New Sections

As some of you may have noticed by now, I haven't updated the blogin some time.I assure you all I have no given up on the blog, however due to financial sircumstances it is not possible for me to update the reviews section on a regular basis. I will however in the comming months be working on updating some the information already avalible as well as working on a revised version of the avalible heat management and bowl packing section. I will also be adding a local shops section for those of you that are looking for a place to get hookah related products near your home.The local shops section will be updated as I get more information, feel free to leave a comment if you know of good RELIABLE tobaccanist near you.

New Reviews

After a long wait I finally received my Afzal order. New reviews for the following will be up tonight or within the next day or two.

Afzal Aniseed
Afzal Double Apple
Afzal Ginger Ale

Afzal Order Delays

I've been expecting a decent sized order of Afzal tobacco for nearly two weeks now and was a bit confused as to why it has not arrived to my house. After speaking with the owner of hookah1 I found that my package was returned to his mail box for the second time today. Anyways, I'm hoping I can review a couple of the Afzal flavors this weekend if they show up in a timely fashion.

New Reviews:
Afzal Double Apple
Afzal Aniseed
Afzal Ginger Ale

New Material

Should have a few new reviews up shortly, I got some new tangiers flavors and a couple of new tombacs...  I'll have more info later tonight.

Hookah Buyer's Guide

I figured this would be a good post for those of you that are in the market for your first hookah or even if you are just looking for an upgrade. There are a number of factors in construction and design that get overlooked by many new to the hookah world that I will discuss in this post.

Construction

I'm sure its obvious to most that construction is an important factor in how well a hookah preforms. Not only does the metal or wood that a hookah is made of impact the integrity and longevity of a hookah but in some ways it can actually effect the way a hookah smokes.

Steel

Standard every day steel is a common metal for most chinese hookahs to be made out of, and while it works just fine it presents a number of issues as far as longevity is concerned. Most steel built hookahs have a tendency to rust quite quickly regardless of how much care you take in making sure that your hookah is dry after each use. My suggestion is to stay away from such hookahs as I have heard nothing good about steel built hookahs. I personally have never owned one but I don't like the idea of my brand new hookah rusting in a few short months.

Stainless

Stainless is normally the choice for a decently priced hookah that will last a good deal longer than any lower grade stem could even think of lasting. Although stainless will rust over time it is normally a mere surface imperfection that can be fixed with some elbow grease. The only real down side to these kinds of hookahs is that they are normally hollow and very light, not that it effects the way the pipe smokes any but it is something to consider when buying a hookah.

Brass

Brass is considered by most hookah smokes one of the best metals for a hookah to be made out of. It does not rust or corrode quickly and can be polished back to a brilliant shine despite how old or new the stem may be. Brass is also  a very heavy metal when solid cast. On all ends brass is one of the best materials for a hookah to be made of, it will not rust, it stays shiny and new looking, it is heavy, and it is durable.

Wood

Wood is another choice in material that has its benefits for certain applications. For the most part these hookahs are sought after as tombac rigs or used to smoke only one flavor. These kinds of hookahs take more care than their metal counterparts but serve to intensify flavors by sucking up the juice from the tobacco. There are also a few hookahs on the market that have a wood stem with an aluminum down stem which can be used to smoke multiple flavors of tobacco without sucking up the flavors.

Down Stems

Down stem construction is another important thing to consider when buying a hookah as there are a number of different materials that can be used. For the most part any metal down stem is going to preform the same but it is possible to find hookahs with steel, stainless steel, brass, copper, aluminum, and wood down stems. It all comes down to what suits your fancy. Obviously steel and stainless steel have the ability to rust if not properly maintained, where as copper, brass, and aluminum down stems will not rust. Wood down stems are normally something that is found on wooden hookahs and serves to retain flavor.

Style

Style is another important thing to consider when buying a hookah as some "styles" of hookahs are built better and made out of higher quality metals or wood. Below are some of the more popular styles and brands available.

Chinese

Chinese hookahs come in a large variety of shapes and sizes and are constructed out just about any metal you can think of. The biggest problem with this style of hookah is that for the most part anything not made out of steel is normally a hard thing to find, and thus most of them have a severe rust issue. They also normally have poorly functioning purge valves because of their common chamber design. As far as chinese hookahs go one of the only high quality brands on the market are Mya Saray hookahs, which are normally constructed out of stainless steel with an aluminum down stem.

