How Do You Pack Nakhla In An Egyptian?

[scratchy]

If I don't get this smoking properly within the week, I'm giving up on Nak.
I've tried just about everything and I've read all the threads on the forum on packing it, I just can't get it smoking properly.

Let me try and explain my latest technique(which might be the most successful so far)
I have a smallish Egyptian which is pretty deep. I'll take about 2 large pinches and just drop it in there. Level it out and try and fill all the gaps around the edges. 1 layer HD foil pulled really tight. The shisha always forms a dome which makes me think I'm using too much, but we'll get to that later. I poke largish holes all the way down with a toothpick, about 20-30 of them. I'll drop 2 x 1/4 ql on the edges and wait 5 minutes for the bowl to warm up. Then I'll drop another 1/4 on there and give it another 2 minutes to warm up. Take a drag, thin smoke, take a few more drags, thin smoke. By this time I'll either throw on a wind cover or add another 1/4 coal. The smoke thickens up, but 5 minutes later it's harsh as hell. Taking off the windcover/removing a 1/4 sort of takes the harshness away but the smoke goes back to being whispy.

Am I packing too much in there?

And yes, I rotate the coals every 5 minutes and I try my best to manage the heat. Edited August 12, 2009 by scratchy

[Arcane]

do this:

Hookah Forum Video -> Full View • Download • Upload

[twoapplesplease]

sounds like your using a smaller bowl than in the vid there.I suggest using two whole QL if ther the small ones or 1 whole QL if there the larger ones.Also 21 holes is the perfect amount

[McLovin600]

via arcane video i learned to just dump it in there and smoke and it works lol . not sure if you might need more coal. I use 2 full cocos

[scratchy]

Yarp. Jay was kind enough to do me a step by step. I've got a small and large egyptian, so I'll try them both. I use fairly large ql's, 2 full ones might kill the bowl, but I'll try it if 1 fails. Anyway, seems like I was packing too much in there.

[twoapplesplease]

When using the larger QL's I stack'em on top of each other untill the bowl starts to dye down then put them both on the bowl to finish.Use a windcover also to manage heat

[norcalsmoker]

I pack nak in an egyptain sort of like a phunnel. I put my thumb in the center and pack it dense around my thumb up to the rim. Use reynolds hd foil, throw two cocos on the edges and your good to go!

[srawas89]

what has worked for me is to pack it loose life AF and stop when are about 0.5cm above the rim of the bowl. Use the foil to "pack" the shisha down and pull the foil tight over the bowl. Take a tooth pick and poke holes all the way down to the bottom. My hole pattern is start in the center and make circles around the center until you reach the edge of the bowl. Should be about 2-3 rings. YOu want the holes to be a decent way apart from each other otherwise it will be easy to burn the Nakhla. HOpefully that helps.

[scratchy]

All these things I've tried with less coal and still end up burning the hell out of it

[twoapplesplease]

try using the small bowl with one large coal dead center and a foil bowl wind cover yet?I've been using this style lately seems to work better than a regular wind cover

[scratchy]

Isn't that waaaay too much concentrated heat?

[shisha fan]

All these things I've tried with less coal and still end up burning the hell out of it

your tobacco could be dried out, you do live in south africa if i remember correctly.
nakhla isn`t supposed to be dripping wet but it should at least be oily.

[scratchy]

All the Nak I've had is very moist. The one I'm failing the hardest, cola, at is almost dripping. I do have glycerine if it'll help

[shisha fan]

what kind of coals do you use? because that can also make a difference.
or perhaps the shisha is just way overdue.

i don`t know really, never had any problems with nakhla.

[norcalsmoker]

i don`t know really, never had any problems with nakhla.

Same here. Nakhla is so easy to smoke, I am surprised you are having a problem with it!! I hope you figure it out though!

[twoapplesplease]

cola nakhla is the worst nakhla I've tried.I don't think you can make it smoke good.Its just bad .
If you want a good cola flavor get al fahker.Other wise stick to nakhla's best flavors like two apples,lemon,mint,el basha cappicino,strawberry anything but cola.

no not to much concentrated heat with the bowl style foil wind protector and large Ql.Works perfectly with every nakhla except cola which is just bad no matter how you smoke it

[norcalsmoker]

cola nakhla is the worst nakhla I've tried.I don't think you can make it smoke good.Its just bad .
If you want a good cola flavor get al fahker.Other wise stick to nakhla's best flavors like two apples,lemon,mint,el basha cappicino,strawberry anything but cola.

no not to much concentrated heat with the bowl style foil wind protector and large Ql.Works perfectly with every nakhla except cola which is just bad no matter how you smoke it

Be aware of AF cola. My recent batches have been pure syrup and nasty.

