I've Cracked It!

[manic007]

Finally got Tangiers to smoke well

And yes people, you were right it was all down to how I packed the bow. I suppose I dont need to explain how I did it, since most people on this forum are pro's

I finally got great taste, good sized clouds, and no harshness! None of that smoking razor-blades feeling at the back of the throat.

I used that funnel bowl I got from shisha-world. I reckon a proper funnel bowl will make it much easier to smoke, so I'm still hoping I'll get my hands on one.

Just for kicks, I'll tell you what you already know (apparently people like that). To get it smoking right I had to pack the bowl solid. And I mean SOLID! None of that "let tobaco fall into bowl and put tobacco 1/2 an inch above the rim and then foil and push down slightly" malarky. NO NO! I had to push the shisha into the bowl with my fingers until there was no air gaps whatsoever. I had to push it REALLY hard into the bowl so that it filled it up completely and started oozing out like toothpaste. Then pack more, and more repeating the process. I left a few mills from the top of the rim, I think it might make it less likely to burn the shisha.

Then two layers of foil, shinny side UP, and a lot of skewer size holes all over it, with a large hole in the middle.

Then the charcoal, I used natural (unprocessed) olive charcoal. Two pieces, each less than a 1cm in length and fairly small.

I've been smoking the bowl for almost an hour and I got some great hits, nice clouds, great flavour and no harshness. Before I always used to harshness, like smoking razor-blades that hurt the back of my throat. Infact it was so bad that when I coughed my mucus had a little bit of blood. But hey, trial and error, no pain, no gain, yada yada.

But I will say one thing. Heat management with my bowl is rather tricky. There's a fine line between getting big clouds and turning the shisha into razor-blades. But I think thats down to the bowl, I think it has too much glazing. I really hope I get my hands on a proper funnel bowl, time will tell.

So thats it! A long an painful journey, but I finally discovered why people like Tangiers so much

Its a bitch to get smoking right. Hopefully a proper funnel will make it easier. Thanks guys for all your help!

And the moral of this story, he who dares wins

Peace

N (originally buzzed, but its fading, time to hit the shisha again! Can't wait to try out the other flavours)

[Deathwish238]

Good post, I'll give this a shot. I've never felt that Tangiers was like smoking "razor blades", but there are times when it's definitely not smooth but I always figured it was because it was too hot

[Voski]

Hmm il try this today. The hardcore packing technique.

[Sonthert]

Over time, you can perfect your technique and you won't feel like you are mashing so much in. When using a standard bwol, I like to have it well packed on the sides, but a little looser in the center. Also, don't be afraid of reusing Tangiers. Some people will smoke the same bowl 2 or 3 days in a row. You can even pull off the foil and remove the dried stuff from the top and leave the damp stuff at the bottom and add new stuff to the top.

[Canon]

Over time, you can perfect your technique and you won't feel like you are mashing so much in. When using a standard bwol, I like to have it well packed on the sides, but a little looser in the center. Also, don't be afraid of reusing Tangiers. Some people will smoke the same bowl 2 or 3 days in a row. You can even pull off the foil and remove the dried stuff from the top and leave the damp stuff at the bottom and add new stuff to the top.

im one of those people. tangiers lasts a long long time

[AzZ]

I have to try Tangiers one day.

[manic007]

Over time, you can perfect your technique and you won't feel like you are mashing so much in. When using a standard bwol, I like to have it well packed on the sides, but a little looser in the center. Also, don't be afraid of reusing Tangiers. Some people will smoke the same bowl 2 or 3 days in a row. You can even pull off the foil and remove the dried stuff from the top and leave the damp stuff at the bottom and add new stuff to the top.

Cool!! Mr Tangiers read my post, and even wrote something!

Well this is turning out to be a fine day indeed!

[gaia.plateau]

I'm going to give this method a try when I get over my bloody cold... I have yet to get F-Line Cocoa to smoke perfectly.

Eric, while you're around... I read in a much earlier post of yours that you use the Standard Tangiers Tower Bowl, not the phunnel bowl... do you still do this? I bought one a few weeks ago and I've had trouble getting Tangiers to smoke from it even nearly as well as from a phunnel bowl.

[Deathwish238]

I did notice that the bowl after 3 hours still had a lot of shisha at the bottom that still felt pretty damp...I shoulda reused it it seems

[paiintballa182]

that you should, its defiantly fair game

[manic007]

I've reused it. Easiest way i found was to just mix up the shisha and resmoke it (using the same foil and all!). Its not the most economical method But, its a start