Tangiers: Cool Strawberry, Or Smoked Pork?

[Hookah Pig]

I've been a hookah enthusiast for about four and a half years now. I've gone through four hookahs and more bowls, coal types and tobacco brands than I can count. Most of my knowledge has come from reading posts on this forum and experimenting with things.

One of my more frustrating experiments has been Tangiers tobacco.

I've ordered four or five different kinds of Tangiers over the past few years (various flavors, F-line, etc...), and each time I've had the same experience:
[list][*]The tobacco smells like BBQ sauce[*]It burns my throat[/list]
I've kept going back because I've read such glowing reviews on this site, and up until now, I've thought to myself, "Well maybe I really am acclimating it wrong/packing it wrong/lighting the coals wrong/opening the package wrong/looking at it wrong/etc...". I've never had this sort of experience with any other type of tobacco, but I kept reading about how great this stuff was when properly handled. So each time, I've blamed myself, waited a few months, then went back for another package and tried again.

No more! Tomorrow, (assuming my order isn't screwed up, again), I will receive a package of Tangiers Cool Strawberry. I'm going to document every single movement, from the time I first lay my hands on the Tangiers package to the time I take my first pull on the hookah. Once and for all, I'm going to see which is flaw: my technique, or the tobacco itself. Excelsior! [img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif[/img]

Smoking a leaf shouldn't be this complicated.

[bobbo21]

Tangiers Strawberry is one of the harder flavors to acclimate. When I tried it, I couldn't get it to smoke right after basically trying everyting, so I threw it away. Good luck with your batch

[Arcane]

Cool Strawberry is a decent flavor, but don't expect too be swimming it when you take the first pull....it's a pretty light flavor.

Also, my guess is you're not using enough tobacco and/or you're not packing dense enough.

btw, pictures help! videos are better!

[Guest Cheng]

If your not a buzz fan then smoke Lucid, no need to acclimate.

[Hookah Pig]

Quick update: Was able to add just enough heat to produce plenty of smoke and not feel harsh. Throughout the session, it felt like it was right on the verge of burning me, but it never quite got to "harsh".

Pictures and details later, when I have time to compile them.

Verdict: Not sure, need to smoke more.

[Jabbles180]

if you were able to heat manage to the point of no harshness and just a bit of an almost burnt taste you are on the right track. A bowl or two more and i think you'll hit the sweet spot.

I dont know your technique with coals ect. so when you get pictures up ill go ahead and try my best to help out.

Sounds like you've got the packing just about there if it has big clouds. Sounds like its just a heat management issue now to be honest. I usually start with three coco's on their "end" so its kind of like 1 1/2 coals. these are placed so the length goes from outside to center. once the bowl gets started and just when it begins to get "hot" i pull a coco off. Once the smoke dies a bit i tilt the two coco's over. Now its just a rotation around the bowl till the smoke dies off a bit. Then i throw the third coal back on but once again on its side so its like 2 1/2 coals but by now the coals are much smaller. Finally when that begins to die I flip the final coal down.

If the flavor starts off nice and gets a bit harsh check the coals. For some reason lately ive been getting the "block dots" on the coals. When this happens the tobacco gets a bit harsher. Make sure if you begin to get these dots that you flip the coals.

So without seeing pictures i feel you are either good on your packing technique or almost there. I believe its more of a heat management issue but hell what do i know? ha.

As others have said cool strawberry is a bit on the light side flavor-wise. If you're getting the strawberry flavor then you are definitely on the right track to getting a nice bowl.

Here's to you getting rid of the bbq/pork flavor and enjoying a nice bowl of tangiers tobacco.

[Twisted]

I'm going to assume you have had at least one of your flavors smell what it is supposed to smell like. How many coals were you using at the time?

