Static Starlight.

[vendetta_revived]

Okay, so here is another acclimation topic, I suppose.

I got my tang yesterday and followed the 4/20 method on both Indian Summer and Static Starlight, and as of now, they both smell pretty off. SS actually has started to come out a little, so I said fuck it and I packed a bowl of it and smoking it right now.

Now I followed Chris's video of packing tangiers in a crown micro phunnel to the T and it's smoking alright, I can taste a bit of lemon in it and really have to look for grape, but it's there alright. What I want to ask is, how would you rate SS on how strong it is in the flavour dept. on a 1 to 10 scale? Because what I am tasting is pretty faint?

I am going to follow the 4/20 tomorrow as well, but the way IS is smelling right now, I fear it will take sometime to be alright to smoke.

I talking all lucid here btw.

[Chreees]

Lucid? Weeeeird. It should be just fine for ya, buddy. I don't know how you could fuck it up, honestly. The Static I get is always so full of flavor. It's mostly grape with lemon and rose. It's one of my favorite flavors from Tangiers and is always pretty consistent for me. There was ONE 250g I had that was really faint on flavor. In fact, it pretty much had no taste. But that was one out of MANY 250gs I've had in my smoking career. It's possible that this is the case for you, but let's try talking through your packing and heat management first. I know you said you packed it like my video to a T, but are you packing it just as tight as it comes in the shit brick package new? It needs to be the same density. Lucid you can get away with it being a little looser (which makes it even weirder for me that you're having trouble getting flavor from it, since it's Lucid; it's waaay more fail-proof than Noir). Heat management what I always suggest, now after seeing posts from both Mushy and Eric of Tangiers, is to add small amounts of heat little by little until you've got the perfect balance of smoke volume and flavor. Once you generally know what the correct amount is, it becomes easier next time. Also, slowly adding heat means you're not scorching the bowl trying to get it going quickly. Patience is key. Give it time. Letting it slowly heat up instead of "I'MMA ADD TONS OF COALS AND GET THAT SHIT GOING THEN BACK OFF IF IT HITS TOO HARSH" is definitely the noob and "bro" approach to it. Not the right approach. Now I'm not saying you're adding heat too fast, but I just wanted to go ahead and put that out there, as it applies more-so to Tangiers, Lucid and Noir, than other brands (not saying you can quickly add heat to other brands, but in my experience it seems like Tangiers is less forgiving). Perhaps you can make a video showing us exactly how you pack it, poke holes, and add coals? Show us your smoke volume and tell us how the flavor is.

[MichaelLCP]

What kind of coals are you using? Also how many are you using? Plus you shouldn't really have to acclimate Lucid at all.... Weird.

[Kapten Kanel]

Over the years i have bought around 1,5KG (maybe more, i cant really remember) of tangiers, 250g of that was lucid and 250g was f-line i think. I have tried every acclimation method and every packing method that exists and a few that doesnt. ONE single barely decent session is what ive got out of all this.
It just doesnt work with Swedens fluctuating humidity or something, people in nearby countries seem to have similar problems.

A few years ago (kinda) Sonthert/Eric was very active on the forum trying to find a solution to the acclimation/soy issue, people participated in a questionnaire he made and stuff, trying to single out the cause, im not sure how that ended, the 4/20 method is the latest/best approach i believe.

BUT, tangiers wouldnt be most hookah-veterans absolute favorite brand for nothing, it obviously can be very good. I wonder if its more to it than just the humidity/acclimation issues.

Lucid didnt smell quite as bad as the noir ones but there was still an obvious weird soy/dark/murky/tobacco smell to it. Packing method issues are out of the question since its more or less impossible to get the shisha to even smell good/as it supposed to.

Most flavours gets killed rather quickly from acclimation (orange soda, im looking at you) so dont leave it out in the open for too long if possible, after a few 4/20 sessions you can more or less throw it away if it havent worked because it will never smell good (from my experience).



Sorry for the messy reply but im tired as ****.

[vendetta_revived]

[quote name='INCUBUSRATM' timestamp='1310848627' post='516159']
Lucid? Weeeeird. It should be just fine for ya, buddy. I don't know how you could fuck it up, honestly. The Static I get is always so full of flavor. It's mostly grape with lemon and rose. It's one of my favorite flavors from Tangiers and is always pretty consistent for me. There was ONE 250g I had that was really faint on flavor. In fact, it pretty much had no taste. But that was one out of MANY 250gs I've had in my smoking career. It's possible that this is the case for you, but let's try talking through your packing and heat management first. I know you said you packed it like my video to a T, but are you packing it just as tight as it comes in the shit brick package new? It needs to be the same density. Lucid you can get away with it being a little looser (which makes it even weirder for me that you're having trouble getting flavor from it, since it's Lucid; it's waaay more fail-proof than Noir). Heat management what I always suggest, now after seeing posts from both Mushy and Eric of Tangiers, is to add small amounts of heat little by little until you've got the perfect balance of smoke volume and flavor. Once you generally know what the correct amount is, it becomes easier next time. Also, slowly adding heat means you're not scorching the bowl trying to get it going quickly. Patience is key. Give it time. Letting it slowly heat up instead of "I'MMA ADD TONS OF COALS AND GET THAT SHIT GOING THEN BACK OFF IF IT HITS TOO HARSH" is definitely the noob and "bro" approach to it. Not the right approach. Now I'm not saying you're adding heat too fast, but I just wanted to go ahead and put that out there, as it applies more-so to Tangiers, Lucid and Noir, than other brands (not saying you can quickly add heat to other brands, but in my experience it seems like Tangiers is less forgiving). Perhaps you can make a video showing us exactly how you pack it, poke holes, and add coals? Show us your smoke volume and tell us how the flavor is.
[/quote]

