Caravansarai Hookahs

Everybody loves a freebie, right? Ok, so c'mon and get happy with us! We're offering one FREE box of 50 grams of Saalaam Herbal Shisha to the first 50 people who email us their name and shipping address. Once the 50 samples are gone, the promotion will end. One sample per person and per address, please.

Most hookah fans have heard of 3 Kings charcoal, even if they haven't used it. In the wonderful world of hookahs, the 3 Kings brand is known as the best of the best as far as instant lighting charcoal goes. I like to call it the Rolls Royce of hookah coals.



Ali, the amazing Egyptian dude and our resident hookah master, didn't like to use the instant light type of coals. Ok, so he's a bit old-fashioned because he prefers the natural wood type coal that is used in Egypt. But with so many customers stopping by our shop for a chat and a hit, it became necessary for him to find a coal that he could start and use fairly quickly. Enter 3 Kings -- no, not the guys riding on camels through the desert night! I'm talking about the charcoal brand. 3 Kings comes from Holland, where it was originally made for burning incense. Ease of lighting and lack of aftertaste soon made the 3 Kings brand a popular choice among hookah users, too.



3 Kings comes in two sizes: 33mm tablets and 40mm tablets. For the 32" tall hookahs that we use at the shop, Ali uses the smaller size most of the time because it fits so nicely in the center of our charcoal screens. No matter which size tablet you prefer, both of them come in a box with 10 foil-wrapped rolls with 10 tablets in each roll.



The coal can be started easily with a torch type cigarette lighter, but Ali gets them going by putting them on the coils of an electric hotplate so that he can do other things while they heat up. These coals don't smell, burn evenly and consistently, produce a smooth ash that isn't super messy, and leave no aftertaste in the shisha. A single 33mm tablet will last 25-30 minutes; one 40mm tablet lasts about 45 minutes to an hour.




Ratings:
Quality = 10/10
Price = 8/10

Carleen here, hanging her head in shame. I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted on our blog until I got the bright idea to pimp it a bit a few days ago. Life sure does have a way of getting in the way of all the things I intend to get done every day! So, what has been going on at Caravan trading since the last post? Here's the latest scoop:

WE HAVE KHALIL MAMOON PIPES!

Our last container, which arrived from Egypt a couple of months ago, included an exclusive Khalil Mamoon ice chamber shaft. Ali grew up with Khalil Mamoon's sons, who now run their father's business, and on his last trip to Cairo, decided to pay them a visit. The result of that visit was an amazing ice chamber shaft that is exclusive to Caravan Trading. Because the bulk of our business is wholesale -- that's how we are able to offer such low prices on such amazing pipes!--you might see a few of these shafts being offered on other sites. But no matter where you find them, they came from us! We're in the process of preparing our next container for shipment, and it, too, should have some more Khalil Mamoon shafts in it. So if you happen to be a fan of the Mamoon pipes, keep your eye out for the announcement that we've got a new shipment.

PIMPED BLOG

I've completely redone our blog! Ok, well it's not totally finished, but you should see at least a few different things. The new layout is much easier on the eyes and lots easier for me to keep organized. The box at the top left of the page includes an online store where you can see just about everything that we currently have in stock. There is also a slideshow of hookah photos that may not show up in the store. If you see a picture in the slideshow but not the store, just call us--we can tell you whether it's still available or not and how much it costs.

I've included a news section, too. With all the hookah hype that goes on in the media, it's important to keep up with the anti-smoking lobby and laws because they have a direct impact on your freedom to smoke hookah. Some of these groups are so radical that, if they had their way, we wouldn't even be able to smoke in the privacy of our own homes! If you happen to live in Southern California and can't find a place to smoke hookah, take a trip to Long Beach where the secondhand smoke hype doesn't have a stranglehold on city officials as you can read in this interesting article.

The links section isn't ready yet, but I'll start working on it soon. If you have a hookah-related blog or website of your own that you'd like me to add, send us a link so that we can check it out and we just might add it to our list.

NEW SAALAAM FLAVORS

We are so excited about the overwhelmingly positive response that Saalaam Herbal Shisha has received around the world. With distributors now in Russia, Germany, Holland, and Canada, we're looking forward to sharing this gem of a non-tobacco shisha with an even larger group of hookah fans.

At the moment, we have 9 flavors, tested and approved by our customers, available: Tiramisu, Spiced Chai, Chocolate Raspberry, Lemon Pucker, Breeze O'Mint, Wildberry, Boysenberry Blast, Key Lime Pie, and Cherry Cola. By summer, we will add Strawberry, Orange, Strawberry Kiwi, Cinnamon Apple, Banana, Coconut, Rose, Mixed Fruit, Mixed Berry, Red Cherry, Grape, Blueberry, Orange Blossom, Tamarindo, Chocolate Mint, Apple Cider, Watermelon, Summer Melon, Mystic Berry, Mango Mandarin, and several others. By the end of the summer, Saalaam will be available in 35 mouth-watering, zero nicotine flavors!

