Whether it’s your first time packing a hookah bowl, if you just want a refresher on the basics, or if you just want to poke fun at the way we pack our bowls, then do we have a video for you.

By far the most common type of bowl, the traditional bowl is perfect for those light or dry shishas, like Starbuzz, Al Waha, Layalina, or Al Fakher.  If you’re on your first hookah, this (or something similar) is probably the bowl you have.  

Characterized by 4-8 holes in the bottom of a cup shaped bowl, this is one of the simplest bowls to pack.

There’s really not much to it.

1. Make sure your bowl is clean and dry.  You don’t want your last bowl to ruin the flavor of the new one!
2. Lightly sprinkle your shisha of choice into the bowl.  You’ll see that in the video I treat the shisha like a cooking spice.  This is the key to getting good taste out of a dry shisha.  Packing the bowl too tight leads to burning parts of the shisha and not even heating other parts, and nobody likes wasting shisha.
3. Crumple a sheet of foil to cover the shisha.  We’ve received quite a bit of criticism for crumpling the foil; it seems some people prefer to stretch the foil as tightly over the bowl as they can.  We crumple the foil in an effort to prevent scorching.
4. Place the foil over the bowl and seal it around the bowl.
5. Poke between 15-20 holes in the foil using a method of your choice.  Purdookah is a big proponent of the corn holder as a poker.

And frankly, that’s about it.  It’s certainly not complicated to pack one of these bowls.  Just make sure you’re matching your bowl to the shisha you’re using.  Tangiers generally doesn’t get along well with these bowls, and you’ll get a bunch of foul-smelling goo in your stem if you insist on using it.  A better suggestion for the wetter shishas would be the vortex bowl or the phunnel bowl.  You can find a great tutorial on how to pack one of those here.

Last August, I traveled to California for a week to spend time with family and check out the West coast for the first time, personally.  One thing I was particularly keen on checking out was the local hookah community, and there was certainly no shortage.  While the Haight may certainly be ground zero for this type of stuff (it was pretty stinkin’ sweet), I wanted to share something that I observed at a small lounge in San Fransisco, a little bit closer to the Embaracero side of the bay.  Behold the aptly named “California Wind Hat”:

The concept is simple and making one is even more so.  The hat forms a half cone around the top of any bowl which retains heat from a coal, while still allowing the bowl to breathe.

1. Take a rectangular piece of foil and fold it into a square
2. Fold that square into a triangle
3. Wrap the base of the triangle around a bowl

The hat does a great job of keeping the bowl just warm enough while not overheating.  If you don’t have a “real” hat (like I showed at the beginning of the clip) then this is a great alternative.  Hope it comes in handy!

We here at Purdookah admittedly have pretty wild imaginations.  We spend more time than we should discussing how to turn everyday objects into imaginative hookahs.  Most of our ideas are totally unnecessary, but fun to discuss, nonetheless.  The Quaker Oatskah, however, came from necessity.  A couple of nights ago, we decided to pack Sam’s tiny pumpkin hookah.  Unfortunately, the excellent new cobra hose he just bought was a bit too heavy and wanted to tip the whole hookah.  With two coals burning, we panicked, looking for something to hold up our Leaning Tower of Hookah. Continue reading →

There are plenty of problems that can pop up when packing a bowl of shisha, but one of the more annoying problems is a harsh hookah after it’s been going for a bit.  Here’s a quick demonstration of what to do when a hookah is just too much to handle.

Topics Covered

Here’s a quick recap for your convenience, the hearing impaired, and the sake of Search Engine Optimization.

Blow Through The Hose

Blowing through the hose will purge the base of stale smoke, sending out through the purge valve and/or the bowl.

Move The Coal

A coal that sits in one place for too long can scorch the shisha underneath. Moving the coals on a regular basis keeps heat even across the bowl and prevents burning.

Sam Faking a Harsh Hookah

Come on folks, this is supposed to be a full demonstration. Gimme a break.

Blow Through The Bowl

Carefully remove the bowl (“don’t touch it – it’s hot!”) and blow through the bottom of it. This will cool down overheated shisha and mix up the bowl a bit, yielding an easier smoke.