Coal Taste

[hookah whore]

Hi all,My husband and I just tried a hookah for the 1st time at a Hookah Lounge and loved it so much we bought one! The problem is, when we tried it ourselves at home, it was nothing like at the lounge. It didn't taste as good, and there is a taste of coal. It also didn't smoke as well. I read a lot of the posts here, and have realized that it depends on how you fill the bowl, the type of shashi you use, the type of coal, and how you light it. We used Nakhla tobbacco, and quick lighting charcoal. I was wondering if anyone can give some recommendations on which types to use, and how to correctly use them. Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[yashman19]

Well you are correct in that there are many factors which could cause a poor session. Nahkla, despite being a cheap tobacco, shouldn't be a reason your session was poor, as millions of people smoke nahklah and love it. But can you tell us what brand of coal you were using? Were they the round quicklight discs? Cylindrical finger style naturals?As long as its a fairly well known brand, you shouldn't have a major problem with a coal taste. One thing I've noticed over the years of smoking, is that even some of the more widely used coals can give off an odor, and it typically happens while lighting them. Next time you and your husband smoke, try lighting the coal and NOT smoking until the coal is fully lit, meaning its fully glowing red with no black left over, or sometimes a grey-ish ash color, depending on the type of coal as most odor being put out from a coal is during the lighting process (not all, but most of the time)If you wait until the coal becomes fully lit, most of the time it will eliminate virtually all odor if any. If you put a halfway lit coal on your bowl and start puffing, sometimes you can pull that foul odor into your bowl of tobacco, tainting it and ruining the rest of your session. Give this a try and see what happens.As for packing, just keep testing different methods until you come across something that works for you. Experiment with the following:Pack the tobacco tightly or loosely (tighter= harder draw, looser= an easier draw. If you pack it too tight, the draw will suck and the air won't evenly burn all the tobacco. If you pack it too losely, you will have a ton of air going through which can actually burn the tobacco easier. So you must find a stable middleground.Foil: Experiment with smaller holes, larger holes, many holes or few holes. I personally use a pushpin, and put roughly 60-65 holes evenly spaced out over the foil. Too few or small holes and air won't be able to easily move through your bowl. Too large or too many holes and too much air will go through once again burning the tobacco.Coals: If your getting thin smoke without a ton of flavor, try adding more heat. Once it starts to get a bit spicy/harsh, take some heat off. Pretty simple.These are the main factors you will need to play around with. It takes everyone a bit of practice to develope a routine which works for them, so don't get discouraged because of a few crappy sessions. You and your husband will be pros in no time.If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. Also, welcome to the board![b]Edit:[/b] Upon re-reading, I see you used quicklighting charcoal. What brand? 3Kings and Golden quicklights are the most frequently talked about quicklights here. They have their neg/pos, but people like them.

[DownZero]

What brand are the quick lights? The better QL are 3kings and Golden... I've heard any other QL are pretty nasty. Nakhla is a pretty easy shisha to get going and smoking good. One QL coal in the center of the bowl should get it going... if not try adding half a coal. Also, what flavor did you try smoking at home? Flavors vary by brand and also some flavors aren't full of obvious flavor. You should try finding out what brand your local lounge uses and purchase some shisha of that brand. Note: Loosely pack the bowl - break up the shisha with your fingers and sprinkle it onto the bowl.

[Bleeding_Heart1]

ive had plenty of good seccions with nakhla and Quick lights. I useually use 2 coals and let them do their business.

[PersianPride]

Well you are probably using too much coal. I don't use the quick lights anymore, the chemicals in them are probably more harmful then the tobacco. But when i did I found that one coal did the job quite well, bear in mind a lot of people don't agree with me.The second reason could be that you have overloaded the bowl causing the hot foil to actually come into contact with the tobacco. In which case that carbon taste you are getting is probably the tobacco burning. That may sound stupid but as you can see the aim of the hookah is to sort of steam the tobacco slowly. Those are my guesses based on what you have said.

[yashman19]

A lot of people have success with quicklights by using 1.5 pieces. 2 can be too much depending on your bowl size, 1 could be too small. So many people will snap the round discs in half, and use 3 halfs. Then people like to use two quicklights, but instead of laying both of them flat down, they "piggyback them", so as to not put as much surface area down on the foil.As you can see from all the responses, there are tons of ways people setup their hookah. There isn't one definate right way of smoking hookah, just have to keep trying new techniques.Keep us posted.

[DownZero]

Yeah, I've never found a need for 2 QL. The highest I've gone is 3 halves for brands like Layalina, got real nice thick smoke.