BLACK HOOKAHS

Over the years, we've had many requests for black hookahs. We've seen the mass manufactured Chinese models with black bases and wondered how anyone could gauge the water depth in the base when seeing it isn't possible. It took our craftsmen a while, but they finally figured out a way to get some sweet black bases without sacrificing the ability to determine water depth. Our latest shipment included some black bases in a few different designs, shapes, and styles.

So far, the most popular one by far is the Black Hieroglyph, which is shown in a single hose model on the left. The base is in the traditional shape and is made of white frosted glass that has been hand painted with characters from ancient Egyptian hieroglypics. Included in the design are the wadjet (also called the Eye of Horus) and the ankh (also called the key of life). Ancient Egyptians believed that the wadjet had healing powers and often used it as a protective amulet. The symbol of the eye was also part of the mathematical system that the ancient Egyptians used. You can learn more about the wadjets role in math here. The ankh symbolized life to the ancient Egyptians, which is why it's also called the "key of life." When Christianity came to Egypt, the ankh became the Coptic cross. Tour Egypt has an excellent article on the history, significance, and evolution of the ankh.

Another black hookah that we now have is the Black Giza with an unadorned pyramid shaped base. So if you want a solid black hookah with no decoration on it, this is the one you need. Like the Hieroglyph, the Giza is available in one and two hose models.

There are other happenings for me to report, but I will save them for another day. I'm going to do my best to post more frequently, honest!

If I had a dime for every time I heard an older adult lament the bad behavior of youth, I'd be a gazillionaire! The older generation complains about young people all the time, yet they never seem to offer a viable solution to the things they see as problems among the youth. Take for example, an interesting situation that has been going on in Napa Valley, California.

Napa Valley, long known as California's wine country, is a popular destination for tourists. As a result, businesses in the Valley cater to visitors. Hot air balloon rides, winery tours, fine dining, and wine tasting events are great for tourists and, I'm sure, provide them with a wonderful vacation. However, there are people who actually live in Napa Valley -- people who have families. The teens of Napa Valley aren't old enough to participate in the alcohol related events and don't have the disposable income to afford the fine dining experience (and probably wouldn't be interested in it anyway). So what is a bored teen to do in Napa Valley?

Evidently, nothing. Businesses designed to cater to the locals tend to have run-ins with neighbors who don't want the teens in "their neighborhoods." The case of the Smoking Cat, according to a recent article in the Napa Valley Register, appears to be the norm. Kids come, they enjoy themselves in an environment where no alcohol is served, and neighbors complain. The Smoking Cat planned to serve hookahs on an outside patio, but the idea got neighbors up in arms. The old "not in my neighborhood" prevailed, and complaints from a neighbor and a nearby religious school brought the Smoking Cat before the Napa Planning Commission, where they were told that clients could not smoke, even on the outside patio, and that live music could not continue after 8 p.m.

With all of the adults howling about teens wreaking havoc and making trouble, it makes no sense to me that we wouldn't be seeking viable alternatives for them. Give teens a safe place to hang out with friends, allow them to express themselves on live mic night, and offer those who are of legal age a non-alcoholic way to socialize, and we might be surprised at what could happen. Provide teens with a solution to their boredom and we just might see them enjoying themselves in ways other than vandalizing property, partying without adult supervision, and generally causing mayhem.

Remember what John Milton said about being a careful considerer of human nature?

With temps running in the 90+ range in the OC, how could I not think of this funky song?! We topped out at 100 degrees in Fullerton yesterday, and today promises to be every bit as summery. The middle of May isn't normally so hot, but the recent rising barometer got me thinking about summer shisha flavors ahead of schedule. Here's my list for great summer smokes:

Apricot
These juicy little fruits make their appearance in the early summer months, so I'll start the list with them. A variety of shisha companies have Apricot flavor, with some tasting better than others. I recommend Layalina for the tobacco smokers and Soex for the herbal smokers.

Blackberry
One of my favorite things to do during the summer was to wander through the fields in my Mom's hometown hamlet of Freeman, New York, and pick wild blackberries. Between me, my sisters, and my cousin, we rarely brought back a full bucket because we ate more of the berries than we collected for cobbler! I recommend Fusion for the tobacco smokers and Soex for the herbal smokers.

Cantalope
Nothing beats the sweet and juicy summer melons, if you ask me! The cantalope from Starbuzz is a good choice for tobacco smokers and the Sweet Melon flavor from Soex for the herbal smokers.

