joytron Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I think the standard way to review shisha (or for hass moassel) is not very helpful to anyone looking for recommendations. I do not understand why everyone chooses to go on "ad nauseum" about their setup, but spends only a sentence describing the flavor. I see what hookah and hose you are using as being arbitrary since I would trust one of Jay's reviews if he was using a mya hose and a pumpkin over most people's with a KM. I also think that a number system is fairly arbitrary and as taste and personal preference is so subjective it hardly applies to most situations. The one sentence descriptions of the flavor leave something to be desired. When you say Nakhla Watermelon tastes like watermelon there is no real benefit. The mentioning of cut is fairly pointless as well, especially when all one says is typical tangier's cut. Either I am not aware how tangiers is cut and its pointless or I have smoked tangiers and understand that all tangiers is cut the same way. Personally I would like to see a move to more flavor emphasized reviews with a more detailed description of the taste. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S3cretz Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I concur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelLCP Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 That's why when I usually look for recommendations on flavors, I look at video reviews. I usually never read the shisha review section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claytronmeans Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/user/DblTrblHookahReview?feature=mhee We had the same though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelLCP Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 [quote name='claytronmeans' timestamp='1315691917' post='523364'] [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/DblTrblHookahReview?feature=mhee"]http://www.youtube.c...ew?feature=mhee[/url] We had the same though. [/quote] Shamless plug! [url="http://www.youtube.com/michaellcp"]http://www.youtube.com/michaellcp[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atalanta Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I actually read the review section often because I'm more often than not reading on my touch (like today sitting in my car outside Tobacco Leaf in NJ, wanted to see what the reviews said about Pharaoh and Jewels, two brands I'd never heard of before). I agree, though, the setup and cut are over stated. If you have other than water/ice water in your bowl, that will definitely affect the taste. Cut doesn't matter to me, but I do care to know if it is gloppy or dry, does it smell strong when you open the package, does it smell gross, does it even smell? How does the taste compare to smell? Does it taste like it smells? Better? Worse? No taste? Something else entirely? How did it "cook"? How many coals did it take? This is where the number, size, and kind of coals would be appropriate. Were you able to get good smoke or was it wimpy? I've been reading a lot on this forum and these are the things I look for when I read shisha reviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 And thats the ticket. People get what they are looking for. Some want to know about cut, some want to know what your set up is, some want to know about heat levels. You make your reviews how you'd like a review to be, and others can make them like they want them to be, and everyone is happy. Lets face it, when half the people who smell af grape smell ketchup, and the other half smelling the same tub, smell grape, how people think a flavour tastes is also pretty irrelevant. Feel better now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king_lunchb0x Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 i actually sift through reviews for recommendations, A lot of info just is overkill , but the good reviews with have 2-3 sentences describing the flavor and smoke. i pick a brand and sift through 3 or 4 reviews to see if it was liked by many or or 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezxen Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 [quote name='MichaelLCP' timestamp='1315692992' post='523365'] [quote name='claytronmeans' timestamp='1315691917' post='523364'] [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/DblTrblHookahReview?feature=mhee"]http://www.youtube.c...ew?feature=mhee[/url] We had the same though. [/quote] Shamless plug! [url="http://www.youtube.com/michaellcp"]http://www.youtube.com/michaellcp[/url] [/quote] Shameless Plug aswell [url="http://www.youtube.com/ezxen"]http://www.youtube.com/ezxen[/url] but i agee thats why i try to keep my videos under 4 mins and keep waht im saying on the flavor im smoking and i would like to belive im improving whej it comes to reviews . have a few to edit ,but i like to think im doing a good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atalanta Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 [quote name='king_lunchb0x' timestamp='1315698511' post='523376'] i actually sift through reviews for recommendations, A lot of info just is overkill , but the good reviews with have 2-3 sentences describing the flavor and smoke. i pick a brand and sift through 3 or 4 reviews to see if it was liked by many or or 1. [/quote] Yes. If most of the people reviewing say AW Bounty is awesome, then I'll give that a shot. Whereas if most of the reviews for a flavor or brand is negative, I'll scratch that off my list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuie Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 So I guess.... New Reviewing Criteria. 1. Must have smoked for at least 5 years. 2. Have at least a minor in Writing or English 3. Must be Joytron approved. That is mostly jest, but I mean seriously so of my first reviews were crap. I think some of the info is important when I look at someones reviews. I think we can all do better, but I am not going to look down anyone that isn't a superb reviewer. A lot of newbies get excited about reviewing stuff when they get into the hobby. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joytron Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 [quote name='Stuie' timestamp='1315709993' post='523392'] So I guess.... New Reviewing Criteria. 1. Must have smoked for at least 5 years. 2. Have at least a minor in Writing or English 3. Must be Joytron approved. That is mostly jest, but I mean seriously so of my first reviews were crap. I think some of the info is important when I look at someones reviews. I think we can all do better, but I am not going to look down anyone that isn't a superb reviewer. A lot of newbies get excited about reviewing stuff when they get into the hobby. [/quote] No I fully encourage everyone to write some reviews but I hardly think having a grasp on the English language is too much to ask for. I just feel reviews like OMG Tang blueberry is teh sex are of no benefit and rather just get in the way of well written reviews. I did not mean to say that because I would take Jay's review more seriously than other people means that their should be some limit placed on years smoking, I just do not see how your equipment really is of any importance. It is not like a mya is good for certain flavors and a km is good for others. My main point was you can write a long winded review mainly emphasizing the set-up used but that doesn't make up for a poor description of how it tastes. If I offended anyone that was not my intent, rather I think their is a more beneficial way of writing reviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuie Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I was a little offended, but I figured you didn't mean it that way. Thought I would just poke a little fun. I understand there are a lot of bad reviews, but I also encourage everyone to be more descriptive of flavor. Sometimes me personal.... "Tastes like burning plastic" will suffice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezxen Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 [quote name='Stuie' timestamp='1315709993' post='523392'] So I guess.... New Reviewing Criteria. 