American Brands Vs Middle Eastern Brands

[Mehkrisoft]

I've been smoking for well over 8 years before lounges really grew here, and I would buy my Nakhla tobacco from my cousins grocery store. Now being from Pakistan, I was used to to the usual double apple, licorice, and peach flavored tobaccos that were normally imported. But recently, my taste buds have been invaded with the likes of Starbuzz and Fumari. I'm wondering if these tobaccos are better because they're made here and more likely to be fresh, or because (Not to sound like an arrogant American) we here usually take something, and make it better.

Eitherway, I've never had a more smooth smoke than Starbuzz Blue Mist, I'm not a newb when it comes to smoking Hookah, but all these new brands are throwing me off, I'm thinking of not even going with the old school brands and sticking with these American ones. What about you guys, do you prefer the American brands or the Middle Eastern ones?

Starbuzz would have to be my favorite, followed by Fumari.

[Codename067]

Not trying reign on your post, but almost every tobacco manufacturer is headed by a person of Middle Eastern decent, even Starbuzz. I might be made here, sure, but its run by a Middle Eastern guy [I forgot him name].

Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Lets not forget something, what you are saying here is simply an opinion. I can find plenty of people that will disagree with you regarding those two brands being their favorites/best. On the other hand, I can find plenty more who do agree.

[Mehkrisoft]

[quote name='Codename067' date='27 January 2010 - 12:32 AM' timestamp='1264581161' post='447953']
Not trying reign on your post, but almost every tobacco manufacturer is headed by a person of Middle Eastern decent, even Starbuzz. I might be made here, sure, but its run by a Middle Eastern guy [I forgot him name].

Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Lets not forget something, what you are saying here is simply an opinion. I can find plenty of people that will disagree with you regarding those two brands being their favorites/best. On the other hand, I can find plenty more who do agree.
[/quote]


Well I'm not referring to the person who makes it, rather the country of origin of the tobacco. I'm more wondering if it has to do with freshness or just the methods used in the different countries.

[Codename067]

[quote name='Mehkrisoft' date='27 January 2010 - 12:41 AM' timestamp='1264581676' post='447955']
[quote name='Codename067' date='27 January 2010 - 12:32 AM' timestamp='1264581161' post='447953']
Not trying reign on your post, but almost every tobacco manufacturer is headed by a person of Middle Eastern decent, even Starbuzz. I might be made here, sure, but its run by a Middle Eastern guy [I forgot him name].

Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Lets not forget something, what you are saying here is simply an opinion. I can find plenty of people that will disagree with you regarding those two brands being their favorites/best. On the other hand, I can find plenty more who do agree.
[/quote]


Well I'm not referring to the person who makes it, rather the country of origin of the tobacco. I'm more wondering if it has to do with freshness or just the methods used in the different countries.
[/quote]

Not sure if you know about tobacco from England/London, they have the best tobacco.

Ask a lot of people that manufacture and use tobacco, they will agree with me on this one, but its more expensive than, say, Virginia Tobacco.

But yeah, Tobacco quality differs, no doubt. But its a choice of preference for many people, that's about it.

I believe Fusion uses tobacco from England. It's just that their flavors..well..suck, so people don't buy it as much.

For a lot of smokers, flavor is more important than the quality of the tobacco. Hence why Starbuzz does so well. Plenty of 'attractive' smelling flavors.

[Jacob Shock]

i completly disagree with mehkrisoft. there is only 1 american hookah tobacco that is better than the good stuff from the middle east, T[color="#00ff00"]A[color="#0000ff"]N[color="#ff00ff"]G[color="#800080"]I[color="#ff0000"]E[color="#ffff00"]R[color="#800080"]S [color="#000000"](that yellow leter is an R). other than that nakhla and al fahker are middle east tobaccos and they blow the shit out of starbuzz, fantasia, hookah-hookah, and every other "american" shisha i have tried.

ayam zaman is another great brand but i have no fucking idea where its made.
[/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color]

[Codename067]

[quote name='Jacob Shock' date='27 January 2010 - 01:24 AM' timestamp='1264584293' post='447958']
i completly disagree with mehkrisoft. there is only 1 american hookah tobacco that is better than the good stuff from the middle east, T[color="#00ff00"]A[color="#0000ff"]N[color="#ff00ff"]G[color="#800080"]I[color="#ff0000"]E[color="#ffff00"]R[color="#800080"]S [color="#000000"](that yellow leter is an R). other than that nakhla and al fahker are middle east tobaccos and they blow the shit out of starbuzz, fantasia, hookah-hookah, and every other "american" shisha i have tried.

ayam zaman is another great brand but i have no fucking idea where its made.
[/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color]
[/quote]

U.A.E. most likely. Those guys make a lot of brands that see no sun light in the states, because they are not as big as Al Fakher.