Cola
I was raised on Coca-Cola Classic and believe me, I can definitely taste and smell a significant difference between Coke and Pepsi! So, for those of you who prefer Coca-Cola Classic, I can't recommend Starbuzz highly enough -- it has a true Coke taste. If you like Pepsi instead, then El-Nakhla is what you'll want.

Strawberry
Memorial Day weekend is the time for the Strawberry Festival in the city where I live. Not only was the area known for its strawberry fields (sadly, only one of them remains and the land on which the strawberries are grown is likely to be usurped by Disney soon), but for its annual festival in their honor. For the best strawberry shisha flavors, I recommend Layalina Kiwi Strawberry, Fusion Strawberry Daquiri, Nakhla Strawberry for tobacco smokers. For the herbal smokers, High-Life Herbal Smoke is a good choice.

Watermelon
No fruit says summer better than watermelon! Al-Fakher is the best choice among the tobacco brands, and Soex has the best herbal selection.

As I mentioned before, non-tobacco shisha is the wave of the future. The anti-tobacco and smoking bandwagon just keeps growing, so those of us who enjoy hookah need to check our options and alternatives. To this end, I recently tried some High-Life Smoke in the peach flavor.

My set up consisted of a 32" tall traditional Egyptian hookah with a single hose and a traditional Egyptian bowl made from clay. I'm not a fan of the Chinese porcelain bowls because they are too fragile and have the tendency to get way too hot. The only "modern" part of my set up was a charcoal screen that I used instead of foil. Basically, my set up is the same that you find in cafes all over Egypt.

High-Life comes in a sealed plastic bag inside a lightweight cardboard box. I couldn't smell much through the box before opening it but once it was open, a strong scent of peaches greeted me. The shisha looks like Soex except that the High-Life was a little more moist and softer to the touch. With the brightly colored and funky packaging, I expected to find a similar contemporary look in the shisha; however, in terms of color, it's just plain old reddish brown.

A group of friends shared the hookah with me, and we all came to the same conclusion -- High-Life is a decent product. The shisha maintained its flavor throughout our smoking session, which is a definite plus. It was a smooth smoke from start to finish with the shisha never becoming harsh. The only real complaint that we all had about it is that no matter how big our hits, we couldn't achieve the thick white clouds of smoke that we get with traditional shisha or with Soex.

Ratings:
Taste = 9/10
Smoke = 7/10
Cost = 8/10

I've admired John Milton's work for many years. Scholars consider his epic work, Paradise Lost, the greatest poem ever composed in the English language, and I concur; however, it is a piece of his prose that I prefer.

"To sequester out of the world into Atlantic and Utopian polities, which never can be drawn into use, will not mend our condition. . ."

Written in 1644, Areopagitica is a passionate argument against censorship. But much of what Milton has to say about why banning certain books is a bad idea can also be used to argue that the current trend toward smoking bans is equally futile.

The notion that society must be "protected" from harmful things fuels much of the debate on smoking. The same argument is used to challenge books that certain groups of people find offensive. Instead of exercising their right to choose reading materials for themselves and allowing others to do the same, these groups seek to "protect" us from what they perceive to be "harmful." In essence, this means that the rest of us are too stupid to make the "right" choices. Rather than relying on the individual to decide the value of a book, special interest groups want to tell the rest of us which books have "true" worth based upon their value judgments with the underlying assumption being that their values are superior because they are "right." Milton contends, however, that attempting to construct a Utopian paradise where only good exists will not solve the problem and gives us a rational explanation why:

"They are not skilful considerers of human things, who imagine to remove sin by removing the matter of sin . . . Though ye take from a covetous man all his treasure, he has yet one jewel left, yet cannot bereave him of his covetousnes. Banish all objects of lust, shut up all youth into the severest discipline that can be exercised in any hermitage, ye cannot make them chaste that came not thither so; such great care and wisdom is required to the right managing of this point."

Removing an object of desire from society does not make the desire for that object disappear! The Volstead Act, which became the Eighteenth Amendment, is the perfect example to illustrate Milton's argument.

The Prohibition of alcohol in America was sparked by the ardent desire of a handful of women and religious activists who believed that removing the demon alcohol -- the sin in Milton's equation -- would protect and improve American society. Unfortunately, as history proved, removing the object of sin was not enough to solve the problem, for the desire for the object remained. Instead of creating a Utopian paradise free of alcohol and the negative consequences of drinking it, those who successfully pushed for Prohibition created new problems, some of which are still being dealt with nearly 100 years later. Because Prohibition was unenforceable, the attempt to remove alcohol from society caused an alarming increase in crime and increased alcohol consumption instead of bringing it to a complete stop.

