MechEng

Ian the new CH Nats are much, much better. I guess I've never had a problem with the cubed cocos but I know I don't load a bowl the same way you guys do at the lounge. I'm more of a tight pack and I'm pretty sure you do the fluffy over the rim and let the foil push it down (giving the foil a bit of a crown) and I have had them roll off of a bowl I packed that way. I might be in town this weekend so maybe I can get some coco's from you guys and smoke a hookah at the lounge.

[quote name='ih303' date='25 May 2010 - 09:05 AM' timestamp='1274803504' post='469437'] [quote name='Arcane' date='24 May 2010 - 02:25 PM' timestamp='1274732701' post='469318'] For lounge use, I think AF cocos fit perfectly….personal use, Coconaras. [/quote] I actually always really liked the AF coals. In fact, when we did our own little "coalmageddon" study at the lounge months back, we found them to perform better than CH's, lasting longer and putting off less fumes/ash. But it's been a while since I've tried them, and now I have doubts after reading Stuie's thread. It may not matter to some folks, but I also really like how you can buy AF Coals in loose bulk instead of just a case of smaller boxes - less waste and hassle. This whole thing frustrates me. We've been promoting John and his coals at our lounge since we took it over. I want those coals to be the best. But when we open three boxes in a row that burn black-red, emit blue flames, smoke like a chimney, and make the bowls taste like rotten eggs, it makes me start to question. I don't blame John since all he's not really involved in the production. It's a consistency and quality control issue. At the end of the day, I cannot afford to serve bad hookahs at my lounge. Even more, the bad boxes I'm coming across seem to exhibit characteristics of high sulfur content. Burning sulfer creates sulfur dioxide, which can make people sick. And sick customers are not good for business. Oh, what to do, what to do. [/quote] ^This. The box I got before I left town sucked - a lot. I just wrote it off as you guys not having the new new since you get cases. I know that Travis and I compared the ones he got from the lounge and the ones that I had just got from John (this was a couple weeks before school was out) when he reworked them and the the ones I had were far more dense and they burned damn near 100 degrees Celsius hotter - both characteristics that lead to less ash which I enjoy. Also, beings mine were more dense we found mine lasting 10+ minutes longer on top of a bowl. For personal use I love CCN's and I would love to see them in the lounge with a Derek retail discount? I like the CCN's because they ash less, last longer, et cetera. Now what I would consider is the cost vs. performance and which ever one wins that battle should take the title of 'Coalmageddon' How is everything going?

[quote name='ryno' date='22 March 2010 - 02:22 PM' timestamp='1269292950' post='458857'] One thing I've noticed that effects cloud size is how you inhale. I know some people inhale like they do cigs, meaning after you are done hitting the hookah you suck in more air. That will kill clouds. Its all about how you blow out the cloud, the slower, the bigger it will be [/quote] ^This. I smoke with my friends and there is a huge difference between the clouds that we get and the only difference is the way I inhale/exhale. As far as packing a funnel goes I like the tight pack myself with everything anymore. I tend to only smoke moist tobacco out of my funnel bowls and use an Egyptian for things like Nakhla. The whole point of the funnel design is to prevent the juices from wet tobaccos from dripping down your stem and with the juices staying in the head it lends itself to a more flavorful along with a more lengthy smoke. The only possible downside with the tight pack is that after smoking for a while you need to replenish the top half of the bowl from time to time or just change flavors period. The bottom half never really smokes that well but if you are smoking Tangiers the top half of the bowl is going to last you quite a while.

I think to some the kilos would definitely seem wetter. I know that I let a friend borrow a Mya and he gave me some cash for shisha/coals so I sent him off with a nearly new kilo of sweet melon (his favorite flavor). A week later and a few hundred grams lighter he brought my things back and wanted to smoke and show me his newly developed skills so he set off to prepare a bowl of sweet melon for us. I watched him and he didn't put a whole lot of effort into the stirring the tobacco. I then took tongs and picked a wad of tobacco up and everything on the bottom was soaked as most of the juices had made there way down there. Upon properly mixing it we had the wettest nakhla I will ever smoke that doesn't belong to the mizo line.

Have you ever ordered from Alibaba? Looks tempting since I have lots of friends here that smoke in South Dakota and no shisha for miles unless you order in online and I know that I could find enough people to make an order. And the prices are crazy!

I need to see this after seeing IHCake on Red Bull - pretty interesting...

IH303 think you have at least one set of hose ends to experiment on. If you do it let me know how it goes.

At his blog there is a list of the flavors and how difficult they are to acclimate. Google Tangiers Tobacco and look for the product guide. There is a whole wealth of info on his page.

I have what I guess I thought were the new ones, just got them yesterday, in the 48 count box since they were free. They don't make fire balls like they used to but I can definitely make them issue a flame - they last only a few seconds. I am in love with them and like the 'shell' of ash that they form it is kind of convenient.

I have found that holding a lighter to a corner (one facing down so the flames go up) for 10-20 seconds gets them lit just fine. You just have to avoid getting burned by the random jets of fire. All in all they are much easier to light than the regular CH Nats and they function much the same - I do prefer how they ash vs the original Nats.

Just buy the kilo tin. I used to like nakhla DA and am in love with it now. I tried AF2 and it really was just a lot anise and I couldn't find either of the apples. I bought a kilo from ih303's lounge just before Christmas break and found that I had smoked the whole thing and was ordering another tin along with a tin of sweet melon just the other day.

BGB is delicious. I just ran out of the Noir BGB and I love smoking it with friends and watching them stumble around...

Mya is the way to go...even you got a bigger one with a case they are super simple to travel with.

Well, having been to your lounge too many times (I kid, I kid). Having brought my own hookah (purchased from you) I never actually realized I received any discount and really wouldn't need/expect one. If anything is really nice because 'cake' does a better job cleaning it than I ever will. I know Eric brought up the quality and I must say this really doesn't apply to your lounge since most everything is KM other than the QT's which are still great quality (your solids might be Temsah?). And as far as bowls go I guess we always have a phunnel on everything we smoke there anyway and the hoses are all nice wide-gauge washable hoses (unless you have a QT in which case its a healthy hose which actually isn't too bad). I think a membership of sorts would be quite nice - especially for retail purchases. No offense, but, I have made a whole-sale account (you might know who I am now) and seen the prices (won't post out of respect for the vendors) and the vast majority of me feels like you charge too much for shisha. I mean it may be the same as the cost for one bowl that you setup and tend but I think you order a lot of stuff from John - his prices (not even wholesale) are about half of what you charge for retail. I only bring this up because I was thinking about getting something retail there the other day and decided it would be far cheaper for me to just order it from John and wait a couple days. And I know that a lot of my friends share my feelings as well because the order I placed was for myself and five others. The one thing that does get me is the "box deal" on coals since they are $10 more than online and you only get a handful more than if you were to buy 5 bags of 20. I guess that is why we ordered a case together. Anyway, don't take any of this personal but these are the feelings that I share with quite a few other Tech students. It does seem like business is booming seeing as it was packed the other day. How is the beer sales going? You guys consider getting some AF solids in for retail?