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I Need Flavor!


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So I bought my hookah and was active on this forum 2005/2006, I purchased shisha for about 2 years and just stopped smoking at home and did lounges every so often.

I like fruit flavors, I was a big fan of fumari blueberry, AF double apple, AF white grape, my buddy would make an insane mix of nakhla peach melon

AF watermelon is the best watermelon I've smoked, I would purchase their kiwi and eskandary apple and their other flavors as well, they werent always "knock your socks off" good but I felt they were decent enough to stock up on.

I started smoking starbuzz when it first came out, the early flavors I ever liked were x on the beach and fuzzy naval, their white peach is their best flavor I think ( I think their code 69 or blue mist etc suck)


so recently I signed back up on this forum, looked around to see whats new out there, picked up a vortex bowl, and a phunnel bowl, I purchased tangiers 100g burquiq (?spelling) white summer mixed fruit, packed it NO flavor, but got a buzz which I dont really care about , packed it right out of the package, I packed it after aclamation

purchased tangiers 100g lucid its like that one breakfast cereal, INSANE smell, just like fruit loops/fruity pebbles etc, but smoked like lemon mixed with other stuff, problem is, I feel like its inconsistent, first time I smoked it it was great, now Im packing bowls and getting no flavor

purchased tangiers 100g lucid melon blend, great taste, again inconsistent, dumped out the ILTOBC and packed it in and again, no flavor,

wanted to try shiazo just for kicks of something new, ordered honeydew melon blend, weak weak flavor,
shiazo ice shock, STRONG flavor, problem is its not for me
shiazo dragonfruit, best flavor but its weak, but at least what i can taste is good

picked up fumari tropical mango, ambrosia, and blueberry muffin, out of the the three ambrosia was the best but weak, either way I'm just disappointed and dont get WHY these people discontinued their blueberry, it was awesome.


This isnt meant to be a review, I just want to know if you guys have recommendations for some strong flavor shisha, when I go to lounges I order double apple strawberry mix of AF and its insanely good, strong and lasts forever, the strawberry on its own is no good but it mixes well with the double apple to balance out how strong DA is, either way, I felt that WHEN tangieres is good, its probably the best out there, anyone else feel its inconsistent? any recommendations for good shisha flavors along the list I've mentioned, esp tangiers beause I do feel theres potential there.....
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For the tangiers, pak it in a phunnel bowl only and a tangiers phunnel only, not a Chinese phunnel. These aren't made well anddo not heat well. Tangiers is pretty hard to smoke, but dont give up! It is worth it once you figure it out
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well welcome back first off, for shiazo steam stones I've tried 3 flavors and all were well... weak, as comparing to hookah tobacco. As for tangiers Birquq :the White summer flavor should be strong. For me it was one of the stronger ones. SO problem must be in packing or heat. Have you checked out a couple of the Tang packing vids? As for other flavors, one of my personal favorites is tangiers lucid Indian summer. Hope some of this helps
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yeah. definitely has to be packing/ heat.

packing it like regular tobacco will get smoke, but not much flavor. and using too much heat will yield the same results, even on a good pack.

in a phunnel bowl (vortex can work too, but I'm not the guy to ask about how) pack it much denser than you would normal tobacco, and just under the rim about a quarters width below. with the extra tobbacco in there, it needs room to expand. With most phunnels, start with 2 coconut coals on the outside of the bowl, and if you dont get good smoke after 10 minutes or so then move them in, for a larger bowl 3 coals will work in the same fashion.

theres a lot of different methods of packing that people use and they get equal results, gotta find the one that works for you. I just pick up clumps from the container and put it int he bowl, then press it down slightly under the bowl, others are more precise, but those methods don't work for me (i think i put too much in). but find what works best for you and go with it.
tangiers usually takes a bit more practice than others but in the end it is well worth it. the bowls can last for hours with full flavor and great smoke, the flavors are fuller in general than other brands, and the smoke is very smooth.

the lucid line is a lot more forgiving than noir, and birquq i havent played around with much, but it seems to be inbetween noir and lucid from my experience. either way, keep at it, it's defiinitely worth it
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For Tangiers...