[Jacob Shock]

[quote name='Codename067' date='27 January 2010 - 02:28 AM' timestamp='1264584510' post='447959']
[quote name='Jacob Shock' date='27 January 2010 - 01:24 AM' timestamp='1264584293' post='447958']
i completly disagree with mehkrisoft. there is only 1 american hookah tobacco that is better than the good stuff from the middle east, T[color="#00ff00"]A[color="#0000ff"]N[color="#ff00ff"]G[color="#800080"]I[color="#ff0000"]E[color="#ffff00"]R[color="#800080"]S [color="#000000"](that yellow leter is an R). other than that nakhla and al fahker are middle east tobaccos and they blow the shit out of starbuzz, fantasia, hookah-hookah, and every other "american" shisha i have tried.

ayam zaman is another great brand but i have no fucking idea where its made.
[/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color]
[/quote]

U.A.E. most likely. Those guys make a lot of brands that see no sun light in the states, because they are not as big as Al Fakher.
[/quote]


You would think with al fahker not being as good any more that you would see more brands come into the light.

[Codename067]

[quote name='Jacob Shock' date='27 January 2010 - 01:42 AM' timestamp='1264585351' post='447961']
[quote name='Codename067' date='27 January 2010 - 02:28 AM' timestamp='1264584510' post='447959']
[quote name='Jacob Shock' date='27 January 2010 - 01:24 AM' timestamp='1264584293' post='447958']
i completly disagree with mehkrisoft. there is only 1 american hookah tobacco that is better than the good stuff from the middle east, T[color="#00ff00"]A[color="#0000ff"]N[color="#ff00ff"]G[color="#800080"]I[color="#ff0000"]E[color="#ffff00"]R[color="#800080"]S [color="#000000"](that yellow leter is an R). other than that nakhla and al fahker are middle east tobaccos and they blow the shit out of starbuzz, fantasia, hookah-hookah, and every other "american" shisha i have tried.

ayam zaman is another great brand but i have no fucking idea where its made.
[/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color]
[/quote]

U.A.E. most likely. Those guys make a lot of brands that see no sun light in the states, because they are not as big as Al Fakher.
[/quote]


You would think with al fahker not being as good any more that you would see more brands come into the light.
[/quote]


Very possible.

The thing is, their name is established. Us forum users know quality better than your average daily smoker.

They will remain to smoke AF with out even knowing that its quality is lower. They have their loyal fans.

Catch my drift?

I would love to see a wider variety by all means.

[Jacob Shock]

[quote name='Codename067' date='27 January 2010 - 03:15 AM' timestamp='1264587335' post='447962']
[quote name='Jacob Shock' date='27 January 2010 - 01:42 AM' timestamp='1264585351' post='447961']
[quote name='Codename067' date='27 January 2010 - 02:28 AM' timestamp='1264584510' post='447959']
[quote name='Jacob Shock' date='27 January 2010 - 01:24 AM' timestamp='1264584293' post='447958']
i completly disagree with mehkrisoft. there is only 1 american hookah tobacco that is better than the good stuff from the middle east, T[color="#00ff00"]A[color="#0000ff"]N[color="#ff00ff"]G[color="#800080"]I[color="#ff0000"]E[color="#ffff00"]R[color="#800080"]S [color="#000000"](that yellow leter is an R). other than that nakhla and al fahker are middle east tobaccos and they blow the shit out of starbuzz, fantasia, hookah-hookah, and every other "american" shisha i have tried.

ayam zaman is another great brand but i have no fucking idea where its made.
[/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color][/color]
[/quote]

U.A.E. most likely. Those guys make a lot of brands that see no sun light in the states, because they are not as big as Al Fakher.
[/quote]


You would think with al fahker not being as good any more that you would see more brands come into the light.
[/quote]


Very possible.

The thing is, their name is established. Us forum users know quality better than your average daily smoker.

