Two Hour Sessions?!

[quakerotis]

I've been trying every type of different set up I can think of (packing the bowl, hole arrangement, number of coals, etc.) and I just can't get past the 1:15 mark without the bowl just going dead (no flavor whatsoever). Does anybody have any ideas I may not have thought of? Here's a rundown of my set-up:

MYA "Gravy Boat" http://www.myasaray.com/store/item.asp?ITE...EPARTMENT_ID=42

Medium Phunnel w/ glass mod

Ice water

SB X on the Beach or AW After Nine (all I have right now)

3K 33mm coals

windscreen

Don't get me wrong, I can get an AMAZING session for a little more than an hour, but I've been trying to get those loooong sessions that I've been reading about on here. I've been poking holes all the different ways I've seen on the forum and leaving a little space between the shisha and foil, trying different amounts of shisha, using two and three coals at once, etc. etc. and I just can't get it to last 2 hours. I usually stop when the smoke just tastes like nothingness and/or bad. The shisha is always completely black when I finish. Any ideas?

[Calcartman]

From my experience starbuzz burns too quickly for me, and i cant usually get a good tasting session past the first set of coals.

If you have any other tobacco, you may want to try that, as my guess is that will make a noticeable difference in the length of the session.
If its all black and burned when you finished, its done, so you need new shisha.

[anathema]

For me, starbuzz doesn't scorch when it's touching the foil. So the bowl is packed full. For one person, it'll last 2 hours with about 25-30g of tobacco in a regular bowl.

A regular bowl packed with SB between me and a friend smokes between 1-1.5 hours.

3K coals for me last about 30 min, so we use 3 sets of coals. Each set being 3 halves. You can tell flavor diminishes on the 3rd set of coals, but it's stable throughout the first/second set.

When we're done, only about 2-3g of shisha is left soft and damp while the rest of it is crisp.

Sorry I had no good suggestions except for packing shisha in the bowl.

[stryet]

Too much heat? I always rock slightly under--just enough to get going. The smoke never gets awesomely thick, but enough to be enjoyable, and it lasts.

[Sonthert]

No, I've smoked Starbuzz a couple of times, I think he's saying the flavors fades too quickly. I noticed the same thing.

The Al Waha should have more longevity, add more tobacco to the bowl, use a little less charcoal. Edited July 23, 2007 by Sonthert

[jelatin]

Experiment with your coals a little bit. Start off with a little and just add from there, as soon as the flavor is where you want it, stop adding. Alot of people don't notice they are overheating their shisha just because it doesn't taste burnt, which is not necessarily true. Also, the brands of shisha you have aren't necessarily known for longevity. I would try something like Romman or Pharoahs if you want something that's going to last a while.

[Hearsay]

Like Sonthert said, try the After Nine. I have a near identical set up to you, minus the windscreen and that I use 40mm 3 Kings. Fill the phunnel completely and make sure to change the position of the coals, e.g. when you light a second coal after the first one dies place it atop a different part of the bowl. I'm not sure how this will go with the 33mm, but I split the coal in half and place the halves opposite each other on the bowl. A fully packed medium phunnel of After Nine should last two people for 2 hours easily. I can't offer any suggestions on the Starbuzz as I've never tried it.

[VDDZ]

I'm thinking it's mainly your tobacco, AlWaha is great for the price, I refuse to buy Starbuzz, it is not worth the money and the flavor is great, but too short lived. I got a combo bowl packed with alfakher and it's, wait, lemme see...hmmm...well there is still taste, but not like it was when we started this bowl 2 1/2 hours ago. All my family say this stuff is the best, and well, I agree. I've gone easy on the coals tonight though, it's my friends birthday so I've been keeping the coals perfect, and I got perfect holes.

Edit: Oh! and the bowl! You may have to look for a larger bowl to get better burn times. Edited July 24, 2007 by VDDZ

[Purp0se]

When I smoke SB, I usually get and hour of strong flavor, then it fades.

[EvansLight]

hmm its weird ive had sessions of SB lasting upwards of 7 hours and strong flavor.

