I Cant Get A Good Taste

[Jaysus]

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.

[nbehar]

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.

Try packing the bowl loose. So break up the shisha and then pack it into the bowl. After you do that poor it out and mix it around on the counter you can use a paper towl if you want then loosen it some more and put it back in the bowl. Then put the foil on and make sure its flat. Then turn the bowl upside down and let it sit on the counter for like 5 minutes.
Hope that helps

[Hookah_Bob3]

Perhaps too much heat. try taking a half off. Also, I noticed that the colder the smoke is, the better it feels, but the less taste you get. Try not freezing your stem

[Jaysus]

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.

[girlgeek]

How long do you wait before you add the extra half coal? YMMV but I've found that it can take a few minutes before the hookah really gets smokin'.

[kornkitten42]

the other thing is, you use a metal screen on your bowl.

What type of coals are you using? Some coals (like 3 eagles) dont work well with metal screen and cause ash and coal to fall through the rather large holes and cause harsh smoke and burnt shisha.

Make sure the coals aren't falling into the shisha, if it is, try using tinfoil.

Same thing happened to me the first time i ordered a metal screen combo bowl and couldn't figure out what was wrong with my bowl.

[GordonMac]

your burning the shisha. poke less holes in foil, make sure foil is not touching shisha.

[cafesaden]

use foil. stir the tobacco with its juices up in the container (put shisha into a tupperware container). stir it up and place it into the bowl the way it is in the container. just pick up the shisha and drop it in the bowl. leave a little gap on top. place foil over with 3-4 rings of small-med size holes (a little bigger then toothpick size). make sure the coals are fully lit red and ashed over before you place it on the bowl. before you put the bowl onto your hookah, turn it upside down (after foil is on with holes) and blow through the bottom to create airflow. place coals on in a triangle formation (break quicklite up into thirds)

try that

[cafesaden]

oh yeah. also let the coals sit on top for like 2-3 minutes before you start hitting it. shake them then rotate them again. let sit for 30 seconds then hit it.

[Jaysus]

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.

[cafesaden]

well for now just follow my post. regular household kitchen foil does just fine. i think hookah foil is a bit thin for me.

poke your holes like this (make sure foil is shiny side down)

put a couple of hole in the middle, this is my phunnel bowl so there are no holes in the middle.



smileys bowl is good, but perfect your smoke on a regular clay bowl. I think that smileys bowl takes a bit of practice to get down coal placement/heat management due to the quick heat transfer of glass.

good luck, smoke well

[hbomb]

Also, when was the last time you cleaned your hookah?

[Jaysus]

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.

[downwardzspiral]

You should try some Al Fakher tobacco. I've tried the Romman which all to me tastes nasty (everything tastes like liquorice including the pinaple) but has a lot of smoke, and the Layalina I have the same problem as you, where either i get very little smoke but flavor or a lot of smoke and a harsh taste. The only tobacco I have had really good results with has been the Al Fakher so you may wanna give that one a try.

[hookahhippo]

I would suggest not using a screen first of all.... In my opinion the holes are too big on them and they do not stay air tight. I would try foil with small sized holes. Try using a toothpick or a dart to poke the holes. Also when you pack the bowl try not to let the shisha come in contact with the foil. Leave a little room inbetween the shisha and foil. And of course make sure you pack the bowl loosely and break up the shisha. Good Luck!
Ben
HookahHippo.com

[Barnzy02]

i think you're most likely using too much coal, for a mini hookah 1 and a half coals is probably too much. that on top of the fact that you are using a screen. You are most likely burning the shisha, if it gets harsh after 15 minutes

[lazria]

yeah, i think bwt the coals and the screen, those might be your main issues. When I stopped using the screen and went to foil, I was shocked at the difference. Certain brands of shisha, I even use 2 layers of foil (Taingers, Nahkla)

For my large eypgtians (26" thru 36"), I use 1 King/Japan/Gold, broken into 3-4 pieces for the first 30 min or so. A mini probably doesn't even need a whole coal ontop at first.

