Three Kings Vs. Al Greco Vs. Blue Pearls Vs. Sultan Quicklight Coals

[zoddi]

3K in my opinion is usually too hot and requires constant management to get a good burn, despite the pack job. The large 3K does last the longest though.
Golden coals tend to burn at a better temperature and are more compatible with more shishas.

Al greco coals are BY FAR the best that I have ever used, in the realm of quicklites (Romman wood is nice, but gets to be a hassle after a while). I'm not sure what the other names for this coal are. I'll try to describe it more. It's wrapped in paper, usually golden/green, folded up at the ends. I have seen them referred to as starcoals, and the description above sounds like it might be referring to these coals, but I have also seen online another league of coals also called starlight or something that does not look close to it at all.

These al greco coals have a completely flat top, and have 4 humps on the bottom, on top of the traditional ring around the edge. I've seen them in smaller packs, of 6 I believe. There might be actually two variations, since I used to think these coals burned too hot, but lately, have found them to be the perfect temperature. I have also seen these called El Nakhleh and have a tree similar to the nakhla line. I have just ordered the 120 piece of nakhla coal from smoking-hookah and will report back if they are what I'm talking about or not.

These coals give off quite the show when you light. I'd say more than twice or three times as fast as the next fastest coal, a ton of smoke (might want to do it under a fume hood or something if you don't like the smell) and is literally ready to smoke in within 10 seconds. Just light, then when it's done, blow on the coal a little and it's good to go. Definitely a good show it puts. It requires usually zero maintenance at all throughout the entire smoke session. It sticks together really well, which was I'm imagining it's intention. Attempts to ash it usually don't end up well however, so I've avoided it for the most part. The down side is that these coals don't last as long as one would like. The length is perfect for most smaller packs, such as for a single person or two.

I've sampled more than 8 types of coals and almost all the brands of shisha I could obtain, and can say that these al greco coals might possibly be the only ones to be very compatible with drier shishas like nakhla (which has a story of its own in terms of quality control), where personally, I find 3K burns it way too much.

The al greco coals tend to have the most consistency throughout all of the coals I've used.

Blue pearls are found in I believe small 5 packs. They have the least consistency out of all coals. I've used them on a few occasions when the other brands were sold out. They usually are slow lighting (not a problem since I usually use a propane torch) and the first roll I used, was on the milder side in terms of temperature. Pretty decent. However, just today I bought another two rolls, and they are by far the ABSOLUTE WORST coals I have ever used. All they do is explode all over the place when you try to light them. There's a complete coal taste all throughout the burn. I had to stop myself from smoking since I could feel a headache/vomiting would be imminent if I continued. It burned very inconsistently and black throughout. Clearly, these have to be abnormal, but it does speak something about blue pearl's quality control. In any regard, even when it's a good batch, there's nothing too special about these coals.

I have sampled also a roll of coals that are similar in size to most standard size coals. They are wrapped in a metallic looking plastic with the ends pressed flat and sealed in a line (not wrapped around the end coals like for example 3K). These are a bit slower to light, often require multiple attempts to get it fully lit, and always burn way too hot. Al waha was the only shisha that I could consistently use with these coals and get good burns.

Sultan coals have a very unique lighting pattern to them. Kind of like worms crawling across the coal. Kind of cool, but slow. Don't smoke them while still lighting or you'll be sorry. I honestly don't find it too unpleasant, but it's known to have a more chemical taste to it until it's fully lit. They burn on the cooler side, and depending on the bowl/pack/shisha may require 1.5-2, with say one leaning off the other one. It burns nice and consistently. I've had one roll that burned poorly, but the rest were half-decent. I'd say these are an ok alternative if your favorite coal is out, but it's not worthy of being a main coal.

All the other coals are more or less standard that I've tried, and along the league of 3K if not a little better or worse. Al greco (nakhleh / star, however it's called) in the 6 a roll green/gold paper pressed at end are the end all be all coal in my opinion, and as long as it's available, there really isn't a question of which coal to get. I didn't find these until after the first half year of smoking shisha, and stuck to 3K primarily until then. Have never looked back since. On average, for the past year, there has been about 2-3 hookah smokes a day, so we've really done a fair bit of trying different stuffs. Hope this helps.