Hookahups Reviews

[Canon]

Post your reviews below for HookahUps. This is for reviews only. Questions and comments should be posted in seperate threads. Non-review posts or parts of posts deemed not part of the review will be edited out by Mods. For ease of using the search engine, each review should start with: HookahUps (flavour)

[r1v3th3ad]

Hookahups Fruity Mint House

Setup: Mitsuba Two Hose w/ Mod Bowl(pics)

Coals: Started with two 3Kings 33mm quicklights

Foil(pic) and ice water

Cut: Really fine, some big shreds, but mostly small. A few big stems, some tiny ones.(pic)

Smell: A fruit explosion. It smells like a chewing gum that I loved as a kid, the name is skipping me at the moment…I wanna call it zebra stripes, but that might not be right…the gum that has a temporary tattoo for a wrapper. Anyway…otherwise, its smells like someone added Koolaid Fruit Punch to Al Waha California Dream.

Taste: Wow, just took my first pull off of it…Initial taste is that of Al Waha Mixed Fruits flavor and the after taste has a tiny itty bitty hint of the mint…I think of the after taste as Al Waha California Dream. The flavor isn’t really strong. I can taste it right off the bat, but it is not over-powering. I would recommend a little bit more flavoring to be added

Smoke: Nice clouds, just above medium I would say, but not quite at the “thick” level. Dissolves in the air quicker than most shishas I’ve smoked. I would recommend more Glycerin. (8:55pm)25 minutes into the bowl: Added a 10mm coal to the two 33mms I’ve got so far: Clouds are doubled…very thick. They flavor has become a little bit stronger, but not as pleasant. Less of the Al Waha Tastes, more of fruit roll-up with a hint of mint type of taste. Hour into it, flavor is subtle, but great clouds still. The coals have burned down more than halfway.
At 85 mins, just added a 3Ks 33mm coal, others were dead. Flavor is pretty much gone now, but still smoking great.
At 100 mins I’m killing the coal…flavor gone and smoke is diminishing (Pics)

Burning: So too much heat (at 25minute mark) got it going real good for about ten minutes, but now (40 minute mark) it is rather harsh and am gonna attempt a save. Moved all coals to side of bowl, barely on it, and purged a few times…smoking tasty again, great stuff because it is savable.

Buzz: After about 45 minutes got a medium buzz going, not overpowering, just relaxing.

At 80 minutes and low heat, I have a small buzz.

Duration: 100 minutes…had its ups and downtimes

Overall: I’d give it an 8 out of ten. I had a good buzz early on, but then it went to a weak, relaxing body buzz. The flavor was great, just had some issues with the heat…at first it wouldn’t get great clouds, until I burned it. Then the smoke was thick and flavor changed for the best. I really liked it and would buy it, as is, when it hits the market.

I would recommend a little less molasses/honey, some more flavoring added before some more glycerin…definitely needs a bit more of them.





below are pics of my setup, the shisha, packed bowl, foil hole patter, and then the first two clouds are with two 33mm coals...second two pics of clouds are after I added more heat Edited April 15, 2008 by r1v3th3ad

[r1v3th3ad]

clouds...first two with first heat, second two with more heat Edited April 15, 2008 by r1v3th3ad

[ganesha]

Hookahups Apple (1st session)

Set up:23" 2 hose mya, Mod bowl w 1 sheet foil, 2 one and a half inch pieces of Exoticas coal.

Packaging: plastic sealed bag like Fantasia.

Appearence: honey yellowish, medium cut, minimal stems, moist

Smell: it smells like apples, but only faintly.

Taste: The taste is more subtle then the in your face brands like fantasia and starbuzz. As I commented in another thread it reminds me of Al Waha. At first I tasted more tobacco than Apple. As the session progressed the Apple flavor came out more but it was still more of an after thought to the tobacco flavor. Around the 1 hour mark the flavor was pretty much gone. I would like a more pronounced apple flavor.

Smoke: decent clouds, not "white out" clouds but still nice. We added an additional piece of coal and were able to get some nice thick clouds..

Length: 1hour and 15 mins

Buzz: a very very mild buzz, that didn't last long. I started feeling a buzz around the 25- 30 minute mark.

