What Am I Doing Wrong?

[Boricua]

Yet another Tangiers help thread? Well sort of...

So lately I have been smoking and experimenting with a bunch of Tangiers Lucid. Some flavors I have gotten to some great, others well not so much.

I've read the wiki, seen the videos, as well as several of the threads concerning this.

First my set up:

Tangiers small phunnel, Mya gyro, nammor hose, coco nara coals

Packing:

Used the noob method - packing it in nicely with a fork

Holes:

2 rings, puncturing all the way down, one hole in the middle, and a few smaller holes randomly in between the 2 main rings

Coals:

Broke 2 coco nara's in half and used 3 halves

Problem:

Smoking Lucid Mint today - the flavor was ok but there was not much smoke and it felt a bt harsh sometimes. I tried using another half and it didn't improve much, later for the harshness I was only using 2 halves but it wasn't working that well.


I've gotten Lucid Cocoa to smoke very well, Horchata was decent. K-Cherry was ok, no big clouds. I thought I had the method down but aparently not.

Would love to hear some ideas from the Tangiers and Lucid vets

thanks

[redjako]

I've been going against the grain..sorta, but had awesome success with this method (will get my vids up over the weekend).

I take my bowl (Medium phunnel), and SMASH it into a big pile of tangiers (non-lucid, haven't even had any lucid, so no opinions there)

I compress the CRAP out of it, but it will sponge back Up a bit. lightly knock off the excess until you got a ~.5-1cm dome above the bowl (this should be evident as soon as you ram the phunnel into the shisha, then let it re-rise).

Foil: toothpick all the way to the bottom throughout the phunnel, lots of holes.


STARTING: MEGA HEAT!!! I'll use an ENTIRE stick of exotica, or FIVE (yes five) coco's to start it.

After 5 minutes, your freaking golden, massive smoke and flavor, so you take off TWO coco's.

Manage heat from there.

Typically it'll look like this:

5 coco's all hanging off edges to start, 5 min

After 5 min, leave three on

Harsh?

Take off another.

Harsh?

Take off another.

No smoke / flavor?

Re-add another coal

Etc.

Constantly move the coals around, and add / re-add, you'll have an awesome session.

[Arcane]

did you acclimate?

Lucid acclimation...not too much. It'll probably smoke better with acclimation.

Lucid may still need acclimation. If you have, then I'm not quite sure. I have no experience with the noob method packing, so I can't help you there. But, I just fiddle with the heat - moving coals to the edges, standing on edge, etc till i get it right.

did you give the bowl enough time to get going? call Eric, he'll help you out!

[erufiku]

Acclimate for an hour or two. I've had great results with just sprinkling the baccy, a bit tighter than AF. Smoked fine - big clouds and loads of flavor. AFAIR I used the mod with it.

[SuburbanSmoker]

sounds like you didnt pack it tight enough. harsh smoke with little smoke when you have a decent amount of coal==packing issue.

[Boricua]

sounds like you didnt pack it tight enough. harsh smoke with little smoke when you have a decent amount of coal==packing issue.

Yeah I was thinking this could be the problem, I'll try to fix that for my next bowl to see what happens

[FactorE]

I actually had many problems smoking it and finally i got it to smoke great by not overpacking it and just packing it close to the top, and with the foil 2 rings with one big hole in the middle then 3 cocos on a medium phunnel bowl.

[ToncSTAR]

lucid? problems?

huhhhh...lol


uhh i pack regularly, not over packing, 2 rings of holes, center hole. 3 coco naras throughout the whole bowl.

[inino]

pack much tighter especially around the edges. really press it in there. then push down on the foil. then 2 cocos, which dont need to be halved placed on top and puff away.

[Boricua]

Problem solved:

Over-packed it with fork, used 4 coco halves around the bowl to get it going and kept the bowl smoking great for 2.5 hours

I'm a happy camper now

[erufiku]

Just one question... how did you manage to break cocos?

[Capt. Morgan]

Just one question... how did you manage to break cocos?

Its amazing what one can do in a Tangiers induced rage.

[Voski]

You don't need to pack lucid tight. You can if you want to but you don't need to. Try packing it lightly or just pick it up and put it in the bowl without any going over the rim and don't pack it down and see what happens. You should be able to smoke with 2-3 full cocos or at least I can. Try using 3 sets of rings with no hole in the middle and don't make any small holes in between if you want I will throw up a video of lucid. Fuck it I will do it now!

