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Shisha and Packing a bowl


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Hey guys, i cant seem to get a good answer on this so im gonna ask you guys. When i pack my shisha bowl should the shisha be touching the foil at all ? I understand the whole its bad to burn it concept but i cant really tell from all these videos how much shisha i should put exactly. I was also wondering if there were any fellow Canadians out there. I need to find a place to get some GOOD shisha. Im from Toronto and i cant seem to find any good place to buy some. Theres no where online in Canada to get some eitehr and to order from the states generally doubles the cost. Any good tips would be great.Thanks guys.
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Sorry bro not from Canada so cant help you with finding shisha.

When i pack a hookah my tobacco is usually a 1/2" to an inch above the
bowl and then i put the foil over. The foil actually has a small mound
to it. Personally I would NEVER pack a bowl with tobacco not touching
the foil, your going to be smoking foil more then your smoking tobacco
in my opinion....IN MY OPINION.
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Generally speaking you want the shisha to be about say..mayb a 1/4 inch from the top of the bowl..a lil more even mayb..it can depend on specific brands and their tolerability to heat as well...you never want to completely pack and fill a bowl as like you've said it will burn creating harsh smoke...about a good pinch or so sprinkled on is about right...in alot of ways less is more....and its also personal preference and what works best for you as well....hope this helped somewhat..im sure more people will have more detailed and explanatory answers for you as well! Happy smoking!
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I would reccommend you not to have the foil touching the shisha.  This will cause it to burn and harshen quicker.  Like they said above, leave some room between the foil and the shisha.  also, make sure it is loosely packed. this will enable an easy draw when smoking, and it is much much more enjoyable.  hope this helps!
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Its all a matter of personal preference, honestly. Try both, and decide which one you like best.I leave about an 1/8th-1/16th of an inch(2-3mm) between the foil and tobacco. More heat is required when its not touching(basic thermodyamics), but I find that it is easier to manage this way.Many experienced smokers prefer to have the foil touching (I believe Tangiers smokes this way).Im sure you know that traditional hookah smoking did not require foil or a screen of any kind- people would put the coals directly on the ma'assel. Of course, a slightly different kind of tobacco was used, but you get the point.To each his own.
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no catterpillar, the foil never burns, what you will be smoking is excessively burnt tobacco and plenty of charcoal dust. The tobacco needs to be 'roasted' not torched if you see what i mean. You can put plenty of heat and still keep your tobacco burning slowly and smoothly
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that wasnt really constructive what i just siad, a well packed bowl should be loosely aerated, toss it like a sald with your tongs (no sexual reference you sick f**ks) and take your poker and poke around in order to aerate it properly, make sure your bowl is dry and your tinfoil is shiny side down. Its all about controlling your heat! 80% of the hookah game happens right on top of the stem with the bowl and coals, the rest is fluff! so pay attention to this thread cause everyone knows what they are saying except for me cause i tend to ramble but what i was saying is %100 true!
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Yeah these days I only pack it 3/4 full (but if I'm smoking Tangiers it
seems to be more forgiving at 1/2 full, or 1/2 empty...depending on how
you look at it...) so it's not touching my screen or hookah foil,
whatever the setup is. I've seen employees of hookah bars pack it so
full that shisha is poking through the holes in the foil...it hit so
harsh and there was such little smoke it was B.S. That kind of turned
me into what I do now. About that whole burnt foil thing...I dunno I
kind of agree to an extent. I always go nasty flavors if the coal was
in the same place for more than a few minutes because I'd get black
holes that would just smoke even if shisha wasn't touching it.
I use them thar Taqseem bowls now with the wind cover and metal screen.
You don't have to worry about burning foil taste or anything. I think
I'll try a full bowl and see how it goes. I believe a 3/4 bowl is more
forgiving but won't last quite as long.