[mattarios2]

cola nakhla is the worst nakhla I've tried.I don't think you can make it smoke good.Its just bad .
If you want a good cola flavor get al fahker.Other wise stick to nakhla's best flavors like two apples,lemon,mint,el basha cappicino,strawberry anything but cola.

no not to much concentrated heat with the bowl style foil wind protector and large Ql.Works perfectly with every nakhla except cola which is just bad no matter how you smoke it

I like nakhla cola, it isn't your typical cola soda flavor ... it is spicy with light notes of cola flavor.

And i get it to smoke just fine, never had any issues with it.

[shisha fan]

I like nakhla cola, it isn't your typical cola soda flavor ... it is spicy with light notes of cola flavor.

And i get it to smoke just fine, never had any issues with it.

same here. about a year ago i prefered AF cola, but with all the bad bathces i stick to nakhla.

[scratchy]

I quite like Nak Cola when I get it to smoke well.

Okay, so here's sort of yesterdays results as suggested by Arcane.

I know the pictures are bad, but hopefully you can see what's potting.


First I took my shallow mod bowl



Dropped some Nak Cola in there and shook it around. Levelled it out to a just a tad over the rim.



Then I lightly pushed down on the foil to get it below the rim. Think I might have compressed too much though



Refoiled and made sure there is no "dome"



Now at this time, my wife distracted me with breasts, so I had no idea how I was poking holes. This is what I got though



I put on 2 x 1/2 coals on there and smoked.



Flavour was real intense, but the smoke wasn't all that thick. I popped on a windcover and it got slightly better, but nothing to write home about.

Took of the windcover and popped another 1/2 coal on there.



Smoked well for a few minutes and became super harsh. I took the half a coal of again and it kept smoking nice without the harshness. Slightly less smoke, but still okay.

Now unfortunately, at this point, I got a buzz for the first time in months, so bad that I up chucked. So I have no idea if it would have kept smoking nicely, but I was in no mood to find out. I'll try it again tonight and see what happens. I reckon a foil cover and 2 x 1/2 coals might do the trick here. Maybe I'll even eat something before smoking tonight

[ilikemyusername]

that should be smoking quite nicely, unless you pack it down so tight that it impacts the draw.
I don't pack my nakhla tight, i literally scoop it dump it foil it poke it and smoke it.
I find it works better for me if its nice and fluffy in the bowl.

[scratchy]

I also find that my "best" results are when it's nice and fluffy. I guess I'll load a bowl of Cinnamon tonight and find out how well this method really works.

Lets hope I don't puke again. Nak 2, Scratchy 0 Edited August 13, 2009 by scratchy

[twoapplesplease]

To me it looks like you under packed the bowl (just a little)and packed it a little to tight.I highly recommend trying the bowl foil style wind cover.That bowl is the perfect size for smoking this way.And use a whole coal dead center when you do it this way.Breaking the coals in half actually gives off more heat and they burn out faster than if you leave them whole.

I haven't really seen a thread on using the foil bowl style wind cover.Or whatever you call it.but I know a ton of people use this

I got about 175g of nakhla cola left gonna smoke some right now after not trying it for a few weeks.
Also cola seems to me as the strongest nicotine content of any shisha I've tried.Last time I smoked it I got a huge buzz and I can chain da for hours

[kdkhookah]

It looks like you're using too much heat. Nakhla usually isn't as wet as other tobaccos, so it doesn't require as much heat. Like others have suggested, pack the bowl in a "fluffy" manner and make sure there aren't any of the famous Nakhla logs in there. Hold the bowl at eye level and make sure you don't have any tobacco above the rim, at best just level with it. If you want to start with three coal halves, that's fine. I usually start with excessive heat to get things going, then remove a coal. And if it starts tasting like it's burning, remove a coal and rotate the other coals; then purge your hookah. Nakhla is the brand I started with, and I still love it. I would hate for you to give up on it without at least getting it to smoke right.

[mattarios2]

fellas, fellas, the reason why nak smokes so well in a phunnel is because it allows you to pack the shisha tight and not lose airflow. Nak smokes best when packed like tang, not THAT tight but close.

for an egyptian ... put your finger in the middle of the bowl to block the holes, pack it tightly around the sides of your finger ... so it mimicks a phunnel bowl.

Once you do that remove you finger and fluff shisha in the middle so you don't lose airflow.

then poke holes all the way to the bottom of the bowl with a toothpick all over.

done and done