[Hookah Pig]

Follows is a detailed narrative of my Tangiers experience:


First, I followed RayVer's instructions on how to acclimate Tangiers: http://www.hookahforum.com/topic/14245-acclimating-tangiers-step-by-step-with-pictures/

Here's my initial setup:

[URL=http://img641.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tangiers1.jpg][IMG]http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/738/tangiers1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Next, the opened bag:

[URL=http://img641.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tangiers3.jpg][IMG]http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/50/tangiers3.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

My first impressions were sort of mixed. I didn't think the stuff smelled like strawberries, but it didn't smell like KC Masterpiece either, so that was a plus.

Next, the tobacco before being stirred:

[URL=http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tangiers4.jpg][IMG]http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/9462/tangiers4.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

Next, the tobacco after stirring:

[URL=http://img690.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tangiers5.jpg][IMG]http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/9523/tangiers5.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I let the tobacco acclimate for just over 2 and a half hours.

Now, you'll see my my packed phunnel bowl and the tool I used to pack the tobacco. I packed the tobacco until it was as dense as it was in the bag.

[URL=http://img402.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tangiers6.jpg][IMG]http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/5209/tangiers6.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The next photo is slightly out of focus, but it shows how high the bowl was packed relative to the rim of the bowl:

[URL=http://img690.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tangiers7.jpg][IMG]http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/1918/tangiers7.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I used a single layer of foil, shiny side down, and poked these holes in it (note: no hole in the middle):

[URL=http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tangiers8.jpg][IMG]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4151/tangiers8.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

The coals I used were quick-lite coconut coals. First, I placed three on the bowl:

[URL=http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tangiers9.jpg][IMG]http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3060/tangiers9.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

This was a bit harsh, so I removed a coal:

[URL=http://img682.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tangiers10.jpg][IMG]http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/1415/tangiers10.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

This worked out ok. There was plenty of smoke, and, though I felt like the smoke was right on the verge of being harsh, it didn't actually get "harsh". I did get a sort of "warm" feeling in my chest.

With these two coals, I moved them in a circle around the outside of the bowl. That seemed to work out ok.


I think this stuff is worth another try. Definitely not the best smoke I've ever had, but it's potent stuff.

[joytron]

Try half coals, works well for me.

[Chreees]

[quote name='joytron' date='22 April 2010 - 08:15 PM' timestamp='1271985350' post='464984']
Try half coals, works well for me.
[/quote]

I swear by half coals...

[Jeff_T]

Kinda hard to tell, but I'd almost say a little more shisha could help. Personally I have more holes that are a little bigger than those too, and I'd move those coals so they are like 1/2 on the bowl, 1/2 over the edge. This is just what I set up/smoke my tangiers like, so it may not be necessary for your method to make these changes...
Forgot to add, I'd put the tangiers into a tupperware or something initially and leave it uncovered to acclimate for like 4 hrs (and mix it up every 45min to an hour) then leave it closed up for about 20hrs... Just a thought of something else to try.

[Twisted]

To me, the packing looks alright. I would use halves like the above posts say. Also, make more holes, and make them bigger. Have you watched Erics video on packing a phunnel?

[SweetNut]

+1 on using half coals

[thecoalition]

no center hole poked? thats just wierd to me.

and as for
[list][*]The tobacco smells like BBQ sauce[*]It burns my throat[/list]usually means not acclimated enough or packed wrong.

personally i acclimate my tang for 6-8 hours stirring once every 2 hours. I used glad tupperware to do it in. Prior to smoking I let the shisha get exposed to air for 15 mins (after a thorough stirring) while I set up the hookah and light the cocos. Then I pack the bowl and smoke.
I've had issues 1 time with tang and it was the very first time I smoked it. That was roughly 3 years ago and I was underpacking. All it did was taste and feel like I swallowed fire.

[KeepItSimple]

Ok, so I smoked Cool Strawberry for the first time tonight. If your packing everything right, and it tastes smokey, then it's too much heat for sure. I had to use half the heat for this tonight, i was smoking it with the normal amount of heat for Tang but it tastes smokey, and kinda burned a little. That seems to be ur problem too. There is a small window for that sweat spot with this flavor.