No Smoke, Dry Shisha...

[rhynny]

Hi! Forum virgin here, so I'm not sure if this had been asked before. I've tried searching through the older thread but...

Anyway I was wondering, I've been smoking shisha for a year now, have my own pipe, worked in a shisha cafe, tried many many brands and flavour of molasses before but this is the first time I've come across this problem. I just bought a 200g box of Mixed Fruit Nakhla tobacco. I opened it and I noticed straight away that it was very dry, as in properly dry, it was even strangely crystalised all over. I tried it as it was with 2 disks of coal but there was no smoke coming out of it at all. I cleaned my pipe and hose, checked the water level, checked if the pipe was airtight and punched more holes through the foil but nothing. I tried again, this time added a bit of the fresh herbal stuff I keep handy on top, there was a bit of smoke and all I could taste was the orange Soex. Then I tried again this time I put the Nakhla tobacco in an airtight jar, added water to wet it and put a foil on top and closed and shook. I tried smoking it again but I inhaled and inhaled til I was light headed and alas, no smoke. By this time I was ready to kill someone.

Now I know Nakhla is supposed to be dry, but this was ridiculous. I have had Nakhla before (as a matter of fact I just finished the last of my Rose). And I have had dry-ish tobacco before (when I didn't store it properly) but it still smoked properly. Has anyone had this problem before? What should I do? My question is, is it expired? There was no expiration date anywhere in the packaging. Or is it defective in some other way? Should I take it back to the retailer? I'm not sure how they'll react seeing as I made the mistake of wetting the whole batch (but its really pale and the smell is all muted). Should I add honey? or Glycerin? Or is it hopeless? I don't want to just throw it away.

The worst thing is that I paid £15 for the 200g box. Daylight robbery when I usually buy mine for £7 in another city.

Please help?

[newjacksm]

Hi! Forum virgin here, so I'm not sure if this had been asked before. I've tried searching through the older thread but...

Anyway I was wondering, I've been smoking shisha for a year now, have my own pipe, worked in a shisha cafe, tried many many brands and flavour of molasses before but this is the first time I've come across this problem. I just bought a 200g box of Mixed Fruit Nakhla tobacco. I opened it and I noticed straight away that it was very dry, as in properly dry, it was even strangely crystalised all over. I tried it as it was with 2 disks of coal but there was no smoke coming out of it at all. I cleaned my pipe and hose, checked the water level, checked if the pipe was airtight and punched more holes through the foil but nothing. I tried again, this time added a bit of the fresh herbal stuff I keep handy on top, there was a bit of smoke and all I could taste was the orange Soex. Then I tried again this time I put the Nakhla tobacco in an airtight jar, added water to wet it and put a foil on top and closed and shook. I tried smoking it again but I inhaled and inhaled til I was light headed and alas, no smoke. By this time I was ready to kill someone.

Now I know Nakhla is supposed to be dry, but this was ridiculous. I have had Nakhla before (as a matter of fact I just finished the last of my Rose). And I have had dry-ish tobacco before (when I didn't store it properly) but it still smoked properly. Has anyone had this problem before? What should I do? My question is, is it expired? There was no expiration date anywhere in the packaging. Or is it defective in some other way? Should I take it back to the retailer? I'm not sure how they'll react seeing as I made the mistake of wetting the whole batch (but its really pale and the smell is all muted). Should I add honey? or Glycerin? Or is it hopeless? I don't want to just throw it away.

The worst thing is that I paid £15 for the 200g box. Daylight robbery when I usually buy mine for £7 in another city.

Please help?

Try putting a little honey in it, that should help a little. Oh and welcome to the forums! Edited January 14, 2009 by newjacksm

[rhynny]

Someone mentioned that the smell of burning honey was not very nice...but I will give it a go

[newjacksm]

Someone mentioned that the smell of burning honey was not very nice...but I will give it a go

Dont really smell the honey burning, mix it with the shisha put in like a 2 teaspoon or a little more depending how dry it is. You'll know whats right when your mixing.

[Hobbs]

Glycerin works as well.. if you can even find it anywhere near by.

[inino]

squeeze all the water out of it first, then add honey, and glycerin. even after all that i would still mix it with other shisha.

[redjako]

Someone mentioned that the smell of burning honey was not very nice...but I will give it a go

I've tried cheap jam, like Smuckers variety...worked fine, no stink.

[wpw36]

try glycerin what i used and worked fine make sure to mix it in good

[rhynny]

I tried the jam option but it didn't work, the air wouldn't pass through the bowl so there was no smoke....

[chinamon]

the tobacco would've been salvageable with honey/glycerin if you hadn't put water in it.

[rhynny]

the tobacco would've been salvageable with honey/glycerin if you hadn't put water in it.

So there's nothing I can do with it now?

[chinamon]

the tobacco would've been salvageable with honey/glycerin if you hadn't put water in it.

So there's nothing I can do with it now?

you could try to let all the water dry out and mix some glycerin and honey afterwards but i dont think its worth the time.
and theres no guarantee that it will work after water damage.

[inino]

rinse it all the way clean, squeeze the water out then add honey glycerin and flavorings. you may be able to at least save the tobacco, and have some fun making your own shisha.

[newjacksm]

Oh man I didnt see that you put water in it. Eh the best thing for you to do is let it dry up and put honey in it. I doubt you will get any flavor from it. But this is a good time to "experiment" with the shisha. Take a look at this thread

Although your not really making home made shisha, you are pretty much putting the ingredients in it to make it smokeable again. So take a look at this thread and hopefully it helps you

http://www.hookahforum.com/index.php?showtopic=26690

[rhynny]

I've squeezed it out (probably of all flavor ) and have laid it out thinly in room temperature? should I leave it to dry out overnight?

help!

[ambuletzd2h]

i would let it dry out for a few days atleast

[inino]

if its still slightly sticky keep rinsing, if its just wet with water you should let it dry a little, not too much though. then you can add your flavors and glycerin and honey. most importantly you want to get all the original flavor out or it might end badly.

[rhynny]

Its just slightly wet now, not sticky at all and all the flavour seems to be just wafting in the air...

Ok I checked out the make your own shisha tobacco thread, but it all seems terribly experimental. what the ration of tobacco:honey:glycerin? and what do i use for fruit flavor? preserves or fresh fruit pulp? how long do you have to acclimatise it? will it end up not allowing air through the bowl?

[inino]

i make mine with 2 spoons of honey. as far as flavors someone posted a link to a candy oil website, if you dont want to go that fancy, just fruit preserves should do the trick. its going to be experimental until you get the right consistancy. as far as acclimating, you can leave it lid closed, but you want to let the ingrediants sit for a day or two at least.

[rhynny]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I ended up getting a replacement from the shop, it was still very very dry but I bought glycerin and its smoking much better... x