Adding Whole Or Crushed Spices To Your Tobacco

[Hassouni]

So I've often mixed in cloves, especially with DA. It's nice - strong but interesting. I was wondering if anybody has tried this with other spices, specifically cardamom?

[no longer welcome]

no, but talking to a friend last night who used to prepare hookahs for a restaurant in lebanon, he would "grate" apple skin and mix them with DA, said it was great.

[Hassouni]

John, I went to this restaurant in Ashrafiye that had some special blend with miskeh (mastic) added to it. You ever heard of this? It was AWESOME

[no longer welcome]

[quote name='Hassouni' timestamp='1297965442' post='498206']
John, I went to this restaurant in Ashrafiye that had some special blend with miskeh (mastic) added to it. You ever heard of this? It was AWESOME
[/quote]

nope, btw, didn't i tell you where to go in ash next time you are there, you didn't, did you? sigh

[Hassouni]

No dude kinit honik li a3za ma kinit 3andi wa2it. Sorry for the Arabic everyone else, don't want to be too public

[Jesse]

Hassouni, I have ground cloves, I've actually wondered about adding them to Vanilla or the AF Double Apple as you mentioned to offset some of the Anise. Would love to know if this is doable or will it screw up my hookah session terribly..

[nathanmweiss]

I would definitely do cloves, screw buying expensive clove cigars.

[nathanmweiss]

Is there plain hookah tobacco out there that would lend itself well to being mixed with spices?

[agunn1231]

[quote name='HookahJohn' timestamp='1297963975' post='498201']
no, but talking to a friend last night who used to prepare hookahs for a restaurant in lebanon, he would "grate" apple skin and mix them with DA, said it was great.
[/quote]

just tried grated apple in my DA last night. it was pretty tasty.

[Hassouni]

[quote name='nathanmweiss' timestamp='1298084399' post='498393']
Is there plain hookah tobacco out there that would lend itself well to being mixed with spices?
[/quote]

Yes, Salloum or Nakhla Zaghloul. Or AF Soft Black or Nakhlal Khan el Khalili. Only tried the first two, of which Salloum is nicer. SB is allegedly the most similar in usage to a normal flavored tobacco though.

[sheik_steampunk]

Has anyone tried putting in cinnamon sticks, or maybe powdered cinnamon?
I live in India, and we don't really get all the flavors that are available. So we turn to being a little innovative with our sheesha. I was thinking that a tinge of cinnamon would be just lovely with a mild fruit flavor like peach, and could add just the right amount of spice and zing to it. Any suggestions/ideas/criticisms?

[Stuie]

Few pinches of coffee grounds in some Tangiers Cocoa mixed together.

F@#)* GREAT!

You heard it here first people!!!!

[vendetta_revived]

I've tried grated apple once, but idk, the apple was so juicy that the grated apple was more of a squishy paste and may I mixed too much of it, because it got the shisha so wet that I couldn't get it to smoke at all!

[quote name='sheik_steampunk' timestamp='1303405500' post='506358']
Has anyone tried putting in cinnamon sticks, or maybe powdered cinnamon?
I live in India, and we don't really get all the flavors that are available. So we turn to being a little innovative with our sheesha. I was thinking that a tinge of cinnamon would be just lovely with a mild fruit flavor like peach, and could add just the right amount of spice and zing to it. Any suggestions/ideas/criticisms?


[/quote]

Why not just mix some cinnamon flavour? Hey btw! What brands do you get down there in Chennai? In delhi, it's only AF, afzal. alladin and qehwa. Of course, I only buy AF out of all those.

[Hookah Nate]

Just want to through a warning out for health purposes. Spices can be dangerous if combusted or vaporized. Namely nutmeg, allspice, basil, ginger, and chili powder, but others exist and are risky. Just wanted to throw that bit of knowledge out there.

[sheik_steampunk]

[quote name='Hookah Nate' timestamp='1303430280' post='506408']
Just want to through a warning out for health purposes. Spices can be dangerous if combusted or vaporized. Namely nutmeg, allspice, basil, ginger, and chili powder, but others exist and are risky. Just wanted to throw that bit of knowledge out there.
[/quote]

Thanks buddy! I think i'll do some looking up on the subject. Thanks for bringing it up!

[quote name='vendetta_revived' timestamp='1303422571' post='506392']
I've tried grated apple once, but idk, the apple was so juicy that the grated apple was more of a squishy paste and may I mixed too much of it, because it got the shisha so wet that I couldn't get it to smoke at all!

[quote name='sheik_steampunk' timestamp='1303405500' post='506358']
Has anyone tried putting in cinnamon sticks, or maybe powdered cinnamon?
I live in India, and we don't really get all the flavors that are available. So we turn to being a little innovative with our sheesha. I was thinking that a tinge of cinnamon would be just lovely with a mild fruit flavor like peach, and could add just the right amount of spice and zing to it. Any suggestions/ideas/criticisms?


[/quote]

Why not just mix some cinnamon flavour? Hey btw! What brands do you get down there in Chennai? In delhi, it's only AF, afzal. alladin and qehwa. Of course, I only buy AF out of all those.
[/quote]



Well for starters, I've never seen a box of cinnamon flavor here Does Afzal make it? At the moment we get Afzal, Marhaba, Qehwa, Al Fakher and Aladdin. I find that each maker has their best stuff. Flavors like Pan I fell Afzal's the best, hands down. No other pan based flavor has risen to that standard. And their fruit flavors are pretty killer. ( Banana is just lovely. And blackberry too. Blackberry and Mint is a bloody good combination. Being fans of Opeth my friend and I christened the combo "Blackwater park" )
Marhaba has the best Kiwi and the strongest Mint flavor i've tasted so far.
Only recently did we get a sampling of Aladdin ( I think it's the first time they're doing business in Chennai) so I bought 2 flavors - X on the Beach (why they couldn't just call it Sex, I cannot fathom) and Nirvana. Haven't tried the Nirvana but I thought X on the Beach was blissful.

