Month: June 2007

Pssst! Did you see that MINI ?

Now this is going to be strange:
I’ve smoked almost only large sized hookahs, and have a medium sized, made my own once, but NEVER smoked a MINI sized hookah.
Hey you out there in cyberspace!
Who’s smoked a mini, who has bought ?
Can see from here the great possibilities of a mini. It comes with its own protective carrying case IF you buy online on the web.
It is great for the beach, won’t tip over in the sand. (Which a large one will , even buried well in the sand for support.
They are easy to clean and care for, cheap to buy, good quality material made by the best manufacturers from India, China Syria, Egypt.
But how well they taste and preform, can’t enlighten you.
I used to take my medium sized to a local graveyard to relax (Only 3 times-I AM weird but not yet crazy!). The medium and mylarge tasted the same.
Lets hear your opinion here in the comments.

Mini Hookah
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Best ideas on where and how to store you mu’assel tobacco

According to the many views on where to store your shisha tobacco, many people have said that keeping it in the refridgerator will ruin it for sure. One blog writer says that he does,but he is a minority of one.
“Tangiers” has addressed this subject in many posts.
The basics he says is the ammount of moisture in the air and how it will affect your shisha tobacco.
Keep in mind that most mu’assel is around 25% glycerine, the wetting agent which keeps the shisha moist. (Try keeping your strawberries fresh for 3 years!). The glycerine also binds the honey, tobacco andfruit. It keeps the shisha from otherwise burning from the heat.
Living is arid desert climates like Saudi Arabia or Arizona will affect the tobacco in one way, and smoking in Iceland or Alaska in the winter quite differently.
Vancouver B.C., Canada is known for its rainy climate almost all the year, and the moisture in the air wil affect the shisha and keep it wet.
But most shisha is manufactured in dry, arid Middle-East. When it comes to you, before smoking Tangiers and other experts agree on opening the box and letting it acclimitize for 2-10 hours, then return it to the box. This conditions it to your climate.
Refridgerating will add cold and moisture, but then you take it out, and then the climate changes it a third time, then if you put it back in the fridge, bigger problems.
Don’t refridgerate, but keep it best in its box, in a tupperware type plastic sealed box and then put in your cabinet-all will be fine.
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Hookah-Lover’s favourite flavour poll

Want to start a multi layered question poll now,

1) “What is your (ONLY ONE) favourite flavour?

2) What BRAND mu’assel shisha-tobacco is your favourite to buy?

You can see some of the company manufacturer’s names on the right hand of the page (but there are many that are omitted here for TEMPORARY lack of time and space)

3) If you were banished to Saint Elba Island like the British banished Napolean Boneparte’ “for Life” and were given all the food, mosquito repellant, videos and free postage stamps (no p.c. or cellphones) that you required
AND a chance to get a free supply delivered of any 5 brands of Shisha Mu’assel combinations with your only 5 favourite flavours, what would they be?

4) “Weirdest flavour you ever HEARD of.
Doesn’t mean you’ve smoked it, or would.
There is cinnamon, Earl Grey tea flavour which I love-but its not sugared at all, Cardammon flavour (Arab Hel flavour for Turkish coffee).
Okay, I’ll admit it here….I eat everything with garlic, have heard of garlic-chocolate so I made once home made garlic shisha with my glycerine, honey,garlic and Iranian (wetted) shisha tobacco.
I liked it, but it stayed the main dominant flavour for the life of my Cobra hose!
Best to write in names of already manufactured stuff like kiwi, pinacolada, tequilla, (Bloody-Mary chaps?). Here is your chance for some imput and personalfame.
Don’t forget, would you bring this flavour to your Elba Island home? Be carefull.
hookah 1 , 4u

First off- so that you won’t think me that bad a speller, I have to write some type-hype right now.
In English if you live inthe UK United Kingdom of Great Britain and its subjects i.e. Jamaica, Israel up until 1948,Arabian countries ,some of africa, Australia,Canada, etc, many words are writtenwith a “U” in them.
Favourite,Flavour,Humour,Qeue,Al-Qemah,Queensbury,Queen,Quneitra (of Syria) etc.
And why you may ask, when the American form of English dropped their “Q”‘s and “U”‘s ?
Well, isn’t English an Anglo-Saxon language first comming from Latin, and as England was conquered in various parts or re-conquered it added on the French Gaul,bits of Spanish (also Gaul), the language added from various Viking conquest, often a quick rape and burn by fellow Ireland who were conquering parts of Britain and being beaten back, the Germanic tribes of Anglos, later the Saxons who did them in, its the story of every nation in the world almost. Changed rulers, cultures, languages ,maps and religions. English is a ever-growing live language. If you had called President Kennedy your “hommie” then he’d” punch you out”, or said to your only one why don’t we jump in my low-rider and rotate these wheels” she’d call her father and probably have you put in jail overnight.(Today many girls haven’t seen their father in 3 years or more).”Whata”!!!!!!!!!!

