Still Failing At Tangiers!

[Hooka_bears]

Heres my set up

Mya QT
Cold water
Small tang. phunnel
cheapo foil, 2 layers
Coco coals
OG Schnozzberries

I've read almost every tutorial on how to get tangiers right, and I've just got no luck. I have watermelon, schnozz and brambleberry, and they all smell excellent. I pack it tight with the tobacco going over the rim of the bowl. Double foil and poke many deep holes with an oyster fork. I started off with 3 cocos on it, waited a few minutes and took and hit and it was good smoke, but harsh. So I took one off and took a hit and there wasnt much smoke.

I got out my windscreen w/ 2 coals and tryed that, and It was harsh. I took off the windscreen and coals and noticed alot of smoke coming from under the foil, so I must have been scorching the tobacco. I took off my phunnel and a bunch of juice must have boiled over into the phunnel and onto the grommet.

I'm not sure what im doing wrong, I'm thinking maybe I should triple layer foil? I mean I've watched videos of people using single foil and 3 cocos and they say its perfect. Or maybe i should get some HD foil? What foil/how much do you guys use for tangiers?

Also I'm wondering if people that say its not harsh just have more iron lungs than I do?

Hopefully someone can help me, I've never gotten OG tangiers to smoke well, and all of these flavors smell sooo good!

Thanks!

[antouwan]

Heres my set up

Mya QT
Cold water
Small tang. phunnel
cheapo foil, 2 layers
Coco coals
OG Schnozzberries

I've read almost every tutorial on how to get tangiers right, and I've just got no luck. I have watermelon, schnozz and brambleberry, and they all smell excellent. I pack it tight with the tobacco going over the rim of the bowl. Double foil and poke many deep holes with an oyster fork. I started off with 3 cocos on it, waited a few minutes and took and hit and it was good smoke, but harsh. So I took one off and took a hit and there wasnt much smoke.

I got out my windscreen w/ 2 coals and tryed that, and It was harsh. I took off the windscreen and coals and noticed alot of smoke coming from under the foil, so I must have been scorching the tobacco. I took off my phunnel and a bunch of juice must have boiled over into the phunnel and onto the grommet.

I'm not sure what im doing wrong, I'm thinking maybe I should triple layer foil? I mean I've watched videos of people using single foil and 3 cocos and they say its perfect. Or maybe i should get some HD foil? What foil/how much do you guys use for tangiers?

Also I'm wondering if people that say its not harsh just have more iron lungs than I do?

Hopefully someone can help me, I've never gotten OG tangiers to smoke well, and all of these flavors smell sooo good!

Thanks!

i'm no tangiers expert BUT i've talked to eric quite a bit, and witnessed some tangiers discussion.

the only thing clear that you pointed out was that you're using WAY too much coal. cut that in half; if you're using cocos put one flat and on the opposite side put another 'standing' up. that still might be too much, so just start off with both of them standing on opposite ends of the bowl. pack everything tight, using a fork helps a lot.

you can give a good diagnosis of the problem by reading into the symptoms; for instance, if you have weak, puny, shitty smoke, and it's harsh as balls, then you're not putting nearly enough tobacco. if the smoke is monstrous and it's still harsh, then it's too much coal. if there's anything that i've learned/realized about hookah smoking, it's that the least important thing to worry about, is the quality of foil.

in my experience, tangiers is trial and error, whatever seems to work for the next guy, will NEVER work for you...murphy's rule at its finest for some reason.

[cxc5120]

Dont worry man... Tangiers hates me too

[shesha1]

I don't know how much patience you have, but it took me a looooooooooong time to get it. You just need to experiment with eveything from the way you punch holes, to the heat you put on it, to the amount you pack.

I hated Tangiers last August. Today, I refuse to smoke any other brand! IMHO other than the tobacco my friend gets from Saudi (stuff we have never heard of), it is the best tobacco I have ever smoked.

One more thing, I dont think cocos and Tangiers are a good combo. Edited April 17, 2009 by shesha1

[evilded777]

Gonna go against the grain here, and vote against the common wisdom of packing a phunnel "to the brim".

