Today’s blog focuses on heat management. Though the top of the Shisha today may be one of the most neglected parts when smoking a Shisha, it can be one of the most influential parts of the Shisha smoking experience.
For those of you who don’t know, a Shisha is heated by Shisha charcoal. Some charcoals are easier to light and arrange than others, but they all serve one common purpose: to heat a Shisha bowl. Heat management and maintaining the heat transfer is the key to gaining the perfect Shisha smoke. A common misconception about Shishas concerns the burning of the tobacco.
When smoking a Shisha, you are never trying to burn the tobacco, you’re merely trying to evaporate and vaporize all the honeys and sugars in which the shisha tobacco is marinated in. Thus, the reason for using charcoal instead of an open flame (as with smoking cigarettes or a cigar). This also explains why the spent tobacco is still in the hookah bowl, unlike cigarette or cigar tobacco burned to ash. You are ideally only vaporizing the shisha tobacco and that is why the smoke is smoother. You are still extracting nicotine and other things out of the tobacco though, so that is why some people still get the nicotine buzz when they smoke a Shisha.
Typically how a Shisha works is based on vaporization: not burning. When you smoke a Shisha, it should always be totally sealed. This way, the top of your Shisha bowl is the only entrance for air when you pull on the Shisha. For best results, you’d like the charcoal to rest at a cooler temperature when the Shisha isn’t in use and heating up to simmer the tobacco when one pulls air through the hose (and over the coal). The type of charcoal you use can greatly impact your ability to properly manage the heat of your Shisha bowl.