I just ordered a Smiley bowl myself, so it's gonna be interesting to see how it heats when compaired to a stardard clay bowl. Good luck!

[ghostofdavid]

It definately sounds like too much coal to me. The mya standard bowls are pretty small and I wouldn't use a coal and a half with any of them, except for maybe Layalina.

Don't lose hope, though, bro. Because the more practice you get, the better your bowls will be... until you peak out for a while and then its down to a more specific science.

If you aren't packing the bowl, then that isn't the problem. If you pack it too hard, you wont get a good smoke.

I use one layer of foil. Shiny side up or down does not matter for heating element. I work with food technologists and asked a few of them if this matters and it does not. I heard someone make a claim that chemicals are used on one side, I haven't found this out yet.

What kind of coals are you using? You may have said already, but it is early and I am lazy so I'll give my standard warning... if they are quicklights, light them over th coal try and then place the coal on the bowl... the smokey/ashy starter gunpowder-ish chemical can ruin the taste of the bowl. Never inhale when the coal is sparking or you will hate hookah forever.

Also, have you been washing your hose?

[frontmanpb101]

**

The reason that one side of aluminum foil is shiny and the other is not is because in order to get it very thin they squeeze it through gigantic rollers, but by the time that it gets to the end it's to thin to work, so they send 2 sheets of aluminum foil through the rollers/squeezers. The shiny side is the side that touches the roller and the matte side is the one that was touching the other foil.

[EvansLight]

Couple things to look out for. If im right the hookah is a screw base, correct? If so you need to watch for leaks. Threads arent perfect, as many plumbers can tell you. You can usually fix it with either some teflon tape, or a new gasket for the stem. Outside air entering the picture can both diminish the amount of smoke, and also the flavor.

Of course as its been said the flavor is being killed mainly by the heat of the coals. Also remember that everyone tastes differntly. Also you don't taste with your tounge, as weird as that sounds, your tounge can only taste a few things, savory, sweet, salty, bitter, etc. The more complex flavors from things is picked up by your nose. Hence if you have ever smell something you swears smells like something youve eaten So if your nose aint getting any of the smoke, guess what, no flavors. For most people there nose gets some when you breath in, but nasal problems, or a stuffy nose can hinder your tasting ability.

Now onto the coal part. I am a big advocate of the screens. Most people hate them, but personally i love em, if there was one for my funnel bowl, i would still use em. I also go differently on how i pack a bowl for screens. I actually tend to pack the baccy down good, then use either the poker on some tongs, or a toothpick, and poke up through the holes in the bowl for air flow. And the most important tip for screens: DON'T LET THE TOBACCO TOUCH THE SCREEN!!! This is the biggest problem people have. The solid metal of the screen heats up, and retains its heat longer, so even removing the coals, its easy for it to burn the baccy, unlike foil which quickly dissipates its heat.

Beyond that, remember new hookahs need a good initial clean. If you have ever, say got a new cup or bottle and tried to fill it up and drink out of it right away, you might get an interesting taste, that is leftover from the creation of the item. This is no different in hookahs. A good soak or at least wash with lemon juice and water works best. You can get a big bottle of lemon juice at wally world for cheap!!

Another great hint, go somewhere, or watch someone you know who can pack a good bowl. Learning by watching is alot easier.

[Erica]

Do you smoke cigarettes>

[Jaysus]

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.

[Jaysus]

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.

[GordonMac]

just make sure shisha ISN'T touching foil. You don't need a lot of holes. put on enough coals. ex: if there isn't much smoke, add on another one. very important to have water levels corect. I over looked that when i was beginner. the stem must be AT LEAST 1 inch under water. make sure all plugs are pluged. make foil shiny side down. it should work

[GordonMac]

well im an idiot and didn't read your last post saying you had great success. whoops