Hmm, Al Fakher Changing Recipes?

[h7a8s6an]

is it just me or has anybody else noticed a difference in taste in some of the Al Fakher shisha flavours?

watermelon has been my favourite smoke for almost 2 years now BUT over the past few months, ive noticed a significant change in taste, at first i thought it may be a bad batch and it turned out it was (july08 production date) and then i decided to buy some newer shisha, so i bought december08 and have been buying a 250g jar every month straight from a reputable retailer on the internet. However, despite the fact that i had tried many different batches and kept giving AF a try every month, it seems to me that the old watermelon flavour is out of production. A while after noticing the change in taste, i decided to hunt for some of the old stock and ended up paying a ridiculous figure for 2 kilos of the old AF watermelon. Im now down to my last 4-5 bowls and dont know what im going to do when i run out. would someone who also liked the old watermelon be able to recommend me a new flavour? or am i the only one who has noticed the change? I have compared the two flavours, i set up my Mya bambino with the old flavour, and my QT with the new, and the taste difference was apparent.

[mattarios2]

there have been some reports of changed recipes and flavors.

are you looking for washed, unwashed, doesn't matter?

if you want us to recommend a diffferent flavor i'd recommend nakhla mizo watermelon, tastes just like af's but better.

but i don't know exactly what you are looking for ... a little more info would help.

[redjako]

You will find a lot of people complaining about new quality issues, "bad batches" and the like.

I love AF, but have suffered from this fruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuustrating phenomena.

AF Watermelon's awesome, but the last tub and a half I had tasted highly chemical.

Its a lotta now

[antouwan]

first 50g sample box of AF watermelon i bought was great. even my aunt who only smokes grape thought it was awesome. because i liked it so much i then bought the 250g box; it wasn't even smokeable. it was harsh and caused a horrible tickle in the back of the throat. it wasn't my setup either, at that time i smoked AF pretty much exclusively without a hitch, yet for some reason the watermelon was causing all of these problems for me. after the third head, the tub went in the bin.

[newjacksm]

there has been changes since 2007 or even 2006

[norcalsmoker]

My recent 250g tub of AF cola tastes like shit

[antouwan]

My recent 250g tub of AF cola tastes like shit

yeah...it's straight up syrup

[mattarios2]

first 50g sample box of AF watermelon i bought was great. even my aunt who only smokes grape thought it was awesome. because i liked it so much i then bought the 250g box; it wasn't even smokeable. it was harsh and caused a horrible tickle in the back of the throat. it wasn't my setup either, at that time i smoked AF pretty much exclusively without a hitch, yet for some reason the watermelon was causing all of these problems for me. after the third head, the tub went in the bin.

trust me, i said this about the mint and watermelon and no one would believe me.

i pass on af now, plus i prefer tobacco that gives a buzz.

[newjacksm]

first 50g sample box of AF watermelon i bought was great. even my aunt who only smokes grape thought it was awesome. because i liked it so much i then bought the 250g box; it wasn't even smokeable. it was harsh and caused a horrible tickle in the back of the throat. it wasn't my setup either, at that time i smoked AF pretty much exclusively without a hitch, yet for some reason the watermelon was causing all of these problems for me. after the third head, the tub went in the bin.

trust me, i said this about the mint and watermelon and no one would believe me.

i pass on af now, plus i prefer tobacco that gives a buzz.

The Chocolate and Vanilla gives me a horrible burn in the back of my throat and tickle. Af is pretty bad now adays. It use to be my go to shisha.

[Glottis2]

My recent 250g tub of AF cola tastes like shit

Damnit, I just ordered some. I used to love that flavor!

[RingsMaster]

i just got 15 250g tubs of af and havent had a single problem with any pf the flavors, guess i just got super lucky lol

[Voski]

I noticed the color of AF watermelon went from red to orange/brownish obviously something different.

[quazymoto]

gotta stick with romman i guess...

[EvansLight]

Just got a new box of Golden AF Eskandrani Apple. I gotta say its not exactly what i remember from my first time, but its still good.

[Bulldog_916]

Maybe AF is no longer using the same type or blend of tobaccos. Maybe you need to check your heat, change your methods, etc. If you're used to using three coconut coals on a bowl, try cutting it down significantly to see if it solves all or some of your problem. Could possibly need acclimating too.

[Sonthert]

If a company were to switch flavors, what you'd observe is as follows:

To You Whats going on at the Company
Flavors seem normal Flavor Formulas Change
A few, erratic batches are seen New batches are beginning to mix in with old stock

Batches are seen as fairly erratic Old Stocks are depleting, some companies, running through old stocks will
have good stretches of old batches, and all will seem normal. Other
companies/wholesalers who mix their stocks will have some old and new
simultaneously.

Batches are quite erratic Old and new stock are mixed evenly, old stocks are depleting rapidly, being
replaced by new stocks which are seen as erratic. The older batches are
increasingly rare.

Batches are uniformly "bad" Old Stock has depleted completely. It has been entirely replaced by new stock


Big Retailers will seem to have bad batches more, since they turn over their stock more. Local shops are more likely to have old stock since their stock turns over slower. Companies that purchase in large lots, that purchased before the switch will have a longer supply of old stock. Companies that burn their stock down to lower levels will have more of a night-and-day effect. Retailers that don't rotate stock well and maintain minimum inventory levels will seem to be erratic longer. The entire process will take approximately 4-9 months to complete. More popular flavors will get "bad" faster, since the stock of them rotates faster. Grape would be one of the first ones to change in Al Fakher's case, since it is one of their top sellers.

