How/Why Did You Start Smoking Hookah?

[jorlyfish]

I'm wondering how you guys "discovered" hookah so to speak - for instance, I was introduced by a roommate during a summer studies program; she took me to a lounge with some other friends. My fiance was introduced by yours truly, but had heard of/seen it before due to his (half) Lebanese background...
If you can remember, what were your opinions/thoughts on hookah before trying it?

The reason I ask: My aforementioned fiance and I are thinking of opening a hookah lounge around the Hershey/Harrisburg area of Pennsylvania. One of my concerns is that due to a relatively small population (not tiny, but not exactly a bustling city either - luckily its a younger-than-average population) we're going to have a lack of customers, and thus, need to introduce people to hookah and hopefully keep them coming back for more

Any ideas?

[bellydancerakn]

To be truthful, I walked into a local shop that sold hookah and bought a hookah. It was a total splurge and impulse buy. My paycheck was larger than normal and it was burning a hole in my pocket. I bought, what I figured out later to be a fake MYA QT. Then it broke, so I waited nearly a month for a replacement to come in. And by the time it came in I had educated myself more on hookah. So I knew that it was pretty much a POS. So I ordered a real QT online with some AF coals, and a vortex.

[spectrum055]

It was my second day in college... me and two other guys I met were talking about smoking cigars and pipe tobacco when one of my new friends mentioned hookah... I was like "WHAT'S HOOKAH??" and they both looked at me and 8PM that night we went to what is now my local buying place and went upstairs to the lounge and smoked Jasmine Shisha out of a very nice KM and BAM here I am now with a KM, Mya Petite, and what we all believe to be a 48' Blue MZ with second tray.... : p

[bellydancerakn]

Yeah go to coffee joints and college campuses, places where younger people hang out. Ask certain businesses if you hang flayers on their windows. Maybe hand out coupons like buy one session, get a free bowl refill. Or buy a bowl and get a free plate of appetizers. Broke people love free food. lol

Have people employed who know what they are talking about. Who can give recomendations as to what kind of hookah would be right for them, and a good review of different flavors and different brands. Also, have a good variation of shisha and hookahs. Like maybe AF, Nakhla, tangiers, and starbuzz. As for hookahs, KMs and Mya are always good.

Yummy yet cheap food. If your main population is college kids then they are most likely broke and shelling out for a hookah experiance and don't want to drop 75 bucks each to have a good time.

You don't have to go with a middle eastern theme. See whatever is popular in your area. If you have a more young proffesional crowd then go for a laid back coffee house vibe. But if your customers are young college boys then maybe go a more hip hop vibe. It really depends.

And count on a lot of walk in business. Maybe do advertisments online, like on craigslist. Edited April 6, 2010 by bellydancerakn

[Travis]

The first time i saw a hookah was in a market in cairo with my dad.
I asked him what it was and he explained it.
I became unusually interested in it, and ended up stealing a puff while he was smoking.....needless to say he caught me and wasnt really mad.
Infact he bought me my first KM when i turned 16 and its been history ever since.

[baumann]

At the time, I liked flavored things and nicotine... and the smoke looked cool to my circle of friends and me cuz we listened to a lotta music that would look like smoke if you projected the notes onto a screen.

[antouwan]

woo woo half-lebs in the house! after all, i'm half leb too (just the good half) and with connections to H-town!? this has got to be a joke! in all seriouslessness, though. as aforementioned, i'm half leb. my cousin has been smoking the narg and watching rockets games for the last 10 years of my life that i can remember. so 2 of my leb cousins got me familiar and then basically educated me (i've been around here so long that now i'm educating them!) but another leb buddy that i have was really...passionate...about it so we got into it about 5 years ago, when i was at the tender age of 15...

[Jerry]

Was deployed to Iraq and got pulled into a "meeting" by my first sergeant. It was a room in one of republican guard compound that we had bombed the shit out of, and the room was packed with familiar faces that I frequently run across at smoke pits. After I went in, a Major passed me a hose and said "Sit down and start smoking"

So yeah, my first time smoking a hookah was due to a direct order from a superior officer.

[Hookah-burgar]

Well, as opposed to many of You, I was fortunate enough to try smoking a "[b][i]shisha[/i][/b]" [img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/Hookah.gif[/img] (that how they call the waterpipes in Egypt and Tunisia, the word meaning bottle in Arabic. I am always surpised to see North Americans (even those of Arab descent) using the word to refer to tobacco, to "moassel" or molasses [img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/mellow.gif[/img] ) for the first time while visiting Tunisian friends in Tunis, that is in a country where the habit of smoking waterpies started with Ottoman rule, around the seventeenth Century but developed tremendously in the sixties an seventies, to the point of having the Government adopting legislation to somehow limit the abuse of it. I started smoking pure "moassel", that is a mixture of tobacco honey and/or molasses, without added flavours, mostly of the local brand [i]Sheikh al-balad[/i]: a rather strong tobacco, which I had to get used to, having got ill (vomiting) and very dizzy on the first two times. Of course, back in 1997, when I first tried, doubble-apple "moassel" (molasses) and other flavours where already very popular in Tunis, although more with youngsters, old men almost always kept smoking pure "moassel" (similar to NAKHLA's Zaghloul) or [i]Jurak[/i], an even stronger one.
As for what I though of hookah before, I must say that on my first (of many) trip to Tunisia, in 1989, I believe, I saw for the first time waterpipes (Before I had only seen pictures on books) but, not being a cigarette smoker, did'nt dare to try...
Now I enjoy both hookah and normal briar pipe smoking!

