Homemade Shisha Experiment

[acolorado]

Over the last few days I've attempted to mix my own shisha using several ingredients.

Pipe Tobacco - 12 ounce bag of vanilla from Walgreens.

Vegetable Glycerine ordered off the net

Honey and Molasses from Walmart

Vanilla extract.

I went with plain vanilla ingredients to make it as simple as possible.

- For my first attempt I washed the tobacco by simply putting it in warm water and straining it. Alot - ALOT - of black residue came out. Very icky. After this I attempted to dry it by heating it in the oven, but it started to smoke and I was afraid I would burn it and basically ruin it. I got as much water out as possible then mixed it in the following proportions.

With the 12 ounces of tobacco I mixed 1 cup molasses, 1 cup honey, and 1 cup glycerin. I added some vanilla extract hoping to help the flavor.

This batch was a total failure. The mix was way too wet from the washing process. The honey, molasses, and glycerin were diluted by the excess water and it was just a soggy mess. I'm sure if I had waited for it to dry it would have mixed better.

Don't do it that way.

- For the second attempt I just mixed the unwashed pipe tobacco right out of the bag with about 4 ounces molasses and about 4 ounces glycerin. This actually mixed up really well.

I smoked it and found it had a molasses/vanilla taste - not very sharp more of a subtle taste. It was harsher than my normal Al-Fahker or Starbuzz but not by much. Much less harsh than Tangiers. Clouds were a bit on the light side so I added more glycerin and got better clouds.

This is smokable. Might not be to everyone's taste. The biggest thing is the molasses taste. I will try it again tommorow and see how it is after acclimating.

- My next experiment will be the same mix only using honey. I will update on the results.

I can already tell you one important thing though. Even getting fairly cheap ingredients you come out at almost the same price as shisha ordered off the internet. My ingredients cost:

12 ounce tobacco - $15
honey or molasses - $3 to $5
Glycerin - $8
flavor - variable by what you try to use but say $5

This would get you about 20 smokable ounces or so which is not much more than 500g. So your price is basically the same as 2 250 tubs ordered off the net after shipping - and you know you're getting a decent mix when you buy a good brand shisha. So far it looks like do it yourself shisha might not be worth it.

[acolorado]

Update on the pipe tobacco, molasses, glycerin mix after acclimating.

The molasses taste has really diluted after acclimation. Now the shisha tastes like vanilla pipe tobacco with only a hint of sweet molasses. It's a subtle taste but actually pretty enjoyable.

The smoke is harsher than my usual Al-Fahker or Layalina. Not as harsh as Tangiers but pretty close. I'm not sure how to smooth it out or if that is possible.

Clouds are decent but not huge.

I'll call this one a mixing success and give a later update on the honey mix.

[acolorado]

After a few bowls I've come to find that the shisha isn't burning properly. It's more like pipe tobacco than shisha. It is tearing up my lungs. Just too harsh.

Don't try this at home this was a bad way to try to make shisha. I'm going to skip further experiments and just order off the net.