They will remain to smoke AF with out even knowing that its quality is lower. They have their loyal fans.

Catch my drift?

I would love to see a wider variety by all means.


[/quote]


Yea i feel ya. i too would love to see more brands come out as well, but al fahker would have to fuck up pretty bad.... i guess. even though AF quality has gone down it is still one of the best brands on the market today, despite the occasional bad batch.

and to get a little off topic i think al fahkers bad batches are blown a little out of porportion. acclimation has done me wonders with AF. it dont work 100% of the time but it has saved quite a few tubs.

[Codename067]

Yeah, I am baised towards them because of their Mint, which is easily my favorite flavor of all time.

They used to dominate the tobacco/shisha market..a good 70% of it..until Starbuzz dropped and started selling like candy...their tin can 'invention' is the ONLY reason why they sell as much as they do for as high as they do because the product sells itself..you open that sucker, smell it, buy it!

They have the market on a choke hold..

[ih303]

The biggest difference I see between American and Middle Eastern companies is marketing. I assume that any company is going to research their primary market and tailor their product accordingly. For example, I've never been to the middle east, but I can imagine naming a flavor "blueberry", or "mint" must get people over there pretty excited. Here in America, we've had tired old blueberry and mint, but what about this "blue mist" stuff? It sounds fresh, it sounds new, it sounds exciting! And look! Comes in a brushed aluminum container so it will match all my sleek new appliances!

Face it, folks. Americans are suckers for flashy marketing campaigns. Starbuzz sizes us up and gives us sugar packed, artificially flavored & colored Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, and Trix. AF & NK got good, wholesome grapenuts. You tell me what the kiddies are gonna like.

[mushrat]

I'll throw my .02 in and say it isn't necessarily American so much as "Western". We like things to be Sweet, flashy packaging, "metro" is you will. Thuis we have a plethera of candy ass shisha's that the general populus can't get enough of, a la Ed Hardy. As much as we Poo Poo it, it has to be selling or it wouldn't still be around.

The exception, as stated above, is Tangiers. It's for the more serious smoker in my opinion. It takes some skill to smoke, and it doesn't taste like a jolly rancher. I like to put it like this, Tangiers is a Flavoured TOBACCO. It's not candy.

I know One little old Egyptian man who came in bitching about how he hated flavoured tobaccos who ended up leaving with a 250g. pack of K-peach. Came in every day that he was still in town to smoke some more.

That just make the confusion worse?

[evilded777]

So.... I've been at this seriously for about a year now (as you can tell by my join date here at the most serious of hookah forums). There are a ton of brands that I have not tried, but I have sampled a number of flavors from a few brands.

For my money, I go Tangiers most of the time. Has nothing to do with it being American, its just good.

Al Fakher.... has some good stuff going for them, but can be inconsistent. When they have a flavor right, they have it right... though I could do with less dye.

Al Waha around the same as Al Fakher.

Nahkla is in a class by itself, and for my money... actually requires skill (as Mushrat put it above), like Tangiers, do get to its full potential.

Fumari... meh. Some nice flavors, but not big on the consistency, cut or packaging.

Fusion... double meh. Nice flavor, but again: consistency, cut, packaging... blech.

So what's all that say? You like what you like, in the end. Many brands have their strong suits, and their unique qualities... but its what appeals to you. If it happens to be the American brands, it happens to be the American brands.

[Arcane]

whether american or middle eastern...if a tobacco is good, it's good...

i've never really looked into where my tobacco came from, as long as i enjoy it...although, with Tangiers being made in San Diego...i'm a bit partial to it, right off the bat....it also helps that its a fantastic product...

[Mehkrisoft]

Interesting to see all of the responses here, I've been smoking all of the Middle Eastern brands for a while, and I've only recently tried Starbuzz probably a few weeks ago. I've gotten the flavors to last longer, and something about it just tastes different then what I was used to growing up. I actually never saw the box it came in, someone just gave me two ziplock bags, one with margarita, one with blue mist, (aka glorified lemon and blueberry). And while I was expecting some bullshit, I was actually surprised, and I've noticed that many of the lounges here are beginning to carry that brand. Not that lounges know what they're doing, but it seems as if the people are opening up to these American brands.

Anyways, I'll most likely end up getting the ME brands mainly due to the fact that I refuse to spend $20 per 250g of Starbuzz.

[foibled again]

Umm, most of what you guys are assuming are American actually comes from Jordan.

