How to set up a hookah?

Middle Eastern culture is a mystery inside an enigma, and that concerns all of its elements, including hookah smoking. Preparing tobacco, device cleaning, refueling, smoking — each stage has its own features and secrets. The design of Nanosmoke hookahs is aimed at simplifying the process of hookah setting, but there are nuances that should be taken into account when packing any hookah device with tobacco. Thus, let us consider step by step how to make a hookah at home so that the taste and saturation of smoke clubs meet the standards of the best hookahs of the Middle East.

Before setting up a hookah at home, you should check the availability of all necessary materials. You will need: a hookah, purified water, tobacco or hookah smoking mix, paper napkins, some foil, charcoals, automatic gas burner.

Before use, all parts of your hookah must be well washed. Any model of Nanosmoke hookah is easy to disassemble, which allows you to clean the device properly. If the device has already been in use, disassembling option will enable you to remove any harmful precipitation from the vase. Let us move on to the assembly:

1. Fill the vase with liquid so that the shaft is immersed two or three centimeters deep. Always pour fresh purified water. Sometimes milk, juices or alcoholic drinks are used for special flavour. NB: any liquid is only a supplement to water and should not exceed ⅓ of the total liquid volume in the vase.
2. Prepare your tobacco mix. Put the right amount of mixture on a paper napkin and sponge up the tobacco a bit with the tissue. It should be «fluffed» so that there are no lumps. Do not cut tobacco, as it will burn out faster and there is a risk of getting burnt taste in your mouth instead of some nicely flavoured smoke.
3. Pack the bowl. In order to determine the right amount of tobacco mix, you should rely on the size and depth of your bowl. Place the tobacco evenly so that there is about 3 mm lower than the bowl edges. Do not put the foil with smoldering coal directly on your tobacco mix.
4. Cover the packed bowl with foil and place the bowl onto the shaft. For thick foil a two-layer fold is enough. If the material is thin, you might need 3-4 layers of foil. The main aim of this stage is to create good material tension, the foil should not sag.
5. Fix hookah tubes and prepare individual mouthpieces.
6. Fire up the coals using a burner or a stove. For a standard-sized bowl you need 2-3 pieces of charcoal. Place hot coals on the foil. Cover them with the lid.

These steps describe a proper way how to set up a hookah at home. But there are still a number of subtleties that can help achieve the most intense scent, flavour and dense smoke clubs.

How to properly pack a hookah (bowl) at home?

The density and taste of hookah smoke depends on both the quality of your tobacco mix and the way you have prepared your tobacco and packed the bowl. Professional hookah-makers have a good understanding of various tobacco mix types and choose the best way of bowl filling for each of such mixes.

Before packing a Nanosmoke hookah bowl at home, check out the characteristics and the rate of combustion of the tobacco brand you are going to use. When planning to smoke popular brands of hookah tobacco, follow our recommendations below in order to get some dense, saturated smoke:

• Humidity level of your tobacco should be moderate. Over-dried mix will burn quickly and it will be difficult to smoke tobacco that is too wet. If your mix is too damp, sponge it up with a paper napkin and thoroughly «fluff it up».
• Tension of the foil should be strong enough, while the foil fold should be quite thick. Coals should heat the tobacco, but be careful not to fry it. In order to balance the heat, make 10-15 holes in the foil. Leave the center intact.
• Spread the maassel evenly in the bowl. Do not pack it tight, but make sure that there are no empty spots in the bowl. The whole surface of the hookah bowl should be covered with an even thick layer.

In order to make the process of smoking even more authentic, pay attention the atmosphere is important. Traditionally, a hookah is smoked in a circle, when one person passes the hose to another clockwise. The person who packs the bowl and lights up the hookah has the priority of smoking. The person responsible for the coals is next in line, and then the rest of the circle follow in their turn. It is considered bad form to pass the mouthpiece from hand to hand. Having smoked in your turn, you should put the hose down, then the next person in line takes it and starts smoking. Compliance with the rules of preparation and authenticity of hookah smoking are key factors that will enable you to enjoy the process as much as possible.

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