Prohibition failed because the desire for alcohol was not removed with the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment. The same holds true for the current smoking bans. Closing hookah bars and banning smoking from places where only adults congregate will not convince people to stop smoking, but it will have a negative effect on the livelihoods of those who must now ban smoking patrons from their establishments! Furthermore, just as Prohibition led to a 516 percent increase in alcohol-related crimes, individuals whose businesses depend on smoking patrons will seek ways to get around the laws in order to keep their businesses afloat. To wit, check out Pipe Ban Is a Pane, France's Smoking Ban Chokes Hookah Bars, or Proposed Tougher Smoking Laws Have Some Richardson Businesses Worried.

Clearly a "skilful considerer of human things," John Milton, a man of the 17th century, had a better understanding of human nature than the lawmakers of the 21st century. The good news is that although the British Parliament did not heed his advice regarding the censorship of books, the Areopagitica played a significant role in our Founding Fathers' understanding of the importance of free speech and press. One can always hope that Milton's influence will still be felt and that "skilful considerer[s] of human things" will come out from behind the smoke screen of political correctness.

May is a month filled with celebrations: Mother's Day, Cinco de Mayo, my birthday (ok, it's not technically a national holiday, but it is an important day nonetheless, LOL!), and Memorial Day. And while all of these days are cause for celebration, none of them holds a candle to the pomp and circumstance of the graduations that also take place in May.

For many of our customers, May means the end of living life by the quarter or semester. It means recognition of a remarkable accomplishment -- the completion of one more leg of the educational journey. Wednesday will be my last day of classes for the semester, with finals following next week. While my students are off enjoying the break, I will be frantically grading their last assignments and calculating final grades. Once it's finished and grades are turned in, I will enjoy a break until the Fall semester begins and finally have the time to catch up on things that are often neglected when grading has to be done. Yes, May is a very good month!

We'd like to offer our congratulations to the 2008 grads and to wish you success in your future endeavors. Enjoy your day, take pride in your accomplishment, and party like it's 1999 -- you've earned it!

I can honestly say that I think now I've heard everything when it comes to the hype surrounding hookah use. It's not bad enough that the powers that be manipulate statistics to suit their agendas, but now they are capitalizing on the fear of STDs to accomplish their goal.

A recent article in the Rocky Mountain News (read the article here) states that "College students who opt for the supposedly safe smoke of a hookah pipe are sucking in the chemical equivalent of dozens of cigarettes and are risking mouth herpes and other diseases, a Colorado State University doctor says." We're all used to hearing the tripe about hookah smoking being more dangerous than cigarettes, and I've posted something on that subject in the past, but to use fear of contracting an STD in order to scare people out of smoking hookah is patently unethical and irresponsible.

"Mouth herpes" is nothing more than a cold sore. The Mayo Clinic reports that "Certain strains of the herpes virus cause cold sores. Herpes simplex virus type 1 usually causes cold sores." While it is true that a strain of herpes causes cold sores, it is a different one that triggers the STD known as genital herpes. The herpes virus also causes chickenpox, shingles, various types of cancer, and encephalitis. Without clarifying this matter in the article, both the doctor and the writer who quoted her display a profound lack of ethics and responsibility to the general public. Instead, both chose to play on the fact that when most people hear herpes, they automatically assume the worst -- the genital type.

Since "shared eating utensils, razors and towels may spread this infection" (Mayo Clinic), why didn't the physician or writer caution the public from eating in restaurants, using towels in a hotel, or getting a shave at the local barbershop? Are they making assumptions that college students don't engage in these activities at all, or do they mean to imply that hookah smoking is the only method by which this "mouth herpes" is contracted? In either case, it strikes me as little more than a blatant attempt to scare young people enough that they will stop smoking hookah. After all, nobody wants the social stigma associated with herpes.

Anyone who has been to a hookah bar can attest to the fact that each smoker is given a disposable mouth tip to use. Smokers can take these tips with them or toss them out before leaving, so the likelihood that they are being reused is minute. The fear of getting a used tip can be remedied by bringing your own to the bar. You won't have to worry about catching herpes from yourself.

It's about time that the medical community weighed in on the issue of hookah usage a little more responsibly than they have in the past. Yes, the hookah is a smoking device. Yes, people enjoy tobacco in it. Yes, tobacco is a known carcinogen. But to inflate statistics to suit an agenda and rustle up scare tactics by blaming hookah use for incidents of herpes is not the way to examine a problem through the scientific lens. And those who engage in this behavior ought to be hanging their collective heads in shame.

Nothing says more about a company's prices, products, and service than a repeat customer. When shoppers return to your business to make additional purchases, it is usually because they found your prices reasonable, your product quality excellent, and the customer service you provide outstanding. With as high a rate of return buyers as we have, we must be doing something right!