In my experience with both Tangiers and phunnels in general, it is not necessary to pack what seems an ungodly amount of tobacco in the bowl. I pack my phunnel well below the rim, but compress the tobacco firmly and make sure it is evenly distributed around the bowl. I will say that my tobacco is not level... I tend to push it up the sides a bit, and keep it lower around the center.

I use 2-3 of John's coals on a small phunnel. Generally 2 is enough, unless I want to see squirrel choking clouds come out of my mouth. I start with three to get it going, then back down to two... adding the third one back when the first two have reduced in size and the third seems warranted.

The only time I have gotten HARSH smoke from Tangiers is when I got my first real phunnel, and followed the directions of packing it high, and compressing the tobacco down with the foil. This led to the foil being way to close to the phunnel in the center, and no good smoke being able to get down into the pipe. After a few minutes of wondering WTF, I remembered a post on here about liftng the foil around the phunnel with a toothpick. I immediately used my poker to lift the foil... and billows of wonderful smoke were produced seconds later.

Since that incident, I have taken to "underpacking" and really compressing with my fingers instead of with the foil to prevent further mishaps.

I smoked some OG Guava this afternoon with this exact method, and it was SUPERIOR. I was walking around the house, doing the cleaning, well... floating around, with a nice Tang's buzz and the whole kitched smelled like some kinda hot guava pie!

Smoked for about an hour, and I have another set of three coals ready for lighting. Not sure if it will take a third set, since I do "underpack"; but I expect the second set to be as sweet as the first.

My advice: its only wrong if it doesn't work for you.

You will dig it if you can get it to smoke, but I wouldn't spend too much time and effort on it if its gonna give you nightmares. You wouldn't want to ruin hookah for yourself, would ya'?

(apologies to Eric for that last bit, I'd never want to chase a client away!)

/edit, I guess I should throw in my foil method for completeness' sake.

1 layer of HD foil, pulled nice and taut. Lots of holes over the central phunnel, with three concentric rings radiating outwards. Lately, only the final ring around the very edge of the phunnel (poked at an angle, away from the edge) do I punch deep into the tobacco.

And again, this is MY method; and it works for me. Your mileage may vary.

[redjako]

http://www.hookahforum.com/?showtopic=29692

read that whole topic.

The packaging states to pack it as dense as when its packaged (super dense).

Eric has said in another thread he STARTS his phunnel with FOUR squares on Japanese coals...thats a lot of heat.

fire it hot, then let off the heat (remove coals as needed).

I love the tangiers now.

[BigSexyPanda]

Well, Tangiers is unwashed and pretty strong stuff, so it's gonna tickle your throat a little bit.

[Hooka_bears]

The only time I have gotten HARSH smoke from Tangiers is when I got my first real phunnel, and followed the directions of packing it high, and compressing the tobacco down with the foil. This led to the foil being way to close to the phunnel in the center, and no good smoke being able to get down into the pipe. After a few minutes of wondering WTF, I remembered a post on here about liftng the foil around the phunnel with a toothpick. I immediately used my poker to lift the foil... and billows of wonderful smoke were produced seconds later.

Would it be worth it to buy, or make a scalli mod? would that possibly improve tangiers?

[Rani]

Gonna go against the grain here, and vote against the common wisdom of packing a phunnel "to the brim".

EDITED FOR SPACE.

I've been a Tangiers fan since I first tried it, but I've never felt like I've gotten the absolute most out of it. So on a whim tonight I decided to try your method.

Oh my freakin' god........... Incredibly smooth, incredibly full flavored..... Not a single hint of a throat tickle.....Absolutely delicious. It is really working for me. So much I'm online ordering even more flavors and it's all your fault! But thanks for sharing it anyway!

'Rani

[evilded777]

Would it be worth it to buy, or make a scalli mod? would that possibly improve tangiers?

Personally, I have never used the mod for Tangiers. I have used it with a few others, and only had a good smoke 1 out of 3 times. I don't blame the mod, I blame me for not knowing how to pack with it. So my advice in this matter is null and void!

[evilded777]

Gonna go against the grain here, and vote against the common wisdom of packing a phunnel "to the brim".

EDITED FOR SPACE.

I've been a Tangiers fan since I first tried it, but I've never felt like I've gotten the absolute most out of it. So on a whim tonight I decided to try your method.

