Tangiers, Not Having Luck With It.

[The fabulous Ian]

So, I just smoked my first bowl of the Tangiers red tea I got from HS.
Mya QT, Mya standard hose, ice and water in the base, shisha acclimated for 5+ hours, phunnel bowl, Romman lemonwood natural coals, three pieces roughly equivalent to a single Easy Lite square each. Double layer of foil, large center hole, three rings of holes. Followed the tutorial on Youtube.

Stirred the stuff up for a minute, packed the bowl (letting it just fall into place), put on the fully lit coals.

Now, while this stuff was acclimating, it smelled great. And even now, there's a definite tea-ish aroma to the room, but the actual smoke is thin, throat-itching and not at all flavorful. Figured I was using too much heat, and took a coal off. Still thin, still a touch harsh, still no flavor. It's done now, and I'm getting ready to try again.

Any advice?

[EternalSoil]

the throad itching means you need more.

put about 20% more in than you see in the video.

if the smoke is still thin, add a little more coal or do away with the hole in the center entirely.

if you pack enough in there you shouldnt need that hole. its just there so the foil doesnt get sucked down.

hope that helps!

[The fabulous Ian]

the throad itching means you need more.

put about 20% more in than you see in the video.

if the smoke is still thin, add a little more coal or do away with the hole in the center entirely.

if you pack enough in there you shouldnt need that hole. its just there so the foil doesnt get sucked down.

hope that helps!

More tobacco in the bowl, or more heat?

[smokehooka]

the throad itching means you need more.

put about 20% more in than you see in the video.

if the smoke is still thin, add a little more coal or do away with the hole in the center entirely.

if you pack enough in there you shouldnt need that hole. its just there so the foil doesnt get sucked down.

hope that helps!

More tobacco in the bowl, or more heat?

more tobacco and if the smoke is still thin then you add a little more coal or do away with the hole in the center.

That's what I assume he meant but that should work!

Correct me if i'm wrong on the summing uppage.

[EternalSoil]

yes, smokehooka, thats what i meant. i'll elaborate.

more tobacco regaurdless. thats why you're getting the tickle in your throat, not because of the heat.

thin smoke means more heat.

while talking with billysoco in the chat he said the smoke was thin but hot.

he was using 3 halves of 3K QL

i then suggested using 1/4 pieces, starting with 4 pieces evenly spaced, then adding one at a time until it gets going the way you like.

[Ralleac]

yes, smokehooka, thats what i meant. i'll elaborate.

more tobacco regaurdless. thats why you're getting the tickle in your throat, not because of the heat.

thin smoke means more heat.

while talking with billysoco in the chat he said the smoke was thin but hot.

he was using 3 halves of 3K QL

i then suggested using 1/4 pieces, starting with 4 pieces evenly spaced, then adding one at a time until it gets going the way you like.

I know you probably hear this a lot, but what about tangiers makes it better to have it come in direct contact with the coals from packing it so high? I'm trying it out this time around, but it seems to go against the way I pack everything else. Edited January 11, 2008 by Ralleac

[Scoop]

pack to the very top. overpack what you usually do...will be better

[EternalSoil]

i'm not exactly sure why Tangiers is like it is.

i think it has alot to do with the cut and the juices in it cause its the only tobacco like this, and no others have the same cut or the same type of juiciness. their viscocity of their juices are alot different.

overpack the bowl!

it should be OVER the outside, not just the part in the middle where the hole is.

[Ralleac]

i'm not exactly sure why Tangiers is like it is.

i think it has alot to do with the cut and the juices in it cause its the only tobacco like this, and no others have the same cut or the same type of juiciness. their viscocity of their juices are alot different.

overpack the bowl!

it should be OVER the outside, not just the part in the middle where the hole is.

I overpacked it initially like I've seen in your other pictures, and it's still kind of harsh and causing my throat to itch. I added even more and redid the foil and it's smoking very well, just can't seem to get the harshness to go away.

I can't fit any more shisha in that bowl, so I don't know what's wrong. I don't have that much coal on there. Any less and it wouldn't hit at all. Edited January 11, 2008 by Ralleac

[Ralleac]

Well, I tried my best and we couldn't get it going properly. The K-Peach worked fine (I over-packed it, but not by much), but the Schnozzberry just wasn't working out. I wound up loading up one of my normal bowls with fusion cactus pear and smoking that for a bit. I'll give the Schnozzberry another try later this week. I gave the rest of the batch an extra two hours or so to acclimate, and I think I have a better idea of how I should be setting it up next time. Edited January 11, 2008 by Ralleac

[Oggie505]

sounds like to mee you have enough packed now, once you get a harshness try removing a coal, and if it dies down try throwing a windcover on with that one coal taken away

[EternalSoil]

hmmm... could you take some pics next time before you put the foil on?

also, too many small holes.

use less and bigger.

i dont know why people are having this problem.

i smoked orange soda last night and it smoked fine except for the slight flavor loss and increase in buzz cause i couldnt wait for it to acclimate.