Because we appreciate our repeat buyers so much, we've looked at several options to reward their loyalty to us. It took a while, but we finally found the right service for both us and our buyers. My Store Rewards allows us to offer our buyers a 5% cash rebate on their first purchase when they join the program and 5% cash back on all future purchases! Since we're in control, you don't need to worry that your email box will suddenly be inundated with spam; we'll send you just one message every 45 days to remind you of the cash back bonus you'll receive when you make a purchase.

With our already low prices and frequent sales, you could rake in the savings! Picture this: You find an item in our eBay store that is on sale at 15% off. That item includes FREE shipping. If you signed up for My Store Rewards, you'd ALSO get a cash rebate of 5% of your purchase on top of the 15% sale and the shipping discount. That's some pretty incredible savings!

To become a part of this fantastic program, just look for this logo on any item that we sell on eBay:

Pay with PayPal: Get a MyStoreRewards invitation for cash back

Sign up, and start saving -- it's really that simple! Then each time you make a purchase after that, you'll get 5% cash back.

We truly do appreciate your business!

The Middle East is a region rich in tradition and custom, where certain behaviors govern social interaction, so it should come as no surprise that a set of expectations, or etiquette, surrounds smoking the hookah, too. As the hookah's popularity spread across the ocean to the West, the rules of etiquette evolved to suit the different lifestyles of the smokers. I thought it would be interesting to see how the East meets the West when it comes to hookah smoking behavior.

Eastern Hookah Etiquette

*First and foremost, smoking hookah is about social interaction. Smokers gather around a hookah, whether by sitting around a table together or in a circle on the floor, thus enabling them to see one another face-to-face and to communicate comfortably.

*Relaxation is key to hookah enjoyment. Smoking hookah takes time, moves slowly, and is never hurried. Enjoy a cup of tea Middle Eastern style, Turkish coffee, or Arabic coffee and share the events of the day with friends. Alcohol is not part of the hookah tradition in the Middle East.

*Keep the competition for the soccer (football) field. There's no need to compete with friends for a turn with the narghile, so smokers take their time with the hose and pass it along only when they are satisfied.

*Don't blow smoke! In the faces of others, that is. Watch where those smoke rings go because it is considered rude to blow smoke at or near others. It is best to exhale in an upward or sideways direction, allowing the smoke to go over the heads or away from the faces of the others in the group.

*Hoses belong in the right hand. Because people in the Middle East use the left hand for personal hygiene, it is considered unclean and should never be used to smoke hookah.

*The hookah belongs on the floor not the table. As a service object, the argile should never be placed on the same level as those whom it will serve. The average height for an authentic Middle Eastern hookah is 32" (81 cm) to accommodate its placement on the floor while making the hose(s) and head easy to reach.

*Don't pass the hose directly unless absolutely necessary. The proper way to indicate that the hose is available for another smoker is to place it on the table for someone else to pick up. If the hose must be passed to the next user, hold it in the right hand and keep the tip pointed at yourself.

*Although not a common practice, smoking a cigarette during a hookah session is rude only when the cigarette is lit from the narghile charcoal or the ashes dumped on the hookah tray.

Western Hookah Etiquette

*Smoking hookah is an individual as well as a group activity, thus it is not unusual to find people who enjoy their pipes without sharing.

*Relaxation is not always of prime importance to a smoking session. Hookah lounges in the U.S. often have loud music or a television blaring in the background, making conversation challenging at best. Many Western smokers mix argile and alcohol which sometimes causes raucous behavior and a total loss of manners.

*Competition is an issue only when it comes to who gets the biggest smoke cloud or makes the best smoke rings. Smokers typically take only a puff or two before passing the hose off to someone else.

*Blowing smoke directly in someone's face is rude, but sharing smoke mouth-to-mouth is cool. Go figure!

*Holding the hose in the right or left hand doesn't matter. Individual smokers typically use their dominant hand.

*Smokers may still gather around a hookah, but the pipe is often placed on the table instead of the floor. Although this practice breaks with the traditional rules of etiquette, it does elevate the hookah to a place of admiration so that smokers can marvel at its beauty. This practice also allows for the use of shorter hookahs.

Whether you follow the traditional etiquette or enjoy the adaptations of the rules made in the West, smoking hookah is meant to be an activity that allows you to escape from the hectic and often frantic pace of everyday life. So enjoy the hookah experience with or without these rules!

When the hookah trend took off in the U.S., entrepreneurs began looking for ways to meet the market demand. Importing traditional hookahs from the Middle East takes a lot of time, patience, connections, and money; therefore, up and coming businesspeople sought alternative suppliers. One enterprising individual, the founder of Sultan Tobacco, decided that the basic hookah could be mass produced in an assembly line manufacturing environment with greater ease than importing the traditional pipes would be. Mike, also keenly aware of the American "on-the-go" mentality, sought to make a hookah that could be transported with ease. And so the Junior, a single hose hookah in a carrying case, the first "modern" hookah, was born.