Overall: 7.5/10 This was a nice smoke. I would score it higher if the Apple was a bit stronger and if the flavor lasted longer. I agree with the above review that i would probably buy it as is. IMO I think it is comparable with Al Waha and with a little bit of improvements on the flavor and longevity of the flavor it would definitely be a favorite Apple Shisha of mine.

[Cybersist]

Hookahups Lemon Mint

Packing: sealed plastic bag, airtight and therefore fresh

Appearance: comparable to Fusion-- juicy, but not soaked, very fine cut, couple of very small stems

Smell: smells like the flavor. Lemon mint reminds me of cough drops, which is what id imagine its supposed to smell like

Taste: Lemon mint was a great taste from the get-go. The lemon was a bit stonger than the mint, but the mix was refreshing, so that can be a good thing. Progressing through the session, the taste was constantly present. Everyone that took a puff was pleasantly suprised to find that I wasnt smoking something that could be considered strong to some. The flavor overall was on point.

Smoke: With a decent amount of heat, the smoke was plentiful. I was smoking outside, so wind considerably hindered the "white-out", but in an indoor environment, there would be that potential.

Longevity: I stopped after 1hr 15min because of my need to start homework, but it had another 15min left.

Buzz: I smoke heavily, and I had a cigarette, so no buzz was noticed with the lemon mint.

Overall: I would give this flavor an 9/10 primarily for taste, quality, and longevity. A 10/10 would be deserving if a slight buzz was present, but then again, I was smoking a cigarette. Thanks again for the samples

[Bulldog_916]

HookahUps Apple

Package: Like above, sealed plastic bag, no leaks or anything.

Appearance: Same as others, kind of a rough, mixed cut similar to Starbuzz or Fusion.

Smell: Smelled great, like apple shisha. I could only get the hint, if any, of a sweet anise type finish on the smell. I love it though, great. 9.5/10

Taste: I had a bit of a different opinion of the taste as others have had. I thought it was very flavorful throughout the session. I could taste the apple, no anise at all, very sweet. I love it. If it was knock me off my rocker flavorful, I would give it a ten. But it was just a hint away from that. So I'm giving it a 9/10.

Smoke: I got a decent amount of smoke. Slightly light in this department but I dont see that as a bad thing necessarily. Any improvements should be mulled over for a long time before you change this formula. If you sacrifice the flavor you have now to get a little more smoke, you're making a big mistake. I give the smoke level an 8/10.

Longevity: Flavor lasted through the session, about 1.25 hours roughly. I still had unburned shisha at the bottom of the bowl. So it could have easily gone longer. 9.5/10

Buzz: Hint of a buzz, kinda relaxing feeling. I liked it. I dont smoke for buzz, but this time was nice. 6/10 in the buzz dept. NOTE: This is not a bad score. Just keep this the way it is.

Overall: I would give this shisha an overall score of 9/10. The smoke, the flavor, the longevity, and the smell were all there in spades. Only maybe a slight bit more flavor would send the score to a 10/10. Very well done for a first time! Thanks HookahUps!

[OC4111]

HookaUps - Watermelon Mint

Setup: 29" Egyptian

Bowl: Standard Egyptian

Hose: Standard

Screen/Foil: Reynolds HD

Liquid In base: Ice & water

Cut: Very fine, a few stems, not juicy like say Starbuzz

Smell: The mint flavor was very strong and you could just get a slight hint of watermelon

Taste: The mint flavor was strong with a slight hint of watermelon. The watermelon flavor seemed to come and go. Sometimes it felt like I was smoking straight mint. I was hoping the taste would be the opposite, a more pronounced watermelon flavor with a slight mint taste.

Smoke Thickness: On and off. I would add more heat and get some decently thick clouds, almost as thick as strabuzz. But then the shisha started tasting a bit harsh due to too much heat

Buzz: no noticable buzz

Duration: I used 1 40mm Golden QL about 30-35 minutes, looked like it go some more.

Overall I give this about 7/10. I was a little dissapointed with the taste. Maybe it's my personall preference but when a flavor is mixed with mint I'm looking for the mint to be very subtle. It seemed to take over the whole flavor. It's a good mint flavor if that's what I was looking for. But I would expect more fruit taste. I tried the grape but I'll have to give that another go tonight due to the mint flavor that stayed in my hose.

