My Failed Attempt

[TheAlmightyClaw]

I have a brand new Hafa Khalil Mamoun and a phunnel bowl (I wanted to use the mod, but they didn't ship it). I wanted to try blue gumball, so I let it acclimate in my room over night. I pack up the bowl, and went to smoke outside tonight. I could not get a good thick cloud of smoke:angry:!

This is what I tried.....

I first packed the bowl until the phunnel, and did one circle of holes and then the center hole. Then I tried to use my new natural coals (Nour from hookah-shisha.com), and that didn't work.
Then I tried it with a combination with a quicklight coal because I thought they might have been to big, but still no avail.
I changed the water level, nothing.

Ok, so I looked in the search to find how to pack a phunnel bowl, and decided to do two rings of circles with a center hole.
I packed the bowl to the top, and tried different combinations of coals, and I changed the water level again.
NOTHING

Now I just feel a little sick, and a little mad. I guess I should have tried a type of tobacco that I have got to work before (1st time with tangier). Any help please before I try again. I just don't know why it didn't work, and I don't feel like cleaning up the stupid mess.

On a side note when writing this, I felt sick. I decided to go to the batheroom. Halfway there I pucked.

[ezie]

I hope you get well soon. I think tangier is too strong for you but thats just my opinion. And why did the Nour didn't work?

[Allia22]

Maybe try acclimating it a little longer. I had mine sit out for almost a week, stirring about once a day, and it never really did lose that famous Tangiers BBQ smell.

Stir it before you pack, then just plop it in your bowl. It should be the same consistancy in whatever you throw the shisha in as it is in your bowl. It also helps to overfill your bowl to almost overflowing, then smuck your 2 layers of foil on. Poke as many larger-sized holes as you can without tearing your foil to bits; Sonthert uses an oyster fork, and I've gotten good results with the spike on my tongs. Make sure you push whatever you use to make the holes in through your shisha to get good air circulation. You may or may not choose to put a hole in the center of the funnel; I haven't and it worked fine.

Coal management... I ran out of Tangiers quickly, and it's been a while since I've had it, so bear with me >.< I think I used either 2 33mm 3K initially, and kept taking one off and putting it back on as needed, or I just used one 40mm 3K and left it be. Tangiers doesn't require a lot of heat to work.

And seriously... you may want to mix it with something else, or share the bowl with a bunch of people to get used to the high nicotine content.

[Big Boss]

What is this acclimation process?

[TheAlmightyClaw]

I think I can handle tangiers if it smokes (I used to smoke my fair share of cigarettes before I stop to smoke more hookah). The problem was that I kept of puffing on it without thick clouds. I tried to take a lot of quick puffs to get it going to many times. I think I will try another brand sometime soon, and see what happens with it.

Acclimation is when you let your shisha sit out so the tobacco can become at equilibrium (in terms of humidity) with the environment. http://www.tangiers.us/12301.html

[L'Oignon]

Had it rained recently outside? Maybe the humidity difference between indoor and out was too small.

[Allia22]

Yeah, another thing about Tangiers is that it's just one of those tobaccos where you may do everything the exact same way every single time and get varying results simply because of atmospheric conditions. I think it's made in Phoenix where it's just hot and dry all the time. It gets over here to Wisconsin and huddles crying in a fetal position Actually, I think I had my Tangiers cracked open almost the entire time I had it. The only times I closed it up was when my mom told me to put it away because she didn't like looking at it (can't blame her... tasted good even though it also smelled funny ).

[Officer Rod Farva]

Actually, its made in San Diego. Phoenix is nearby, really. 6 hours by car.

In general, the most important thing is how the tobacco is put in the bowl. The amount of charcoal, obviously, too. Holes in foil, etc. Don't matter too much. I think Allia is advocation too much charcoal. On a large Tangiers head, I think one 33mm 3 Kings broken into four pieces is best...or a bar of Japanese type coals (broken into 3 or 4 pieces, depending on the brand). Mediums and smalls are better with three pieces (quarters of 3 kings or Japanese...the small Japanese). If you spread out the tobacco or leave gaps between the tobacco and the bowl (or the foil, in my opinion), you get a poorer heat transfer, so you use more charcoal, which just scorches it. Some people like to use alot of charcoal and get the Tangiers just burny-tobacco tastic. I prefer to run it more medium. It sounds like you were scorching it, too much charcoal and/or too little tobacco.

Is your hookah/hose okay? Good seal between the bowl and the shank?

[Allia22]

Yeah, I do tend to run my stuff a little hotter. Too much effort to break coals in half, so I let 'er go and if it starts tasting burnt (oddly enough it doesn't happen often), I take the coal(s) off and let it sit a while. Mebbe it's because I use 2 layers of foil...