Although sending the hookah to China for manufacture met the market demand for pipes, and reduced the price for consumers, the modern technology employed in the manufacturing process didn't improve the hookah at all. Instead of improving the hookah experience for enthusiasts, the "modern" hookahs did nothing more than flood the market with thousands of look-alike pipes in boxes.

Thanks to the cheap cost of purchasing a "modern" hookah, they sold like the proverbial hotcakes. We watched this phenomenon with a great deal of interest because unlike others in the business, we refused to jump on the Chinese bandwagon. And we are eternally thankful that we stuck to our guns, for it wasn't long after these modern "marvels" hit the market that we began to see the fallout.

Because modern technology has made these hookahs look perfect, buyers assume that they are every bit as good as they look; however, they quickly learn about just how deceiving appearances can be when it comes to a product's performance and longevity. In order to make international sales more appealing, Chinese factories do everything they can to reduce production costs. We've seen this recently with the massive recall of toys and other products made in China due to the presence of lead. In terms of hookah production, costs are cut in myriad ways:

• inferior and/or cheaper metals are used in the manufacture of the shaft
• the glass is spray painted instead of using colored glass
• glass designs are spray painted by pre-set machines
• because hookahs are assembled in a package, replacement parts are almost non-existent

When cheap metals are used, the shafts are spray painted. And this is where we first began to see the problems with the Chinese pipes. Customers came to us looking for a solution to the problem of the paint peeling off the shaft and the resulting rust spots that occur after exposure to the water in the base. Oftentimes, they came to us as a last result because they could find no replacement parts anywhere. Other customers came to us looking for replacement bases after theirs broke or the paint peeled off. But the manufactured hookah does have some good points, too:

• cheap purchase price
• uniformity in appearance
• ease of use
• convenient to store and travel with
  

While the initial investment in a visually appealing and conveniently portable Chinese manufactured hookah is low, the costs involved in maintaining it only increase that investment exponentially. Most of the time, people who have purchased the "modern" hookahs end up replacing them with the traditional ones because they can find parts and accessories for them that are unavailable for their technologically "advanced" pipe.

Considering the dangers associated with the possibility of lead contamination (remember that in addition to smoking tobacco, you are smoking the materials used in the pipe itself!), flaking paint and rust spots on shafts, peeling paint on glasses, and the lack of replacement parts are taken into consideration, it's not too hard to see that "modern" may mean cheaper, but it does not necessarily mean "better."

"It troubles me that we are so easily pressured by purveyors of technology into permitting so-called "progress" to alter our lives without attempting to control it -- as if technology were an irrepressible force of nature to which we must meekly submit." -- HYMAN G. RICKOVER, quoted in The American Land, 1979.


Modern technology is, in countless ways, a double-edged sword. While our gadgets provide us with convenience and short-term pleasure, many of them also imprison and isolate us. Devices that we attach to our heads or plug into our ears may give momentary pleasure and distraction, but they also have the power to isolate us socially and imprison their users in a cell of ignorance. At the university where I teach, students meander through the quad and hallways with various and sundry devices attached to their heads and no social interactions taking place among their peers. Instead of the sound of lively after class discussions of lectures as students move from one class to the next, the loudest noise heard in the halls of academe is often little more than the click-clack of heels on the waxed tiles. Technology has usurped tradition on many university campuses and although students seem to prefer being "plugged in" and "dropped out" of social interaction, the meteoric rise of the hookah trend shows us that appearances can be truly deceiving.


The hookah has been Middle Eastern cultural icon for centuries. Visit the oldest parts of any Middle Eastern city, and you will find a qahwa (Arabic for coffee shop). The qahwa is a hub of social activity; it is the place where friends gather to share a cup of tea, a game of cards, backgammon or chess, politics, jokes, and a hookah. As Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian Nobel Prize winning author, writes in his novel, The Children of Gebelawi (Awlad Haretna in Arabic), the qahwa is the place where the memories of the glorious past meet the hardships of the present and both are shared with friends. Sharing, the very essence of the hookah culture, is a tradition that contributes to the proliferation of hookah lounges across the US. They are places where young and old can unwind from the stress of work, home, and school; reconnect with old friends and meet new ones; and most importantly, once again engage in the traditional act of face-to-face socializing that technology seems to have stymied.


Since hookahs take center stage at the qahwa of the Middle East and the lounges of the West, it is important that we take a look at how technology has impacted them as well. And that discussion will come in Part II.

If you've been searching for the perfect hookah charcoal and haven't found it yet, let me recommend Exotica Finger Style Charcoal to you!

