Caravan Trading Group Authentic Egyptian Hookahs

The hookah is all about fun and sharing, so here's some fun hookah trivia to enjoy with your pipe!

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!

Most hookah fans look for ways to get a thicker, whiter, richer smoke from their hookahs. Part of the joy of hookah smoking comes from watching -- and smelling! -- the white clouds and smoke rings that waft around the heads of the smokers. One way to achieve a thick, white smoke with very little effort is to use a hookah with an ice chamber.

An ice chamber or bucket filled with ice and attached to the shaft of a hookah chills the entire shaft which makes the smoke thicker and whiter than normal. Of course, an ice chamber hookah alone isn't enough to ensure that you'll have thick, billowing clouds of smoke! Charcoal management and type along with quality shisha flavors are also required to get the most out your smoking session.

If you're into the soda flavor, here's how to get a shisha mix that is very close in taste!

* 2 parts Cola flavor
* 1 part Red Cherry flavor
* 1 part Vanilla flavor

Mix all three flavors together and let sit for at least an hour to allow them to blend together. We don't recommend any specific shisha brand -- just find the flavors from the brand that you prefer. If you are a Pepsi kind of person, Layalina's Cola will work best but if you're a Coke drinker, you'll definitely want Starbuzz's Classic Cola!

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.

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.