I didn't see any concern with the volume of clouds or note that the flavour was harsh. Only that the flavour was non-existent as compared to the aroma and there was still a buzz. There are a few things that can cause this.

A) Acclimation- There are a few methods of acclimation now (posted below). Even with proper acclimation and fantastic smell, your tobacco might need a minute to get its things together (for various particles to create tighter/stronger bonds). The flavour and nicotine may not be bonded as tightly together as is need for them to vapourize in the same heat range... this would explain no flavour with the buzz.

B) Stirring- Another possibility is that the "juice" is not fully integrated into the tobacco before packing. Before you pack your tobacco be sure to mix thoroughly. Break up any clumps and make sure each piece of tobacco is glistening (the tobacco will take on a dull appearance if it is not coated). The bottom of the container should have little IF ANY pooled juice on the bottom.

C) Packing- While you are packing, you should pack dense but not so dense that the juice squishes out of the tobacco. Use lots of big holes. The holes should be bigger than a toothpick and as many as you can fit on there.

[img]http://i1125.photobucket.com/albums/l590/PrincessCoyote/6D7048EE-E5F7-43F7-90AE-6462C0A0C274-4888-00000364FD57AFBF-1_zps64fc95a2.jpg[/img]

D) When there is a lot of humidity in the environment (before/during/after storms, lots of plants, humidity from cooking, turtle tanks, etc) it may kill the flavor for a short time.

Here are acclimation procedures:


[b]Instant Acclimation-[/b]
With unopened bag
Instant acclimation works
Squish for 2 minutes

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

[b]4/20 acclimation[/b]
Open your Tangiers and empty it into a wide airtight container and stir it up well, making sure to break up any clumps and 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 peek at all. After the 20 hours, open your container, stir thoroughly and give it the smell test. If your 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 me PM.
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"I didn't see any concern with the volume of clouds or note that the flavour was harsh. Only that the flavour was non-existent as compared to the aroma and there was still a buzz. There are a few things that can cause this."

yea this was exactly my problem.

The thing is that 2/3 bags I had were lucid, which I read in different places did not need acclamation.

I did watch packing videos, and my second try with melon blend was insanely good! even with a non tangiers phunnel bowl, I dont know if all others are "chinese" or not but its not tangiers for sure, I wanted one but the medium sized ones were sold out everywhere.

One thing I can definitly think of now based on your comments about the juice of the tobacco is that after I packed my bowls and smoked, I wrapped up the plastic back of the tobacco and put it back in the same clear plastic it came it and allowed it to stand up against some books on my desk, I'd have to say now that if the juice pooling is an issue then I definitly did everything to allow that to happen.....

one question though, is lets say that everything is done right in terms of mixing etc packing etc, do you cuys soke up the juice on the surface of the packed bowl with a tissue? or do you soke it up off all the tobacco you will pack? or not at all? I heard allowing the juice to stay will make the tobacco burn faster, dont know if thats true.......
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Birquq is good, but if you haven't been smoking for a while, (or at least not consistently), maybe you should stick with some different flavors from the lucid line to slowly build up your tolerance. Also, with tangiers you can also watch videos and perfect heat management, and after you open tangiers you have to be careful with how you store it and you need to carefully control the temperature of the room it's kept in.
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[quote name='Silverback' timestamp='1355514495' post='565029']
"I didn't see any concern with the volume of clouds or note that the flavour was harsh. Only that the flavour was non-existent as compared to the aroma and there was still a buzz. There are a few things that can cause this."

yea this was exactly my problem.

The thing is that 2/3 bags I had were lucid, which I read in different places did not need acclamation.

