Hookah / Shisha Setup and Smoking Guide

    Before purchasing online, find out about exchange policies if any parts arrive defective. Most retailers are good about this but some are not, abandoning the purchaser to deaf ears. Do your research. Find out what others have said about certain retailers. Fortunately, purchasing in a shop allows for inspecting the unit on the spot. Upon receiving your hookah or before you purchase at a shop, inspect the parts. Check for cracks or chips in the glass water bottle and head. If you're in a store, ask for a replacement. The bowl should have all the holes on top going through to the bottom. Most bowls have four or five holes.
    Inspect the valve opposite the hose stem by unscrewing it and seeing the ball bearing present. Check for rust or other oxidation. A light lubricant is OK. Don't lose the bearing! Be careful when removing the valve cover. If it is missing, air will enter there and dilute the smoke. Screw the cover back on. The valve is present for gently blowing excess smoke out of the unit if it's too thick. Don't blow too hard during your smoking or you'll force water up the stem!
    Inspect the hose. It should smell clean and not of smoke. Make sure any embellishments are properly glued on place. Plug the end and blow into it, checking for leaks. Washable hoses are recommended, they're usually made in Jordan. The most popular introductory hoses are NOT washable, and they have steel coils inside the fabric to hold the shape of the hose.
    Visually inspect your accessories such as tongs, brushes, and tray.
    Inspect the main stem for dents, cracks, or corrosion. Inspect all welds along the stem. Sometimes there might be some residue on the inside of the stem, and this is from the casting process during manufacture. Try to choose one where this is mostly removed. Don't worry too much though, this residue is easily removed anyway. Also check the flatness of the platform where the coal tray will sit. One retailer tried to sell me a unit where this was bent up on two sides AS IF I didn't know what I was looking at.

Need some basic assembly help?
Hookah assembly is quite straight forward, as just looking at the photos you can see how it's put together. The most common hookah model includes three grommets for the single hose model. The largest one is for the water bottle / stem junction of course, the medium for the top of the stem, and the smallest is for where the hose joins the stem. For the water bottle grommet, it's best to use a little water or dishwashing liquid soap on the contact surfaces for easy assembly/disassembly, which will take some wiggling and force. Try not to go too far sideways with the stem durring your wiggling. Be careful but firm. For the medium and small grommets, only water is necessary, if at all.
Assuming you have your hookah assembled, fill the base with water and several ice cubes so that the water level is about 1.5 - 2 inches above the bottom of the pipe when it is properly affixed to the base. It's best to fill it with small ice cubes and THEN add the water to the desired level. Some ice will melt when you add the water so it will all work out. Some people like to add lemon juice or orange juice to the water for slightly different flavor, but this depends on the compatibility of your maassell flavor. If you are going to do this, only add about a cup or less depending on the size of your base. Other known additives include a little red wine or tequila for the flavor, or milk to make the smoke thicker, since less is absorbed by the liquid. Beware of smelling the milk after a smoke. (You've been warned.) The HC staff doesn't recommend milk use anyway, besides being a waste of milk, and enjoys a halal shisha (no alcohol in it).

Test for leaks!
With it fully assembled and all the grommets in place, test for leaks. If you've got a double or triple hoser and you're going for a solo session, be sure you have rubber stoppers for the unused hose junctions. Firmly seal all grommet junctions. Put your flat hand on top of the bowl and inhale. It doesn't matter that you have no water in the base, you're listening for escaping air! If it's a grommet, make it tighter. A good way to seal the large vase grommet is to put a single drop of dishwashing liquid on it and distribute it around the outside where the grommet contacts the vase. Good seal, and also makes for easy assembly/disassembly. Be sure the base grommet is snug against the top of the stem. If it's a leaky weld, you have a problem especially if you don't have a soldering iron. Welds occur at points where stem sections join, however they may CRACK during shipping or transport! You can either return the merchandise or attempt to fix it yourself. A real hookah shop will let you test for leaks on the spot! If they are confident in their merchandise then they will let you.

