August 30th, 2010
Posted by: kalutika
This is a topic that I hear brought up quite regularly.
“I’m sick. Should I stop smoking hookah?”
The short answer: Yes!
Smoking of any kind is bad for you and makes it harder for the body to recover from illness. The worst case scenario is if you are dealing with a chest cold or other kind of respiratory infection. I wanted to make it clear right off the bat that if you are smoking while you have an illness of the lungs you are just asking for serious trouble. Pneumonia is just one of the many complications that could arise.
Less sever illness should be treated the same as well. If you are sick to your stomach then smoking is just going to make that worse. If you are smoking tobacco the nicotine is going to add even more to that. If you have a head cold it’s kind of silly to smoke at all for a few reasons. Firstly, smoking can prolong a sickness by weakening your natural defenses. Second, if you are having trouble breathing because of a stuffed up nose then hookah is just going to make it worse. Lastly, if you’re stuffed up you can’t taste the hookah in which case, why smoke it at all?
With something like allergies, of which I am a sufferer, hookah can be smoked but should be taken in moderation. Very strong flavors like mint and menthol can actually be a nice bit of relief for itchy and stuffed up sinuses. I have a hookah flavor mix that I use once in a while when my allergies act up and when I am looking for something really strong to smoke. I call it Vicksotussin. Al Fakher cardamom mixed with Nakhla Mint. Super strong, cooling and relieving blast of spicy, minty, burning goodness.
My favorite sinus clearing flavors are
Nakhla Mint
Nakhla Cinnamon
Nakhla Cardamom
Al Fakher Mint
Al Fakher Cardamom
Social Smoke Absolute Zero
Social Smoke Cinnamint
If you have light to moderate allergies these are great flavors to keep around. Not only are they awesome flavors of hookah tobacco but they are strong and will help open up the sinuses. Cardamom is a little bit strong for some people but I LOVE it. If you do get some I suggest mixing a small portion of it with a mint and see what kind of flavors you can pick out and move up from there. Cardamom is also a traditional spice used in Turkish coffee so I mix it with coffee flavors like Starbuzz Arabic Coffee and enjoy.
The bottom line. If you are sick smoking hookah is just going to make you sicker or make this sickness last longer. It’s no worth it. It’s a great hobby and very relaxing but it’s not worth risking your health over.
Smoke healthy, my friends.
Tags: absolute zero, allergies, cardamom, cinnamon, coffee, health, Kalutika, mint, nakhla, social smoke, spice, starbuzz
Posted in Hookah Tips | No Comments »
August 28th, 2010
Posted by: Nima
Following are the latest hookah bars that I’ve added to the hookah bars directory:
Been to either one of them? Would you be willing to write us a guest blog post reviewing the hookah bar?
Posted in Hookah Reviews | No Comments »
August 23rd, 2010
Posted by: kalutika
Cola is a flavor that seems fairly popular in the hookah community. It’s also quite the variable flavor because there are so many different versions of cola in the world.
The smell on this one in the can is very sweet and spicy. It smells great. It smells like cola but it’s more of a classic cola scent. It’s less like modern sodas and more like something you would find in the line up of a classic soda company.
The clouds are great. Social Smoke is a modern style tobacco so it has good heat resistance and is made to produce big clouds with smooth smoke.
The flavor is very similar to the smell. Very sweet and spicy. It’s great. I’m not a soda drinker but i am a sucker for classic stuff like birch beer and the old recipes. This flavor has notes of caramel in the background supporting a big spice profile in the foreground. I’m not talking about strong cinnamon here but it’s present. It’s got a nice vanilla presence and other nuances that I can’t quite place. Perhaps a very slight licorice that is very nicely balanced.
8.5 out of 10. I think this is a great flavor. It’s mellow but strong at the same time. It’s something that I can smoke regularly without getting sick of it and it’s not so sweet that it becomes cloying or unpleasant. Anyone that likes spice flavors, cola flavors or classic soft drinks should pick this up. I think it could be a little more accurate to the modern cola to satisfy the modern soda drinker but I wouldn’t mess with it any more for fear of breaking up the nice balance of flavors that I am currently enjoying.
If you want to buy this flavor it’s available by following this link.
Tags: 8.5, cola, Kalutika, social smoke, spice
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August 20th, 2010
Posted by: kalutika
When I first started smoking hookah a long time ago I bought a couple of these bowls. I have since moved onto other types of bowls but I keep a couple of these around.
These bowls are similar to a standard modern ceramic bowl. They are thin walled ceramic but are quite durable. The actual bowl is perfectly fine and a good bowl. The only real problem is that it requires a thick grommet as the bottom of the bowl is fairly wide.
The wind cover is useful sometimes but often times it’s a bother. The latch and wind cover combination is a good idea but it heats up quickly making it impossible to adjust the coals without burning your hands if it’s latched in place. I suggest leaving it unlatched and adjusting the height of the wind cover with your tongs. In this way it offers a good amount of control over the heat by allowing you to adjust how close to the coals you want the wind cover to be.
The other problem I found was that the wind cover rusted fairly quickly. It’s not a big deal but I found it unpleasant and discouraging.
These bowls are great for those that are worried about dropping coals while moving the hookah. I have used them entirely open and then closed it when I wanted to shift the hookah to prevent spills. It’s also a good idea to use these if you plan on smoking in the woods or other places where brush fires are a risk. Lastly, if you wanted to make a portable hookah, this would be the bowl to use.
These are hard to rate. They are a very specialized bowl and are terrible in some situations but good in others.
The actual bowl part gets a 6 out of 10 from me. It’s nothing special but it’s a good modern ceramic bowl.
The wind cover part gets a 5 out of 10. It’s more adjustable than a standard wind cover but it’s harder to adjust one you have started the session. The latch is useless unless you are trying to make a hookah for your car.
All together I give this hookah bowl a 5 out of 10. It’s a decent bowl but it’s not always the right choice. It has some very specific situations in which it’s actually useful. I think it’s good to keep one around, especially if you have a travel hookah.
You can buy the large ceramic bowl with wind cover by following this link if you want to give them a try. I made great use of them for quite a while.
Tags: 5, bowl, Kalutika, review, windcover
Posted in Hookah Tips | No Comments »
