Creating big clouds with your hookah is not a daunting task, or it should not be one. Most smokers, especially beginners, find the large, dense and flavorful clouds as some kind of wizardry. This is partly because an ordinary or general approach to using, setting up and smoking shisha using a hookah does not naturally yield the generous clouds of vapor you desire. Also, not everything is about the skill of an individual, as the type of hookah, the specific components of the setup, and your precise approach, make an immense difference.
Quintessential Requisites for Big Clouds
Everything about your hookah, the water, the charcoals, and the shisha tobacco in the bowl, would influence the quality, volume, texture and flavor of the smoke. There are three most important quintessential requisites for big clouds. These are adequate airflow, optimum heat, and cool water. The type and quality of shisha tobacco you use also matters, but not as much as the three quintessential elements. These three can be classified as the secrets to create big clouds.
Adequate Airflow is Imperative
You cannot have large clouds if there isn’t enough air finding its way through into the hookah. This means you must have a sufficient number of pores in the aluminum foil, or any other type of wrap that you may use. Airflow cannot be sufficient if the hookah bowl does not have a sizeable hole at the bottom. Airflow is also influenced by the diameter of the stem, in other words the pathway of the shaft. The size and shape of the base also matters, as it determines how much smoke or vapor can you draw from within the shaft or stem, down to the base containing water, and then inhale through the hose and mouthpiece.
Choose a hookah that has a sizeable bowl with a generous hole and a stem or shaft with enough space inside the tube. Choose a hookah base that holds the required water and leaves enough space for the produced cloud to interact with the liquid, get cooled, and then turned denser as well as more flavorful as a result. The airflow factor alone would not produce large, dense and milky clouds. Heat from the charcoals and temperature of the water in the base are equally important.
Optimum Heat is Ideal
Irrespective of the model of hookah you have and the flavor of shisha tobacco you choose, the number of charcoals used for a session should be proportionate. You should not have excessive heat. You should not have lukewarm air heating the tobacco. Excessive heat burns most tobaccos. Lukewarm heat will not produce enough smoke. This secret requires a bit of practice. A session or two with the type of hookah and a specific shisha flavor should tell you if you are making the right choice. You can always add or remove pieces of charcoal depending on the heat generated in real time. In fact, all experts do this in every session, despite having enough experience.
Water should be Cooler
Don’t use water at room temperature if you want large, dense, flavorful and milky smoke. The smoke generated by heating shisha flavors is hot. The smoke must be cooled down if it has to become denser. If it is not dense, then you would not find it to have much weightage, or heft. Water serves two purposes in a hookah. One is filtration. The other is cooling the smoke. If you use water that is cooler than room temperature, then the smoke would be more pleasant, it would be denser and heavier, the flavor would be more pronounced, and you would get that rich milky appearance.
Some people use ice in the base along with water. This is an absolutely practical option. In fact, ice can be more effective than slightly cold water. However, do not use plenty of ice as that would reduce the space for water. Ice would not serve as an effective filtration medium as water is. You may use water that is slightly cooler than room temperature, and add a few cubes of ice. Do not fill up the base more than you should. If you leave less space inside the base, then you would be adversely affecting the volume of smoke you can draw with every puff.
Parting Tips
Don’t use too little or excessive shisha flavor in a bowl. Both will limit the volume and density of the smoke produced. Don’t draw smoke out before the shisha is heated properly. Don’t go for frequent puffs.
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