At long last, 3 Kings has met a true competitor for its market share of natural wood charcoal made for the hookah. 3 Kings, long considered the premier hookah charcoal, has a couple of factors working against it in the US market. First, it is cost prohibitive. 3 Kings is made in Holland and must be imported to the US. To make it worthwhile to bring 3 Kings from Europe, anyone who imports it and wants to make a profit on its sale must bring a large quantity. But the costs associated with importing a large quantity of 3 Kings puts off most importers. This, in turn, leads to the second problem with 3 Kings -- availability. The product is not as readily available as some other hookah coal brands are. And when you're lucky enough to find them, expect to pay through the nose for them. Enter Exotica!

Exotica, the newest finger style hookah charcoal on the market, boasts some unique changes that are sure to improve the hookah experience for all! Exotica's superior quality coal not only offers a revolutionary square shape to prevent to coal from rolling off the head, but it also promises

• NO odor
• NO taste
• NO smoke
• LESS messy ash
• NO breakage when heated
• NO rolling around the bowl
• LONG LASTING -- each finger lasts at least 1 hour!

At approximately half the price of a box of 3 Kings, we were really excited about trying Exotica and possibly adding it to our line of products. We weren't disappointed with our experience using it; we found it to be everything the manufacturer said it would be. It's not a quick-lighting charcoal, so you will need a constant heat source like a stove and some patience while you wait for it to get start, but your patience will be well rewarded with one of the best smoking sessions you've ever had!

From the first time we used it, we knew that the manufacturer of Exotica had a 5-Star product on his hands. Like all natural coals, it takes a little while to get started. But in the process, there was no stinky sulphur smell like the quick-lights give off, no popping or embers flying around. We did not have to worry about someone bumping into the hookah or moving the coal around the head and causing pieces to fall onto the carpet, tile, or table because Exotica's unique square shape keeps it right where it belongs at all times! There is zero taste interference, no smoke even when it's red hot, and so little ash from the dense fingers that we needed to ash the coals just a couple of times during our 1 1/2 hour smoking session!

Exotica is definitely a coal worth keeping around. It comes in a 1 kilo box -- that's 2.2 pounds, folks! -- and costs approximately $8. When you consider the quantity, length of burn time per coal, and the cost, Exotica wins over 3 Kings every time as the better bang for the buck.

As tobacco prices continue to rise and the list of cities banning smoking increases, hookah enthusiasts and lounge owners alike are seeking alternatives to shisha made from tobacco. And don't forget that with the New Year lurking around the corner, those "I will quit smoking" resolutions loom on the horizon! It's no wonder that the non-tobacco shisha products are quickly gaining a marketshare that few people in the industry expected.

Currently, there are three brands of herbal shisha on the market: Soex , Black Label, and High-Life Smoke. I've tried them all because even though I should be used to tobacco since I smoke cigarettes, something about shisha made with tobacco causes me to have coughing fits every time regardless of brand. A strong desire to avoid coughing while still being able to enjoy hookah prompted me to investigate the herbal products. If you're like me and seeking a tobacco, tar, and nicotine free hookah experience, perhaps this post will help you to make a purchasing decision.

Soex
None of the herbal shisha has the name power that Soex does. Made in India by the same company that makes Afzal tobacco molasses, Soex is the industry leader and enjoys immense popularity in Europe where it has a well established fan base. Contrary to urban myth, Soex is not made from sugar beets; its base is sugar cane bagasse, the pulp left behind after the juice has been extracted.

Soex is my personal favorite of the herbal alternatives. Although moisture levels sometimes vary from one production lot to the next, Soex nails the flavors every time. In addition to the standard fruit choices, Soex makes some fantastic exotic flavors that reflect its Indian roots. Bombay Panmasala, Pan Rasna, Rooh Afza Cool, Cardamom, and Lychee are among those traditional flavors.

If it's thick clouds of smoke and long-lasting flavor that you want, Soex will definitely do the job. I've shared my hookah with plenty of people who had no idea that what they were smoking was not tobacco. They could not tell the difference! The only difference that I note, aside from the appearance of the cut, is the fact that Soex does not send me into coughing fits like tobacco does. I've never experienced a headache from Soex.

Because the cut of Soex is thin, the heat has to be managed more carefully than it does with tobacco. However, once you've got the heat under control, a bowl will last 45-60 minutes. Best of all, you'll get the same delicious flavor and strong clouds of smoke from beginning to end.

If mixing flavors is something you enjoy, Soex lends itself quite well to flavor mixes. A couple of my favorites are Orange + Vanilla for a creamy orange flavor, Coffee + Mint + Vanilla for a delicious coffee with cream and a hint of mint, and Blueberry + Mint for a refreshing cool berry taste.