Every man/woman to his/her own.
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What they said. You'll learn with practice to make whichever method you adopt work for you.
As for good Ma'asell. A number of Canadians on the forum have found someone to send their shipments to in the US, who then repackages them into a different box, marks them "gift" and something liek "candles" and sends them accross to Canada. Thus saving a lot of money. 
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Thanks for all the quick replies, this site seems to be steeming with wisdom. I guess i gotta find my self an american partner. Oh and BTW, to show my Canadian frustration. So i went to "Little Arabia" last night, here in Toronto. Checked out the shisha prices. A box of 250 grams Nakhla strawberry cost ....... GET READY FOR THIS .......... 49.95 CDN !!!!!!!!!. Thats the biggest load of bullsh*t ive seen in years. A pack of 100, 3 kings coals cost 13 bucks, so i bought that, but i still gotta find somewhere cheaper to buy my shisha. I felt like writing a letter to the manager to complain. Thank again for all the replies.
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i used to pack the bowl chock-full and then i saw the error of my ways :P
a tightly packed bowl doesnt allow for any airflow, and as a result, very little smoke -- so lately ive been packing it very conservatively [good in more than one way -- you dont waste any shisha! in a tightly packed bowl the shisha won't cake well and youll waste so much off the bottom]
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MY CANADIAN BROTHER ....
That is too much.  If you go to some of the middle eastern food shops in toronto you would find Nakhla 250g for about $15-$20, one of them is on Lawrence, North York I think, infront of Oasis I think it is called "AlNasir", Another one is is in Mississagua I could get you the addresss it is called "AlMuna".  You could find an OK priced shisha in Canada, but no premium shisha. The best prices I got were from Montreal $9-12 wholesale for 250 Nakhla.  Ottawa $15 in a store I visited a year ago.  I heard of some places in BC that sells it for $14-$17.  But again, I cannot smoke that anymore, except if I go to a shisha place like Aladdin ($12 a shisha .. too much for low end quality, terrible service too) or Oasis.  If you need the addresses for some of those give me a buz, on my e-mail [url="http://mailto:gunsboy@yahoo.com"]gunsboy@yahoo.com[/url].
The best way to get shisha from US is have a friend that would send u the shisha as Candy or Air Freshener or whatever.
I just got back from Toronto on Monday evening.  I bought a readlly nice Hookah for $30, plus the bowl for $5 from a cigar shop on Yonge, right Near Charles and Yonge. I actually bought a mini hookah for $7 very little for my car, it almost fits in my drink holder . 
One more thing, what is wrong with you people in Toronto.  On 401, everybody keeps hoggin the freaking left lane.  They always force you to pass then on the right side.
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I'm feeling really sorry for you canadians that are being charged 20-50
bucks for a box of mediocre shisha.  In the little shop thats
about a 10 minute drive from me, it costs ~$2.50 (USD) for a 250 g
box.  Needless to say, I usually opt to order better shisha off
the internets.
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hey gunsboyThats where i went, lawrence and warden. I dunno if it was AlNasir, but it was the big grocery store there. They were selling Nakhla for 50 bucks. And one more thing, Nakhla SUCKS ass and that seems to be all i can find in Canada. Sooo much frustration.
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I pack my bowl very tight, pressing the shisha down with two fingers
until I can't pack it anymore, but still wont touch the foil. I have it
down to a system now, but, I have never once had a problem getting
smoke. I am unsure if I could get better smoke if I didn't 'pack' the
hell out of it.
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jock, it was a huge place, their sold hookas too but their hookahs suck.  They sell that hookah table too :)
I usually break the tobacco and fill the bowl to the top but I leave alot of space for air to flow.  When I use  the screen I tend to pack it more to limit the flow a little more for my poor lungs to live another 5-10 years
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I have tried this pretty much every way that there is to try i think, here are my expereinces, in order from favorite to least.Loosley packed, not touching foil: (this
is how i currenly do it) I just take some of the shisha out, and break
it up and mix it up, then just toss it in the bowl with no packing at
all,  i find that this smokes very good, people see me filling a bowl
and think im nuts for not putting enough in it, but i find it smokes
very long still, usually outlasts 2-3 golden coals added one after
another and burns about 45 mins-hour!
Loosley packed, touching foil: This tends to work about as good as the previous one, but i think i taste more of a burnt taste..might be in my head.packed it tight, not touching foil: Works ok if you poke some holes through the shisha to promote airflow.Packed it tight, touching foil: Seems to be tough to get good airflow (hard to pull smoke) and it seems like there is definately a burnt flavorI always use foil, it just works better for me
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Its also something to do with how wet is your tobacco. If its some of the "wet" one dripping essence from it, your bowl will last much longer, if its some of the dryer ones it will last less.If you pack your bowl to the limit that shisha can barely touch the foil (on some parts) and pack it loosely, it will give you a nice, fresh but short smoking session.
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