Egyptian

Egyptian hookahs are normally considered medium ground on build and smoke wonderfully. They can be made out a number of different metals and often times feature dual or tritone designs with copper, stainless steel, and brass being common metals in their construction. These hookahs are known for their open draw and functioning purge. They are almost always made out of rust resistant or rust proof metals which means you will have a functioning hookah for a long time, with out any real issues. Notable Egyptian hookah brands include Khalil Mamoon, Magdy Zidan, And Nammor. For the most part though even off brand egyptian hookahs are of high quality.

Syrian

Syrian hookahs are considered of higher build quality than egyptians and are more times than not solid cast brass hookahs that sometimes have chrome or nickel plating over the brass.  These hookahs are known for being very heavy and sturdy, and often times have a very open draw with a slight restriction, as well as a working purge system.   Syrian hookahs are often not hand made but rather machined with many intricate engravings on the stem. The most notable Syrian hookah brands are nawras and nour.

Turkish

Turkish hookahs are some of the most sought after hookahs by collectors because of their heavy build, intricate engravings, and high quality brass construction. Turkish hookahs are unique in the fact that they more often than not feature no purge valve, those that do have a purge are rare. These kind of hookahs are not overly common in the states and when available are far from cheap. The only notable brand that is available in the us at this time is Elmas.

Height 

Height of a hookah is something that most people over look as being important when purchasing a quality hookah that will smoke well. Although it is true that most small hookahs will smoke just as well as a monster hookah, hight does have an effect on how cool your smoke will be. The general rule of thumb is that the more area the smoke has to travel the cooler it will be, thus the recommended hight for a smooth smoking hookah is considered to be about 28" or more. It is also however important to consider how tall is too tall, when a hookah reaches over 36"-40" it often times will have stability issues and become harder for the user to heat manage without having to stand up form the possession they are smoking in. Obviously having a tiny or huge hookah wont effect allot but it is important to consider what effects a certain size hookah will have on stability and cool smoke.

Weight

Weight is a little more of a straight forward idea when it comes to a hookah. Heavy is generally considered better for the simple fact that for the most part it means that the construction of the hookah is solid instead of being hollow. Obviously a heavy stem is preferred because it means that the hookah is more sturdily built and will take some abuse if necessary and come out just fine. In the case of weight the heavier the better unless you plan on taking you hookah somewhere besides your own home.

Purge

Whether or not you care to have a purge on your hookah is something to consider too. Most chinese hookahs have a purge but they often times don't work because of the way they are built. Lebanese, Turkish, and some Syrians don't even have a purge valve on the hookah, but as long as you are comfortable with your heat management you should never need the purge to begin with. For those newer to the hookah world I would recommend something more similar to an egyptian so that stale or harsh smoke can be purged from the hookah when needed.

Chamber Design

Rather than going into chamber design in great detail in this section, I would suggest checking out this previous post if you want to know more on the subject. Chamber Design

Ending Notes 

So in conclusion, from the material that has already been shown I will outline what qualities are most desirable in a hookah that will last for years to come and give you a great smoke, and of course what to avoid in a hookah. For the most part as far as style goes anything will go aside form a chinese hookah, because of the lower quality materials used and because of the purge design, you will be better off with an egyptian, syrian, or turkish hookah if lack of a purge suits your style. The stem construction should be solid heavy and if possible solid cast brass or stainless though brass is preferred because of it's resistance to oxidation and because it can be polished easily. Hight wise a hookah should be somewhere in the 25"-36" for cool smoke and for stability. Also consider when purchasing a hookah what the down stem is made of and wether or not it screws into the hookah or is welded to the stem. More often than not down stems are made of stainless steel but if an aluminum or copper one is available jump on it. When looking at the down stem make sure that it does not screw into the pipe as the treads tend to wear down quickly.

Pages Moved To Main Blog

As you can see I moved a couple of the sections out to the main blog page. You can find these posts at a later date in the "other information" section.

Hookah Repairs, Modification, And Cleaning

Quick Clean

For the most part you can quick clean your hookah with hot water and vinegar as long as you don't smoke anything overly strongly flavored. 

Deep Clean

If for some reason you have a flavor that just wont get out of your hookah, a combination of baking soda and vinegar, along with a hookah brush set should cure the problem. Beer will also clean hookahs rather well, anything that foams and is not toxic will work very well if there is a need to cut grime. I do not recommend you use soap it a hookah as it often leaves an after taste and residue.

Repairs

Lost Purge Valve Balls

Lost purge valve balls can be replaced by plastic air soft bb's, they are lighter than the steel balls that come standard on most hookahs and will not corrode or rust due to exposure to moisture.

