Tips For A Newbie!

[l0aded]

hey my current setup is a mya saray QT, diamanete japanese style coals, reynolds foil, and i use starbuzz shisha.
can anyone give me tips to help me keep my bowls alive and well? these are some of the things i do

- i usually smoke with a friend or 2
- i clean my entire hookah set and hose before and after smoking
- i use a knife and poke many SMALL holes (is even more holes helpful or hurtful?)
- i use about 3 pieces of diamanete coals (putting them around the far edge of the bowl), then when the heat isnt enough i put the fourth one one.
- i ask my coals every 10 mins and move them slightly closer to the center.
- i currently dont acclimate my shisha (does it matter much for starbuzz?)

my bowls only last 40-50 mins tops with a normal mya saray bowl (which i would say is a medium size bowl). any tips on hookahing in general, esp involving heat management? ill post pics of my setup later.


ive searched the forums but cant find anything in particular to help.
some questions: 1. how close is the foil supposed to be to the shisha? ive heard it should be touching but also the other way
2. for people who use diamante how hot do u make your coals before using it? should it be completely gray? Edited July 7, 2009 by adrock5150

[SimplexCoda]

45-50 minutes sounds about right to me for starbuzz.

[ilikemyusername]

should it be completely gray?

no doubt!

[l0aded]

45 mins is normal? =(
starbuzz is expensive too. w/e tho flavor is the sex Edited June 7, 2008 by l0aded

[AKammenzind]

Good that you wash your hookah a lot, so +1 for that hehe.

Hole size/number is to a large extent nothing more than personal pref. really, as I've never found it to matter that much, as long as you have enough holes for airflow.

I'm not a huge fan of Mya bowls, but 40-50 minutes isn't anything unusual for them. I'd recommend using a standard egyptian bowl, as they're usually a lot shallower and let you use less shisha for around the same amount of time in my experience. For the best possible smoke you might want to drop a few more bucks and get yourself a phunnel as well, as they seem to make shisha last longer (or maybe it's just that I pack a lot more shisha in... I'm not sure myself.)

And no, unwashed shisha like Starbuzz doesn't need acclimated, but it won't hurt anything if you do.

Happy hookahing!

[Winter]

You can take the foil off after 45minutes, take out the burnt shisha, mix the bottom of the bowl (the shisha is usually untouched or slightly warmed) and put more foil over it. You don't need to add more shisha.

I rotate my coals around the edges of my bowl and save the middle for last. I then rotate my coals back out to the edges and continue.

[Edmond]

First, read the post "New People Faq. Check Here For The Basics... " in the top of this Forum.
Clean your hookah after your smoking session only. Don't wash it before using it. Simply blow hard in the hose once or twice before you start smoking.
The best tool to make holes is a toothpick. Make 15 - 20 holes.
Your bowls is lasting 45 min - 1 hr is perfect, specially when there is more than one person smoking.
Your heat management is fine. Just remember that if you put too many coals to get thicker smoke you might be killing some of the flavor. Heat management is critical factor to get the right balance. Always try to use the least amount possible of coals.
The foil should NOT touch the hookah or otherwise the part of the tobacco touching it will burn in a few minutes and all you'll get is a burnt tobacco flavor. By the way, try to use "tin foil" or the foil made specifically for hookah. If you use "aluminum foil" all the time, you'll get "aluminum cancer"; not kidding, it's going to be bad for your health.

After you finish making holes in the foil, blow once or twice in the bottom of the bowl to make sure no holes are clogged.

Oh yes... when you pack your bowl with shisha, try to "sprinkle" the shisha instead of pushing it into the bowl. (you'll notice a big improvement in the taste believe me). The issue with that is that you can't put a lot of shisha when you sprinkle it, thus you need a deeper kind of bowls, like the "Egyptian" once. And don't acclamate your shisha, not the regular kind anyway.

Voila! Have fun!

[mjdx88]

Switch to a standard egpitian bowl and AF shisha, I get about an 1 1/2 hours maybe more with that set up and I normally only need one coal and get good smoke.

Everything else seems right I was maybe use less coals and get better ones, either coco naras or extoicas for naturals, or get Goldens for quick lights.

Welcome to the board,
Mike

[HookahGuru]

- i ask my coals every 10 mins and move them slightly closer to the center.

Its always polite to get your coals permission before moving them.

[BillySoCo7]

Something isnt right. My bowls of starbuzz usually last 2-2.5 hrs.

That's with 2 sets of coals Edited June 7, 2008 by BillySoCo7