Care to attempt to fix a weld? It's harder than you think to do it successfully and have it not look like crap when you're done unless you're lucky. Well, there's a certain amount of luck that occurs with patience and some dexterity. The welds are done with low-temp lead-based solder with a seemingly fair amount of flux and are done smoothly. Don't use a blowtorch or propane torch, you'll blue the metal or worse. Plus you might have a chance of sending a lump of solder down the INSIDE of the stem and blocking a passage! It happens instantly and is shocking when the metal disappears into the stem! Not good. It happened to us, luckily it got loose with a tap and rolled out the bottom. The best strategy here (we found out next) is to use a soldering iron and try to keep even heat around the circumference of the stem at the weld site. The weld will soften and you also have a chance at reforming the weld with a smooth texture. Adding your own solder to the mix shouldn't be a problem either, just make sure you melt both weld materials thoroughly. In fact it might be required that you add some of your own solder (not too much!) to add necessary heat distribution. You'll have a successful re-weld when you see a smooth texture in the molten solder all around and it's sticking well to the base metal. The process will take some time, patience, and "oh please." Good luck!

A word about maassell - ma'assell - mu'assell - how many other spellings are there? This is an Arabic word so it can only be expressed phonetically. Remember how many spellings for Khaddafi there were?
Maassell - the word for the tobacco mixed with a sugar syrup and fruit extract and sometimes bits which is smoked in a shisha. It is the proper Arabic term for the product. There are many other spellings, but it is spelled to facillitate the proper proncounciation by the non-Arabic speaker. Sometimes the first syllable is accented. Some flavors smell REALLY nice, others don't, it's a personal preference. It is offered in a large variety of flavors from white peach, apple (very popular), mixed fruit, strawberry, rose and even cappucino! There are several brands. Traditional maassell brands include Nakhla, Al-Waha, and there's even a brand called Al-Jazeera. Although the term means "The Island," I thought (as most of us) that the name was reserved for the news organization. U.S. brands include Romman and Splash, and these are very moist and flavorful. There are other types of tobacco made for the shisha, with more tobacco-like flavors and different bonding agents, if any. One variety comes from Persia, as there is a Persian strain of tobacco. As more information becomes available, it will be posted, but for now we're addressing the most popular, which is maassell.

Adding the maassell
Break up any clumps you see and take out any stems. Gingerly lay the maassell evenly along the bottom of the bowl. One strategy is to put a sharpened pencil or a stick into the middle hole of the bowl and have it stick out the top while you fill the bowl. This is to have one clear air passage to the stem. Don't worry about the other holes, they will still serve their purpose. Fill the bowl evenly with the maassell to about a millimeter from the top edge. Don't tamp or compress. Take out the stick or pencil once the bowl is evenly filled. Don't fill the bowl to the top or else it will burn! Bad flavor there. Fill the bowl to a few millimeters below the rim.

Screen or not?
Many traditional smokers don't use a screen between the tobacco and the coals. This depends on the type of tobacco you're smoking - sugared (maassell) or plain - but the most popular seems to be the apple or double apple flavored maassell. Many traditional smokers don't use a screen no matter what they smoke. The coals don't burn the material all the way down, but it will form a burned skin that forms a barrier between the coals and the rest of the material. It seems the old timers frown and roll their eyes at screens in any form, only the young set uses them.
Many people use tin (aluminum) foil, shiny side down, across the top of the bowl and place the coals on top of that. However over the long term this isn't good for a few reasons. First, there are impurities (chemicals!) in the foil that burn off with the heat of the coals into your smoke, and also aluminum exposure is very bad as well. If you must use foil, the method is simple: Cover the loaded bowl with a taught piece of foil, and seal around the rim firmly. Take a toothpick or something just as thick and poke about 20 holes evenly distributed on the surface.

