Jaysus

The Hurt Locker has a scene where a soldier runs by a few Iraq citizens smoking hookah. Btw excellent movie if you get a chance to see it.

After taking a break from hookah's I decided to get back into the scene with style. I got a KM tri-metal hookah and I purchased a phunnel bowl w/mod to go with it. I spent a lot of time researching on the site about the ways to prepare a phunnel with non-tangier shisha and I thought I had the process down. After two smoke session I was unable to get any flavor out of the shisha and the smoke was good but not something I could not pull out of a normal hookah with normal bowl. My setup is a medium phunnel bowl packed with about 25 grams of shisha and the mod is in place prior to putting the shisha in. I would then put the foil ontop of the bowl and poke holes randomly throughout the foil surrounding the mod. I then used 1 full stick of japanise silver coals that require a stove or butane lighter. Once I had them fully lit (silver stuff coming off) I would place them around the foil in a box like pattern seen on this forum. Although I got smoke pretty quickly like I said earlier I had no flavor. I tried the Fusion Cactus Pear and the Layalina Peach flavors and both tasted just about the same. I understand that there is a lot of debate on the forums on importance of the mod for the phunnel but I just figured it could not hurt to have it on there. Any help to revive my smooking sessions would be greatly appreciated... I can't wait for a good solid smoke.

Its actually Southern not Souther my bad and I'm not sure about the name... I think its just Hookah Bar. Its a small place.

There is actually a new hookah bar at Souther Ave. and East St. Its just south of the "wall" if someone is familiar with slang in this area. Its actually alright, its $10 a hookah and then $5 for every change of flavor from that. The only bad thing is that he only stocks sinbad shisha... but he does have alot of flavors. Also the other bar in Broad Ripple is called The Egyptian and its alright. Not sure on what they serve (only been there once) but there is a $5 minimum per person. Also its really loud in there which ruins anytype of cross-table socializing.

I dont typically use that much shisha so I'm not sure if thats it and the sessions I get out of mine is similar to thiers. I typically use layalina flavors so I guess it could be a difference there. Thier hookah is much taller though, could that be a big factor. Can the actual hookah make that big of a difference?

I've been going to a local hookah bar alot lately and the quality difference between my person Mya Acrylic and whatever they have is pretty substantial. The pull on thier hookahs are perfect and most importantly though the flavor is amazing. In a 45 minuet session I get flavor during the entire time... and no harshness! I was just wondering how do they manage to do this without ever having to move the coals or anything? They seem to like to stack to ontop of eachoter... is that the trick?

I'm not the type to double post but I thought I would give a quick update. I cleaned out my hookah (except for the hose) with lemon juice then I put cran-rasberry juice in the base with Layalina Watermelon as the shisha and I had the best smoke of my life. I got alot of flavor and pretty decent smoke and absolutely no harshness. I think I finally got this down. I just want to thank everyone here for helping me out, now I can finally get some good smoking sessions going.

Well, I tried using some foil and poking about 15-20 holes and this fixed some of my problem. Although the actually density of the smoke was not as thick as before (understandable considering I was burning it) this did fix the harshness problem but I still dont have any taste. I've tried with two different flavors and they both tasted the same. I now use one coal split into 3 parts and move them slowly as I smoke. I'm now wondering if I need to do a complete clean to maybe help with the situation. I was wondering if I can clean out my hose? I know I dont have a washable hose, but there must be a way to properly clean it. I searched for answers on this site and google and I only seemed to find conflicted suggestions. Any ideas? Thanks for the help thus far, and no I do not smoke cigarettes.

Well I have yet to do a full clean but I always wash it out with warm water and whatnot. I've had this problem from the very begining though even before I ever used it. Thanks for the help cafesaden I'll give your tips a try next time I get a chance to get a session in.

I was thinking it was the metal screen. For the foil, can I just use kitchen foil or do I have to order the special foil online at the hookah sites. Also the Smiley bowl comes with a glass screen, will that produce the same problems I have now or is his better? Thank you for the help thus far, hopefully I'll get some good smoking sessions going soon.

Well, I dont think its the way I'm packing it. I do pack it very loosely and although I dont spread it on the counter and such I think there is just something I'm doing wrong with the heat managment. It appears that I'm heating the shisha too fast. I was wondering if a new bowl might help? I was actually looking at Smiley's glass bowls. Also is 1 and a half charcoals at once too much? I've tried just one and I get decent flavor but the smoke is very weak... very thin and gray smoke. Then when I add even a small piece of another charcoal to my one it suddenly gets dense and white but harsh and tasteless. Its very frustrating.

I just cant figure this out. I have a mini Mya Acrylic (My first hookah so its basic) and I use the clay bowl it came with and I use a metal sheet cover with 1 and a half charcoals ontop. I usually freeze the base and stem prior to smoking and I use ice water in the base. It just seems I always get alot of smoke but absolutely no taste. Also often the smoke gets very harsh (very hard to inhale harsh) not too long after smoking. What am I doing wrong? I've tried alot of different types and Shisha and they all smoke/taste the same. The only thing I've noticed is that Smily does not give off as much of a buzz as the others. Any help would be greatly appreciated.