Af Ketchup?

[addicted2shisha]

I just opened a fresh tub of grape i got recently from dubai... all the shisha i got was really fresh an smokes great. The grape smelled a bit like ketchup to me after everything i'd heard from the forum... so i asked a few friends an they said it smelled like usual (we are fans of AF grape an have been smoking for years) and it tasted like usual. When i mentioned ketchup they kinda agreed with me but everyone enjoyed the bowl just the same...

Now im thinking is there a similarity between the smell of AF and ketchup and everyones just jumping on the bandwagon after someone posted up regarding the ketchup issue??

There was still the great aroma you get when you open a tub of AF grape an it fills the room. Just when your consciously thinking about ketchup you get thinking it smells like it...

Unless of course i got a ready mixed AF grape and ketchup... (which confuses the issue slightly lol)

[iamscott06]

Same thing happened to me and my roommate!! We got the tub, opened it and it smelled pretty good. Couple minutes later im like there where some bad batches of this going around that smelled like ketchup, we take another sniff and .. we smell ketchup! WTF!

[smidge]

Same thing happened to me and my roommate!! We got the tub, opened it and it smelled pretty good. Couple minutes later im like there where some bad batches of this going around that smelled like ketchup, we take another sniff and .. we smell ketchup! WTF!

i got a 50g of golden grape. and it smelled a bit like ketchup. i was thinking i hope it doesnt smell/taste like ketchup. my friend said it didnt and i told him to think of ketchup and then he smelled it... and i let him smoke it he said it was gross

[OC4111]

I recently bought some AF grape and when I opened it it smelled "tangy" but it smelled and smoked just fine. I think some people took this tanginess and corresponded it with ketchup and next thing you know, we have a crisis on our hands.

[Scoop]

mind over matter

[vin13]

If the ketchup people smell is actually the flavor of AF Grape then it has got to be the nastiest shisha I've smoked. I figured I would try at least one bowl of the AF Grape I got and it was horrible.

[Wharbone]

My AF grape from March 08 had this "ketchup" smell. I let it air out for a couple of hours and most of the "ketchup" smell is gone. The smell doesn't come through in the flavor though. I've never had the original grape flavor, so I don't have anything to compare it to.

AF grape + mint = heaven!

[GreatPigHookah]

mind over matter

It is not Al Fakher that bends...it is YOU.

[mattathayde]

i got a bad 50g and believe me it was very strong and not something you would want to sit there and small. the normal grape may be tangy but some of teh stuff was really off. cant wait to get a good pack of grape
-matt

[melanko]

Okay, maybe you guys should check the outside of the box before you complain about the flavor. You get what you pay for.

[mattarios2]

Okay, maybe you guys should check the outside of the box before you complain about the flavor. You get what you pay for.

haha

[peterjmag]

I think you're mostly right that it's in our heads. Here's how I think it worked out (for me at least) : About a year and a half ago, I was buying a couple 50g boxes of AF grape from a hookah bar every week, and they were amazing. No hint of anything that would even be construed as ketchup. Then, in June or so (still in 2007), I got a box from AlFakherOnline.com that smelled truly awful. My next box was the same way. After that, every box of AF Grape that I got smelled like ketchup to me, even if other people said it smelled fine. Then someone suggested that I might just be smelling the ketchup because I'm expecting to smell it, and that made a lot of sense.

So I think that it's entirely possible that Al Fakher had a month or two of bad runs with their Grape flavor, but even now that they've fixed it (assuming they have), we're expecting and searching for the horrible ketchup smell so it's there psychologically, even if the smell is actually just a bit "tangy" like OC mentioned. Edited August 21, 2008 by peterjmag

[Sonthert]

No, actually its entirely possible it does smell like grape and like ketchup. Smells are chemically derived, obviously. Some aromas are made of the same chemical as other aromas except in different concentrations. That is, 100 mcg/L of ethyl acetate might smell like banana where as 7 mcg/L of ethyl acetate might smell like pear. Thats why some smells will smell like one thing for a short time (or be unidentifiable) and change to the smell you associate with the fruit in question. So, its entirely possible that tomato and grape (or black currant, the other flavor in Al Fahker black grape) share flavor components, if the amount of flavor is too strong or too weak, it might smell like ketchup instead of grape the way it was intended.

The other possibility is humidity shock. Humidity shock is harder to identify in washed tobacco, but the flavor/aroma can be off nonetheless.

[modisess]

i bought a 250g pack about 2 weeks ago, the date on the tub was jan 08..... but it smelled nothing like ketchup and it was an awesome smoke..... hmmmmmmmm makes me wanna start a bowl now...

[[Elmo]]

The Af Grape I got back in November was horribly ketchup. Even when smoking it it stunk, barely got 5 minutes into the bowl and had to call it quits.

[ZAP]

I've smoked and sold many many kilos of AF grape and not once have I found this so called 'ketchup' smell/flavour and have never received any complaints either. It has always smelled the way it does now by my memory.

I think it's all just in the mind...

[hookah hippie]

Seems like a mind over matter issue

[TizaNabi]

On the purple grape its a known problem. By white grape its fine.

[Codename067]

lmao at that pic

I have smoked 50g samples, and nothing wrong with them at all..have yet to try the 250g.

[mattarios2]

just got some from HC and it smells like ketchup for sure, but smokes well and tastes like grape when smoking it. So as far as im concerned this stuff is fine.

Funny smell

Good smoke, good taste.

[ryno]

Arp just bought some AF Grape and before I mentioned the ketchup, he said it smelled good and tasted fine, then I told him about the ketchup, and now he kinda taste it, but all I smell and taste is ketchup, and this is even with it mixed with mint

[mattarios2]

hmm that's really weird.

I guess everyone's pallet reacts differently. Because it def smelt like ketchup to me, but tasted fine, just like grape flavor should taste.

Either that or each batch slightly differs.

[BrotherBuford]

The age and storage condition of the tobacco might have something to do with it as well. A good example I can think of is McClelland pipe tobacco, particularly the aged Virginia blends. Those always smell like Heinz 57 or ketchup out of the tin. The bacteria that produce this effect (which is desirable in pipe tobaccos, IMHO) I believe only function in an anaerobic environment, so once the seal on the package is broken the smell should start to dissipate and not come back.

[mattarios2]

makes sense, I have been letting mine sit open since i got it like 4 days ago, and it smells less and less like ketchup every day.

[MrMoodz]

Nakhla Mizo Grape is a solid grape flavor. Just picked some up last week and the flavor is strong sans ketchup and with the buzz of unwashed shisha. You all should check the flavor out.