[The fabulous Ian]

hmmm... could you take some pics next time before you put the foil on?

also, too many small holes.

use less and bigger.

i dont know why people are having this problem.

i smoked orange soda last night and it smoked fine except for the slight flavor loss and increase in buzz cause i couldnt wait for it to acclimate.

I ended up not doing another bowl last night, but I'll try again tonight after work, with pics. Thanks for helping guys.

[Ralleac]

sounds like to mee you have enough packed now, once you get a harshness try removing a coal, and if it dies down try throwing a windcover on with that one coal taken away

I was playing with the coals and a windcover the entire time. Whenever there was any smoke (and even when there wasn't much at all,) it was still tasting peppery and causing me to cough.

hmmm... could you take some pics next time before you put the foil on?

also, too many small holes.

use less and bigger.

i dont know why people are having this problem.

Yeah, after the K-Peach doing fine without a hitch I didn't expect any problems, but the next time I set up a bowl I'll take a pic. I don't really know what is doing it, because when I've taken everything off none of the shisha actually looks burned or charred. Edited January 11, 2008 by Ralleac

[Voski]

I don't get it either man I have packed one good tangiers bowl. Next time im gonna try not pushing the tobacco down at all and see how that works.

[The fabulous Ian]

Ok. So, I couldn't take pictures as I couldn't borrow the camera tonight, but I packed again, filled it more, used four small quicklight pieces, and the throat-tickle is gone, but I'm still getting super-thin smoke and no flavor. Gah. I played with the heat, more, less... Played with using a windscreen. And between the tangiers and the quicklights, I feel pretty sick. Blegh. Going to pack things up for the time being, try again in a bit once I feel better.

[ZenSilk]

Also take into mind that you could be very sensitive to Nicotine.

[The fabulous Ian]

Also take into mind that you could be very sensitive to Nicotine.

True, but I also smoke unfiltered cigarettes and use Nakhla pretty regularly, although from what I've got out of it, Tangiers is doing a number to me. More importantly, quicklights -always- make me sick, can't say why. They're red hot and ashed over by the time I put them on.

Man.
I need to find someone around here who smokes Tangiers to show me how its done. Baltimore, MD, anyone? Edited January 12, 2008 by The fabulous Ian

[EvansLight]

Tangiers is not made in the same way that most of the baccy we smoke is. As Eric himself has said its made in a different style, and its been ages but if memory serves me right, it was i think Gulfi(sp?) style tobacco. So what does this mean? Exactly what we know, it takes different methods and thinking to get it to smoke right. For instance, acclimation; i dont acclimate any other baccy i smoke, except tangiers. Sure it does help a little bit, but no where near the impprovment it provides when smoking Tangiers.

I still to this day beleive that either his method or what his uses for flavoring in some of the flavors is what causes some people to get that itch in the back of the throat when smoking it. I can never smoke Red Tea (not just cause i didnt like the taste), it makes my throat itch even when setup by a tangiers expert (a friend who smokes nothing but it).

Now this doesn't hold true for everyone, it might still just be your not getting it to smoke right. God where is Erics big brain when you need it

[Ralleac]

Schnozzberry take two. Packed as shown in pics in the 10 page long thread, poked bigger holes this time, still harsh as nothing else. My ice chamber is making it deceptive, as the smoke is cold when I pull, but makes me choke as I'm exhaling. I don't really know what to make of it, but this isn't making for a very enjoyable experience. I'm probably going to wind up tossing something else on again.

I might try to get my hands on some blueberry or orange soda, but I don't really want to blow another $24 on it until I figure this out. Edited January 12, 2008 by Ralleac

[EternalSoil]

if its not hot but it hurts when you exhale, thats the tickle people talk about.

sounds like you need to pack more.

but if you packed it like i did..... i dont know... weird.

[ZenSilk]

Take into consideration what EL said. That's an important point i have not yet heard discussed.

I get that same feeling no matter what with Orange Soda. And then i nauseuos when the flavor touches my tongue and throat.
Yet, with every other flavor i've smoked, (except maybe Cooling which lead to me to not be able to inhale the smoke because my throat was numb and tingling without me knowing) i handle it nicely, and the nicotine doesn't so much get to me. I hate nicotine buzzes alot.

Some flavors don't do it for some people i suppose. But it does take alot of heat management skills.'

What i tend to find myself doing, is when the smoke barely starts to become harsh, i remove the coals, purge the smoke, and put the coals back on in different areas of the bowl in order for the spent tobacco to rejuvanate (so to speak).

[Ralleac]

Well, I've noticed that the Schnozzberry I have is pretty dry. Even when I stir it is still dryer than my Layalina and Fusion that I have lying around. The K-Peach is fine, even when I underpacked the bowl, so I'll probably just stick with that and put an order in for something else next time I'm running low.

[SmokingDjinn]

I thought it was noir style? What does noir style mean?

[sss8789]

It seems like everyone who buys tangiers from HS is having problems with it. Does anyone else buy from HS have problems with it or is it that it just happens that the only people that have problems with it buy from HS?