Hey Guys! I Need Some Help Smoking My Hookah

[Saxwell]

Hey guys, this forum looks pretty good.
i've only recently got into the hookah culture.
i live in Australia.

i bought a cheap hookah, pretty sure it is one of those assembly-line manufactured ones. its fairly small and has rubber seals around the place.

ive got some nakhla double apple flavoured tobacco

ever time ive smoked it i feel as if im not tasting any 'apple' flavour and after around 10-20 puffs into it the smoke becomes harsh and i start to cough and splutter. i clean out my hookah after every use. maybe the hookah charcoals im using are pretty average? they are not quick lighting ones. i've experimented with the amount of tobacco ive packed into my bowl. just now, i packed it full, fairly lightly but not mushed down. tightly put the alfoil on top with around 10-20 very small holes. the smoke was really dense; smoked up good. but got extremely harsh after about 5-10 minutes.

i really dont know what im doing wrong? ive got ice cold water in the base, got the stem around an inch underwater.

greatly appreciated if you guys can help me!
thanks a lot,
saxon.

[TheAlmightyClaw]

I have never really smoked Nakhla, but I think I read that it needs a lot of heat at the beginning (like when you get the good smoke), but then you need to take a some heat off before it get harsh (like move the coal to the edge or slightly off).

[john_smith]

Which coals are you using? Are they Alalali? I've found the heat given off by the Alalali's can vary greatly depending on how low you expose them to flame when lighting them. Generally though, one decently lit cube should be sufficient for a good session with Nakhla. Sit the cube so it is 2/3 on the bowl, with 1/3 of it dangling off of the edge. Within 10-15 pulls it should be smoking decenlty. From there rotate it around the bowl every 10 or 15 minutes, or everytime you feel the smoke is getting harsh. Also, pack the shisha so it is a mm or two below the top of the bowl, so when you hold the bowl in front of your face and facing directly up you can't see any shisha.

Let me know how that works out for you.

[Saxwell]

Which coals are you using? Are they Alalali? I've found the heat given off by the Alalali's can vary greatly depending on how low you expose them to flame when lighting them. Generally though, one decently lit cube should be sufficient for a good session with Nakhla. Sit the cube so it is 2/3 on the bowl, with 1/3 of it dangling off of the edge. Within 10-15 pulls it should be smoking decenlty. From there rotate it around the bowl every 10 or 15 minutes, or everytime you feel the smoke is getting harsh. Also, pack the shisha so it is a mm or two below the top of the bowl, so when you hold the bowl in front of your face and facing directly up you can't see any shisha.

Let me know how that works out for you.

nah, i aint using Alalali's. i tried out out moving the charcoals around, used a bit of milk in the base. worked perfectly! i used nakhla cappucino tobacco though. i think my problem was heating the tobacco too much, or maybe it might have been the poor apple flavoured nakhla? still didn't taste a lot of flavour, perhaps other brands would be much better.

thanks for your help mate
cheers,
saxon.

[New2Hookah]

harsh smokes almost always = too much heat. There really is no other explanation.

Try 2 layers of foil, it helps.