Flavors: Aniseed, Apple, Blackberry, Black Licorice, Blueberry, Bombay Panmasala, Bubblegum, Cardamom, Chocomint, Cinnamon, Coffee, Coconut, Double Apple, Golden Apple, Grape, Honey, Lime-Lemon, Lychee, Mango, Mint, Mintos, Mixed Fruit, Orange, Pan Rasna, Peach, Pina Colada, Pineapple, Pudina, Raspberry, Red Cherry, Rooh Afza Cool, Rose, Silver Fox, Strawberry, Sweet Lime, Sweet Melon, Vanilla, Watermelon, White Grape

Carleen's Top 5: Silver Fox (apple + mint), Rooh Afza Cool (extracts of citrus flowers, rose, and fruits), Blueberry, Mango, and Double Apple

It's always interesting to see how the hookah fares in the media, so this morning I googled "hookah" just to see what I could find. In addition to the usual anti-smoking hype, the search brought some some fun reads that I've decided to share.

Bookah Bear, a product created by a couple of enterprising University of South Carolina students, is an interesting way to combine two very different comfort items.

Washington has some of the tightest anti-smoking laws in the country, but a couple of deep-thinking young entrepreneurs have found a way to open a hookah lounge in Seattle by "using the letter of the law to say something about the spirit of the law." Kudos to Paul Green and Erin Cobb, our customers, on the successful opening of the Cobra Lounge!

Since the fall of communism in the former Soviet Union, independently owned and operated businesses have blossomed in Russia. Take, for example, the Om Cafe where an Uzbek transplant to Moscow spent six months in hookah training and six months as a hookah apprentice before earning the title of "Hookah Master."

And so it goes. . .

So you've got a new shisha flavor in the bowl, the hookah is fired up, and you take the first hit. You may have been expecting to taste the juicy sweetness of summer watermelon or the bite of sour apple, but instead you taste yesterday's flavor du jour! What did you do wrong? What's up with the aftertaste that has taken hold of your hookah hose? The problem with lingering flavors is one that we frequently discuss with customers who call or email us wondering how they can remove the taste that some flavors leave as a calling card in their hookah hoses.

Because hookah hoses are made with porous materials, they will and do absorb flavors. Mint, Double Apple, and Black Licorice are the primary culprits of this phenomenon due to their strength and flavor longevity. Once the flavor is absorbed into the fabric of your hose, you have two choices: (1) just deal with it until another flavor masks it, or (2) use a different hose. Remember, hookah hoses are not washable, so don't think that rinsing a hose with water or a cleaning solution will solve the problem. It won't. In fact, you'll end up creating an even bigger problem as your hose deteriorates much more quickly than it should and will have to be replaced sooner than you had anticipated.

Hookah lounges and cafes, well aware of the issue of lingering flavors, use a separate hose for certain flavors to avoid the problem altogether. Some of them even use a separate hose for every single flavor that they serve! While you don't need to have as many hoses as you do flavors, it is a good idea to follow the first example of using a different hose for flavors such as these:

• Licorice / Aniseed family, including Double Apple
• Mint family, including any flavor mixed with it
• Mixed Drinks family, including Pina Colada, Margarita, and Sex on the Beach among others
• Coconut

Because I didn't focus on a specific molasses brand, there may be other potent flavors on the market that your hoses will absorb. This is easy enough to determine on your own based on how long it takes for the last flavor you smoked with the hose to be replaced with the new one.

As the holiday season draws ever closer and budgets even tighter, we've marked down more than 800 items to make your holiday shopping a little less harmful to the wallet. Not only have we marked down the products, but several of the ones on sale are part of a FREE SHIPPING deal as well, so you can get twice the bang for your buck!

It's early in the a.m. here in the OC, and I'm looking for a fun way to start the day before heading off to face the mounds of paperwork that await me at the office. Of course starting up the hookah and drinking a cup of Gevalia with Hazlenut cream helps, but since I can't share those with anyone here and hookah is all about sharing, I found some fun hookah trivia to share instead. Enjoy!

Did you know. . .

• that Disney's animators must be secret hookah fans? Take a close look at the animated film, Aladdin. One of the vendors in the opening scenes has a french fry maker that is actually a hookah!
• that King Ludwig of Bavaria, who sincerely strove to live a fairytale life, required his retainers to lounge around on cushions and smoke hookahs as he created the illusion of himself as an Ottoman ruler? (Side note: Ludwig II is my personal favorite of the old-school European monarchs. Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland was modeled after his Neuschwanstein castle!)
• that the 1960s B-Movie, Barbarella - Queen of the Galaxy, starring Jane Fonda, has a scene with hookah-smoking women to represent or symbolize corrupt laziness?
• that Christian Slater cleans up a brass hookah in the not-so-good horror flick, Alone in the Dark?
• that a hookah takes a leading role in the graphic novel, Cairo, by M. K. Parker and G. Willow Wilson? If you're into comic books in paperback form, this one comes highly recommended from a friend of mine.
• that we have sold hookahs to production companies who planned to use them in movies? Who knows, we may be famous some day!