[Bushbr]

Hookahups Cherry

Set up:30' egyptian 2 3k coals indoors with windcover and screen. Ice water in vase

Packaging: plastic sealed bag

Appearence: dark reddish hue with plenty of leaves, few stems

Smell: like a cherry jelly belly jellybean

Taste: subtle taste that did not live up to the smell. stronger at first then significantly dropped off after about 45mins. then slowly but surely harshened.

Smoke: filled the vase quick, thick puffy clouds.

Length: 1 hour 20 mins (roughly)

Buzz: no initial buzz to speak of

Overall: 5.5/10 with such a strong initial smell but weak flavor i really does dissapoint. if it tasted as good as it smelled it would be much more satisfying. not that the taste is bad, but one expects more with such a strong smell.

[Bushbr]

Hookahups Strawberry

Set up:30' egyptian 2 3k coals indoors with windcover and screen. Ice water in vase

Packaging: plastic sealed bag

Appearence: Very deep red color. very juicy even after acclimating

Smell: very strong strawberry scent

Taste: Very suprising. I expected a strawberry candy like flavor, but recieved a taste more along the lines of the actual fruit. more citrus and tang than sweet and smooth. almost harsh with the strong citrus flavor. became harsh after an hour or so.

Smoke: Very thick and heavy smoke clouds stayed thick for majority of the smoke

Length: roughly 1 hour 45 minutes

Buzz: None noticed. and i usually do get a buzz.

Overall: 6/10 a pleasant smoke due to the pleasant taste, however almost an overbearing citrus taste as opposed to the candy like taste one would expect. It was good, but not great.

[mushrat]

Hookahups Apple

Smoked this out of a QT, foil, Nour Finger coals.

Nice juicy appearance, not too finely cut, few stems.

Good apple smell.

Nice apple taste, not too sweet or candy like.

Only smoked it for about an hours but i would smoke this one again.

[mushrat]

Hookahups Strawberry

Mya Qt, foil, nour finger coals.

I'm always sceptical of strawberry flavours, having tried so many bad ones. This stuff was a pleasant suprise.

Same overall appearance, wet, nice cut, few stems.

This didn't quite remind me of real strawberries, but me and a few customers managed to nail the flavour down as similar to the strawberry candies with the chewey center, hard candy shell with the wrapper that looks like a strawberry. This is the first strawberry besides Tangiers I would be willing to sell in my Lounge. Nice job folks!

[ganesha]

Hookahups Special Tropical

Set up:23" 2 hose mya, Mod bowl w 1 sheet foil, 2 one and a half inch pieces of Exoticas coal.

Packaging: plastic sealed bag like Fantasia.

Appearence: medium cut, minimal stems, moist

Smell: very fruity, it makes your mouth water a bit

Taste: Nice... Reminds me of Tropical lifesavers. It was pretty strong as in you could really taste the flavor. Around the 45 minute mark the flavor started to diminish. I put 2 new pieces of coal on around the 1 hour mark and the flavor started back up. Not as strong as it was in the beginning but it was still very nice.

Smoke: I got nice thick clouds after about 6 minutes. The smoke died down a bit but once I added the fresh coals I got some good clouds again.

Length: 1hour 35minutes The flavor was gone, so we stopped..lol

Buzz: Mild to non existant

Overall: 9/10 The flavor was very nice. I'm not sure how I'd improve on it. We all enjoyed this session. We still have more so after our next session, if there's anything else to add I'll edit this post.

[mushrat]

Hookahups melon-mint

Qt, belgian natural disks, foil.

Same general appearance.

Another nice flavour. A little mint heavy but you can still taste the melon, mostly on the exhale. I'd suggest reducing the mint a little in the formula, but still quite enjoyable. The mint keeps it from being too sweet, a nice crisp taste I could smoke for a few hours.

[NJE03]

Watermelon Mint

Setup: KM Trimetal
Bowl: Standard Egyptian
Hose: KM Hose
Screen/Foil: Foil
Liquid In base: Tapwater
Coal: 2 1/4 pieces of Exotica

Cut: Pretty fine cut.

Taste: The watermelon flavor is rather subtle, though I can definitely taste it. The mint is very nice, may be overpowering the watermelon a bit though.