UPDATE! The HC owner has PERFECTED a foil hole pattern!
Use a toothpic for this, as it makes perfect holes. Just barely puncture the foil, you don't want large holes!
Don't use a needle or pushpin either, those holes are too small. The holes pictured are about to scale.
Perfect heat distribution, product consumption and smoke thickness!
Excellent results with all coals that cover the bowl thoroughly.
This works especially well with the medium sized Egyptian brown bowl.

For other bowls, it seems to be hit or miss, but the main thing to understand here is that there's a
delicate balance with heat and its distribution over the mo'ahsell. Wider bowls like more holes,
but they need more of them with a pushpin, and charcoal distribution is best when it's covered
with a lot of little chunks of finger coal.

Metal screens are also popular and less harmful. They are durable and allow easier access to the bowl. (Smoking strategies discussed later!) Try to locate stainless steel screens, but they're not very common. However they usually provide for a less dense smoke than with the foil and above hole pattern. Heat transfer from the coals to the maassell is reduced because the screen lets through much more air, however this can be overcome by using more coals. Another strategy is to use the wind cover, it concentrates the heat! You'll be surprised at how effective it is, and how hot the cover gets. Careful when removing. Which leads us to the next topic.....

Coal strategy
There are a few kinds of coals for the hookah, but the main difference is whether they are self-lighting or not. Quick-lights come in rolls or boxes full of rolls. You can also get a few kinds of natural coals that take effort to light (compared to the quick-lights) and ideally require a good stove or firepit. Light quick-light coals outside! Finger coals light easily on a gas or electric coil stove. Break long fingers in half or thirds. Snapping accurately is easier with some brands more than others.

AVOID THESE AT ALL COSTS!
These Syrian "quick light" coals are a royal pain to light and they don't last long AT ALL. Plus they taste like you're sucking on a tailpipe.
In fact, avoid all Syrian "quick-lights."

These are the 3 Kings brand quick lights.
They come in regular size round tablets and large rounds. Get these if you can as well as 3 Queens, Golden brand, or any rolls made in Greece.

Don't use BBQ coals! Carbon monoxide, bad taste, need I say more? Fine for steaks, not for hookah. The self lighting coals are discs about 1.5 inches across and contain a firework chemical that aids in the ignition of the entire coal. After lighting, blow the coal all over to make it bright red for half a minute to make sure most of the chemicals have burned off. Golden brand and Three Kings/Queens charcoals seem to be the standard brand, but there are a FEW other good brands. The rolls from Greece are excellent if you can find them in a store. The good brands have thick discs that light completely and quickly first time, every time. Regular charcoals require a flame and more time to ignite fully, and are of course of odd shapes and sizes. Perfect if you have a gas stove. They are chemical free and are usually of olive or citrus wood. The olive wood and lemon wood coals might add a flavor. Natural coals often last longer and contribute to a much more pleasant smoke due to the purity and flavor because you taste the ma'asell more, and the coal less. In general it would be wise NOT to use natural coal lumps if you have a carpet because they tend to do surprise crackles.

Natural coals can also be lit on the kitchen stove if you have the electric coil type burners. The processed finger type natural coals light best here. Brands like Nour are OK. Put two 2-inch pieces on the stove coils and crank it up to the highest setting. After a a few minutes take your tongs and flip them over. Be sure your hookah is totally ready to go before doing the coals! (Duh.)

A word about the lemonwood coals -- yes they're natural wood coals but when you put them on the stove to light them they occasionally crackle and shoot hot embers! Not particularly good for carpet environments when you have a misbehaving rogue coal! If you've got a fire and tile environment though, these coals go well.

So now that you've got some red-hot coals going..... Unless you're going to transport a piece at a time from the fire to the hookah with your tongs, you should have something to carry them in! Look at the frame above and get an idea. Just don't punch the holes in the bottom or you'll have red hot bits dropping out onto your floor or worse yet, your CARPET! We've got a great one here, we'll get a pic up here soon! Super simple, you'll be amazed. Tin can and coat hanger wire, get creative!

