Burnt Shisha

[skatesteak]

alright, like many i am new to the tangiers funnel bowl (medium) and the funnel concept. the other night me and my friend packed about 60g of starbuzz exotic blueberry covered it with one layer of aluminum foil and put 3 cocos on it expecting a wonderfull 3 hour session. it was good for about a half hour of lazy puffing untill we both started feeling sick and put a stop to it. i uncovered the foil and found the shisha half burnt even though i moved the coals around at least once. so any advice would be appreciated on how to use the funnel properly. btw i "sprinkled" the shisha into the bowl packed it slightly. placed the foil shiny side down and poked 3 cicles of holes with a rather thick safety pin all the way thru the tobacco. im very sure i did something wrong because of the so many good reviews of funnels.

[Apets22]

Well, Im assuming you got a burnt taste and everything. That should be a warning sign. Take the coals off, purge it, and let it chill for a minute if it was THAT fried.

I dont really know what else to tell you because it doesnt sound like you did anything wrong. And Starbuzz isnt that finicky of a tobacco.

Did you leave a little room between the foil and the shisha? Cause if the shisha is touching to foil then that would probably have been your problem.

[Codename067]

You packed lightly and still managed to fit 60 grams in there?

The only thing I can tell you so far is that you need to move the coals more often.

[Dom]

i have not had a chance to pack starbuzz in a phunnel since i learned how to do it right. i'll give it a shot later and post my results. but until then here's my advice:

when i pack tangiers into a phunnel, i heap shit-tons of tobacco in there and then clear it away from the hole and then put the foil on, press down with the palm of my hand. this pushes the tobacco down and you know you have packed the right amount if the distance between your pressed down foil and the rim of the bowl is about the width of a quarter.

then poke a ton of holes on it about hald a cm apart and push down with the fork/tootpick/etc down deep into the tobacco. don't worry about putting extra holes in the center or not putting holes. just put holes across the whole foil.

with a large phunnel i start out with 4 golden canairy coals and then keep a constant rotating 3 throughout the session. with a meduim, probably just 3 to start out with.

now starbuzz and tangiers are two completely different tobaccos, but one thing i noticed is that when the juices bubble up the foil onto your coals, it gets really harsh. this happens when you pack too much. the thing to do in this case is to leave the affected coal/coals in place and just let the coals burn the juices and then it'll go away eventually. then, that spot won't bubble up again, since the top layer of tobacco is hard and crusty. now, starbuzz is really juicy, so i can understand why this might happen easily.

like i said, i'll try it out and then get back on here and post my results. Edited September 22, 2008 by Dom

[Giant Ninja Robot]

sounds to me like you packed WAY too much in the bowl for SB...I know all phunnels are different but I own a medium and that just sounds nuts. Maybe 50 at the max. And with SB in a phunnel you really shouldn't overpack like Tangiers, since it's so juicy you should end up with the 3 hr long (or longer) session you expected at the outset. Also coco's burn hot so maybe try using 2 with a windcover though 3 should be fine if your bowl is the size of mine. Just some random thoughts.

Good luck!

[Apets22]

I would defiately NOT pack it like tangiers.

[Dom]

I would defiately NOT pack it like tangiers.

how would you pack it?

[Apets22]

Less in there. Dont pack it in so tightly. Make sure its below the rim.

Im smoking SB Citrus Mist right now with 3 cocos out of a small phunnel, my session has been going for nearly two hours and I still have flavor.

[Giant Ninja Robot]

Just sprinkle it in lightly, while filling in all spaces and gaps as much as possible, don't be afraid to take a lil bit of time to get it right. What I do is pack it that way just a lil bit past the top of the rim and push lightly on the foil till I get an imprint of the phunnel hole and the shisha is back to the level you would pack in an egyptian (right below the rim so the shisha doesn't directly touch the foil). Remember, if you push down and pack tight the shisha will expand when the heat hits and stick waaay more to the foil than you want, giving you a really burnt taste. Be gentle.

Everyone does it differently but this seems to work alright for me, though I haven't mastered the phunnel yet.

[skatesteak]

that makes alot of sense that it bubbled. this was my first starbuzz experience and yeah i think i did pack way too much. thanks alot guys gona give it a try again soon

[gaia.plateau]

Low and loose.

[momatik]

When packing SB, don't think.

It's not tricky. Just put that shit in there.

[EternalSoil]

when you poke the holes, kinda stir the shisha inside the bowl without making the holes bigger. that way when the air goes in it can kinda spread out and is not so concentrated.

also, try not moving the coals. i put my coconaras on their side now rather than lay them flat, that seems to work pretty good too.