[Codename067]

[quote name='foibled again' date='27 January 2010 - 09:34 PM' timestamp='1264656855' post='448075']
Umm, most of what you guys are assuming are American actually comes from Jordan.
[/quote]

This is also true.

[Jacob Shock]

[quote name='Mehkrisoft' date='27 January 2010 - 07:22 PM' timestamp='1264645338' post='448061']
Interesting to see all of the responses here, I've been smoking all of the Middle Eastern brands for a while, and I've only recently tried Starbuzz probably a few weeks ago. I've gotten the flavors to last longer, and something about it just tastes different then what I was used to growing up. I actually never saw the box it came in, someone just gave me two ziplock bags, one with margarita, one with blue mist, (aka glorified lemon and blueberry). And while I was expecting some bullshit, I was actually surprised, and I've noticed that many of the lounges here are beginning to carry that brand. Not that lounges know what they're doing, but it seems as if the people are opening up to these American brands.

Anyways, I'll most likely end up getting the ME brands mainly due to the fact that I refuse to spend $20 per 250g of Starbuzz.
[/quote]

Have you ever used a tangiers phunnel bowl or tangiers tobacco?

[joytron]

USA! USA! USA! USA!

[Sonthert]

Weil is the owner of Starbuzz. He is from Palestine, presumably from near the Golan heights.

Some amount of Starbuzz is made in the USA. Other than that, I believe Epic smoke is made in the USA, Fantasia is made in the USA and J&Ms is purported to be made in the USA. Fumari is most assuredly made elsewhere, and its likely that King Moassel is made elsewhere.

My race and ethnicity have been widely debated by others, some people believe me to be Hispanic, possibly Mexican, or Chilean due to my South American accent when speaking Spanish. I knew one person that was convinced that I was from Orange Walk, Belize. Some people believe I am a European raised in the Middle East, other people believe I am was born in Germany and raised in the United States. Some people have also offered the opinion that I was raised in Alabama or Mississippi. Some people know most of my family lives in Michigan and Ohio and think I'm from the upper Mid-West. Some people have thought I was Jewish, or part African-American. Most people contend I went to the University of California, and Fletcher Hills University, others believe I went to Tecnische Universitat Munchen. Some people think I'm from Morocco and my last name is Tangiers or that I'm from Tangiers or that my Mother is from Tangier (as she likes to call it).

I can say this, I make Tangiers in San Diego, California from nearly all American components. Wherever anybody's from makes no difference ultimately. Smoke what you like to smoke. If you're not sure, smoke different stuff and find out for yourself what you like.

[Jacob Shock]

[quote name='Sonthert' date='28 January 2010 - 03:53 AM' timestamp='1264676003' post='448110']
Weil is the owner of Starbuzz. He is from Palestine, presumably from near the Golan heights.

Some amount of Starbuzz is made in the USA. Other than that, I believe Epic smoke is made in the USA, Fantasia is made in the USA and J&Ms is purported to be made in the USA. Fumari is most assuredly made elsewhere, and its likely that King Moassel is made elsewhere.

My race and ethnicity have been widely debated by others, some people believe me to be Hispanic, possibly Mexican, or Chilean due to my South American accent when speaking Spanish. I knew one person that was convinced that I was from Orange Walk, Belize. Some people believe I am a European raised in the Middle East, other people believe I am was born in Germany and raised in the United States. Some people have also offered the opinion that I was raised in Alabama or Mississippi. Some people know most of my family lives in Michigan and Ohio and think I'm from the upper Mid-West. Some people have thought I was Jewish, or part African-American. Most people contend I went to the University of California, and Fletcher Hills University, others believe I went to Tecnische Universitat Munchen. Some people think I'm from Morocco and my last name is Tangiers or that I'm from Tangiers or that my Mother is from Tangier (as she likes to call it).

I can say this, I make Tangiers in San Diego, California from nearly all American components. Wherever anybody's from makes no difference ultimately. Smoke what you like to smoke. If you're not sure, smoke different stuff and find out for yourself what you like.
[/quote]


Damn dude. i think your from mars.

[Venger]

i tend to cross mix brands. nak and af. epic and af. epic and nak. mizo with og. I like the strong flavor of Nak but the juiciness of af. mixed make the perfect smoke. btw i know mizo is nak but it is more like af so i count it as its own brand type.