1. Must have smoked for at least 5 years. 2. Have at least a minor in Writing or English 3. Must be Joytron approved. That is mostly jest, but I mean seriously so of my first reviews were crap. I think some of the info is important when I look at someones reviews. I think we can all do better, but I am not going to look down anyone that isn't a superb reviewer. A lot of newbies get excited about reviewing stuff when they get into the hobby. [/quote] I like reading your reviews for a few reasons , there detailed and informative Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joytron Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 [quote name='Stuie' timestamp='1315712330' post='523398'] I was a little offended, but I figured you didn't mean it that way. Thought I would just poke a little fun. I understand there are a lot of bad reviews, but I also encourage everyone to be more descriptive of flavor. Sometimes me personal.... "Tastes like burning plastic" will suffice. [/quote] I feel its unfortunate because you have contributed more than anyone to the review section and in many ways the forum in general. Obviously you have originated the way most reviews are written, my issue lies more with the fact that people take you general outline and then because (and I can only assume intent) they only feel its necessary to write a one sentence totally vague response to the flavor such as tastes like lemons, because they have written an entire page on what products they were using. I would rather see more effort go into what the flavor tastes like than how you set up your smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1v3th3ad Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I can agree on this...I feel maybe hookah and hose could be irrelevant(maybe bragging? I do it)...but bowl, foil, base, and coals are relevant to the review and there could be more emphasis on flavor, I know I'm guilty of undercutting it in reviewing(I need to get back to that btw...I miss reviewing, just haven't had the time with working out of town sooo much) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuie Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I want to be as informative as I can. Joy... relax, no harm no done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atalanta Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I like writing reviews (a neighbor threatened me at 1am because of a review he suspected I wrote of his restaurant. Hey, mine was one of the NICER reviews. Doesn't help that my handle is my vanity plate - after all why are they called vanity plates? LOL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I just use Stuie's layout. I will try to do better on describing the flavor in more depth, but for my last reviews I feel I've been doing pretty well, especially in my ending thoughts, right after my rating. Earlier reviews, like some of my first, not so much... For me my reviewing was a learning process, going along and getting better as I learned more about hookah. That's how I feel, anyway. You guys may think my current reviews still suck, haha. I like knowing what people used for the review. Cause if they said "I used my pumpkin" and they said the flavor sucked, I can conclude that it *may* have been their setup, not the brand/flavor... Same for when they said they used a Mya or Nammor hose... The hose you use can determine what volume of smoke you get. So if they used a Mya hose and said they didn't get really big clouds, I can conclude that it *may* have been due to the smaller gauge hose they were using. They *may* have gotten bigger smoke had they used a wider gauge hose, say, a Nammor or Razan. So I feel this "extra useless info" is actually pretty useful. Having too much info is better than not having enough. I'd rather be deductive, and figure out what may have gone wrong with their experience. I often disagree with others' reviews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vendetta_revived Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 I find the "overall" section that people write at the bottom of their reviews to be descriptive enough. Also, after being here for a while, and reading reviews and trying flavours based on them, I've figured out the people who have a matching palette with me and will try something even if they are not as descriptive but recommend it nevertheless. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 http://www.hookahforum.com/topic/1167-mushrats-brief-reviews/page__hl__%20mushrat%20%20brief%20%20reviews__st__40 Back when i did reviews. This subject comes up regularly the one thing we have determined is that reviews are so subjective that trying to fit them into some sort of objective format just wouldn't work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joytron Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 My point is that I think the focus of the review should shift to being a primarily objective review to a subjective one. My issue lies not so much in the inclusion of the whole set-up (which as incubus pointed out has some merit) but rather that it seems to detract from the most important section, the flavor. I also feel that the number system is entirely arbitrary because of the fact that everyone's scale and emphasis (price versus duration etc.) is different and generally each individual has rather random scale themselves. [b]My point is that if you sat down and payed attention to what you smoked I think it would be pretty easy to write a description of the flavor that is more than six words. I think there is no fault in wishing for a more detailed review.[/b] Honestly this is how I see many of the reviews out there, replaced with a restaurant setting Restaurant: KFC Bowl: Paper Tub Hose: Plastic Straw Screen/Foil: Reynolds Heavy duty (only the best) Liquid In cup: Pepsi Fullness: Left pretty full Cut: Whole pieces Duration: 30 minutes (chicken burned my mouth when it came so had to let it cool down) Taste: The chicken tasted like chicken Napkins Used: 35 Gravy Thickness: Usual KFC gravy Overal: I would probably go back if I felt like chicken, but its not something I would eat every night. I would give it an 8.5 because the cashier was cute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 And i'll restate. You do it your way, let others do it their way. Sometimes 6 words is all you need to describe a flavour. I think we get the idea at this point...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joytron Posted September 11, 2011 Author Share Posted September 11, 2011 I am in no way trying to draw a line in the sand, and if my topic came off combative and turned people away from discussing this topic that is unfortunate. I do not wish to try to enforce a review criteria that I see fit. I see the review section as being an informative database to help people make purchasing decisions. I was merely making a suggestion that I think would improve upon it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Actually, I think you were calling anything other than your way of doing it inadequate and uninformative, not to mention a waste of time. But, hey, in the long run it really doesn't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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