Oh my freakin' god........... Incredibly smooth, incredibly full flavored..... Not a single hint of a throat tickle.....Absolutely delicious. It is really working for me. So much I'm online ordering even more flavors and it's all your fault! But thanks for sharing it anyway!

'Rani

Well, I am SO glad it worked for you! I bunged it up last night, with my second set of coals... not really sure how, but I was buzzed and tired and fried what was left of the bowl! But it generally does work for me. And hey, if I can give back even a little to the community after what I have taken away, I am very happy.

Enjoy!

[a cliche affair]

Evil, some pics of how you pack would be great!

[shaffaaf27]

wvil could you do your methood with a scalli mod?

[evilded777]

Evil, some pics of how you pack would be great!

I'm thinking about doing a video...It would be less messy on my camera! But maybe I can snap some pics of the next bowl I pack.

[evilded777]

wvil could you do your methood with a scalli mod?

Perhaps... I have not been able to consistently pack using a mod. I'll see if I can work on that, and see what comes of it.

[NimbleCow]

If you're doing setup vids, do a version with the MNH mini also!

[evilded777]

Ok, don't know how many pics I can put in here; but here are some shots of a MNH mini glass packed with Tangiers Lucid Apple.

The MNH glass has a different shape than a regular Tangiers' phunnel, so bare in mind that this is slightly exaggerated.

[evilded777]

Shots of the foil, and 3 Exotica QL's (these are nice for a quickie).
The glass phunnel takes a little longer to heat up, but it heats nice and evenly. I highly recommend them.

[evilded777]

Then wind cover (thank you John for such an awesome device!), and a shot of my KM vase, pretty well filled after a few minutes (remember, the glass phunnel does take a while to heat up). I would call these squirrel choking clouds that I am getting right now. Its Lucid so the flavor is not what OG would be, but I didn't want to be incapacitated while I did this

Thanks to Eric and everyone else who made suggestions for my grommet problem. The new grommet I got from the vendor was in one piece, but was TOO small. You can just make out the stip of old tee shirt I wrapped around it to make a good seal in this pic.

[newjacksm]

peached iced tea and melon blend has been a total win for me <333333

[Hooka_bears]

Then wind cover (thank you John for such an awesome device!), and a shot of my KM vase, pretty well filled after a few minutes (remember, the glass phunnel does take a while to heat up). I would call these squirrel choking clouds that I am getting right now. Its Lucid so the flavor is not what OG would be, but I didn't want to be incapacitated while I did this

Thanks to Eric and everyone else who made suggestions for my grommet problem. The new grommet I got from the vendor was in one piece, but was TOO small. You can just make out the stip of old tee shirt I wrapped around it to make a good seal in this pic.

The pictures are MUCH appreciated! Next time I smoke I'm going to try this method! Wish me luck!

I was also just looking at the MNH minis today, I might have to pick one up and see how it is!

[evilded777]

Just so's you all remember I am no expert... I just went to purge, and quickly remembered that I had not opened the purge valve when water shot up into my bowl!

I guess someone felt I needed to be brought back down to earth.

[Zyram]

to the question about tangiers and the scalli mod: I've never had any luck with it, I find tangiers is such a "wet" tobacco that I get more of a straw effect when it starts heating up and the juices are pulled up into the hole and down, my water always gets dirty and so does my hookah! I just started using my small bowl 90% of the time, I have no one to smoke with right now, I'd love to get my large working with the scalli mod but I can't get it going. I even have this problem in my glass MNH funnel, it just seems like the juice won't stay in the bowl and wants to come down the hookah. That's a loss of flavor and a mess to clean up, so I just stopped using my mods.


-Z

[newjacksm]

Oh I failed today, I was using raid today and I didnt think about the blow back from the raid and I put my hands into the tub of my tangiers and basically ruined my brand new tub of shisha. Whether or not I had raid on my hands (I am pretty unsure of it) I didnt want to test it out so I threw it out (and you know die...) Edited April 18, 2009 by newjacksm

[Boricua]

Oh I failed today, I was using raid today and I didnt think about the blow back from the raid and I put my hands into the tub of my tangiers and basically ruined my brand new tub of shisha. Whether or not I had raid on my hands (I am pretty unsure of it) I didnt want to test it out so I threw it out (and you know die...)

Oh wow that sucks, how much shisha?

Sad Fail