New Here! Serious Problem

[reefinmike]

first off, HELLO.

I have been smokin hookah for almost a year now, but bought one about a month ago for myself. I bought a variety of tobacco(mostly cheap stuff that all smelled like licorice and tastes the same, but i found my favorite brand... fusion) and i tapped into each of the say 10 flavors I had for about twenty days. I then ran out of flavors and bought some al waha tobacco from a smokes shop nearby. All was well until maybe 5 days ago. Going back a little, i kept my tobacco in its original bag, wrapped up well, then in a zip loc bag, then in a tupperware container. I learned later that refrigerating the tobacco makes it not dry out as fast. I noticed that the tobacco was still very wet, but it felt that the molasses had turned kinda gritty. So, i pack a bowl as i normally do, pack it fairly loose, and throw my punched metal lid on top, take a rolland easy light coal, get it nice and toasty in a fan and throw it on top of the metal. I went to smoke and it went well for a little while, and then i started tasting a nasty burning sugar/sick coffee taste. then, no matter what i would(pack the bowl lightly, not getting the coal super toasty before throwing it on...) and no matter what, I couldnt get that horrible BURNING tobacco/nasty coffee taste to go away. If i pull the coal off, the tobacco is actually burning. So today I bought some fresh tobacco from the smoke shop. First bowl was smokeable, but it still has a sight burning taste, I just packed a second bowl and It did it again, it tastes horrible.

I clean my hookah vase after every smoke with hot water, and clean the stem with a brush and the bowl with hot water. I do have a fresh shipment of a variety of fusion tobacco including my all-time favorite GUAVA, some foils(i know, i could make my own squares, but i needed a few more cents on my order to get a free 50g pack of fusion tobacco:)


Does anyone have any ideas. Im at a total loss.

[MNH]

the burning taste is probably from your metal screen, the holes are to big on them and they usually burn the shisha..

[reefinmike]

ooh yeah, I have had a stash of a variety of the original flavors for a while now, i havent smoked all of it yet.

[Big Boss]

Don't put your shisha in the fridge. Keep it in an air tight container in a cool dark place. My two cents.

[Giant Ninja Robot]

agreed its the screen. use foil homie with smaller holes. If yer using a normal bowl i usually poke like 18-26 holes with the pokey thin at the end of my tongs. Also I'm pretty sure fridging the shisha does nothing to extend the life of it. Myth? Busted!

[pigpen]

Th grittiness is the sugar in molassess crystalizing - because of the cold.
You could try zipping it in a bag tightly and dipping it into very warm water to get the molassess flowing again. But that wont really help your carmel taste (cause thats what happens when you over heat sugar).

[reefinmike]

ok, I didnt think that throwin it in the fridge would do much, but i did it today. The thing that stumps me is that i have been using this metal screen for a good 20 days with no problem, and out of no where- bam, horrible taste. also, what is the best bowl depth. I broke my original one before i even got to use it and i bought a shallow one from the smoke shop, about .5-.75" deep...

[TBatcho07]

I have also been told to keep my shisha in tupperwear style containers in a room temperature area.

[reefinmike]

sorry for all the newby questions, but how long can one expect an open(but well sealed package of tobacco) to last? is it possible that all of mine somehow "expired"

[Rani]

first off, HELLO.

I have been smokin hookah for almost a year now, but bought one about a month ago for myself. I bought a variety of tobacco(mostly cheap stuff that all smelled like licorice and tastes the same, but i found my favorite brand... fusion) and i tapped into each of the say 10 flavors I had for about twenty days. I then ran out of flavors and bought some al waha tobacco from a smokes shop nearby. All was well until maybe 5 days ago. Going back a little, i kept my tobacco in its original bag, wrapped up well, then in a zip loc bag, then in a tupperware container. I learned later that refrigerating the tobacco makes it not dry out as fast. I noticed that the tobacco was still very wet, but it felt that the molasses had turned kinda gritty. So, i pack a bowl as i normally do, pack it fairly loose, and throw my punched metal lid on top, take a rolland easy light coal, get it nice and toasty in a fan and throw it on top of the metal. I went to smoke and it went well for a little while, and then i started tasting a nasty burning sugar/sick coffee taste. then, no matter what i would(pack the bowl lightly, not getting the coal super toasty before throwing it on...) and no matter what, I couldnt get that horrible BURNING tobacco/nasty coffee taste to go away. If i pull the coal off, the tobacco is actually burning. So today I bought some fresh tobacco from the smoke shop. First bowl was smokeable, but it still has a sight burning taste, I just packed a second bowl and It did it again, it tastes horrible.

