Acclimation Issues With Tangiers By Sonthert

[skinegibbs]

Well I'm smoking my first bowl of Tangiers ever and I'm at 88% humidity....tastes better than any shisha I've ever had.

[newjacksm]

I dont think humidity is the problem anymore as long as it is at a constant humidity and it is ready for it at all times I think it will be ok. I think our problem may be in our packing / heat distribution.

[skinegibbs]

If it makes any difference, using a mod bowl, packed tight with 1 coco

[Webbles]

Aye, no humidity or LOTS of humidity, as long long as the shisha acclimates to its surroundings then it should be delicious.

Of course thats easier said than done, hence this 21 page thread.

[momatik]

@ Mattarios and NewJacksm:

Have you guys had the same lack of flavor issue with lucid?

[mattarios2]

well i always smoke 5 o clock or later and humidity is always very high here as well, right now humidity is 95% ...

[newjacksm]

@ Mattarios and NewJacksm:

Have you guys had the same lack of flavor issue with lucid?

Lucid I get flavor.

[mattarios2]

Lucid I have no problems, smokes fine. But I am not a fan of "buzz free" shisha. I like to at least get relaxed from the stuff I smoke. Doesn't have to be mack truck buzz, just a lil something.

For me its gonna be OG or nada. But I would/will keep a lil lucid around for my girlfriend and my mom.

[mattarios2]

newjack, what kinda bowl did you say you are using?

[newjacksm]

newjack, what kinda bowl did you say you are using?

I've used a small and a medium. While the medium I got really good flavor for a couple min more and the flavor was a lot better then the small when I got it. The flavor dissipated and was just puffin on nothing and getting huge clouds.

[antouwan]

sorry i've been absent for a while. thanks for the package, eric. i've tried to acclimate the white grape by using the 4/20 method. didn't work. i continued (after the 20 hours) to occasionally open and try and allow to acclimate. it would smell pretty good upon first opening, but after leaving it open for 30 minutes to acclimate pre-smoke it would wreak of tobacco...that's the only way i can describe it. i tried smoking using my usual nakhla technique in a small phunnel to horrible results.

every now and then even lucid won't acclimate for me. when i first bought it, the watermelon and strawberry and tasty peach tasted like absolute nothing but smelled horrible in the tupperware. and the horchata i got a while ago doesn't have as much of a potent flavor as earlier batches i bought

[Ralleac]

Well, I acclimated passion fruit last night 4/20, and then let it sit for an hour before smoking tonight. It's been about 20 minutes so far and the smoke isn't bothering me at all. I packed it using the method shown by john and eric using 4 golden canary's, exactly like I've been trying with the other flavors. I hope this isn't a fluke.

[Sonthert]

Antouwan...what four hours do you leave it open?

Ralleac...awesome. Lets see if it keeps working for you.

Mattarios...I hope my PM was helpful...

[ih303]

My samples from Eric as well as some K-Peach I ordered for the lounge from John have all smelled amazing directly out of the package. (I know this has been brought up before, but I think it's an important observation.) With my White Grape and K-Peach, I packed it straight away without acclimation. The White Grape smoked like I'm used to with Tangiers - great smoke, terrible taste of tobacco with a hint of Grape. However, with the K-Peach, it was the best bowl I've ever smoked, period. Flavor was amazing, smoke - amazing, no tickle, no harshness.

This has led me to think about a few possibilities. After reading through this thread, I'm seeing some trends.

First, for some reason, the batches I'm getting now are different from ones I've gotten in the past. Even though they are all smelling amazing directly out of the bag now, that wasn't always the case. Earlier this year, when I was first trying Tangiers, the smell was off even right after I cut into a bag.

Second, if there is no difference in the batches, acclimation here in South Dakota becomes impossible during the winter months (approximately 2/3 of the year). Granted, I wasn't using the 4/20 method before.

So, to bring things to the present, I've seen the light of Tangiers through my experience with the K-Peach, but I'm still not thoroughly enjoying my White Grape due to lack of flavor and lingering taste of tobacco. I'm keeping my other samples sealed until I can experiment with them. I'm still trying to get this grape right.

[antouwan]

Antouwan...what four hours do you leave it open?

Ralleac...awesome. Lets see if it keeps working for you.

Mattarios...I hope my PM was helpful...

it was actually closer to 6 hours. but it was 8 pm to almost 2 am and then i left it closed for a couple of days and went to smoke and left it uncovered (in the same room as original acclimation, and that i was going to smoke in) for about half an hour. it smelled the same as some lucid watermelon, tasty peach, and strawberry that never acclimated for me back in the day. i left it open for a few more hours and then closed it and it's been shut since.

