the bowl, and asked the seller for 1 more (nothing to lose)

Step 3, diameter of the bowl - the bowlwith a large diameter is great, but also spend too much tobacco. If you smoke once a week or even twice a week is recommended to take the bowl with a large diameter. Who smokes more often recommended to use a  bowl with a standard diameter, simply for economy. bowls with small diameter is usually not recommended unless they are deep.

Step 4, the depth of the bowl - Deeper bowl in general is more advisable, that way the tobacco "burned" less and allows you to use more coal without a problem.

Step 5 - Tightness test - Place the bowl on top of the hookah, cover it with your hands, inhale through the hose entry, if there is noise then the bowl does not sit well and / or the hookah is not sealed in other areas. Also check to see if your hand goes toward the hookah during aspiration, that's also indicates a good seal.

Don't lose your head in the process, Enjoy

Step # 1 Select your hookah

The first article would be a little long but I promise you that his successors will be more concise..

To be able to choose the right hookah you have to take into consideration several criteria to choose from, such as size, quality and place of production, cost, accessories and personal taste.

Each of the critical selection criteria appropriate for you, and I'll show you a clear picture to what you're going.

Sizes:

Very small: These hookahs are carried to a height of 15 cm, so right. Are hookahs so compact you can carry them in your pocket weighing about 200 grams. to the addicts among us who just have to smoke at any time our eyes open

Small: Hookahs at a height of 35 cm. Hookahs compact, best suited to the sea, hiking, weight 700 grams

Medium: Hookahs at a height of 50 cm, weight ranges from 1 to 2.5 kg. Hookahs primarily to but you can take them for long walks

Large: Hookahs to 1 meter in height, weight from 1.5 kg, hookahs house. Not recommended to take out of the house, because it's just not convenient to drag on with them

Huge (very large): Hookahs that rose to 1.8 meters (and even more)

Does size matter?