I clean my hookah vase after every smoke with hot water, and clean the stem with a brush and the bowl with hot water. I do have a fresh shipment of a variety of fusion tobacco including my all-time favorite GUAVA, some foils(i know, i could make my own squares, but i needed a few more cents on my order to get a free 50g pack of fusion tobacco:)


Does anyone have any ideas. Im at a total loss.

Once you've actually burned a bowl, your hookah will need a major cleaning before you can get rid of all the burnt taste. And your hose will hang onto that as well, so you might want to invest in a washable hose like a Nammor or Razan. Hot water alone won't completely clean out the taste. You'll need vinegar or vodka and more than one scrubbing. Eventually it goes away, but it really hangs in there for a surprisingly long time. And even the experts burn a bowl on rare occasion, so everyone has learned to do this the hard way - just as you are now.

'Rani

[OC4111]

also, get rid of the rolland ql's. at lest use three kings, if possible go for naturals e.g. coco naras, exoticas etc...

[reefinmike]

I actually have some natural coals on the way. I will try the foil method tomorrow when i get everythin and get back with you guys. Thanks all for your opinions and advice!

[Victim026]

Hmm first things first give the hookah a good scrubbin to get rid of the burned taste. Next no more baccy in the fridge it's just not good for the baccy, then would be using foil instead of the screen. Finally if you keep the shisha in a tupperware tub it should keep for 6-8 months before it "goes bad" and even that would be debatable.

[liquidglass]

Well here's my 2 cents.


1) NO FRIDGE, it's not good for the tobacco, I acutally had thought about doing this with my shisha a while back, did some research and found it's not the ideal thing to do, so not a newbie move, just one of those live and learn things.


2) scrub that bowl well, a magic eraser works....well magic.

3) I agree, a washable hose would be a GREAT investment, my nammor has never let me down

4) Metal screens suck, it's awesome you've had some great sessions with them, but they don't provide and airtight seal and the holes are way too big. Use foil, the foil squares are fine I've used them many times myself. Just use a toothpick, a straight pin, or even a lead pencil

[Speak_In_Vowels]

okay here's your problem:

1. don't use metal screens, the holes are much too big, and it burns the tobacco very easily, and alot of ash gets inside of the bowl. ughk!
2. dont refridgerate your tobacco just because, the cold tends to make the flavor weaken a bit, also even though you had them in bags,
it also is possible to pick up other flavors from your fridge such as leftovers,coffee, etc. (i found this out the hard way)
3. rolland coals are horrible, especially the quicklites! so if i were you i would grab some new coals asap, the coals tend to burn out quickly, and impart alot of flavor
to the tobacco your smoking.

if you don't believe me, then get some natural coals i.e. coconaras or exoticas and some starbuzz.
watch how drastically the flavor changes, because you're using foil, much better coals, and some good tobacco.

hope this helps.

[Codename067]

I have also been told to keep my shisha in tupperwear style containers in a room temperature area.

What else have you been told to do there T? Anything else you wanna tell us?




my fellow smokers in this thread pretty much laid it all out for u.

[momatik]

Don't put your shisha in the fridge. Keep it in an air tight container in a cool dark place. My two cents.

QFT. Never leave it in the sun light because it will dry up.

Watch Codenames video on cleaning his hookah. I've adopted that process except for instead of using Vodka I use rubbing alcohol and it works great.

[wpw36]

it is probably also climate shocked, think about it going from cold in the fridge to burning its gonna get shocked. if ur gonna keep it in the fridge let it acclimate (warm up to room temp)

[hookah hippie]

Keep your tobacco in a room temperature climate

Throw out those piece of crap screens

Poke holes in the foil with a toothpick is my method

and get rid of those crappy rolland qls they suck

and WELCOME

[cymptom]

If I had to pick one thing to change it would probably be the coals. I haven't used Rolland but they have a pretty shitty reputation. I've used Dodo coals, which are supposedly better than Rolland, and they still suck. A lot.

Getchaself some Three Kings!