[Sonthert]

Try some more 4/20 acclimation. See if it improves. I'm leaning towards acclimating somewhere around 1pm-5pm. Try that, if possible.

So, whats the count, who got samples from me and have seen the light? Mix Tape, IH (?), Ralleac? Who else?

IH...white grape is a medium acclimator...it is slightly testy. Especially the grape component. I know I asked this before, but where did you get the tobacco you had problems with previously? How were the other flavors I sent you? I've smoked in some pretty whacked out areas, cold, dry, snow, sleet, nasty, no problems. It might be the 4/20 acclimation that helped. Perhaps you have the opposite problem (or the same problem?) Mattarios has. Keep checking. Hopefully we'll have the answer soon.

[mattarios2]

PM was helpful, I responded, tomorrow Either cocoa or white grape gets another go!

[ih303]

Try some more 4/20 acclimation. See if it improves. I'm leaning towards acclimating somewhere around 1pm-5pm. Try that, if possible.

So, whats the count, who got samples from me and have seen the light? Mix Tape, IH (?), Ralleac? Who else?

IH...white grape is a medium acclimator...it is slightly testy. Especially the grape component. I know I asked this before, but where did you get the tobacco you had problems with previously? How were the other flavors I sent you? I've smoked in some pretty whacked out areas, cold, dry, snow, sleet, nasty, no problems. It might be the 4/20 acclimation that helped. Perhaps you have the opposite problem (or the same problem?) Mattarios has. Keep checking. Hopefully we'll have the answer soon.

I think I actually got most of what I had problems with from H-S. (I ordered from them once to get that free MYA mini acrylic.) All my other stuff I've gotten from John.

So far, I've only opened the Grape and Cactus Fruit. Both smelled fantastic straight out of the package. However, both still had that tobacco taste when I smoked them. I must say, that K-Peach I smoked the other night really opened my eyes to what a bowl of OG ought to taste like - not a hint of flavor other than k-peach.

I think I'll open another bag this weekend and post my results on that. I'm really hoping this is a user error and not an environmental issue.

[gunsNhookah]

Just recieved 250g of horchata. Thanks to Eric for making a kick ass product and HookahCompany for the leg work.

I put the shisha in a tub and let sit for about 15-20 mins before I loaded up my phunnel. Packed over the rim, very thick I would say. Put 2 cocos opposite sides on the bowl and took a hit. First 10 mins was burning of the throat on inhale and exhale. I assume after some of the juice warmed up and dried slightly, taking hits was easy. Buzz is about minor, but still noticable.

Thanks again to Eric and HF for the awesome knowledge and humor!!!

[Hippo_Master]

In regards to the 'tingling' or 'burning', the tingling can be from the nicotine, it feels like there's a spice in the back of your throat. The harshness is obviously burning tobacco and that's when you have messed up.

The tingling in some flavors is hard to overcome, for me it's k-peach. for 10 minutes i don't inhale, and I smoke it like I would a cigar or pipe, so I don't choke or get the nicotine lump in my throat. After the top layer is all cooked, the bowl lasts for another 5 or more hours, and I can put 2 full CH coals on and just add 2 new coals when those ones die out.

Tangiers is really a hearty tobacco, and some flavors or batches may be more full of nicotine, but after the initial burst of nicotine, you get a bowl that can literally last you days.

[momatik]

Sorry to Gravedig but

I noticed mattarios said that he had success with K-Peach.

I just got K-Peach from a friend, who got it a year ago from Neal.

I'm smoking it right now with great flavor, great clouds.

Is it just coincidence, or is there something about K-peach? Edited October 5, 2009 by momatik

[momatik]

Figured I'd post how I'm smoking it:

-2 Regular CH Coals on their sides (standing up right) in the middle of the phunnel bowl with a windcover.

If I lay one flat, and 1 upright, it seems to be too much heat. I may have underpacked it. Regardless, with this setup, it is smoking well.

[mattarios2]

well I think that is how we can conclude that it for sure is Acclimation issues (I as well as others have confirmed quite some time ago.) You and I both have success with similar flavors it seems.

Not a coincidence.

Still waiting to talk with Eric, a few things i noticed when examining my basement climate as well as a few characteristics about my house i never noticed.

I will inform you when I know.

[newjacksm]

I have been getting great long lasting flavor from Cactus Fruit <33 +100234

[SynysterPhoenix]

Summer Solstice is smoking beautfiully =). No acclimation issues. Left it out of the bag for 3 hours then closed the lid on the tupperware. Smoked it 6 hours later with great results.