I did watch packing videos, and my second try with melon blend was insanely good! even with a non tangiers phunnel bowl, I dont know if all others are "chinese" or not but its not tangiers for sure, I wanted one but the medium sized ones were sold out everywhere.

One thing I can definitly think of now based on your comments about the juice of the tobacco is that after I packed my bowls and smoked, I wrapped up the plastic back of the tobacco and put it back in the same clear plastic it came it and allowed it to stand up against some books on my desk, I'd have to say now that if the juice pooling is an issue then I definitly did everything to allow that to happen.....

one question though, is lets say that everything is done right in terms of mixing etc packing etc, do you cuys soke up the juice on the surface of the packed bowl with a tissue? or do you soke it up off all the tobacco you will pack? or not at all? I heard allowing the juice to stay will make the tobacco burn faster, dont know if thats true.......
[/quote]

If you're storing the tobacco in the packaging it came in, you're going to continue to jave problems.

Look into some proper storage for your tobacco. I use rubber made take-alongs. Tangiers has to be stirred up before packing each time to make sure the juice is mixed into the tobacco well. If you didn't stir the tobacco after the first time, this could be the cause of your inconsistency.

I don't soak up any juice, ever.

If you are packing so tight that juice is squishing up oit of the tobacco, you are packing too tight.
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Maybe this might help you as well. Its like a tutorial of how to pack a bowl properly.

http://www.shisha-deluxe.de/Ultimate-Shisha-Setups-English:_:45.html

Even though i thought I'd known how to do it properly these graphics helped. I just thought I might give it a shot and surprisingly it works. Well from then I tasted the flavors more intensive.

Good luck to you!

dario
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  • 3 weeks later...
Thanks for the help guys but I have to say after purchasing 250g of lucid schnozberry, ultimately I'm dissapointed, I have to say though when I researched reviews, even on a different hookah forum, there was a consistant message about tangiers, even when the review was an 8-10/10 for flavor, the rating came with a message: the falvor "could" or "should" be stronger etc. I can say that melon blend did have a good strong flavor

Here's my thoughts on hookah, its like eating a really delicous fatty steak, its bad for you but damn it some times you gotta do what tastes good! So I don't mind the "risk" involved with smoking from time to time, but if I'm going to do it, especially if I'm going to smoke something with a higher nicotine content than the other brands ......... it better taste good. (I believe lucid still has a higher content than other brands like AF or SB just from the buzz I get off lucid I dont get with other brands)

I feel like a lot of tangiers fans really hate on starbuzz but I'll say this, starbuzz is consistent, its funny to me that any brand could say that if their stuff doesnt taste right, its because [i]you've[/i] done something wrong lol, thats actually an awesome reputation to have, you didnt pack it right, you didnt punch the holes right, you're not using the right coals, you didnt let it sit out long enough, you're using a chinese phunnel bowl rather than a tangiers phunnel bowl, you live in the north rather than the south, you're in the winter time rather than in the summer time etc.
Not trying to bust anyones chops, thanks for all the suggestions but its too much trouble, right now I've figured a good white peach/pirates cave mix really does it for me in the flavor department, and I'll stick with what I know until the next big thing comes around and I'll drop another 50 bucks giving it a shot. Thanks guys!
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oh silverback, i could have just solved your issues withing 5 minutes, If you do live in "San DIego" just got to the master himself Eric at oddessy well idk if thats what its called now but he would just tell you everything there is to know about his prodcut.
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[quote name='Chreees' timestamp='1357653709' post='567698']How do you live in SD and have not been to Oddessey yet???? [/quote]

^

Oh how I wished I lived in SD :(
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[quote name='Coleman' timestamp='1357691113' post='567773']
guys oddysey is in a really odd placce if you have never been there you wouldnt know where your going.
[/quote]

One word: GPS.

Or Google Maps...
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^this, on more than a few occasions google maps (and even google GPS on my Android) has lead me down either the wrong road or down very, very, very sketchy roads.....but fun times....until i end up dead from a serial killer that is
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