Hookah

Aside from the stereotype of using a hookah for smoking, ahem, 'legal' things, does anyone have one by chance?

I just purchased one this past weekend because I enjoy shisha and was just curious if anyone had one or had any pointers?

Aside from homebrewing i'm a big cigar and smoke fan, so natural progression I suppose.

I have a hookah and I love that thing! It's hillarious how people always assume that you want it for other "smokables" but with the size bowl it comes with, that would be a giant waste! Anyhow, what kind of pointers were you looking for? Put the sheesha on the bowl, inhale from the tube.

I have a few hookahs... I have a 4ft rotating hookah and a few smaller hookahs that were presents from UAE... sweet melon shisha is my favorite next to apricot... I also am a cigar fan, too...

Jester

I've never really smoked from a hookah except for one time in college and I don't remember most of that night. Anyway, I've noticed a hew hookah bars opening in my area recently. I've been tempted to visit one, but don't really know what to expect. What's the deal? Any suggestions for a newb?

Honey or apple, those are my faves... Coconut & strawberry are the worst I've ever tried...

I have a hookah, and used it a lot when I was in college. Its a great way to sit around with friends and relax. Hookah bars are also a fun place to hang out, I used to go to them a lot before I turned 21. My favorite flavor was fumari blend from my local hookah shop. you can buy it online also at www.fumari.com Check out their $1000 hookah that they have for sale also.

Oh man, i'm getting excited! I can't wait to get mine in!

I was just curious on your pointers as far as flavors to purchase, what brands are better than others, what to avoid or even where you get your shisha from.

I know some people throw ice into the water to cool the smoke down a tickle, which I thought was neat so I didn't know if there was anything more intuitive than that.

I've been big into Acid brand cigars for awhile now, as well as CAO and the like. Acid, being more herbal, kinda pushed me into the whole hookah scene so when a friend of mine picked one up it helped push me over the edge.

I have one, and enjoy all aspects of smoking from it.

We use ice cubes and cold water in the bottom, and often flavor the water with other ingredients (red bull, orange soda, etc). It adds an interesting flavor to the mix that isn't present in the tobacco.

I have tried ice and didn't think that it made a huge difference, but clean water all the time does it it a lot better. I also recommend using the charcoal coals. They take a little more time to light, but last longer and seem to be a lot cleaner burning. Some of the fast lighting ones didn't work real well for me. Also depending on where you are using it be careful about the floor it is sitting on. We ended up with some good burns in the carpet in the living room in one house in college. It only takes a small bump to knock some of the coals down.

I definitely left one of my college houses with what looked like crop circles all over the carpet from the coals... Recently I bought a bowl that has a locking lid, which was the best thing for the hookah... I always load mine up with ice water too... I buy a lot of my hookah stuff from http://www.hookah-shisha.com/...

Brought one back from Turkey... never fired it up.

My old neighbors had one. The apple was pretty darn good. They always put ice water in it.

My fav. is bubbling jasmine (or apple) flavor through a sweet red wine. Its too damn good for words, just try it.

Hey Nate, I had a few friends that brought hookahs back when we were in Turkey. There were gorgeous but unfortunately one didn't make it back intact. It was good there, except we were there during Ramadan and according to custom, smoking is considered a form of consumption (same verb as "drink") so you feel pressure not to do so. But then again, why smoke mid-day?

I like melon a lot. Apple is a good starter I think. Coconut just sounds nasty- never tried it though. I think charcoal is an important consideration not to overlook. I think the discs work much better than the ones that look like mini-sausages. Enjoy!

I got 4 of them, but I haven't had much time to smoke out of them.

Great replies, many thanks! I've got several ideas to look forward to.

I think i'm going to pick up a starter pack of Double Apple, Apple-Mint, Orange and a few other ones that i'm still undecided of just yet. I found a deal where you can get 300grams and some charcoal, screens and tips for about $30; seems decent enough.

Digging this one up from the grave, but anybody ever thought of an electric hookah? Coals are imperfect - take forever to tlight, put off bad flavors and ash, and don't last very long. Hookah works by radiant heat, so what is stopping people from designing a clip on electric grate on top (like a toaster type thing). Will save a ton of money in the long run, plus is clean and eliminates carpet burns. Or maybe I'm just drunk and there is a painfully obvious reason why this won't work