[Jaffi]

Hey there

Since I am smoking Tangiers for a few weeks now I am asking myself if it would make any sense to smoke other tobacco brands with the same traditional packing, aka tobacco gets in touch with the foil, no space between tobacco and foil. Before I started smoking tangiers, I mostly packed my funnel bowl to a bit below the rim, added a sheet of foil and poked small holes (none over the funnel itself). Do you think it would make sense to overpack other brands (besides nakhla)? If so, which ones? Do you think it would work with Jm's, Starbuzz etc?

[ryno]

Whether I pack the bowl like a Tangiers/Nakhla bowl, or fluff in some fusion or AF, my shisha always touches the foil. I'm not sure where this thing of shisha touching the foil is a bad thing, but mine always has and it's never messed up the bowl.

[stigmatas]

ryno, on 08 February 2010 - 04:29 PM, said:

Whether I pack the bowl like a Tangiers/Nakhla bowl, or fluff in some fusion or AF, my shisha always touches the foil. I'm not sure where this thing of shisha touching the foil is a bad thing, but mine always has and it's never messed up the bowl.

are you being serious? or are you trolling. It seems like everyone here is very helpful. I've just never read it's ok to touche the foil... this might change the way i do things?

[mattarios2]

hes serious. I believe all shisha should touch the foil.

But some should be packed lightly, most washed shishas ... SB, AF, Tonic, etc.

And most unwashed Nak/Tang etc, should be packed tighter

[rhineholt]

If you're scared of trolls, jsut look at the post count below their names on the right.

Oh, and it's fine if it touches like ryno and mattarios said

[LZ22]

Just going to reiterate what has been said. Personally I have never had a noticeably worse smoke when the tobacco touches the foil. I often find it really difficult to not let the tobacco touch the foil to be honest. I think its just paranoia people have created because once someone perfects a smoke session. They will try every little tweak in the book to "make" it even better. Next thing you know, people are claiming that you have to use 100% pure glacial water from the himalayans to have a good smoke, when regular water would do just fine. My point is, it all just comes down to heat management and the packing technique (fluffier for things like fusion, tighter for nakhla, etc) but whether or not the shisha touches the foil is just a technicality I beleive. My 2 cents.

[kudomonster]

It really depends.
For nakhla I always pack it tight, normally having the foil compress the shisha. For starbuzz I normally always leave a small gap.

[ryno]

Nope, no trolling. I've heard the "shisha shouldn't touch the foil" many of times on here, and its just never made sense to me.

[ilikemyusername]

my tobacco makes love to the foil. Then I STAB it with a needle!

[joytron]

It seems like if you leave a gap the foil will sag a little and eventually touch.

[stigmatas]

joytron, on 08 February 2010 - 07:38 PM, said:

It seems like if you leave a gap the foil will sag a little and eventually touch.

i appreciate everyone's sincere responses. my next question is.. if the shisha is touching the foil .. won't it burn faster and hotter. Be more likely to produce harshness? Wouldn't the coal scorch the shisha vs simmer it?
When you say washed tobacco, I assume you mean "wet" molasses tobacco like AF and starbuzz?

What I found after googling:
"Washed shisha=washed tobacco=less nicotine (00.5)
Unwashed shisha=not washed out to get rid of a majority of the nic= (0.5)"

[Sonthert]

It depends on a lot of things, and how you pack the bowl. In general, though tobacco touching the foil isn't the end of the world...unless you mash the tobacco down and you are using a wetter washed tobacco.

[jbt90]

stigmatas, on 08 February 2010 - 10:35 PM, said:

joytron, on 08 February 2010 - 07:38 PM, said:

It seems like if you leave a gap the foil will sag a little and eventually touch.

i appreciate everyone's sincere responses. my next question is.. if the shisha is touching the foil .. won't it burn faster and hotter. Be more likely to produce harshness? Wouldn't the coal scorch the shisha vs simmer it?
When you say washed tobacco, I assume you mean "wet" molasses tobacco like AF and starbuzz?

What I found after googling:
"Washed shisha=washed tobacco=less nicotine (00.5)
Unwashed shisha=not washed out to get rid of a majority of the nic= (0.5)"

Wetter tobacco is exactly what it means, the tobacco is "juicier" or physically wetter, the wetness doesn't nessicarily mean it is washed or not. Normally the "premium" tobaccos such as StarBuzz are washed, some like Tangiers Noir are not but they do offer a washed alternative called Lucid.
And not trying to be an ass but 00.5 and 0.5 are the same thing, I'm assuming you mean 0.005 and 0.5?

[stigmatas]

Quote

Wetter tobacco is exactly what it means, the tobacco is "juicier" or physically wetter, the wetness doesn't nessicarily mean it is washed or not. Normally the "premium" tobaccos such as StarBuzz are washed, some like Tangiers Noir are not but they do offer a washed alternative called Lucid.
And not trying to be an ass but 00.5 and 0.5 are the same thing, I'm assuming you mean 0.005 and 0.5?

Yea it's what I picked up from google.. I thought it was either a misprint or he was saying the difference wasn't alot if any.. trying to be sarcastic.

[chinamon]

i have always had my tobacco touching the foil with every brand i smoked in the past (nakhla, tangiers lucid, al fakher, starbuzz, fantasia, havana, etc) and never really had a problem.

if you are smoking a brand that doesnt handle heat very well, such as al fakher, then just use double layer foil.

[dizzbizz]

When I first started to smoke hookah I would use a screen and I could tell the difference when my shisha was touching the screen and being scorched to when it wasn't. But screens suck in general, plus I was a n00b. Now I'm more experienced and couldn't care less if my tobacco was touching the foil. I find it very hard to keep shisha from touching the foil. Makes no difference to me. And if it makes a difference to you, you need to reevaluate you're heat management and packing method.

/thread

[Arcane]

i've found that it depends on a few factors whether its ok for a majority, if not all, of the tobacco to push up against the foil...

1) type of tobacco used
2) packing method
3) heat method

errr...i guess everything that involves packing/smoking used is a factor...haha...

out of the 5 brands I smoke, AF, Starbuzz, and Fusion don't push up against the foil as much as Tangiers or Nakhla. It kinda makes sense, since the cut/appearance and the way the first 3 tobaccos smoke are relatively the same. Same goes for Tangiers and Nakhla...

[Codename067]

With Washed Tobacco, I like to leave a tiny bit of gap between the foil and the flavor, but with non-washed, I don't see a problem.

[twoapplesplease]

yep ,let the tobacco touch the foil

[INCUBUSRATM]

Codename067, on 09 February 2010 - 04:25 AM, said:

With Washed Tobacco, I like to leave a tiny bit of gap between the foil and the flavor, but with non-washed, I don't see a problem.

x2.

This has been my exact experience... Unwashed such as Tangiers and Nakhla doesn't matter if they touch, but when I tried AF and SB and other washed brands it always seemed to burn if I packed it where it touched. Then again, I only tried washed brands when I was starting out smoking hookah... So it's been a while... If I tried it now, with how much I know, it might be different...