This is a bit of an experiment that I ahve been wanting to run for a while. I finally got my hands on some Charcos charcoal and I wanted to see if it could be used for hookah. First, a little background.

This brand of charcoal is designed for grilling but I was curious to see if it could be used for hookah as well. I contacted the company and discovered that they make a version of this charcoal for hookah but they don’t distribute it in the US. I was assured that the recipe was practically the same between the two lines and that the grilling charcoal would work fine for hookah and that it wouldn’t cause any health issues. So, I ordered 10 kilos of charcoal. That is a lot of charcoal, but I figured if it didn’t work for hookah I could still use it in my grill.

The coals themselves are very large. They are about three times the size of a Coconara flat. They are, understandably, about three times heavier as well. This makes sense considering that they are designed for grilling. You are going to want larger pieces of charcoal than you would with hookah. This had me worried about overheating my bowl so I decided to go with my Tangiers Small Funnel because it is so large.

I lit a good number of these coals in the traditional way, with a charcoal chimney. I also lit a Coconara on the pile of red hot charcoal and the Charcos took about three times as long to light. That’s not surprising in the least.

Taking a single Charcos and the one Coconara, I placed both pieces of charcoal on my bowl. I was very careful about balancing the Charcos on the edge of the bowl so as to not overheat my tobacco. Once the bowl fully warmed up I actually got decent clouds and didn’t experience any kind of charcoal flavor. I never got any headaches or other symptoms associated with bad charcoal and carbon monoxide poisoning.

The big problem is their durability. Once they are lit, these coals are very fragile. The first time I ashed the Charcos it broke into three pieces. Two of those three pieces shattered when I tried to move them a little later and became useless piles of charcoal dust. I’m glad that I smoke outside.

2 out of 10. The final conclusion is not a positive one. There was no flavor or toxic fumes coming off these coals, which I will be happy to use when grilling. But the fragility of the charcoal makes them pointless for hookah smoking. If you are really scrapped for money then I could see using these outside but never inside your home. The price would be amazing if these were better for hookah smoking, but they aren’t so don’t bother.

I’ve been severely lacking in any kind of double apple in my life recently and I have been feeling those familiar cravings. To satisfy this I broke my usual trend of only buying hookah tobacco online and decided to visit a local shop. the only shop I could find with some DA was a little place that wasn’t really a hookah shop or smoke shop, but just a kind of convenience store that stocked some tobacco. The only option I had was Al Fakher 2, which is a double apple flavor.

This blend was released to compete with the wildly popular Nakhla Double Apple, which is one of the most commonly smoked tobaccos in the world. It’s also considered the gold standard for double apple, or two apple flavors.

The smell is good. It’s a light apple standing behind a decent licorice and anise scent. The presence of a distinctly licorice type scent was a little disconcerting but I found the smell to be nice and pleasant.

I found the flavor to be a little bit of a disappointment. The flavor started with a strong licorice flavor that I am no longer surprised by with DA flavors, but it’s not what I want. This flavor remained dominant with just a little apple-like flavors poking through mid session. The licorice mellowed out a bit and became more enjoyable, but it’s not the aniseed flavor that should be coming through with a good DA flavor.

6 out of 10. All in all, I don’t think this is the competition for Nak DA that AF was hoping for. It’s not bad and for only $10 for 200g it’s not overly expensive. If you like DA then you might want to give this one a try. If you like licorice then you should definitely try this one but I want the complexity associated with aniseed rather than the single note of licorice. I know some people that really love it, but for my money I am sticking to Nakhla Double Apple when the craving hits.

There are three piece n a hookah that are the hardest to clean. The vase, the hose port and the purge. With a little finesse you can clean them pretty easily and tonight I am going to tell you how I get my vases looking s good as the day I bought them.

We’ve all had a vase that forms a ring of residue around the waterline. It’s a combination of molasses that has dripped down the stem, smoke particles, nicotine and other gross stuff from the smoke. Hookah smoking isn’t healthy. Stop kidding yourself. So what do we do to remove this?

Of course, you can use a vase brush but they usually don’t reach the shoulders of the vases and you can’t quite get the angle right to clean every nook and cranny. There are some vases that are almost impossible to fully clean with just a vase because of their design. Vases with sloping sides are the easiest but anything with a square shape or other angles are a pain.

You could get a whole set of high-grade bottle brushes and try to clean those hard to reach places but that’s going to cost a pretty penny and might not even do the job well. I have another suggestion.

Uncooked Rice

I’m serious. It’s an old trick for cleaning hard to reach areas in glass that I learned about through my use of glass carboys in brewing. Those can build up some sticky fun that you need to get out and most things short of a pressure washer aren’t going to do it. The process is simple. Put a little uncooked rice in the bottom of your vase, maybe a handful, and cover it with just enough water so it sloshes around. Then cover the mouth of the vase and commence the sloshing. make sure the rice passes over the dirty areas and you’ll be surprised how clean it gets.

The principle is pretty simple. The rice is harder than the gunk but softer than the glass so it doesn’t scratch the vase. It is abrasive enough to remove the left over residue though. After the cleaning is done just rinse out the vase and discard the rice. Simple as that.