Oh that's a cool idea! I will record a video tomorrow and post it here! But the problem is that both SS and IS are still smelling very soy sauce like, even after 2 days of 4/20 method. It's rainy season here, hence the humidity is just being a heartless bitch really. Could that be a problem?

[quote name='MichaelLCP' timestamp='1310854595' post='516167']
What kind of coals are you using? Also how many are you using? Plus you shouldn't really have to acclimate Lucid at all.... Weird.
[/quote]

I am using smoker's coal, since that is the only hookah charcoal available here kinda, and importing from US is out of the question since the shipping alone would kill me. I use it on AF and it doesn't smell or taste, and I am using 3 halves on a (broken) crown micro phunnel.

[quote name='Kapten Kanel' timestamp='1310858838' post='516171']
Over the years i have bought around 1,5KG (maybe more, i cant really remember) of tangiers, 250g of that was lucid and 250g was f-line i think. I have tried every acclimation method and every packing method that exists and a few that doesnt. ONE single barely decent session is what ive got out of all this.
It just doesnt work with Swedens fluctuating humidity or something, people in nearby countries seem to have similar problems.

A few years ago (kinda) Sonthert/Eric was very active on the forum trying to find a solution to the acclimation/soy issue, people participated in a questionnaire he made and stuff, trying to single out the cause, im not sure how that ended, the 4/20 method is the latest/best approach i believe.

BUT, tangiers wouldnt be most hookah-veterans absolute favorite brand for nothing, it obviously can be very good. I wonder if its more to it than just the humidity/acclimation issues.

Lucid didnt smell quite as bad as the noir ones but there was still an obvious weird soy/dark/murky/tobacco smell to it. Packing method issues are out of the question since its more or less impossible to get the shisha to even smell good/as it supposed to.

Most flavours gets killed rather quickly from acclimation (orange soda, im looking at you) so dont leave it out in the open for too long if possible, after a few 4/20 sessions you can more or less throw it away if it havent worked because it will never smell good (from my experience).



Sorry for the messy reply but im tired as ****.
[/quote]

Dude! I am not saying that your experience is not valid, but you're seriously bumming me out.


@All: Don't know if my responses are to the point. Sorry, I am EXTREMELY drunk, it being saturday night and all.

[Epoch]

You're drunk - pack up a bowl and smoke hard! You won't notice the difference.

[MichaelLCP]

[quote name='MichaelLCP' timestamp='1310854595' post='516167']
What kind of coals are you using? Also how many are you using? Plus you shouldn't really have to acclimate Lucid at all.... Weird.
[/quote]

[quote]I am using smoker's coal, since that is the only hookah charcoal available here kinda, and importing from US is out of the question since the shipping alone would kill me. I use it on AF and it doesn't smell or taste, and I am using 3 halves on a (broken) crown micro phunnel.[/quote]

Okay. Cause tang is a very low heat tobacco. I use 4 coco halves. It smokes the best for me when there is little coal left. Just have to experiment with heat.

[vendetta_revived]

[quote name='Epoch' timestamp='1310867090' post='516176']
You're drunk - pack up a bowl and smoke hard! You won't notice the difference.





[/quote]

It just took me 5 minutes to get to the washroom to pee! Pack a bowl now? In my broken phunnel?

They will catch you if I accidentally cut myself. Game?

[quote name='MichaelLCP' timestamp='1310867337' post='516178']
[quote name='MichaelLCP' timestamp='1310854595' post='516167']
What kind of coals are you using? Also how many are you using? Plus you shouldn't really have to acclimate Lucid at all.... Weird.
[/quote]

[quote]I am using smoker's coal, since that is the only hookah charcoal available here kinda, and importing from US is out of the question since the shipping alone would kill me. I use it on AF and it doesn't smell or taste, and I am using 3 halves on a (broken) crown micro phunnel.[/quote]

Okay. Cause tang is a very low heat tobacco. I use 4 coco halves. It smokes the best for me when there is little coal left. Just have to experiment with heat.
[/quote]

It can't be too much heat! The coals I am using are low heat themselves, and I smoked the bowl for 2 complete rounds of coal, and the smoke wasn't harsh for even a second. I got pretty good clouds all the way through, just the flavour was missing! As Chris suggested, I am gonna record a video tomorrow and post it here. Thanks man.