5 Places Around the World Where Hookah is a Must-Have
Hookah appeared a long time ago. The first hookahs are coconut with a pipe hole. Time passed and hookahs changed. New materials were used to create the hookah and its components. During its long history, hookah smoking has spread all over the world. The attitude towards hookah differs in each country. Let's try to understand these differences.
1) United States of America
In some states in the US, smoking in public places is prohibited. In order not to lose their customers, some owners offer their visitors a tobacco-free mixture containing fruits and berries like blueberry flavored hookah and pineapple hookah.
2) Turkey
Turkey also has a ban on smoking in public places. Despite this, hookah remains an integral part of Turkish culture. Hookahs are more popular here than regular cigarettes. People calmly go to the hookah bar for a smoke break at lunchtime.
3) Spain
In Spain, the attitude towards hookah is different. Hookah is considered less harmful and it is legal to have it in cafes. Locals prefer to smoke hookah at home. It is much cheaper.
4) Iran
In Iran, hookah is available to anyone. It can be smoked by men and women. Unlike the Spaniards, locals prefer to smoke hookahs in cafes. Here they combine smoking with tea and sweets, which prevents the drop in blood pressure. Previously, it was allowed to smoke hookah for any person, of any age and gender. Currently, smoking is allowed from the age of 14.
5) Russia
In Russia, smoking in public places is restricted. Some establishment owners, like the United States and Canada, use a tobacco-free mixture. But you can easily find specialized establishments where you can cook a hookah with tobacco. In Russia, this area is developing rapidly. And in each institution, there is a separate specialist who is responsible for hookahs.
Tips To Make Your Hookah Smokier
Even if you have never made a hookah, thanks to our detailed instructions, you can do it. Making a Hookah is not a tough job, but you can easily master it.
- Rinse the hookah thoroughly, check the water in the flask - it must be fresh. To improve the taste of the smoke, you can use milk or wine instead of plain water. Check the shaft - there should be no rust on it (if it is metal).
- Then take all parts of the hookah and check their tightness. Just suck in air through the hookah. If a "draft" draws from some of the cracks, you need to assemble the structure so that air does not pass through. Cover the cracks with tape if necessary.
- After that, you can start hammering the hookah. In order not to wash the bowl after each clogging and so that the bowl is not saturated with the smell of tobacco, it can be pre-lined with a piece of foil. Carefully wrap the inside of the bowl, following its shape and curves.
- When the bowl is wrapped in foil, you can put hookah tobacco into it. No need to squeeze or rinse it. After all, the taste and special smokiness are given by the syrup with which the tobacco is impregnated. After all, as you remember, what we inhale is not smoke from burning, but the syrup that evaporates from hot air. And if we flush the tobacco and deprive it of its precious syrup, what are we going to smoke?
- The tobacco in the bowl should be evenly distributed over the entire surface. In no case should it be tamped and compacted? There should be a space between the pieces of tobacco through which air will pass.
- Pour just enough tobacco into the bowl so that there is at least 3 mm of space on top. This prevents the tobacco from touching the coals. If the tobacco touches the coals, it will start burning. As a result, we will get an unpleasant, bitter hookah taste.
- Cover the tobacco with foil. Foil can be special, ordinary food, and even from a chocolate bar. It also does not matter which side you install the foil - matte or shiny.
- After that, holes need to be made in the foil. This can be done with a simple needle or toothpick. However, if you often make hookahs, we advise you to make such a tool. Use pliers to stick a regular needle into the wine cork. It is quick and convenient to pierce foil with such a device. In addition, such a tool will always be at your fingertips. For the hookah to give a lot of smoke, the holes must be made not in the center, but as if in a circle of foil. This will allow the coals to remain in the center, but not ignite the tobacco.
- Then place the pieces of charcoal on the foil. The number of coals can be different, just like the size of the embers. The main thing is to make sure that the tobacco warms up, but does not catch fire.
- After setting the charcoal on, cover the bowl with the cap. If there is no special cap, you can make a cylinder out of foil and put it on top. This will allow the tobacco to warm up much faster.
- After that, you can start lighting the hookah. Inhale the vapors, change the position of the coals.
- Usually, one portion of tobacco needs to be smoked for no more than half an hour. It is believed that after the specified time, the syrup completely evaporates and the tobacco begins to burn. So we begin to inhale real smoke, that is, we simply smoke.
- After you have smoked the hookah, remove the tobacco foil from the bowl. The tobacco should be slightly oily. If it is singed and dry, then you have smoked it for too long.
- After smoking, be sure to rinse the hookah hose. After it dries, it will be almost impossible to wash the pieces of ash and other substances.
This is a simple algorithm for hammering in a delicious smoky hookah without bitterness.