If you're using coal disks, start with two. Using the tongs, lay one flat between the center and the edge of the bowl, and lean the other one against it over the other half of the bowl. If you have room with a wider bowl, you can lay them next to eachother. With natural coals, you can have a variety of sizes, so take advantage of that. Two mediums and a small coal should be OK. Start puffing, it will take several to get the bowl going. Another trick to get a hotter bowl and thicker smoke is to use the wind screen. It really traps and concentrates the heat!

Smokin'!
As you're enjoying, it's not completely maintenance-free. Ideally, you should have a flavorful and thick smoke with minimal inhalation effort. You shouldn't be laboriously inhaling for long periods of time for a thin smoke.

As the coals burn, take your tongs and tap the ash from the coals into the tray and replace them on a different area of the bowl. Here's a secret that many don't take advantage of... After about 30 minutes of smoking, take the screen off and flip the maassell cake evenly to expose the fresh layer underneath! Replace the screen and coals. If you're using disc coals, they might be just over halfway done. Set them next to eachother on top of the bowl and angle lean a freshly lit coal on them both, in a triangular pattern so that the three coals evenly cover the top. Now you'll get a nice thick smoke to end the bowl with. When using natural coals, you just add as you go every so often since the sizes and shapes are more random. Either way, tap the ash off your coals as you smoke and replace them to a different area of the top.

If you're using two pieces of Nour finger coals, they just might last exactly the entire bowl. No need to move them around, they cover the bowl well. Place and forget!

Burning?
You shouldn't be tasting a burning flavor. If you taste burning and you didn't fill the bowl to the top, it could be because you have too much coal on. Two disks or 2 fingers are sufficient. Things get less precise with natural charcoal lumps which are random in size and shape. If you have the windscreen on, take it off, since it concentrates heat. Another reason for burning is aggressive smoking - too much heat in a short period of time. Blow the burnt smoke out the valve and hold off inhaling for a few minutes and remove a coal. Coal strategy is a learning process with your particular hookah, but there are some standard strategies.

Remember the three main tips: Don't fill the bowl to the top, use the foil pattern provided, and cover the bowl with one layer of coals - don't pile them on!

A word about smoking additives
Experimentation is human nature. What you smoke in your hookah is your business, but remember that some things leave their smell and residue forever unless you do an absolutely thorough cleaning! Unless you have a washable hose, you're totally stuck. Sometimes if you try a weird maassell flavor, you can taste tinges of it later on. Washable hoses are recommended, save the original nice ones for special occasions and guests.
One nice additive is DARK pipe tobacco from a tobacconist. Mixed with Splash or Romman brand maassell for the moisture, a good ratio is 3:1 or 4:1 by volume (not weight) of maassell to dark tobacco. Mix thoroughly in a ziplock plastic baggie. Remove stems. You might need less coal than usual for that mix.

Problem? Here are a few quick fixes.
The most common problem is leaks, which can result in a diluted smoke. Leaks occur where pieces join together of course, and they can usually be easily detected and fixed. Suck through the hose and place your flat hand over the bowl and suck. You should have a vacuum effect at your hand. Keep sucking and listen where pieces of your hookah join together for air. If your rubber grommets are old and cracked, you might need replacements, but they usually last a long time. One way to make a good seal as well as afford easy assembly and disassembly is to LIGHTLY apply some liquid dish soap or water to the grommets. Remember that a little soap goes a long way. If the leak is too extreme, such as often happens where the hose joins to the stem into the grommet, you can wrap a few things around the wood tip. Inch-wide strips of paper towel, paper napkin, tin foil, damp cotton rag, whatever. Moistening might help. This solution will also work for the head-to-stem seal. If there is a tiny leak, don't worry about it, because your smoking will move far more air than the leak and through the path of least resistance.