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Bad Coal Taste, Help :(


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Hi, i'm still new to shisha and every bowl I make seems to have this same coaly aftertaste and it's really putting me off, I figured it was the shisha but I have tried a bunch of different ones (AF golden apple, starbuzz blue mist etc. - all of which are meant to be quite good) and they all taste the same!! Therfore it must be me doing something wrong. I have a Mya Vortex with a phunnel bowl, I use 3 cocos and I fill the base so that the stem is about 1.5 inches in the water. What am I doing wrong? Am i packing the bowl with too much shisha or what?

Any help would be much appreciated because this taste is putting me off shisha sad.gif.

Thanks
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QUOTE (Arpomatic @ Dec 4 2008, 11:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
maybe its because you are using shitty coals...cocos ftl...i think im about one of the few that doesnt like them...


Regardless of whether you like them or not, using cocos instead of other coals aren't going to magically make a session crappy tasting.

This sounds like a heat management or packing issue. Try packing more shisha, and using less coal. Toothpick size holes in the foil, circular pattern around the bowl. See the link in my signature for some more help. And put your coals on the edges of the bowl. It may take a few minutes before you get thick smoke.

Let us know if that turns things around for you. Pics of your bowl packed, and then your foil pattern and coal location on the bowl would help greatly.
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give the hookah a good cleaning.

cocos need to be lit well and then when you put them on ive found if you dont let the coal cool just a touch it will scortch the foil giving you that nasty coal taste (around holes in the foil you will see it turn whiteish)

to make sure the coals are lit put them on until they catch fire on the burner or the sides are mostly ashed over then flip and let them sit a min or 2. also depending on the bowl it could be just the packing or the bowl. the deep mya bowl i just got i had a bad bowl of blue myst, tastes all coaly and bits of ash were in the base, swapped out for my mod bowl, same amount of holes, same amount of coconaras same blue myst (not out of the bowl but same batch) and it smoked fine.

you could try packing a touch tighter (just check the pull before you put the foil on) if the coals are fully lit
-matt
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Thanks for the responses people, really appreciated smile.gif, although I still don't know what's wrong lol - Haven't had a chance to try the suggestions but will do soon and will post pics if I still have a problem. I think the phunnel I have is a medium-large one (got it from Mnhookah), so is 3 cocos ok? Also, when I put them on, the sides are completely ashed but the tops and bottoms are still black with a small ash border around, is this 'properly lit'? I also hear a sizzling sound when I put them on. The foil I use is bacofoil (UK brand), with only 1 layer and I poke 3 rings with cocktail sticks (1 around the edge, 1 around the funnel section and 1 kinda in between these 2). I am putting the coals on the edge, but not right on the edge, ie. part of the coal is not hanging off.
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QUOTE (foxxy @ Dec 7 2008, 04:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Thanks for the responses people, really appreciated smile.gif , although I still don't know what's wrong lol - Haven't had a chance to try the suggestions but will do soon and will post pics if I still have a problem. I think the phunnel I have is a medium-large one (got it from Mnhookah), so is 3 cocos ok? Also, when I put them on, the sides are completely ashed but the tops and bottoms are still black with a small ash border around, is this 'properly lit'? I also hear a sizzling sound when I put them on. The foil I use is bacofoil (UK brand), with only 1 layer and I poke 3 rings with cocktail sticks (1 around the edge, 1 around the funnel section and 1 kinda in between these 2). I am putting the coals on the edge, but not right on the edge, ie. part of the coal is not hanging off.


All of that sounds fine/normal
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I would say all that sounds good except it does not seem like your cocos are fully lit. Make sure they are red hot all over
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I know it's been mentioned, but it really sounds like the shishas burning to me
I remember when I first started smoking shisha, somewhere like halfway through the bowl the shisha would burn.
This is because I would push the tin foil down so its closer to the shisha ( I thought it'd get it going faster/better?)
Make sure that the tin foil is completely flat on top of the bowl, because if the tin foils touching the shisha it will burn it, and then when you take the foil off half of it will be stuck to the bottom of the foil.
It does taste somewhat like coal to me when the shisha burns, which originally I thought that the coal was making the tin foil smoke and that I was smoking tin foil. Realized that I was just burning the shisha!
From what you're saying it sounds like the same problem I had back then =P
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