My 2 cents. But there's a LOT more where that came from, haha

[vendetta_revived]

[quote name='Hookah Nate' timestamp='1303430280' post='506408']
Just want to through a warning out for health purposes. Spices can be dangerous if combusted or vaporized. Namely nutmeg, allspice, basil, ginger, and chili powder, but others exist and are risky. Just wanted to throw that bit of knowledge out there.
[/quote]

I think I have read something of that sort. Gonna look up on my own. Thanks.

[quote name='sheik_steampunk' timestamp='1303444990' post='506456']
Well for starters, I've never seen a box of cinnamon flavor here Does Afzal make it? At the moment we get Afzal, Marhaba, Qehwa, Al Fakher and Aladdin. I find that each maker has their best stuff. Flavors like Pan I fell Afzal's the best, hands down. No other pan based flavor has risen to that standard. And their fruit flavors are pretty killer. ( Banana is just lovely. And blackberry too. Blackberry and Mint is a bloody good combination. Being fans of Opeth my friend and I christened the combo "Blackwater park" )
Marhaba has the best Kiwi and the strongest Mint flavor i've tasted so far.
Only recently did we get a sampling of Aladdin ( I think it's the first time they're doing business in Chennai) so I bought 2 flavors - X on the Beach (why they couldn't just call it Sex, I cannot fathom) and Nirvana. Haven't tried the Nirvana but I thought X on the Beach was blissful.

My 2 cents. But there's a LOT more where that came from, haha
[/quote]

I don't know about afzal cinnamon, the only afzal flavour that remains a necessity in my stash is as you said - their pan rasna flavour! I've tried some of their flavours actually, like bubblegum, blueberry, mint, double apple, peach and a few more, and the same flavours exist in the AF (short for Al fakher) line which are like a 100 times better. Though now I am gonna try their banana and blackberry. Thanks for the suggestion.

AF makes a bloody damn good cinnamon btw! Try it. I bought a few qehwa flavours recently but I was so unimpressed that I don't even remember the names. Aladdin I haven't tried but I will be buying their X on the beach (Lol! They couldn't name it the other way because it'd be banned in their own country.) soon. Thanks again mate.

PS : I noticed that you haven't tried AF, I know the price is like double comparing to the other brands, but it's more than worth it. Check the reviews section here for some good suggestions, my favourites in their line include : Bubblegum, peach, orange, [b]MINT, [/b]guava, lemon mint, cinnamon, strawberry.

[sheik_steampunk]

[quote name='vendetta_revived' timestamp='1303459428' post='506479']I don't know about afzal cinnamon, the only afzal flavour that remains a necessity in my stash is as you said - their pan rasna flavour! I've tried some of their flavours actually, like bubblegum, blueberry, mint, double apple, peach and a few more, and the same flavours exist in the AF (short for Al fakher) line which are like a 100 times better. Though now I am gonna try their banana and blackberry. Thanks for the suggestion.

AF makes a bloody damn good cinnamon btw! Try it. I bought a few qehwa flavours recently but I was so unimpressed that I don't even remember the names. Aladdin I haven't tried but I will be buying their X on the beach (Lol! They couldn't name it the other way because it'd be banned in their own country.) soon. Thanks again mate.

PS : I noticed that you haven't tried AF, I know the price is like double comparing to the other brands, but it's more than worth it. Check the reviews section here for some good suggestions, my favourites in their line include : Bubblegum, peach, orange, [b]MINT, [/b]guava, lemon mint, cinnamon, strawberry.
[/quote]

I have tried Al Fakher quite a bit.. but I dont remember if I tried anything out of the ordinary. As in - We'd get a pack of Afzal mint, AF mint and Marhaba mint - And compare them. (In this case, it was [b]Marhaba's [color="#000080"]Ice Mint[/color] [/b]that won hands down. We couldn't believe it at first, but it's so strong that to match the taste, you'll need double that exact quantity if you're using Afzal or AF.) Also, Marhaba's [b]Grape Mint [/b]is sexy! Perfect for those lazy, gloomy weather type smoking sessions!
Qehwa I think is a bucket load of horse shit. I tried some of their flavors long back ([b]Cardinal Punch[/b] - eww, too orangy/mandarinny/whatevery, then [b]Mosaic[/b] which was just mild pan. And then there was this flavor called [b]Arabian Nights[/b] which I couldn't really identify, but was just really yuck.) That was the last time we ever bought Qehwa.
Some of the guys who own sheesha parlors here are good friends of mine, and they were recommending this brand called [b]Royal[/b]. Heard of it?

Oh and I tried AF's Lime Mint. It was nice, but I found it a bit too acidic for my liking. I think if it was a little milder on the citrus, it would be perfect. But we used it with a milk base - and it was really good after that.
I think I will find out if my supplier has Afzal cinnamon. I'm pretty eager to try it out with Banana and/or peach.

Right now, we've got Pan Rasna, Peach, Banana, X on the Beach, Nirvana, Blackberry, Mint and Lime Mint.

Oh and I think you'll like X on the Beach - the first thing that hits you is a tinge of sweet saunf (I kid you not! ) and then if you let the smoke hit the tip of your tongue as you take it in, you'll get this awesome sugary taste!