Homemade Ma'sal

[hookah_hoop]

I was feeling inventive yesterday so after some short research on the web I decided to try to make my own Ma'sal.

I raided the fridge for fruit and found an apple (it was a winesap apple that is used for eating, generally on the tart/sour side) and some storebought clover honey (nothing special, just the kind in a sqeeze bottle that costs a few bucks at the grocery store).

I also had some "Sail" pipe tobacco laying around.

I washed the tobacco once (1/2 of a bowl full), diced up little pieces of apple (the fleshy part, about 1/2 a bowl full total) and included only a small amount of the skin (about the size of a dime), heated the apple over low heat in a pan for a few minutes until it started to brown, squeezed the moisture out of the tobacco in a paper towl, blended equal amounts of fruit and tobbacco in an old plastic container and smothered with a generous amount of honey.

This mixture obviously would not store very well so I made my hookah with it immediately.

Due to the exessive moisture in the mix it took a little longer to start producing smoke and I had to use an extra chunk of finger coal to get it going, in fact I was about to give up when it finally started to produce some nice smoke. Once it started though, the smoke was very thick, I suspect due to the excess moisture evaporating and mixing with the smoke.

Now onto flavor. I was actually suprised at mild success in this first attempt. The smoke definately had flavor but it was more of a sour/tart flavor that I suspect was due to the sour/tart apple I used. There was really no sweet or sugary tastes. I'm not much of a pipe smoker and I forget exactly what "Sail" tobacco tastes like in a pipe, but I remember sometimes catching a bit of a sour sensation from pipe tobacco, so further research might require a different type of tobacco. I'm not sure where the clover honey weighed in on the flavor since all I noticed was the tart flavor coming through.

All in all, I liked the idea of a more "traditional" (for lack of a better word) approach to making a hookah than relying on manufactured tobacco soaked with candy flavoring, however I did swap out my homemade ma'sal after about five minutes or so for my favorite, manufactured and packaged, bananna molasses. So, if you have friends gathered around and are out of Ma'sal or if you just want to try a more organic, unprocessed, sort of ritualistic approach to making a hookah, this was not a terrible experience and your friends won't mind waiting a few extra minutes. After all, hookah isn't about convinience, speed, and instant satisfaction, it's about social atmosphere, spending time with friends, and sharing a smoking experience. Edited November 21, 2008 by hookah_hoop

[hookah_hoop]

Update:

I just tried this again with "Zen" blueberry cigarette tobacco and it = a complete fail.

Acrid taste. Little to no smoke. I'll try again soon.

[AKammenzind]

I've been making my own for some time, and I've found that the best readily-available tobacco is captain black regular pipe tobacco. Boil it down, squeeze it out, and you're good to begin adding honey/glycerine/flavor.

[Bulldog_916]

What about a bulk light cavendish tobacco? Like the 12oz for 10 bucks kind of deals? And what about different flavorings, what do you use personally? I was looking at Blue Pacific Flavorings to see if they could answer some questions about how the extracts last against a high heat environment, still no word back yet. Gonna call them next week. Edited November 22, 2008 by Bulldog_916

[AKammenzind]

Extracts (like the kind you get in the supermarkt) don't really work. What does work is actual bits of fruit (orange zest, apple shavings, etc.), and candy oils. Candy oils are cheap, have strong flavor, and lots of variety... only problem is that the flavor doesn't last more than a couple weeks, so I basically just make it on demand.

[An1m]

My girlfriend and I were just talking about how much fun this would be to do, about 2 days ago. Methinks we will be trying this soon!

[wilarseny]

I gave this a try once. Didn't work out so well. Used American Spirit cig tobacco, was too thin and even after cooking and squeezing out moisture it was too wet to produce smoke. I'll probably try again, I'll note down my full process if it actually works this time.

[SmokinMoose]

How about using some old cigars I have that have dried out?

[SmokinMoose]

Extracts (like the kind you get in the supermarkt) don't really work. What does work is actual bits of fruit (orange zest, apple shavings, etc.), and candy oils. Candy oils are cheap, have strong flavor, and lots of variety... only problem is that the flavor doesn't last more than a couple weeks, so I basically just make it on demand.

https://www.lorannoils.com/c-6-super-streng...candy-oils.aspx

Would these work?

[Hippo_Master]

I have before, I used Plain Moassell Salloum. I just washed it, let it sit in the fridge, rewashed it, let it sit in the fridge, and added my flavoring.