Worn Out Down Stem Treads (Chinese Hookahs)

If you have owned a chinese hookah for any amount of time you probably know that the threads on the down stem wear out over time. The best solution to this problem is to wrap the down stem treads in teflon plumbers tape. You can find teflon tape at most hardware stores, it is rather cheap.

Modifications 

Homemade Diffusers

To begin with I would like to say that I am not a diffuser user, but some people use these to quiet the noise made by the bubbles. Diffusers can be made out of just about anything that will fit snugly over the down stem, simply poke a large amount of holes in it and you should be good to go... metal screen works very well to, though any diffuser will restrict airflow to a certain degree.

Grommet Modification  

If a grommet is two large it can be sanded down to fit though it does take some patients. If a grommet is too small you will find that electrical tape is your best friend.

Guide To Hose, Bowl, And Hookah Flavor Dedication.

Dedication is basically the assigning of one unwashable hose or one unglazed bowl to a single flavor or group of flavors. The reason for doing this can range from wanting to taste nothing but one flavor to intensifying a flavor. This is something you only want to do with one or two of your favorite flavors. A good for instance of this would be using an unwashable hose for black tobaccos, tombac, or double apple in my case.

Bowls:

Dedicating an unglazed bowl to one tobacco basically serves the purpose of intensifying  the flavor, unglazed bowls are designed to suck up flavor. For the most part you aren't going to want to use the same unglazed bowl for multiple flavors as the flavor will transfer from bowl to bowl.

Hoses: 

Dedicated hose basically do the same thing as dedicated bowls in sucking up a particular flavor, in my opinion it seems to be the best use of an unwashable hose. Using an unwashable  hose for multiple flavors tends to transfer the flavor of the last thing you smoked and allot of the time it takes a few bowls of one flavor to get rid of the flavor of the last thing you smoked. Unwashable hoses can be rededicated to different flavors if need be but if you smoke one flavor out of it for a long time the remnants of whatever you where smoking may be hard to get rid of.

Hookahs:

Hookahs can also be dedicated if you have multiple hookahs. Although hookahs don't suck up flavors much unless they are wooden, it cuts down on the amount of cleaning you have to do. In this case if you enjoy more than one of the 4 categories of tobacco you may want to dedicate one or more hookah(s) to your favorite flavor(s). The four categories that I use for tobacco are: Sweet (Mainly fruit flavors), Spice, Black Tobacco (Black leafs and strong tobacco), and Jurak/Tombac. This will greatly reduce the amount of washing needed. In other cases strength of tobacco could take on categories. Flavors like vanilla and similar flavors will be hard to taste if you just got done smoking zagloul or mint.

New Section And Work On Buyers Guide

Just posted up a couple of dokha reviews and a few on pipe tobacco and snuff, which now has it's own section... I will once again be making a number of changes to the site in order to clear up some more page space. I should also have a hookah buyers guide up by the end of the week so stay tuned.

What To Expect This Week

I started off with a quick review of Al Fakher Double Apple today, there should be a number of new materials up for review here in the next couple of days. A couple of new posts on hookah styles and bowls should be up this week as well. Here is the list of new products I should have up for review this week.

Vortex Bowl
Nirvana Dokha
Tangiers Indian Summer
Tangiers Lucid Horchata
Tangiers Welsh Creme

I doubt that will be all of it, but my memory escapes me on some of the others.

Traditional Moassel, Jurak, And Tombac: Explanation and Experiences

It has occurred to me that a large number of hookah smokers in north america have never been in contact or even heard of traditional style hookah tobaccos. I feel this to be an important thing as it is interesting to know the roots of hookah smoking, tradition, and educate. Over the next few night I will be covering several topics related to the origins, smoking methods, and ingredients of traditional tobacco.

Tombac
This is laterally as traditional as one can get, this was the first form of tobacco smoked out of hookahs. Tombac is a fairly simple tobacco, it is compressed into large sized bricks and dried, sometimes contains a few spices and flavors. The tobacco is soaked for a short while in preparation, then the leaves are squeezed to remove any left over water and then stacked on each other in the bowl. With this form of hookah tobacco the coals are placed directly on top of the tobacco without the use of a foil or screen. This produces a much stronger and harsher smoke that cannot be inhaled like typical molasses and honey based tobaccos that most people are used to. In my experience smoking tombac is a very interesting experience that I find to be enjoyable on occasion but is not something I often smoke for the simple fact that it will start to irritate the lungs if smoked on a daily or regular basis.

