Our Top 10 Hookah Tips to Keep Your Hookah Fresh

top 10 handy hookah tips

  Here it is, our top 10 list of the most useful hookah tips we could think of so you can keep your hookah tasting fresh and running in great condition. Nobody likes flavor ghosting, a muddled shisha mix, or a dirty hose with old flavor residue seeping into your freshly packed bowl of shisha. Gross. Read on to learn our top 10 simple hookah tips for the best smoking experience possible.

1. Every Shisha is Different

Every shisha is different, from Al-Waha to Mazaya each tobacco has a different heat resistance and likes to be packed a different way. When packing your bowl, it is important to know how your brand of tobacco smokes best. Something like Haze is very heat resistant and prefers a high fluff pack, often with extra coals to crank up the heat! In contrast, Starbuzz needs a light fluff pack close to the rim but not over, and you should start with a lower heat for this heat sensitive tobacco. You can find the best way to pack your bowl in the “Description” section of any tobacco product carried on SouthSmoke.com.

2. Keep It Clean

It is critical that you clean your hookah after every session, and I don’t just mean dumping your tobacco. If you fail to clean your hookah, especially after a long session, stale smoke and residue can build up fairly quickly. The best practice is to take a set of cleaning brushes and wash your down stem and vase as soon as they have cooled down from your session. Be careful not to use cold water on a still warm/hot hookah as it can cause cracks or even shatter your vase.

3. Purge Purge Purge 

Many people purge their hookah to cool off coals or to clear out stale smoke at the end of a smoking session. But what if I told you that you should purge before you start smoking? When you build your hookah, you are creating a number of air tight seals that allow the smoke to be pulled through your vase. At the same time, you are trapping all of the air that was already in your hookah. A good habit to develop is to purge before taking your first puff, this clears out any trapped air while also allowing you to stoke your coals from the bottom. This quick purge could make your first hit just that much better.

4. A Phunnel Bowl is Your Best Friend

Black Phunnel Hookah Bowl A phunnel bowl can be one of the most important tools in any hookah smoker’s kit. The single raised opening in the middle prevents the juices from your shisha seeping into your stem, making cleanup much easier. The shape and design of these bowls allows for better flavor and longer smoke sessions as all of the juices from your shisha are kept in the bowl.

5. Use More Hookah Foil and Pack it Tight

hookah bowl with foil and smoking charcoals on top One mistake a lot of beginners make is not using their hookah foil properly. When you are first putting foil over your bowl you may want to use 1 or 2 sheets depending on the thickness of your foil. A second sheet can better protect the tobacco from direct heat and provide a smoother smoke. It is also important to wrap your bowl tightly, if the foil has space to sag it can create hot spots and burn parts of your bowl.

6. Keep Your Shisha Mixes Simple

hands mixing shisha in hookah bowl close up Sometimes you just want to mix things up, maybe you want to add some minty flavor to your favorite shisha mix or you want to see how blueberry and banana taste together. Mixing different shisha flavors can be fun and exciting and can bring some great new smoking experiences, our only warning would be to play it safe. When mixing shishas, it is usually best to stick to 2 or 3 different flavors. If you mix too many flavors it can be hard to distinguish the flavors you liked in the original blends, creating a messy flavor that doesn't really taste like any one thing in particular. Long story short, keep it simple and mix only a few flavors at a time to set yourself up for successful mixes.

7. Ice Cubes, Inside or Out? Freeze Your Vase?

We’ve all heard it before, if you want a smoother smoking session you can put ice cubes inside your vase. But what if that wasn’t the only way or even the best way? If you’ve ever smoked outside on a warmer day, you may have wanted some ice in the vase to better cool your smoke but the problem comes when the ice melts in the vase. On a warm day with the hot smoke from your hookah the ice may last 20 or 30 minutes but there are other options. One other option in the same style is to put your hookah in an ice bath, surrounding your hookah with the ice rather than filling the hookah can help the ice last longer while still cooling the water inside the hookah. There is another option as well, freezing your vase, if you fill your hookah with water and set your vase in the freezer until a thin layer of ice has formed, be careful not to leave the vase in for too long as if it freezes all the way it can crack the vase. These other methods can help keep your hookah colder even longer on those warm summer days.

8. Flavor Ghosting

Flavor ghosting is a menace that plagues hookah. Stronger flavors can linger in your hookah for ages if not taken care of. Bolder flavors like Al Fakher Mint can linger in a hose forever, no matter how hard you try to clean it, your next flavor could carry over just a bit of that minty freshness keeping you from experiencing other flavors to their full potential. One great practice is to get either a nice washable hose or a disposable hose for those stronger flavors. Disposable hoses can allow you to enjoy your favorite strong flavors without the ghost of flavors past coming back to haunt you on your next session.

9. Hookah HMD Blessing or Curse?

Heat Management Devices or HMDs for short are a bit of a polarizing topic in the hookah community. Some people believe that HMDs are incredible and will not smoke without them while others swear by the traditional foil method, so are HMDs a blessing or a curse? The simple answer is both, for long time hookah smokers having a device to manage your heat output and lengthen your smoking session can be great. For beginner smokers with little to no idea how they like their heat or how to manage their bowl, an HMD can be a curse. You can end up burning your tobacco, or not having enough heat to produce the clouds you want, or any number of issues. Long story short, if you are just getting started on hookah, maybe leave the HMDs to the side for now.

10. Shisha Storage

While tobacco packaging has gotten better and better over the years, we are sorry to say we still can’t suggest keeping your tobacco in them after the packaging has been opened. For an easy at home container, you will want something that is air-tight. Many people use Tupperware, however you can also use something like the plastic container on the SouthSmoke.com if you are trying to keep your favorite storage dishes clean. In the end everyone will enjoy hookah a different way, some people are here for big clouds, others for specific flavors, and others still to experiment and see what kind of crazy combinations they can come up with next. Hookah is meant for community and for relaxation, so no matter what please take the time to sit back and enjoy your time, don’t stress too much about the details. If you have any questions please just give us a call at 888-577-6653 we have experienced hookah smokers available to answer any questions you may have!