Tip # 3 Bowl

There are two major types of bowls, ceramic and clay. each with it's disadvantages and advantages.


Ceramic bowl: 

The standard Bowl that usually comes when you buy the hookah.

Advantages: 

+  less breakable
+ easy to clean
+ different colors
+ different sizes and shapes


Disadvantages:
- heat up quickly
- more taste side effects


Clay:
more difficult to find in a normal shop.


Advantages:
+ does not heat up quicly
+ you feel the taste better
+ normally comes in two sizes : small and large (about average size)


Disadvantages:
- less durable against falling
- 98% of most clay bowls comes in one color
- one standard shape.


In conclusion, if you smoke a lot use the clay, otherwise the ceramic is good too.
My personal preference is the clay.

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

The Culture Behind the Hookah

The actual origin of the hookah pipe is controversial as many countries, including Egypt, India, Iran, Syria, and Turkey all claim to be the originating country of the hookah. In many places, the hookah is called nargile and is a Persian word for coconut. This is due to the hookah being made from coconut shells during its primitive years. Regardless, however, of where the hookah originated from, the fact is the hookah became popular and part of the culture of many countries. 

In many Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures, especially Turkey, the hookah pipe became an important ritual, of sorts. It was generally for enjoyment and there soon became a certain way to smoke from the hookah pipe, such as a particular way to pass the hose. In many countries, it became the norm for families to smoke the hookah pipe after a large meal and in the Arab society, it was common to smoke from a single hose. However, in many lounges, it is more common for a smoker to have their own individual hookah pipe.

The hookah also became a popular method in which an artist could display their skills of engraving beautiful designs. Many women of the 19th and 20th centuries enjoyed showing off their hookahs during their afternoon teas. However, with the availability of cigarettes, the popularity of the hookah declined. 

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.