[a cliche affair]

You don't need to pack lucid tight. You can if you want to but you don't need to. Try packing it lightly or just pick it up and put it in the bowl without any going over the rim and don't pack it down and see what happens. You should be able to smoke with 2-3 full cocos or at least I can. Try using 3 sets of rings with no hole in the middle and don't make any small holes in between if you want I will throw up a video of lucid. Fuck it I will do it now!

Looking forward to the video. I'll be packing lucid in a small phunnel for my first time this weekend.

[Voski]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-0He-nDfjA

[a cliche affair]

Thanks for the video Voski. I'll let you know how my session goes this weekend. Edited March 27, 2009 by a cliche affair

[Arcane]

You don't need to pack lucid tight. You can if you want to but you don't need to. Try packing it lightly or just pick it up and put it in the bowl without any going over the rim and don't pack it down and see what happens. You should be able to smoke with 2-3 full cocos or at least I can. Try using 3 sets of rings with no hole in the middle and don't make any small holes in between if you want I will throw up a video of lucid. Fuck it I will do it now!

yeah, with lucid...i put a bunch of tobacco in the corner, scoop up some tobacco with the bowl (kinda like using it as a spoon) and sweep some more tobacco into the bowl with a fork. then i lift up and spread it evenly. whatever falls off doesn't go back into the bowl. if it looks too high, i just take more off. i pretty much just eyeball it. Edited March 27, 2009 by arcane

[Sonthert]

Just one question... how did you manage to break cocos?

Its amazing what one can do in a Tangiers induced rage.

Its easier to break them before you light them. I burn my fingers whenever I break them after their lit. With natural coals, I use a hammer and a screwdriver.

[Click]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-0He-nDfjA

Nice.  I got that orange soda to smoke nicely.  Just had to pack the shit out of it.

[JDHarding]

Wait..

Don't mean to thread jack, but is there really an orange soda Tangiers? I thought I had just seen Eric say he was working on one, but didn't think it really existed.

Unless that was for a Lucid Orange Soda. Edited March 27, 2009 by JDHarding

[Arcane]

Wait..

Don't mean to thread jack, but is there really an orange soda Tangiers? I thought I had just seen Eric say he was working on one, but didn't think it really existed.

Unless that was for a Lucid Orange Soda.

AFAIK, everything in Lucid/F-Line is available in Regular.

[Boricua]

Just one question... how did you manage to break cocos?

I use a good chef knife, try cutting a bit into the coal (won't do much) and then use another heavy knife handle to 'hammer' into the back of the knife that's cutting into the coal - works every time with little effort.

I think they're actually easier to cut when lit but then it'll just burn/melt your cutting board

[redjako]

Just one question... how did you manage to break cocos?

I use a good chef knife, try cutting a bit into the coal (won't do much) and then use another heavy knife handle to 'hammer' into the back of the knife that's cutting into the coal - works every time with little effort.

I think they're actually easier to cut when lit but then it'll just burn/melt your cutting board

Man I should sell this via affiliate with how much I pimp em for breaking coals.

They will split coco's perfectly in half (they work like a goddamn CHAMP for exotica's as well).

[Boricua]

New Lucid question - old thread:

At this point I've tried pretty much every Lucid flavor out there (available to buy online), except Watermelon and Yellow Apple.

I recently got a batch of Lucid Blue Gum Ball. Of all the Tangiers packs I've bought it's the first one that has had that BBQ/Soy sauce smell that I've read about so often.

Has anyone else has problems smoking Lucid BGB? It shouldn't need to acclimate right?

Well it's been sitting in a Tupperware with the lid off for about 48 hours with some occasional stirring. Still smells horrible.

Any ideas?

[likespaceships]

New Lucid question - old thread:

At this point I've tried pretty much every Lucid flavor out there (available to buy online), except Watermelon and Yellow Apple.

I recently got a batch of Lucid Blue Gum Ball. Of all the Tangiers packs I've bought it's the first one that has had that BBQ/Soy sauce smell that I've read about so often.

Has anyone else has problems smoking Lucid BGB? It shouldn't need to acclimate right?

Well it's been sitting in a Tupperware with the lid off for about 48 hours with some occasional stirring. Still smells horrible.

Any ideas?

I think Eric said in another thread that bgb has a funny smell. The lucid batch I have has a funny smell so I would say that its just normal. Try smoking it to see how it is.