[hookah whore]

Thank you all so much for responding. To answer a few questions, the charcoal that we have says "Instant-Lite" charcoal. They are round disks, and we experimented by trying one disk and then 1.5 disks. We noticed that when we used 1.5 disks of charcoal we got more smoke, but that could have been because the 1st piece of charcoal may not have been completely lit, and we smoked it immediately upon placing it on the foil. We also tried packing the bowl not too tight or loose and not too high, but we still had a problem with the shashi touching the foil. Another question I have is regarding the acclimation of shashi. We were not told to acclimate the shashi, and are unsure as to if it is required, and if it is, how to do it. The flavors of Nakhla we tried were:1. Strawberry2. Mango3. Mixed fruit4. Melon5. Mixed fruit + vanilla6. Strawberry + melonI also called the lounge and asked them what brands they used when we smoked, and they said they used Nakhla and Al'Aha (sp?) shashi and Roland charcoal.

[arik]

i belive its Al-waha and I have worst experience with Rolland coals, i would never buy them again.

[hookah whore]

Is that the kind of charcoal we have, Rolland? It doesn't say on the package what brand they are. What kinds of coals do you recommend instead? I've heard of Japanese coals and coconut coals...Also, is Al'Waha better than Nakhla, or is it personal preference?

[arik]

I would recommend using 3kings coals.

[htdsngup]

Id say just get any natural coals and try that. Also if u kno other ppl with hookahs, try mixing and matching stuff to see where lies the problem.And maybe too, u should acclimate ur "sushi"

[PersianPride]

Ok hookahwhore( nice name btw) you are being bombarded with a lot of advice but here is your check list.Your problem has nothing to do with:1. the type of shisha2 the type of charcoal3. acclimatingI can say for sure but what you definately have to prevent is the burning of the shisha on the foil. You also have to experiment with the charcoal. If you started with 1.5 and it was still bad remove the half and see what happens and in general experiment.Also another possible reason your having a problem could be that you have filled your base to high and the smoke is being concentrated in a very small amount of space. Typically the end of your stem should only be about 4-5cm under water.

[DizzyGuy]

Without reading any of that up there ^^^ because it's too late... be sure that the coal is fully light before you put it on the foil. Otherwise, you taste the chemicals and crap coming off the coal. That's happened to me before and it's not cool

[yashman19]

[quote name='DizzyGuy']Without reading any of that up there ^^^ because it's too late... be sure that the coal is fully light before you put it on the foil.  Otherwise, you taste the chemicals and crap coming off the coal.  That's happened to me before and it's not cool[/quote] Muahaha, first reply. Booya!

[DizzyGuy]

ARG. I made it to the second paragraph before giving up reading. Go figure... Good show, 'ole man

[hookah whore]

Thanks, everyone. So what exactly do you have to do to acclimate shisha? As for storing it, after I opened up a 50g box of Nakhla and used some, I re-wrapped the rest of it in the paper it came in and put it in a zipock bag. Is that ok? My next question is, which brand of shisha would you recommend I buy if I want lots and lots of smoke, yummy flavors, and a little buzz? I have heard Al Amir, Al Waha, and Af Havana are pretty good. There is also Starbuzz, Fumari, and Layalina. Just need some ideas... Thanks again for all the advice!

[nuschultz]

[url="http://www.hookahwiki.com/index.php?title=Acclimate"]http://www.hookahwiki.com/index.php?title=Acclimate[/url] That should help you with information on acclimating new shisha.I like Fumari shisha. Good flavors, resonable price. You might want to consider a washed vs unwashed shisha. Washed shisha has a niccotine content of .05 whereas unwashed has a .5. The washed will give you less of a buzz, and you still get the flavor and the experience. If you are a regular smoker, you might want to bump to the unwashed for a little more of a buzz.Sorry I don't know which brands are washed and unwashed, perhaps someone else can chime in?

[GQ_Playboy]

[quote name='hookah whore']Thanks, everyone.  So what exactly do you have to do to acclimate  shisha?    As for storing it, after I opened up a 50g box of Nakhla and used some, I re-wrapped the rest of it in the paper it came in and put it in a zipock bag.  Is that ok?    My next question is, which brand of shisha would you recommend I buy if I want lots and lots of smoke, yummy flavors, and a little buzz?  I have heard Al Amir, Al Waha, and Af Havana are pretty good.  There is also Starbuzz, Fumari, and Layalina.  Just need some ideas...  Thanks again for all the advice![/quote] i dont really like al-amir... i love al waha... the orange cream and after nine are incredible.... i am trying AF gold in a few days but i expect nothing short of excellence....

[DownZero]

You did good with storing the shisha. You can place in a ziplock bag (which you did) or put in tupperware, both good. Personally, I enjoy smoking Al Amir, havana and Layalina - all of which give off good smoke and flavor with ease. I would say Al Amir is the least strong from the 3 as far as buzz is concerned. I don't really enjoy Al waha, especially compared to the three I mentioned earlier. But overall, it's all about personal taste, so experiment till you find what you really enjoy.

[Calcartman]

Basically echoing them ^ but it sounds like you're burning it.You said no matter how you packed the bowl the foil still touched the Shisha (not shashi, or maybe thats another spelling, im a n00b). Try keeping the foil taught over the bowl, and put the coals on gently so that the foil doesn't sag into the bowl.After making a ton of beginners mistaks I slowly started finding things like that which didn't ruin the experience but made it less than stellar.