If thats what's happening. Which it sounds like is possible. What happens is a couple of "bad" (but really new or different) batches surface in popular flavors. Occasional batches in very popular flavors will begin to surface (watermelon and mint). Bad batches of the most popular flavors will become more prevalent. Next, the most popular flavor or two will be uniformly bad, bad batches of fairly popular flavors will become more prevalent and then occasional bad batches of less popular flavors will surface...and so it continues...until the least popular flavors have made the transtion, too.

This is not to say they are bad batches, really, they are new, or different. You might not like them or be used to them, but its a process of change. Sometimes its the flavor manufacturer/quality changing or using a different tobacco. Or more or less glycerine. Or some other formulaic change. Its hard to tell. It might be several at once. Some might be simultaneous, if its multiples, other times, given two variables, one batch might be old-old, one old-new, one new-old, and one new-new. For instance, if they change the flavor and the tobacco, the entire stock of old tobacco might be exhausted before all the old flavor is exhausted. Especially in less popular flavors. So the less popular flavors might have the new tobacco but the old flavor persists longer than the more popular flavors. The change may be phased off slightly, just the edge of the old flavors might overlap the new tobacco...or the new tobacco phased in almost completely before the flavors change.

To make matters more confusing, sometimes manufacturers when they knowingly are making lower quality products, will mix increasing amounts of new in relation to old to phase the customers into the new tobacco. This may take 1 or two years, the percentage of the old stuff going down steadily in each tub until its all new.

From my experience, the quality of the tobacco is a minor factor in washed tobaccos. I don't think that's it.

In 1981, they changed three different variables with US .01 coins. There are like 12 different varieties of pennies from 1981, some with large print, some with small, some with zinc planchettes, some with copper, etc. Same principle.

Think about what would happen if Ford only made silver cars and then they switched to only black cars.

I like the guys at Al Fakher and hope that this isn't going to impact their sales. If anything is going on at all.

[evilded777]

My recent 250g tub of AF cola tastes like shit

Ditto.

I didn't understand the ketchup phenomenon until I tried to smoke my AF Cola. It smelled like ketchup cola, and tasted like ketchup. Ok, its not really ketchup... but its very easy to confuse the two; its an awful, chemical taste that leaves a tomato tang in the nostrils.

YUCK!

I'm close to giving up AF, except for maybe G.E.A and Cappuchino.

[evilded777]

Maybe AF is no longer using the same type or blend of tobaccos. Maybe you need to check your heat, change your methods, etc. If you're used to using three coconut coals on a bowl, try cutting it down significantly to see if it solves all or some of your problem. Could possibly need acclimating too.

No offense my man, but why would you need to acclimate a shisha that is as wet as AF? I don't know how much of it is water, but I'm gonna bet the percentage is way up there. I don't think you can count that as a possible issue.

Other points may be valid, we can all screw up a bowl once or twice. But consistently bad bowls from the same brand/flavor? You do have to wonder.

[NimbleCow]

Would it be useful for folks to post their production dates when talking about a batch? Might help eliminate some variables.

[Bulldog_916]

Maybe AF is no longer using the same type or blend of tobaccos. Maybe you need to check your heat, change your methods, etc. If you're used to using three coconut coals on a bowl, try cutting it down significantly to see if it solves all or some of your problem. Could possibly need acclimating too.

No offense my man, but why would you need to acclimate a shisha that is as wet as AF? I don't know how much of it is water, but I'm gonna bet the percentage is way up there. I don't think you can count that as a possible issue.

Other points may be valid, we can all screw up a bowl once or twice. But consistently bad bowls from the same brand/flavor? You do have to wonder.

Well, some wet shishas need acclimation. Mizo Nakhla sometimes needs acclimation to smoke right and it's some of the wettest. I took the risk and bought a post 2008 production date of AF Grape about 6 months ago just to see if there was anything to the whole ketchup phenomena and lew and behold it smelled a little off but tasted exactly like a white grape would be expected to taste, even somewhat better. There were times where I needed to lay the tub out to air out and after that it smoked like a dream. I've traded for and bought a couple more since then and still havent experienced the same issues as are described here. I just cant completely believe that it's such a huge change in production method that's causing all this to occur. It might be a small tweak here or there in a batch that might produce off results. I think Eric is closer to the truth in his description than I am.

[Hellaslow]

i quit somking AF watermelon because the last several 250s ive bought have been so harsh i almost get sick!

here are a few mixes i like usinf AF:

mounds bar= chocolate, coconut
after dinner mint= chocolate, mint

[Hippo_Master]

In my opinion, and it also may just be my set-up, Al fakher always smokes harsh. I have packed it lightly, packed it down, used a mod in a phunnel, used a vortex, used an egyptian head... But al fakher just fails every time. At 17 bucks a 250 at my B&M, it fails. Miserably.

The watermelon I just recently recieved did change up. It was not harsh, and was more flavorful. The flavor was tad more natural, but the sweet bubble-gum flavor was not present, so it was weaker. Tangiers Lucid watermelon is much better.

[PalGuY]

I just received my order of Alfakher grape and golden alfakher black grape. .. Anyone notice that they are exactly the same.. What happened? I use to love black grape itwas soo distinct, even the color changed, now its red and smells like ketchup..

I'm getting disapointed with the quality of alfakher going downhill and their unpredictable batches.. Time to look for a new brand!

[RingsMaster]

i havent had a single problem with al fakher. i guess im just super lucky or something

i normally smoke AF a bowl a day, idk whats going on

[Mr. E]

Nakhla Mizo> AF .......Proud to say that i am not an AF tabacco user, hated it from the first time i tried it, never tried it back in the day but i kno how it is now and by the sound of it they slacked big time