Smoke Thickness: Not the thickest, not bad.

Buzz: Did not experience a buzz

Duration: Went for a solid hour easily. Smooth the whole way through.

Overall I give this flavor 8/10. It was an enjoyable smoke but the flavor could use a little tweaking. I would smoke this in the future as is, no doubt. Edited April 17, 2008 by NJE03

[garykainz]

HookahUps Grape

Setup: Mya Gyro (1 hose config), Mya Cloissone hose, med. phunnel, 2 3kings 33mm
Cut: Average size pieces, few smaller stems
Smell: Very similar to AF white grape, but toned down
Taste: Again, very similar to AF white grape
Smoke: Nice clouds, nothing amazing
Buzz: None, but I don't get buzzed anymore
Duration: I stopped at an hour to go to bed, but I could have easily lit up another coal and kept going
Overall: 8/10 - Nothing amazing, very akin to AF grape. Good flavor. I'd buy it.

[shisha fan]

strawberry

Setup: 40 inch brass egyptian. regular clay bowl. 1 40mm belgian natural disc coal.

Appearance: dark red and not too wet.

Smell: very good, like the strawberry bubblegum i used to chew as a kid.

Smoke: very big creamy clouds.

Flavor: sweet, very subtle. i like the flavor but i wished it was a little stronger.

Buzz: none, i`m used to nicotine.

Duration: a good 2 hours with a standard bowl.

Overall: 8/10 the flavor and smell are delicious, but i hope the final flavor will be a bit stronger.

how does it compare to other strawberry flavors: i think its a little better than al fakher strawberry, but not as good as nakhla strawberry.

[shisha fan]

special tropical

Setup: 40 inch brass egyptian. regular clay bowl. 2 pieces of nour syrian coal.

Appearance: light brown, and not too wet.

Smell: great, like a fruit mix with a little mint.

Smoke: big clouds.

Flavor: like it smells, the flavor is stronger than the strawberry and i love it.

Buzz: none.

Duration: been smoking for an hour now and the flavor is just a strong as when the bowl was just lit.

Overall: 9/10 i love this flavor, its better than the nakhla fakfakhina fruit mix which i also like. it doesn`t need any improvement, thats for sure.

how does it compare to other fruit mix flavors: hard to say, because i haven`t tried that many. but it is better than the nakhla fakfakhina fruit mix.

[garykainz]

HookahUps Melon Mint

Cut: Medium cut, few small stems
Smell: Minty, hit of melon
Taste: Mostly mint, some melon in there. pretty good
Smoke: Decent Clouds
Buzz: I don't get buzzes
Duration: Stopped a little after an hour, could have gone more.
Overall: 7/10. Less mint, more melon, and it'd be awesome

[sss8789]

Watermelon Mint

Setup: 29" syrian
Bowl: funnel
Hose: Namor
Screen/Foil: Foil
Liquid In base: Tapwater and ice
Coal: 3 coconaras

Cut: Pretty fine cut.

Taste: Very nice combination I enjoyed it a lot there was a melon flavor I don't remember it tasting a lot like watermelon though but that is probably because of the mint

Smoke Thickness: pretty thick

Buzz: nice relaxing buzz (if I took a big hit)

Duration: don't remember but it was pretty long

Overall I give this flavor 9/10. It was a very enjoyable smoke, very smooth with lots of flavor, and it was pretty original.

[sss8789]

Fruit Mix Mint

Setup: 29" Syrian
Bowl: Standard Egyptian
Hose: Namor
Screen/Foil: Foil
Liquid In base: Tapwater and ice
Coal: 2 starlight quicklights

Cut: Pretty fine cut.

Taste: I don't think fruit mix is my thing, but it was definitely fruity with some mint

Smoke Thickness: pretty thick

Buzz: Did not experience a buzz

Duration: I am about 30 minutes in and it is still strong

Overall I am trying not to be bias because even though I don't care for this flavor someone who likes fruit mixes might so 8/10 oh and this takes heat very well.

[shisha fan]

lemon mint

Setup: 40 inch brass egyptian. regular clay bowl. 1 zoghal ghaleb coal.

Appearance: brown, and not too wet. there are plenty of molasses in the bag and level of moisture in the tobacco is just right. it has a medium cut and you don`t have to do much work to create a good airflow in the bowl.