Exotic shisha tobacco brands

“Al-Ouns”

Those 2 words make me happy to see!

Another of the many Jordanian great shisha tobaccos that His Majesty King Hussein¬† of Jordan’s country are famous for, including Al-Waha, Al-Ouns, Abed El-Khader,Al-Sultan, Saet-Safa ¬†among others.

First heard the name “Al-Ouns” brand shisha from Abu Dani the Christian-Lebanese emigre’ who lives in Ottowa,Canada. He has a 4 year hookah blog , one of the first, and his own online Canadian online stores called “Arguily” which¬† means hookah-shisha -the “Greater Syria” name for hookah, like “narghile ” and “Nargilah”.

http://www.arguily.com/

http://arguily.blogspot.com/

What is “Geater Syria”? The area of Syria,Israel,Jordan and Lebanon” bloc before the English and the League of Nations¬† carved up the Arabian countries among themselves and in most cases drew the new border lines¬† in straight lines.¬† Look at Iraq,Kuwait,Israel,Jordan,Syria and Saudi Arabia-all have those long straight borders unless like in Lebanon Jebal Baruch and the Anti-Lebanon mountains (been there, beautiful) make thier own borders¬† or at Israel and Saudi Arabia,Egypt ¬†the Red Sea (has its own natural way of making borders as well does of course the Mediteranian Sea). We have Lawrence of Arabia and his¬† funny business to partly thank for that! Its an amazing recent history and the reason (politically- not religiously) ¬†for all the fighting in the Middle-East. Can’t blame Israel for that one, as¬† the funny map was drawn right after the end of World¬† War One 1917!

Religious wars of today and political reasons make our countries boiling  after they fermented in hate for a long time.

Back to “Abu Dani”¬† at www//Arguily¬† store and his great hookah blog where he turned me onto the name “Al-Ouns” tobacco. Its the only thing that he smokes personally. Like he mentions¬† ” a Marlboro cigarette smoker smokes only one brand, or a Camel smoker will “Walk a mile for a Camel” cigarette. (Do they still say that in their ads?)¬† As a kid¬† of around 3-4 in 1957 I had that brainwashed into my head . from the comercials.¬† ¬† Imagine my happiness when at age 16 I dumped my Salem’s,Marlboro’s and Lark ciggies and became a dedicated Camel smoker until I quit cigarettes at age 21 cold-turkey in one day and didn’t start again until I was 50 to take up the “hookah¬† hobby”.

So Abu Dani smokes “Al-Ouns”but where was I to get it?

I looked on the online stores and found  www//hookah4Less,www//smoking-hookah.com,  www//arguily.com, www//WestCoastHookahs.com, www//EastCoastHookahs.co and www//Hookah.us 

 had them to buy, online 5  great fruit shisha flavours in 200 gram tins well covered and so wet and juicy really dripping!  The kind you have to wash your hands of after packing your clay bowl!

¬† I ordered and bought Al-Ouns “Double-Apple”.(Apples Flavour) .¬†Its literally the best thing that I have EVER smoked until today June 5th 2007! Double-Apple(apple’s flavour)¬†is strongly anise-based flavour which is…licorice plant flavour. Did you ever drink clear Greek “ouzo” or the same Middle-East “Arak” (same clear drink). No color to it. Add a bit of water and it turns cloudy white in your glass.

That is the¬† beautiful taste of Double-Apple Al-Ouns, and I¬† felt, “Now I know what taste is”. It sounds trite, but its true.¬† It¬† can be ordered, but often not available since its sold out.¬† Try it to find out if I am giving you a bum steer (or a¬† forlorn cow).

They have only 5 flavours, grape, double-apple(apple’s flavour) , mixed fruit,¬†¬†strawberry and cherry. see here the link at the bottom of the page

http://www.smoking-hookah.com/Store/Shisha.asp

If you can get some, or the other 4 flavours you” thank¬† Abu Dani for first¬† showing it to all of the www//

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