Make sure to use this trick before company comes over so they don’t see your rig and turn up their noses. A clean hookah makes for a clean smoke so make sure to give the whole rig a good once over regularly.

Brass and copper are more and more commonly used in hookahs and I’m not complaining. I love the trimetal style and the traditional Syrian hookahs and Turkish hookahs that were made with brass exclusively. There is only one problem that some people find with brass. It tarnishes. Personally, I like the look of a well aged piece of brass but I do love how it shines when properly polished. So, how do we get that shine when we really want it?

Never-Dull

It’s safe for all kinds of metals and they say that it can be used on both brass and copper with optimal results. It’s similar to Brasso but it’s made by another company. This product only comes in the form of wadding, which is a soft fiber impregnated with the polishing compound. With polish wadding you don’t need to worry about what cloth to use but should wear gloves to protect your hands.

Brasso.

If you are polishing an all brass hookah there is no better option than brasso. Follow the instructions on the container and your hookah will look like the prettiest girl at the ball in short order. It can be used on copper and stainless steel as well so feel free to use this one on all of your trimetal style hookahs. Brasso comes in both a polish wadding and polishing compound form.

No matter what you use as a polish you need to make sure to us a soft polishing cloth. You don’t want to scratch your hookah so use something soft and non-abrasive. Rougher materials will polish faster but they will leave marks that you might not want on your hookah. It may even leave you with a finish that looks something like brushed steel than a mirror finish that we want. I’ve heard of some people using steel wool but I really suggest against that. It is WAY too harsh o use on your hookah and it will damage the surface. If you have a hookah with etchings then you really need to be careful about using abrasive polishing compounds or cloths because they etchings will be lost as the metal is taken away.

Make sure you understand that when copper and brass tarnish, the thinnest possible layer on the outside of the metal is oxidizing and turning into a new compound. When you polish this metal you are taking away that layer of tarnished metal. It’s very thin and you will likely never see the difference but it’s something to be aware of.

Hopefully, this gives you a starting point for maintaining the beauty of your hookah. If you have any questions post them here or in the forums and I’ll answer them ASAP.

What do you call a hookah with no flavor? Pointless.

It’s not a joke. (Not a good one anyway) It can happen and it can happen to you or someone you love. While blowing clouds and doing smoke tricks is fun, hookah is supposed to be about flavor. If you have carefully set up your hookah only to be greeted by smoke that tastes like nothing but air I have some possible solutions for you.

Ditch the Ice

If you are using ice in the vase, an ice chamber or some other device to cool your smoke I suggest you don’t. Colder smoke mutes flavors so just use room temperature water and don’t worry about getting the coldest possible smoke. If you are using ice to try and reduce harshness I suggest you take a look at my post on solving harsh smoke. Cooling the smoke is like putting a bandage on a bullet wound. You can’t see the hole but you’re still going to die. That’s not a very good simile, it’s a bit hyperbolic, but you get the point.

Smoke Better Tobacco

There are some brands and flavors on the market that are almost entirely flavorless. Not to point too many fingers but Epic is notoriously flavorless. Avoid it. Try switching out the tobacco for something known to have a strong flavor. Nakhla Sweet Melon is a flavor bomb. If you aren’t getting any flavor from Nakhla Sweet Melon then either you got a counterfeit box or your taste buds are broken. Every brand has at least one flavor that is kind of a flavor dud but Nakhla consists mostly of flavor explosions. Earl Grey, Cinnamon, rose, Mizo Watermelon and Double Apple will all rock your socks off. Tangiers has some really pungent Floral and spice flavors too. Stick to the Lucid line unless you are a very seasoned smoker. Try something new and see if the tobacco is just flavorless to begin with.

Quit Smoking

I know this seems like a silly thing to suggest on a hookah blog but  bear with me.

1. Cigarettes ruin your senses of taste and smell. It can recover, but if you smoke cigarettes you are going to have trouble getting the most out of your hookah session. This is just good advice in general. I’m a tobacco geek. I have too many hookahs,  pounds of tobacco and more cigars than many of you may ever see. I can’t stand cigarettes. They aren’t tobacco. They’re junk. If you want to smoke, smoke real tobacco you are going to enjoy.
2. Take a break from hookah. Sometimes you may find yourself just smoking hookah out of habit and not really enjoying the flavor. Maybe the flavor seems weak or just cloying. Take a week long break and give it another try. You make be burning your taste buds out and making yourself sick of hookah. After a break you may come back with renewed appreciation for flavors you found too sweet or boring. Also, your lungs can always benefit from a few days of fresh air.

If you don’t taste any flavor after trying these solutions and setting up a bowl of Sweet Melon, I suggest finding a shaman. Your olfactory bulb has been cursed by an evil spirit.

Last time in this series we went over the most common reasons you might not be getting smoke from your hookah. Now that you have learned the basics for getting your hookah smoking you may find that the smoke is a little harsh. If you are really screwing something up it may feel like you are breathing hot gravel. Let’s do something about that.

Too Much Heat!

The most common problem I have found with harsh sessions is an over abundance of heat, which means you’re scorching your tobacco. There are a few different factors to consider here.