[AKammenzind]

Extracts (like the kind you get in the supermarkt) don't really work. What does work is actual bits of fruit (orange zest, apple shavings, etc.), and candy oils. Candy oils are cheap, have strong flavor, and lots of variety... only problem is that the flavor doesn't last more than a couple weeks, so I basically just make it on demand.

https://www.lorannoils.com/c-6-super-streng...candy-oils.aspx

Would these work?

Those should work, a little on the pricey side though. If you have a candy maker's supply or even bakery around (some bakers use the oils in their icing I think) you might be able to get some flavors cheaper.

[hookah_hoop]

I have some captain black vanilla pipe tobacco lying around here too. I only used it a few times in a pipe, smells great but tastes just terrible, completely offensive to the pallete, I think it's the "vanilla" they use in it, or the fact that it's cavendish. I dunno. Anyhoo, I'll give that a try as well just to see what happens. Perhaps washing it and mixing it into ma'sal will improve it. Any suggestions as to what fruits might go well with Vanilla? I'm thinking blackberry would be good, or even orange zest might make a nice "orange creamcicle" flavor.

As far as dried out cigars go, I suppose that would work just as well if not better than pipe tobaccos. Let us know how it works out.

I'm glad to see so many people "getting their hands dirty with molasses". It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside... oh wait, thats the beer I just drank.

[hookah_hoop]

Update:
I just used Captain Black Vanilla with some Kiwi fruit and honey.
I washed the tobacco twice in hot water, pressed out the water, mixed in some honey and some kiwi juice and some chunks of kiwi fruit.

Again it took a little longer to start producing smoke but once it did the flavor was okay and the aroma was great. Again it was an okay experience, not fantastic but okay. This time the mixture caked really quickly though, maybe 20 minutes into the bowl.

More to come soon.

[AKammenzind]

Update:
I just used Captain Black Vanilla with some Kiwi fruit and honey.
I washed the tobacco twice in hot water, pressed out the water, mixed in some honey and some kiwi juice and some chunks of kiwi fruit.

Again it took a little longer to start producing smoke but once it did the flavor was okay and the aroma was great. Again it was an okay experience, not fantastic but okay. This time the mixture caked really quickly though, maybe 20 minutes into the bowl.

More to come soon.

You forgot glycerine. Without glycerine you just won't get the same volume of smoke. I add around 50% more glycerine (by volume) than I do honey, then I let the extreme excess run off and I smoke in peace knowing that clouds just don't get bigger.

[Mirus]

Where do you get your glycerin? I got some at CVS, when I tried to make shisha. I used Molasses, shredded and juiced blueberries, and the glycerin. Smelled like raisins, tasted worse.

[Mirus]

Where do you guys get your glycerine? I bought mine at CVS, and when I made shisha, it was pretty much a bust, so I'm wondering what went wrong.

[AKammenzind]

Where do you guys get your glycerine? I bought mine at CVS, and when I made shisha, it was pretty much a bust, so I'm wondering what went wrong.

No idea what could go wrong, unless you could a glycerine-based lotion instead haha. It's much cheaper online anyhow, get a big bottle and you'll be set for a while... instead of one of those little bottles at the drug store that'll last you only a few bowls.

[SmokinMoose]

I just bought some glycerine and some candy oils.

I am going to use some old cigars i have.

I bought 1 dram of grape and guava.

Akammenzind you got some pointers for the amounts of the ingredients i should use.

Also is honey the best thing to use or should I get some black molasses?

Thanks for the help.

[AKammenzind]

Yeah, if memory serves (I got em written down, but nowhere near me atm) you should use 2 tbsp of washed and press-dried pipe tobacco (idk what you'd do with cigar? heh) then a couple tbsp each of honey and glycerine... and the amount of flavoring is completely different depending on the flavor, some are very strong, others need more. Then basically just mix it all together and smoke it. Not sure how it's going to work out with cigar tobacco, but hey give it a shot I guess... just make sure to boil that stuff like no other (pipe tobacco I boil it for a good 10 minutes)

Honey just seems to work better. It adds more sweetness, and no molasses taste. Plus it helps make the shisha clumpier.

edit: basically just take a bunch of washed tobacco, then just add a bit at a time of glycerine/honey in a 1:1 or 1.5:1 ratio till it feels about right. Edited December 6, 2008 by AKammenzind

[a_shimoon]

I've attempted making shisha before. I used extracts (peppermint, orange, lemon) from the grocery store. The tobacco was a generic cigarette tobacco that was triple washed in very hot water. I used glycerine and honey in about equal proportions. The shisha smoked well, but the flavor was not strong enough. I will experiment some more with different flavorings and let you guys know.