Tangiers Advice.

[Twitchy]

in roughly a week ill be getting my first tangiers order SO EXCiiIIttted

got a #7 bowl and will probably use that, i have a tangiers small but its huge.

when packing the bowl from what ive read you pack it very dense and tight, but how high do you leave it?

level with the spire? under the rim ?> how do you guys judge?

seems with peoples hole patterns they put a eff ton of holes. so im assuming there should be alot does it matter if there small holes or big?

and with heat management. do you suggest full sized coals half off the bowl or should i be cutting coal into halfs?

how do you guys go about cutting coals?>

[3rooker]

I'm a Tangiers newb too. There's threads on every single one of your questions, try to use the search first before posting. Here's what I've learned:

Cutting coals you can take a knife and a hammer, or score it and a flathead screwdriver and a hammer to split them. To start the heat out you can just stonehenge them (lay them on their sides) with a windcover and then lay them flat when they get a little smaller.

As for bowl height leave it at the top of the spire or just under the rim, either way that should equal aprox. the same level, but you want to leave a little room under the rim for heat expansion.

Hole patern should be 3-4 rings of holes and you don't need to necessarily put holes in the middle.

Hope this helps. And, practice makes close to perfect

[Chreees]

Check out the link in my sig "Guide to Tangiers Success."

But here's a quick rundown:

Acclimation- Go ahead and do the instant acclimation method and kneed the package for a few minutes with your hands, then open it and dump into a shallow tupperware container. Smell like the flavor it's supposed to be? Go ahead and pack it. Smell not very strong or like soy sauce or BBQ? Stir it and let it sit for a few hours. If still not good, try the 4/20 method where you let it acclimate for 4 hours (stir every hour or so), then seal it up for 20.

Just pack it as dense as it comes in the package, level with the inner spire, just below the outer rim. Plenty of toothpick-size holes all over except for in the middle (some people like to poke holes over the middle... try both and decide for yourself). Coconut coals, I'd do two "stonehenged" (on their smallest sides) on the edges of the bowl opposite each other on a Pico or #7 phunnel. Or you can cut coals and use halves or even fourths if you'd like. Tangiers works best with tons of big holes and less heat for whatever reason... I can't recall why right now, haha. Just play around with it until you get it like you like it.

In my experience, Birquq and Lucid are more forgiving in the way of packing whereas Noir is not. Lucid is more forgiving in the way of heat management whereas Noir and Birquq are not. Noir offers biggest buzz, followed by Birquq, and then Lucid, which doesn't buzz most people I've talked to.

Cutting coals- Check the link in my sig for that. That's the cheap way to do it. You can also go buy a pair of these: http://www.sears.com/craftsman-3-7-8-in-handi-cut/p-00937301000P

Hope this helps, and may the Force be with you.

[Judy Oma]

A hole or two in the foil above the center spire really only helps if you're using a med or large tangiers phunnel - they have such a large surface area, it seems to help pull the heat/air over the larger surface of tobacco and down thru the stem. On small bowls imo it is not necessary, seem that you're just pulling more air thru and bypassing the tobacco.

It does help with heat management too - it does keep the coals from burning so hot, but I prefer to just use less coal instead.

[Pavo21]

Holes we are all back to Holes, just poke it they way you want as long as you get nice tasty clouds ur good if you cant smoke then add more and if it even fails the first time just take it off and put more foil on lol, my buddy jimmy doesn't put enough holes and he think its perfect but NO ONE else agrees. you dont want to burn it but you dont want to have a hard time smoking either

[joytron]

The thickness of a quarter below the rim. Not sure if that applies to picos as well.

[Coyote]

[center][b]ABC's of Packing Tangiers Tobacco[/b]

[b]A) Acclimation:[/b][/center]

Instant Acclimation- Allow me to share my Haiku

With unopened bag
Instant acclimation works
Squish for 2 minutes
*Not sure where you got the moving around for 6 minutes with thumbs for 6 minutes. You have to give it serious squishing like you would a stress ball for 2 minutes. The goal is to get all the juices incorporated back into the tobacco before you break the seal.

Give it the sniff test. If if smells like the flavor it doesn't need acclimation. If it smells of soy/ketchup/overwhelming tobacco then you need to acclimate.

4/20 acclimation
Open your Tangiers and empty it into a wide airtight container and stir it up well, making sure to combined all the juice with the tobacco*. Allow your container to be open, stirring everyone hour or so, for approximately 4 hours. Stir again and seal for 20hrs. Do not open your container, do not peak at all. After the 20 hours, open your container, stir thoroughly and give it the smell test. If you Tangiers smells off (bbq, ketchup, soy, etc) then repeat the steps for 4/20 acclimation**.

