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Acclimating


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So it is well known that Tangiers sometimes undergoes humidity shock which can be corrected by acclimating the tobacco. In general, acclimating the tobacco can improve overall flavor and fullness of the smoke. However, my question is, do washed brands need to be acclimated as much as unwashed do?

From my experiences, unwashed shisha tastes like poo when not acclimated and washed tastes pretty damn good straight from new packaging. When I smoked with styet, we cracked open AF strawberry and orange to acclimate it but went ahead and packed some strawberry. Instant great flavor. When I got some Pharaoh's (some pretty potent unwashed) Golden Guava, it tasted like poo until I acclimated it (still didnt taste great the whole batch because I switched smoking locations pretty often with it). Layalina, although advertised as unwashed, is widely known to be washed however it has tasted like poo to me until I acclimated it. So do washed brands need to be acclimated as much as unwashed to taste great? I'm heading to school in Santa Barbara, CA soon and I'm prolly gonna be smoking outside and I don't know how I'll acclimate it outside so I just want to skirt it if at all possible. (Weather there is 75-80 degrees F with 70-80% humidity year round)

Let's make a list from common experiences. I'll update this list regularly.

Unwashed:
Tangiers - Acclimation necessary (3)
Al Waha - Acclimation not necessary (2)
Nakhla - Acclimation not necessary (2)
Pharaoh's - Acclimation necessary (1)

Mixed:
El Basha - Acclimation not necessary (1)

Washed:
Al Fakher - Acclimation not necessary (3)
Layalina - Needed (1) Not Needed (1)
Al Amir - Acclimation not necessary (1)
Havana - Acclimation not necessary (1)
Starbuzz - Acclimation no necessary (1)
Romman - Acclimation not necessary (2)
Hookah Hookah - Acclimation not necessary (1)

Don't know what category to put these under:
Fusion -
Fanatasia -
King - Acclimation not necessary (1)

Disclaimer: Of course everyone's experiences will vary especially with geographical location and taste preference.

I'm located in Los Angeles, CA area where temps during summer are triple digits and dry heat. Edited by MechAnt
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do NOT acclimate Al Fakher!

i did this to my mango last night and totally screwed up my session sad.gif

its almost like it "robs" the flavor.

Nakhla - already dry as hell, not needed
Layalina - never really bothered too, it tastes pretty good straight out the package
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Okay, but I have a question within the same topic/thread. How LONG should shisha be acclimated? Those that are. Do the brands differ? Does the flavor make a difference? Some flavors would seem to be more delicate than others. Maybe there's a winter versus summer thing? The higher the humidity the shorter (or longer) the acclimation? And what's too long?

'Rani
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QUOTE (Alademuerte @ Sep 3 2007, 12:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Tangiers needed
Nakhla not needed
Romman not needed
Al-Waha not needed (And isnt Al-Waha a washed brand??)

AW is NOT washed. I smoked some AW orange last night outside. No acclimation. High humidity - high air temperature- warmish water in jar -surprised I got huge clouds. I did need more heat than usual as coals do not burn as hot in high humidity. Had to ash frequently but it was an amazing session. Must have smoke for at least two hours off a large phunnel + syrian medium sized rig. I was ripped off my ass. laugh.gif
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QUOTE (BohoWildChild @ Sep 3 2007, 04:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Okay, but I have a question within the same topic/thread. How LONG should shisha be acclimated? Those that are. Do the brands differ? Does the flavor make a difference? Some flavors would seem to be more delicate than others. Maybe there's a winter versus summer thing? The higher the humidity the shorter (or longer) the acclimation? And what's too long?

'Rani


Those are all relevant questions but the commonly accepted acclimation time period is 3 hrs to however long you want to. I've heard reports of acclimation over more than a 24hr period. The flavors that are affected more than others is another topic. This is a general acclimation thread that is focused on whether brands need to be acclimated before their full potential is realized. I started this because in college I will be smoking outside but with no way to really acclimate outside so I'm trying to focus my smoking on brands that do not need acclimation at this time.

Original topic updated.
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QUOTE (BohoWildChild @ Sep 4 2007, 12:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Okay, but I have a question within the same topic/thread. How LONG should shisha be acclimated? Those that are. Do the brands differ? Does the flavor make a difference? Some flavors would seem to be more delicate than others. Maybe there's a winter versus summer thing? The higher the humidity the shorter (or longer) the acclimation? And what's too long?

'Rani


Its going to vary. Imagine a wet coat...bring it inside to let it dry out...how long will it take to dry out? Depends...how dry is it? Did you spread it out or throw into a lump? Etc. Tobacco's no different.

I've talked to several people who have reported generally better results by acclimating several different brands, including Nahkla, Starbuzz, Fumari, Al Waha, Al Amir. Not to say that the other ones don't need it, just nobody told me about it.
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  • 1 month later...
QUOTE (NarghileNights @ Oct 4 2007, 02:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
i am starting to feel like acclimation is an excuse if the shisha happens to not be very good.. a great idea invented so that if the shisha is bad, it can be blamed on an outside sourcen



Lol, you really think that? Wow...
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QUOTE (iamscott06 @ Oct 4 2007, 03:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE (NarghileNights @ Oct 4 2007, 02:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
i am starting to feel like acclimation is an excuse if the shisha happens to not be very good.. a great idea invented so that if the shisha is bad, it can be blamed on an outside sourcen



Lol, you really think that? Wow...



Yeah, seriously....?
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Acllimating shisha means to let the tobacco adjust to the environment, nicotine is highly sensitive to humidty. How do you acclimate? Take your shisha container, open it, and let it sit out.

Tangiers is the only shisha I acclimate, anything else I have smoked smoked fine otherwise.

QM
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QUOTE (QuiltedMaple @ Oct 4 2007, 03:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Acllimating shisha means to let the tobacco adjust to the environment, nicotine is highly sensitive to humidty. How do you acclimate? Take your shisha container, open it, and let it sit out.

Tangiers is the only shisha I acclimate, anything else I have smoked smoked fine otherwise.

QM



dont forget to stir it every hour or so.
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QUOTE (NarghileNights @ Oct 5 2007, 09:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
it still seems interesting to me that you have to acclimate the shisha for it to smoke well.. has anyone ever heard of acclimating any other type of tobacco product? I dont think so. Im still on the quest of smoking a good tangiers bowl..


Just because one product is different from others on the market and it has to be dealt with in a different manner, does not mean that excuses are being used via the term acclimation. Take fruits for example; some fruits such as apples can be bought at a grocery store and eaten that same day. Other fruits such as bananas will taste better when left to ripen. You don't call the ripening process an excuse for bad bananas do you? Tangiers isn't like all the other types of tobacco products and thus a different process is to be used to enjoy a good smoke. Stay on that quest!
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