Smell: strong mint scent with a little lemon

Smoke: lots of very mild smoke.

Flavor: like lemon and mint. the balance between the two is good, and the mint doesn`t overpower the lemon. the flavor is mild and subtle. i`d like it to be stronger, like whe you mix nakhla lemon and mint together 50/50

Buzz: no buzz, but i also smoke cigarettes.

Duration: 2 hours. the flavor kept going, and the smoke volume stayed the same until the last 10 minutes.

Overall: 8.5/10 i would like the flavor to be a little stronger, but it was a nice smoke nonetheless.

how does it compare to other lemon mint flavors: nakhla lemon and mint mixed together tastes a bit stronger, but this is still good shisha.

[DarkParade]

strawberry

right out of the package it smells awesome... very sticky 2

setup: small tangiers funnel on a 18" modern also with a modern bowl
(tryed on 2 diff bowls got about the same outa bolth )

i started out with 2 3ks broken into halfs... wasnt enuf heat to get much flavor or smoke outa it so i added a third after that the flavor came out and the smoke got really thick

the flavor is one of the best ive had very smooth but it could stand to be a bit stronger
its plenty sweet

i got about an hour smoke outa it after 3 sets of coals then the smoke kinda just died out

with a little more flavor i would def buy this but it does take an unusual ammount of heat to get smoking well i'm not sure how you would have to go about fixing that but overal i would give it an 8.5/10 not bad =)

Edited April 18, 2008 by DarkParade

[ZenSilk]

Hookah Ups - Apple #2

It smells great, a tad weaker on the smell than the other flavors, but more realistic.
The smoke was cloudy and fun, as it should be.
The flavor though, was not there. It was kind of... well... kind of "feety". Like Feet. It had that feet taste. Not a strong feet taste, a small one. Needs some work, but i'm sure it just needs more flavoring.
3/10

Strawberry

Smells great, very sweet and tantalizing.
Clouds were huge.
BEST STRAWBERRY I have peresonally ever had. Didn't taste too cheap. It's a hard flavor to replicate apparently, but was done well by Hookah Ups. All of my friends enjoyed it, and so did the drunk bitch.
10/10

Apple
Smells fantastic, i love the smell of apple shisha. I didn't detect any anise, which is a complete PLUS for me.
The smoke was cloudy as a storm on the horizon.
The taste.... ooo babay the taste! We all loved it. Sweet, juicy, pretty realistic. A great apple, the best i've tried (thanks to the NO ANISE factor).
9/10

[Bushbr]

Hookahups Apple

Set up:30' egyptian 2 3k coals indoors with windcover and screen. Ice water in vase

Packaging: plastic sealed bag

Appearence: orangish yellow color, slightly juicy

Smell: like apple cider

Taste: good apple cider like taste.

Smoke: thin and wispy, could have been the crappy coals though

Length: roughly an hour

Buzz: slight uz, but not very significant

Overall: 6/10 this shisha sits at par level. decent flavor, decent smoke, acceptable buzz, nothing bad about it, but nothing extrordinary

Rebuy? would consider it, but not going to go hunting for it

[mj_b90]

Hookahups Mint

Setup: Pumpkin Hookah, Mod bowl, foil, toothpick holes, lump grilling charcoal

Cut: Finely cut, a few stems. Also, very moist but not dripping with juice, just right.

Taste: Super minty! It started out a realllllyyy strong mint, then died off a bit to be just a regular minty taste. I liked it, it was a good strong flavor and I still get a bit of a minty feeling even after smoking it.

Smell: Like most other mint shishas.

Smoke: Heavy thick white smoke, tons of it. It may have been because this was my first experience with natural charcoals but this was some of the best smoke I've ever gotten. It was super thick and heavy, it lingered for quite a while.

Buzz: Moderate. Nothing crazy, but I could feel it hit me.

Duration: I cut this session short at about 45 minutes but it was still going strong and I'd expect it to last at least twice that.

Overall: 9/10 - Best mint flavor I've had, good smoke, good flavor, kickin' mint. Although I liked the strength of the mint, I could see how some would think that its too strong.

I wouldn't change much about this, it's already a great mint flavor! Thanks for the sample Hookahups!