The longest (the 7 hour one) was done at Heat hookah lounge. It was a normal SS egyptian, with a regular clay bowl, and ice water. Constantly changed coals, and i promise we were smoking those things like they were going out of style. I left before the 7 hour mark, but Scally and a few others stayed that long. I was there for at least 5hours, and most of the hookahs had been going the whole time, and where still smoking strong.

Now for Al Waha, i used to have 6 hour sessions on a regular basis. Longest i got was 12 hours, but i can't tell ya if it was still tasting good, i was too out of it to tell That was done on a large funnel bowl, with Al Waha Mint, foil with holes poked in my usual pattern (i go out in a V from the center, with a hole over the center) and keep 2 coals (one flat, the other laying on the side of the first, or directly on top of the first) over the V and just rotate the foil. It was just me smoking, and i wasn't chain smoking either, just slow easy hits.

[Ocrap]

I just had the longest session ever with the new Al Fakher Berry in my small phunnel with scalli mod. It lasted about 2 hours. I used three sets of coals. I think it lasted so long because it was so fresh (prod Jun 07)
Other flavors have died on me after 1hour and 20 minutes.

[jonny_lech]

Quakerotis:

I have the *same* hookah (well, mine is red, but same model), the medium bowl, the glass mod. I fill the base with water and sit it in the freezer for 30 minutes. The only thing I do different is I use 40mm 3Kings, broken into halves.

Sunday night, I got 2.5 hours out of Aw After Nine with two people smoking.

Last night, I got StarBuzz blackberry to last two hours with three people. I don't know what the haters are talking about. It was good the whole time. I just packed lightly to the rim and the used double alum. foil with many many needle holes, including a ring right around the mod. Neither of the aforementioned bowls ever got harsh. My two buddies and I smoked for something like 3 hours? There was a time when that would have meant bowl changes every 30-40 minutes. While the amount of coals stayed the same, the change in shisha use prompted them both to remark on the awesomeness of the phunnel.

Oh, and as for the After Nine, it was actually still going when I let off! We were just done with it. As a side note, I wasn't altogether impressed with the After Nine. The first shisha I ever bought was a pack of AlWaha Mint and a pack of Al Waha Cappucino. I mixed the two and the taste was pretty much identical. The interpretation of 'chocolate' here is just not accurate enough, IMO. Edited July 24, 2007 by jonny_lech

[tingjunkie]

hmm its weird ive had sessions of SB lasting upwards of 7 hours and strong flavor.

O.K. I've managed to get SB to go for 2.5 hours...using a phunnnel...with mod...without a draft in the room...on my birthday...when the moon was in the seventh house...when the stars were aligned perfectly...

But 7 hours!?! These are the stories I always have a hard time swallowing. I demand proof! (And step by step instructions!)

[EvansLight]

lol only proof is if you get scally in here, and abide, and they can confirm my story In my own home ive gotten at most 3-4 hours of good flavor. I honestly don't do anything special, it could just be my magical hookah touch

[Sonthert]

It also depends how much tobacco you are using and such. One person uses 15g and another 6g, you can't but help believe the difference is going to be substantial in smoking time. Mod or no mod.

[lazria]

My longest smokes came from Layalina, Al Fakher and Al Waha. All three of those typically give me atleast 1.5 hours, up to 3 hours, dependant on bowl, amount packed, and coals.

Longest smoke ever - Nakhla Cocomint, glass bowl, JST coals... 3 hours and 25 mins (timed it) without a stir or repack.

That was a dream come true....

[nestormakhno]

Haha, I'm with you on that, Ting. The longest I've ever gotten Starbuzz to smoke was barely approaching two hours... if even.

[Sonthert]

My guess is that the longevity of a tobacco was directly correlated to the amount of water it had in it...the more water, the less time it smokes...when new, of course.

[ASUSEAN1]

haha i have the same hookah!.. have had tht thing for over 2 years.. anywayys to get back on topic.. it is all about heat management.. if you are starting off with 2 coals chances are you only need 1 on round number 2

[aldonb1]

hmm SB i haven't had very long sessions with... flavor fades after about 1.5 hours. it kinda just fades very rapidly at that point. I've done a 4.5 hour session off of Tangiers Spearmint/Kiwi mix. (Med Funnel, no mod duh)