Coaly Taste

[jen]

Hi

Im fairly new to the hookah smoking....i have smoked alot with my friends but have only just got my own. Now with mine half the time it tastes fine....and half the time it tastes bad....like quite coaly

Am I overheating? Or what else could I be doing wrong?

Its a new hookha pipe and good quality tobacco. Could the coals be bad quality?

It doesnt do it everytime

[Stuie]

You could be burning it. Cut your coals in half and start out with one half less than you normally use and try that. Adjust by taking halves off and putting them on to adjust.

What kind of coals are you using? There are some out there, not matter what you do all you will taste is coal.

[ih303]

I generally only taste the coal on bowls that have dried out. I'd say the culprit is either you're using quicklites, which flavor the smoke with chemically goodness, or you're underpacking the bowl. I find it's better to over pack than to under pack. I know a lot of people who are afraid to use their tobacco. I'm quite liberal with mine.

Think of it like this, when you pull on your hookah, you want the air you pull in to grab enough heat from the coals to heat up enough shisha to create enough smoke to get the full effect of the intended flavor. What I generally tell people is you want your shisha packed tight enough to be consistent (i.e. no big air pockets), but loose enough to allow air to pass through it, making as much contact with as much shisha as possible.

IMO, if your pack is right, you should never taste the coals - even QL's. And just to be on the safe side, make sure your coals are specified for hookah use. I've seen coals out there used to burn sweet-smelling powders and resins. Those, as well as most coals made for cooking over, should not be used for smoking hookah and will definately flavor your smoke.

[Deutsch am Herzen]

[sup][font="Garamond"][size="4"]like everybody else said, use less heat and make sure you pack enough shisha. i started out using QL's and got that same taste from time to time. i started with 2 QL's just to get the shisha goin, then often switched to just 1 for the rest of the session, depending on the bowl i was using. also, make sure to use HD foil. [/size][/font][/sup]