[KeepItSimple]

Is it bad that I can't remember the first time I smoked hookah?

If I had to say though, it was either at this hookah bar near my girlfriend's parents house, or it was at my friends house. His whole family is egyptian so they have like 6 or 7 hookahs, and all shisha that is shipped to the from Egypt by relatives. If it was at his house then my first flavor was Guava, from that random shisha maker.

Now that I think of it, I need to call him up and get some of that stuff, and post some pics.

[TizaNabi]

[attachment=4812:imagesCA9DUCLV.jpg][attachment=4811:jerold_shukshop.jpg][attachment=4810:imagesCA5DP6F6.jpg][attachment=4809:w.jpg][attachment=4808:images.jpg]First time I smoked a hookah I was 17 years old & that was 1970,but I remember that red letter day perfectly.
I went up a few alleys in the Arab market of Jerusalem which also contains next to it the Al-Aksa Mosque holy to Islam, and the Western Wall the remains of the 2 Holy Jewish Temples from 2700 years ago and then 2000 years the 2nd.

The place to smoke was in a tea house a back room arbor of a house, having only grapevines as a roof. In our area of the Middle East,Jordan,Israel,Syria and Lebanon the hookah is called "nargilah". I had to pay 3 whole Lira, the old Israeli currency which was then worth $0.95!!! They brought us a small cup first of very sweetened tea. We were 4 people there. An elderly Arab,an Israeli boy like myself and an American tourist.

The hookah they brought was the large size, I wonder if I ever remember seeing mini hookahs back then. The Arab smoked first, the hose had a simple brown wooden mouthpiece, I can assure you they didn't have plastic mouthpieces for hygiene and for what? (I gave my pet dog mouth-to-mouth twice, I'm not sensitive). So we passed around the hose, non of what you read in "Hookah ettiquite about "laying the hose downfor the other to pick up". Unless Arabs maybe haven't heard yet?

I noticed that the shisha was put on top of the coals, with a regular clay brown head,not Persian style. It wasn't Ajami or Zagloul shisha,both of which I often smoke, seemed more of one piece. When we finished the Arab left, then the American with his backpack, he started yelling "I left my Frisbee in there, whre's my frisbee?",but the owner showed him where to go! I stayed on a bit with my new aquaintance, then left.

I met my friend 5 months later in 1971 ,in the same basic training base of "Golani" which is like USA Marines. In 1973 during the war he was of the 12 of our 75 man unit killed, he by a Syrian sniper. We ended up 25 kilometers from Damascus and I finished my 3 years 1974.

Hookah I've been smoking 10 years now daily.[attachment=4807:e.jpg]

[Josh Hamilton]

^^^TizNabi nice story

BUT what happened in between 1974 and 1999? you never thought of picking up a hookah? or year 2000 how did you come across...your such a bag of tales

[OC4111]

I went to a hookah bar twice within a span of about a year and half. After the second time I started looking around about buying my own. I bought a no-name egyptian on e-bay and was smoking soex with rolland coals (this was before I discovered HF). Since then I've bouht two KM's and am partial to glass bowls.

[Guest Cheng]

First time I smoked a Hookah was when I was around 16-17 years old.

A friend in class knew that I smoked cigs, so he said "We should go and smoke Shisha" I was like "Shisha???" Then he explained about it and I was keen, Tobacco and flavour was unheard of by me as I only knew about cigs.

So a few days later we went to Edgeware Road, which a lot of arabs own businesses and such, we went to this nice lounge that had a big projector tv thing and big ass arabic woodern chairs and we sat down and smoked Double Apple

From then on I was hooked and bought a hookah which was a no named one.

Then, after a few months I discovered Al Fakher Double apple and wow, so much more flavour and stronger then Nak DA. I went online and bought some Shisha too, when I was 16 it was the legal age to buy tobacco and cigs, but now its changed to 18...

BTW. Im smoking a bowl of AF Peach that my friend gave me like an hour ago mixed with Fantasia Orange Sherbet

[PSU Smoker]

first time i smoked hookah was a bit over a year ago. One of my fraternity brothers had one he got from Saudi Arabia a few months earlier and we whipped it out for a rush event and it was magical. We just smoked thier hookah for a few months with HH. Then I got my own POS egyptian that got the job done for awhile, at which point I also discovered this magical magical substances known as molases based shisha. Then I just recently sold that off to a friend and bought a KM and now I also have my crystal blue (which is getting most of my smoking time as of now)

[404notfound]

In my first week of college during rush they ended up renting hookahs one night so I joined in (of course I didn't have a clue what I was doing so I was a terrible hose-hog and just kept inhaling until I turned blue like a jerk).