1. What bowl are you using? Larger bowls need more heat and smaller bowls need less. Seems simple enough. But what material is your bowl made out of? How deep is it? How wide is it? All of this changes the heat you need by just a little bit. Glass bowls heat up faster but don’t hold heat for as long as solid Egyptian clay. Molded ceramic takes a while to heat up and doesn’t hold much heat. Metal holds heat and heats up very quickly. You are going to need to experiment with each bowl to find the right amount of charcoal needed to get proper heat. Start with about 1/3 of the total foil covered in charcoal and then adjust from there. Harsh smoke? Take some heat off. If you aren’t getting good smoke, add a little more charcoal or add a windcover.
2. Are you using a wind cover? Wind covers are great for protecting your coals from high winds but they have a much more common and useful purpose. They concentrate heat. If you have two pieces of coconut coal and a wind cover on a small Egyptian bowl you are likely overheating you tobacco. Just taking the wind cover off will help. Many people think that you are supposed to use it all the time. I use it in every session but it comes on and off as I need more or less heat.
3. What kind of tobacco are you smoking? Every brand has different heat requirements and even different flavors in the same brand will have varying optimal smoking temperatures. Modern style tobacco can be pretty easy to overheat and burn. Hookah-Hookah is notorious for being easy to burn and require very little heat to smoke properly. Nakhla is a heat sponge. It can smoke well with average charcoal but can take a whole bunch of heat before it burns. Classic tobacco, like jurak, needs nearly twice as much coal than you would usually use to even smoke properly.

You packed too much tobacco into your bowl.

If your bowl is packed too high the tobacco might touch the foil and then it will burn. To smoke hookah properly, the tobacco should only be broiled through indirect heat. If you reduced still can’t get smooth smoke after reducing the heat you should try packing a little lower in the bowl.

You may need better foil.

Standard foil that you get at the super market is can be too thin and will allow too much heat to get to the tobacco too quickly. I suggest sticking with heavy duty foil. It’s thicker and moderates the heat better. If you don’t have access to HD foil you can double up on regular foil and achieve much the same effect. It’s a little more costly but the cost increase is pretty low.

Smoke better tobacco.

Junk tobacco smokes like junk tobacco. Try switching it out for something tried and true like Nakhla. There is a reason that it is the most smoked hookah tobacco on the planet.

These are four of the simplest reasons that you may be getting harsh smoke. Of course, per usual, I’ll probably think of some more later and update with a continuation of this post. If you have any other solutions leave a comment and let me know. If you are still getting harsh smoke sign up for the forums and we’ll try to help you out.

“Are you, by chance, new at this?”

This is a new series of posts that I am starting that will address the most common questions I get asked by new smokers. Hopefully you can read a few of these and solve the problem you are experiencing with your hookah or make your good sessions great!

‘Dear, Hookah Master Kalutika

I just got a hookah and I want to blow monster clouds like I see in your videos! For some reason I can’t get anything but whispy and thin smoke with almost no flavor. What’s wrong!’

-Signed, Sincerely Smokeless

Well, guy I made up for the purpose of this post, this could be the result of a few different reasons.

First and foremost, check your heat. If you aren’t using enough heat then you aren’t going to get good smoke. A lot of people are under the false assumption that hookah coals are designed so you just need to light one, put it on the bowl and it will be perfect. QLs come in 33mm and 40mm, most commonly, but some people don’t even know this. I don’t know any bowl that will smoke well with one 33mm QL. On the other hand, a full 40mm QL can be too much for some small bowls. A single coconut coal won’t be enough heat either, unless you are using a tiny bowl like the Crown Hookah Mini Classic, which is designed to smoke with one coconut coal.

The amount of coals you need is going to vary quite a bit. It changes with the bowl you are using, but also with the tobacco you are smoking. In general, more modern style tobaccos are going to produce more smoke more easily.

Is your tobacco old and dry? If you are smoking that pack of tobacco you bought from the gas station, the one the attendant forget they sold and had to dig out from under a foot of human filth soot, then you probably shouldn’t expect storm clouds. Ditch the old crud and buy some fresh tobacco. Find a real tobacconist, hookah shop or online retailer that sells fresh products.

Is your hookah well sealed? Check your hookah over for leaks. If air is getting into your hookah someplace that isn’t your bowl then you are going to get thin smoke. This is for a couple reasons. Firstly, fresh air is getting mixed into the system and diluting the smoke. Secondly, airflow over the coals won’t be enough to heat them up and heat the tobacco properly.

Some of you may be shaking your heads and saying ‘Duh. That’s all basic stuff.’

Well duh right back at you! We were all new at some point and this kind of stuff isn’t obvious to everyone. There is always something new to learn and I promise you I forgot something that I’ll make an update post about later. Until then, good luck and I wish you happy smoking.

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

Our fourth hookah competition is online.

How to Enter: Take a picture of yourself smoking hookah by the computer (at home, school, coffee shop, etc) and post it here on the blog or on the forum.

Prize: One mouse pad with our hookah mascot on it.

Deadline: Midnight on Sunday December 18th. 

(Picture Credit)