I don’t spend a whole lot of time doing research on this topic because I am much more effective when I experiment on my own to find the answer.  So here are my top tips for creating a premium smoking experience by altering how you set up your bowl.

1. Cut your foil some slack.  It’s all too easy to take the foil and pull it tightly over the bowl to make a flat surface for your coal to rest on.  I recommend placing the foil on top of the bowl and then pushing the sides down around the bowl lightly.  Then shift the foil up a quarter of an inch or so and then tighten the excess foil around the base of the bowl.  This allows for there to be a little air chamber in between your coal and the shisha.  This allows the tobacco to burn more slowly and smoothly but be careful because too much of a chamber will make the smoke too light for most seasoned hookah smokers.  Adjust to fit your needs.
   • Aditionally I find it nice to try and make the surface of the foil very “rocky” in that the coal can sit up on the peaks of the foil.  This makes the coal burn evenly by allowing airflow around it, it also helps to keep your shisha from burning, and the ash lands in the “valleys” allowing for the coal to continue burning strong until it goes out.
2. Holes:  size does matter. If you use foil for covering the bowl and providing a platform for your coal you may or may not know just how much the size of those hole really matter to the quality of the burn.  I learned very quickly that as little as 4-5 big holes can take a perfectly good bowl and turn it into a harsh smoky exhaust.  Especially if you use round quick-lite coals which have a little bit of a residual lighter fluid taste this can really have a negative impact for you and your guests, especially if it’s their first time smoking.  The best method I have found is to take a push pin and push it in just enough so that it puncures the foil.   I cant stress this enough, make the holes as small as you possibly can and make many of them as opposed to a few large holes.  I have found this is the most influential factor in creating a smoother more enjoyable smoke flavor and texture without sacrificing thickness.
3. Mix it up a bit. After you have covered your bowl and poked a ton of tiny little holes in your foil, the last thing to do before “lock and load” is to place the bottom of the bowl up to your mouth and blow a short burst of air through it.  This loosens up the shisha that you may have already packed too tightly.  And if you followed step one now you have an extra little chamber for your shisha to pile lightly on top of itself.  This makes for a very easy flow of air through the hookah and a more even burn.  Make sure that you do this over a sink or outside because sometimes you’ll get shisha juice all over the place if your holes are too big or your shisha is very wet.

These tactics work especially well if you have a small bowl for your hookah.  Larger bowls have less trouble with creating an even burn if packed correctly.  Do you have more tips?  I’d love to hear them in the comment for this article.

I like this product for 3 reasons:

1. Without being too cliche and using current popular culture buzzwords, this is an environmentally friendly way to smoke hookah.  With this product you’re actually recycling your old jugs of moonshine and bottles of Jack Daniels for use as your very own tacky but “green” hookah water pipe.  Leave it to us Americans to take the culture out of the hookah.
2. I like the idea of being able to customize my hookah with whatever bottle I can find.  I would take pride in experimenting with different types of bottle shapes and bottle sizes.  It allows you to fit your hookah to personality or your living room.  I’m really interested to start seeing some pictures of what people have come up with using this product.  Please don’t hesitate to send them to me.
3. I especially like this product because it’s dirt cheap.  It’s less than $15 to get your own Witch Hookah set up.  Thats a great deal especially if you’re new to hookah and dont want to commit to a nice one yet.  Check it out in our Store

I’ve read mixed reviews about how well the product works.  It apparently works better on plastic two liter bottles of soda rather than on glass bottles.  Though I’ve hard any leaks are easily sealed with electrical tape, which maybe ruins the whole point of having your own customizable piece of hookah art.

Another similar product I’ve heard about but its significantly more expensive is the HoboHookah.  In addition to the clever name, it looks promising but it’s less available out there.  HoboHookah does have a Hookah Gangbang video to it’s credit:

I’d love to hear your feedback about how these products work.

Method 1: Let me clear my throat

1. Make sure you’re not in a drafty environment with either a window, fan or vent blowing air throughout the room.  You need a still room to maximize your smoke ring potential.
2. Prepare your hookah and make sure you have a good burn with thick smoke.  You can usually tell by how much smoke is filling up in the chamber (the space between the water line and the top of the shisha or glass).
3. Relax and enjoy a few drags   This is actually a very important step.  It takes practice just like whistling but I firmly believe anyone can learn to do it.  I learned in my first few hookah sessions.
4. Inhale deeply and try to keep as much smoke in your mouth as possible as well.
5. Make one of the following faces:
   • Open your mouth while covering your teeth with your lips.  Its sort of like impersonating your granddad who has no teeth.  Don’t leave too much of an opening with your mouth but don’t make it too small.  You’ll find that if you can master step 5 the opening in your mouth wont matter much at all.
   • Or if you prefer you can experiment with a fish face or your “O” face (which may look like this).   A lot of people I see use this method, I found the first method works better for me though.  Would love to hear your comments on which you use.
6. The next step requires a bit of practice to get it right.  Imagine you are trying to clear your throat or coughing very lightly.  Use that strategy to release a short pocket of breath.  Don’t be too concerned with how much breath you release, just focus on being able to control the opening and closing of your throat.  Make it very intentional short, light coughs.
   • When you’re comfortable with that some people will also close their mouth just after the breath of air which helps to make your rings thicker.  Imagine this part as if you’re saying “OUW.”
7. I recommend taking time to appreciate your form before quickly coughing up a cloud of perfect smoke rings.  Take time to appreciate one ring at a time and letting the smoke in front of your mouth clear away before trying your next one.
8. You’ll know you did it right if you have pretty ring formed in front of you.  When you get good at it you’ll find you’re comfortable sending rings anywhere you want and even have them collide into each other.  You’ll be a regular rapid fire ringmaster.
9. Be sure to show off to your friends as much as possible.

Method 2: Jawesome

1. Repeat steps 1-3 from above.
2. This method does not use your lungs at all.  Take a nice big drag of smoke into your mouth and hold it there.
3. Make your “O” face which is like whistling but with a larger opening.
4. With your “O” face close your jaw so that the air that escapes, escapes through your mouth.
5. This is a good method for good distance on your rings and but not as good for maintaining a thick solid form.

Smoke Ring Science

For some of you like me (science minded) it may help to understand the science of a smoke ring and then you’ll figure out on your own how to create the most successful method for producing them.  This was a great link I found for explaining how smoke rings form.  I also find it’s a good conversation starter around the hookah if you can explain why the smoke ring you’re blowing does what it does.  It’s a science lesson with live diagrams and demonstration.