Jurak
Jurak is another very traditional tobacco, which is ground down into a paste and flavored with spices and on rare occasion fruits. Jurak contains no kind of glycerin and because of the thick pasty consistency can be quite the pain to get smoking. Smoke from jurak is normally rather thin, and is enjoyed for its complex and spicy flavors rather than for smoke clouds. In my experience with jurak it can be a bit hard to work with but it is a truly unique and amazing smoke.

Traditional Moassels And Tombels
Traditional style tombels and moassels while not terribly common or well know are much easier to find than juraks and tombacs. In fact chances are most hookah smokers have at least seen them in a shop. Included in this group are a number of amazing tobaccos Nakhla Khan El Khalil, Nakhla Zagloul, Desi Murli, Al Faker Soft Black, and Saloum plain are some of the more common traditional tobaccos around. Most of these tobaccos are merely a blend of tobaccos and molasses or honey with no added flavors except for maybe a couple of spices. Glycerin is also lacking in these tobaccos making their smoke output less than impressive but normally very in for face as far as flavor goes. In my experiences with these kinds of tobaccos I have learned that while fruity flavors can be good there is nothing like a good simple traditional smoke.

Hopefully this post has intrigued you in some way or at least been helpful. I feel that it is important for people to branch out in the hookah world and try things that predate all of this commercialized chemical soup that is being sold as premium tobacco. Hookah are something that have been around for a good amount of time and have a rather interesting history and tradition. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post I will be posting a number of post like this one in the next week in an attempt to educate on different kinds of tobacco, hookahs, bowls, hoses, and to share with you all the unique history of the hookah.

New Features

In light of expanding the site and opening it more to users there is now a chat box, which any of you are welcome to use for suggestions, comments, or small talk for that matter. I will be frequenting the blog as much as is possible and expanding on the information on the site greatly in the next few weeks. So stick around and don't hesitate to pipe in.

Chamber Deigns

When buying a new hookah it is important to note the kind of hookah it is, whether it be chinese, syrian, Egyptian, turkish, or whatever else. Some hookahs purge better than others, some have no purge at all. This is especially important if you are new to the hookah scene. A good purge will help salvage a session if your smoke goes harsh or stale.

Common Chambers

Common chambers are perhaps the most common style of chamber found on hookahs, these are found almost exclusively on chinese style hookahs, which just so happen to be the most readily available hookahs on the market. Because of the shared airspace of the hose port and purge valve being in the chamber rather than in the base of the hookah common chambers make it literally impossible to purge smoke in the base of the hookah, witch obviously is where the majority of the smoke is held. The reason for their inability to purge is because instead of the air flowing through the base where the smoke is held it merely travels across the metal chamber and out the purge port leaving the smoke in the vase untouched.

Traditional Chambers

Traditional chambers are found on a wide verity of hookahs, though they are much less common in terms of availability, especially in the states. Traditional style chambers are most commonly found on Egyptian hookahs, but are not uncommon on syrian and lebanese hookahs. Traditional chambers are noted as being the best kind of chamber not only because they allow for all of the smoke to be cleared out of the vase but also because they are much easier to clean, though they do require a brush of some kind to be cleaned. The reason these kind of chambers work so well is because of a shared air space in the chamber its self they have a tube that runs from the hose port and purge valve to the bottom of chamber. The air space is thus shared in the vase rather than the chamber and allows for all the smoke to be purged from the vase.

Lack Of A Purge Valve

Some hookahs lack a purge, but to be honest this is not a common thing to see on most hookahs, this is something that is mainly seen on turkish or lebanese hookahs. This is basically self explanatory, you have no ability to purge because there is no valve with which to purge with. It comes down to they way the turkish smoke, the way they see it, if you cant manage your heat well you shouldn't be smoking.

Below are a few pictures of chambers from a number of common brands on the market so that you can distinguish between chamber designs just by looking at the bottom of the chamber.

Open Common Chamber

Most commonly found on Mya Saray Hookahs, witch are considered top of the line as far as chinese hookahs go. The main advantage to this type of chamber is that it can be easily cleaned and if necessary they can be modified to purge.

Plated Common Chambers

These are the more commonly found chambers on chinese pipes and the kind of chamber that I have on both of my chinese rigs. They are literally impossible to clean out. The most recognizable trait of these chambers is that they have more holes than ports usually. They normally have 4 or more holes on the bottom.

  

Traditional Chambers

These chambers are considered the best purging chambers and are mainly found on Egyptian hookahs and on some syrian and Lebanese hookahs. They have the same number of hoses on the bottom of the stem as there are ports on the hookah. This normally means that there are two holes as most egyptian hookahs have only one hose port and one purge.