Anyways it piqued my curiosity so I ended up going to a Prince cafe in Georgetown with some friends later that week after reading up a bit on pretty much everything I was doing wrong, had a blast, and later bought a cheap egyptian from a friend.
I still have that egyptian, but it never was particularly air-tight. Eventually my girlfriend at the time bought me a gold MYA pipe, and even though that didn't last I kept up with it. I'm fairly happy with the hookahs I have now (bought the KM's while lurking HF) and am working on a sizable vase collection at this point.

[Chreees]

Learned about it through friends when we all moved away from home to go to college... We went to a lounge in Memphis when everyone was back in the hometown over summer break. I then bought my own.

[Click]

First time I went to a hookah bar I was 17. I knew the owner so he looked past me being under 18.  My friend bought a MYA QT and after a couple months decided to quit smoking and gave it to me.  I smoked mainly AF and Layalina and used natural lemonwood coals for the first year.  After coming onto this forum when I was probably 19, I bought my first KM and haven't looked back since.  Phunnel bowls, tangiers, cocos, more KMs.   I rarely go to hookah bars now, although it sometimes is nice to be served instead of doing all the work.

[thatonethere]

I don't have much of a story, but I started smoking hookah out of curiosity last September. I was given a hookah with some King Moassael and natural finger coals from an Indian shop for my birthday. Even though I enjoyed the first hookah for a little while, it turned out to be a pos from kingofhookah.com, and eventually I replaced it with a KM. The coals were good, but they kept rolling off of the bowl. Since being a member on the forum, I've added a Mya QT to my collection, Ch Nats and QLs, several bowls and a whole lot of hookah knowlege that I probably wouldn't have acquired otherwise.

[Venger]

About 10 years ago a friend of mine went home to Turkey and I asked him to bring me back a hookah. He did but it was small and had a Turkish bowl for what I assume would be tombak or raw tobacco. fast forward 10 years and I get a bonus in my paycheck. I pay a visit to the Holy land market getting some hummus and stuffed grape leafs. Thats when it caught my eye. The mya QT. It was smaller than it's brothers in the shop and it seemed to say "you should buy me with that extra money you have there,I don't take up much room and I will treat you right." So I asked Walter how much and what else will I need.The hookah was $39 and I bought AF watermelon and a roll of 3 kings. Well I gotta say I made the right choice when I listened to that little guy.Now I smoke every night before bed and have collect 20 something flavors. Smoke on,hookah heads,smoke on.
Ray

[rhineholt]

It started my junior year in high school when my friend told me she owned a hookah. After dozens of questions, I realized it sounded like something I may like.
I went to her place one day after school and we smoked.... Layalina peach and that became our go to flavor for the next couple monthes of my life. It was amazing.
I decided to get my own hookah when I was 16. Ended up being a shitty Chinese hookah that I paid 60 dollars for. Surprisingly it lasted me 4 years....
Now I have a qt, a nice Syrian, and I'm looking to grab a temsah from jay as soon as family isssues get cleared up.

[JEEP :)]

I was always really against smoking anything. Then last summer I was at a party and got really drunk. My buddy had a hookah out on the porch. With my drunken wit i decide to try it. I got hooked! i smoked it for the whole night. Then he brought it over a few times. It was a small hookah with 2 hoses. So i decided to get one of my own. I got a cheap 3 hoses hookah. I now only smoke it with my friends and family. But now im looking into getting me a good hookah. im doing lots of research and this forum is helping alot!

[joytron]

[quote name='JEEP ' date='07 April 2010 - 04:06 PM' timestamp='1270681592' post='462511']
I was always really against smoking anything. Then last summer I was at a party and got really drunk.
[/quote]

oh the irony[img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/post-5619-1201289386.gif[/img]

[JEEP :)]

[quote name='joytron' date='07 April 2010 - 07:11 PM' timestamp='1270681878' post='462513']
[quote name='JEEP ' date='07 April 2010 - 04:06 PM' timestamp='1270681592' post='462511']
I was always really against smoking anything. Then last summer I was at a party and got really drunk.
[/quote]

oh the irony[img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/post-5619-1201289386.gif[/img]
[/quote]

haha yea thats what i thought. but now i realize the risks and do not smoke too much

[bellydancerakn]

Gawd! I ask all my friends who smoke hookah when the first time they smoked was and it all starts the same. "Oh well one night at a party I was really wasted and this dude brought out this huge thing with hoses..." and it invertabily ends with "And then I puked/passed out". And then I explain to them why hookah and tequila is not a good combo. They are very suprised lol.


I love my friends! Edited April 8, 2010 by bellydancerakn