*Since humidity fluctuates throughout the day, start your acclimation process at the same time that you wish to smoke. If you like to smoke after dinner, then start the acclimation process after dinner. This will insure that you are catching a humidity window that is similar to your ideal smoke time. Unless of course there is a drastic weather change...

**Some flavors require more or less acclimation. Some flavors will smoke fine even if they smell slightly off. If you are unsure you can ask the forum or send Kris or I a PM.

[center][b] Bowl[/b][/center]

For an Alien and Tangiers Phunnel- densely pack your tobacco into the bowl. It will be about as firm in the bowl as it is in the unopened package. Then put foil on top and press it down with your palm. You should be able to see the imprints of the outer edge and inner spire. Look under the foil and the distance between the top of the bowl and the top of the tobacco should be the thickness of a Quarter coin.

Replace foil and poke big holes ([b]bigger[/b] than a toothpick) and close together. 3 rings usually fit on an Alien. Generally you will poke as many holes as will fit on the foil. The more holes the better. Some people put a hole in the spire to create less restrictive draw, to manage the flux between idle time and pull time, or to reduce the amount of suction on the foill. Retighten foil after poking holes.

[center][b]C) Coals-[/b][/center]

Generally people use 2-3 CH coals Stonehenge style to start. The amount of heat you need will depend on the Tangiers flavor being use, the type of coal and the condition of the outside environment. Unless you are smoking Birquq there is no reason to split natural coconut coals. Fumari/Golden Canary coals will most likely be the best for heat management however there are some drawbacks to using them aswell.

See if that helps. If you have any more trouble we are always here to help.

[CO_hookah]

[quote name='Coyote' timestamp='1336142893' post='546661']
[center][b]ABC's of Packing Tangiers Tobacco[/b]

[b]A) Acclimation:[/b][/center]

Instant Acclimation- Allow me to share my Haiku

With unopened bag
Instant acclimation works
Squish for 2 minutes
*Not sure where you got the moving around for 6 minutes with thumbs for 6 minutes. You have to give it serious squishing like you would a stress ball for 2 minutes. The goal is to get all the juices incorporated back into the tobacco before you break the seal.

Give it the sniff test. If if smells like the flavor it doesn't need acclimation. If it smells of soy/ketchup/overwhelming tobacco then you need to acclimate.

4/20 acclimation
Open your Tangiers and empty it into a wide airtight container and stir it up well, making sure to combined all the juice with the tobacco*. Allow your container to be open, stirring everyone hour or so, for approximately 4 hours. Stir again and seal for 20hrs. Do not open your container, do not peak at all. After the 20 hours, open your container, stir thoroughly and give it the smell test. If you Tangiers smells off (bbq, ketchup, soy, etc) then repeat the steps for 4/20 acclimation**.

*Since humidity fluctuates throughout the day, start your acclimation process at the same time that you wish to smoke. If you like to smoke after dinner, then start the acclimation process after dinner. This will insure that you are catching a humidity window that is similar to your ideal smoke time. Unless of course there is a drastic weather change...

**Some flavors require more or less acclimation. Some flavors will smoke fine even if they smell slightly off. If you are unsure you can ask the forum or send Kris or I a PM.

[center][b] Bowl[/b][/center]

For an Alien and Tangiers Phunnel- densely pack your tobacco into the bowl. It will be about as firm in the bowl as it is in the unopened package. Then put foil on top and press it down with your palm. You should be able to see the imprints of the outer edge and inner spire. Look under the foil and the distance between the top of the bowl and the top of the tobacco should be the thickness of a Quarter coin.

Replace foil and poke big holes ([b]bigger[/b] than a toothpick) and close together. 3 rings usually fit on an Alien. Generally you will poke as many holes as will fit on the foil. The more holes the better. Some people put a hole in the spire to create less restrictive draw, to manage the flux between idle time and pull time, or to reduce the amount of suction on the foill. Retighten foil after poking holes.

[center][b]C) Coals-[/b][/center]

Generally people use 2-3 CH coals Stonehenge style to start. The amount of heat you need will depend on the Tangiers flavor being use, the type of coal and the condition of the outside environment. Unless you are smoking Birquq there is no reason to split natural coconut coals. Fumari/Golden Canary coals will most likely be the best for heat management however there are some drawbacks to using them aswell.

See if that helps. If you have any more trouble we are always here to help.
[/quote]

This right here! This is what helped me to get Tangiers to smoke like a boss!

Thanks!