Hopefully this post has been helpful. I should have a new section on identifying different hookah styles and their advantages sometime late this weekend. Stay tuned.

Other Information Section... And more...

Just posted a section called "Other Information". This section will be used for links to older posts that have some importance so it isn't necessary to dig them up. As I mentioned I should have a bowl packing section up tomorrow... I may do a bit more reorganizing tomorrow to try to uncluttered the set up of the page. None the less at the moment I will not be posting anything new as far as tobacco reviews go for at least a good week so I am going to take the time to get things organized to my liking. Again feel free to ask questions make a comment or make a suggestion, weather it be a tobacco you would like to see a review on or just a question about a hookah you are looking at... What ever it may be I am here to inform and answer whatever questions you may have.

Distinguishing A Khalil Mamoon Hookah From Other Egyptian Hookahs.

While it is true that most egyptian hookahs smoke as well as a KM, KM hookahs are much more sought after than other Egyptian hookahs. The best way to tell if a hookah is a KM is to look at the tray rest, if it has the trade mark lotus flour design it is most likely a KM. Here are pics of the tray rests of all three of the KMs I own or have owned.

World Cup Tray Rest.

 Trimetal Tray Rest.

Amer Tray Rest.

As you can see although the style of the tray changes to a certain degree the lotus flowers and Arabic lettering are present on all three tray rests.

One More Quick Change.

In light of not taking up a crap ton of space on a page with this I will go ahead and just make a regular post on the KM Identification and link it somewhere on the forum...

Hole Pattern Section

Just for shits and giggles I will be putting pics of my hole patterns in the bowl packing section... I most likely will also be starting a how to type page on how to pack Tangiers, Nakhla, and AF. Of course if anyone has any questions comments or suggestions don't hesitate to comment on.

Gallery and KM Section

Just posted two new section, one is a hookah pic gallery and the other is a thread on distinguishing KM hookahs from other egyptian hookahs. I also posted a picture in the bowls section... I should have a new section on purges and chamber designs soon.

More changes...

I combined a couple of the smaller related sections to allow for new content... I should be posting a new section with pictures of bowl types as well as a couple of other new section with in the next week or two.

Changes

Posted a couple new reviews as well as adding a section for tobaccos that do not have their own page.

A Few Changes

The starbuzz category was removed and a few other things where changed to make room for some new sections. I will most likely be doing a bit of reorganizing of the blog before long. I should also have a few new bowl, hookah, and tobacco reviews up tonight or sometime in the next day or two.

Restock Order And Trimetal

I just put in an order to Hookah-Shisha.com for some Tangiers Horchata and Nakhla Double Apple. Along with the order I included two small egyptian bowls that will reviewed as soon as they come in. The KM Trimetal was ordered last night and should be shipped tomorrow, that too should be up for review soon.

Update

I got some new stuff in today... Tried all the dokha out so I feel I can give them all a decent review... The KM will have to wait a few days though... I get paid in a few days so I should have the following reviews up soon.

KM Trimetal
Nirvana Dokha Redrum
Nirvana Dokha Suicide?
Tangiers Lucid Horchata

There may be more on the way too... I'll just have to see.

KM Corrosion

I recently found that my treasured KM Amer is having a bit of an issue with corrosion. I contacted the vendor I bought it from last night and we have arranged a replacement stem... I should have a review on the KM world cup here in a few days, along with a couple of other reviews.

Updates And Possible New Reviews.

About to update the data base... I have some work lined up for tomorrow so I should be placing a couple of orders relatively soon. Most likely the only new things up for review will be Kareemi Hot Dokha, and a Couple of Afzal Flavors... Should Have more for you shortly.

Paper Work!

Got some new "paper work" in today... Should have reviews shortly... Here's the list.

Moassel:
Saloum Plain
Nakhla Kass
Nakhla Bata
Desi Murli Khus

Accessories:
Crown Mouth Piece
Tangiers Small Phunnel Bowl

Dokha:
3'Aqrab

Tangiers Packing Page

I'm it the process of writing a page on how to properly pack tangiers in both a phunnel and Egyptian style bowl... Should be done in a few days.

Incoming!

I should have a few new tobaccos to review tomorrow, along with a chinese phunnel and a glass mouthpiece... I'll have reviews up soon.

Revisions And New Reviews

Made some changes to the font and format of the site. Also posted a few new reviews... More soon!