What are E Shishas?
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
What is a Shisha/E-Shisha
Hookah, or shisha, has been around for hundreds of years, beginning sometime during the mid-1000s in the Middle East. Since then, the elaborate and beautiful water pipes have found a place in many cultures and social circles.
Recently, hookah has become a popular smoking method, especially for young people. This is for a couple of reasons. The first is that hookah tobacco is generally flavoured with honey, molasses, or fruits to make it sweeter than cigarettes. Second, and probably most important to many, is that water pipes make for a very social activity. Hookah lounges have become increasingly popular for groups of friends to enjoy sweet tobacco and good company. The very design of hookahs lends itself to being social. Many water pipes are fitted with multiple stems, or mouth pieces, so the tobacco can be shared with many people at one time without having to pass around a single mouth piece. Hookah lounges are now places to gather where friends can socialize and choose from a menu—yes, a menu—of shisha flavours prepared by people who are treated almost like chefs.
It is an easy thing to understand why many people are drawn to shisha. Just walking into any smoke shop, you’ll most likely be greeted by a variety of water pipes on display. They are often beautiful pieces of equipment, made of glass and metal, and adorned with pops of colour and silver or gold decoration. But beauty is not all hookah has to offer—they also offer tantalizing flavour and a unique smoking experience.
You will hear many people refer to hookahs as “water pipes.” This is because the smoke you inhale is filtered through a vase, which contains water. In this chamber, the smoke you inhale is cooled slightly before you take it into your lungs. The water and cooling creates a dense and flavourful cloud of smoke, which simply cannot be recreated by cigarettes. Again, hookah is known for its delicious flavours. Cigarette smoke can have an acrid aftertaste, which can become unappealing after a while. Hookah, on the other hand, enhances tobacco flavourings by adding a hint of fresh sweetness in the form of fruits (such as coconut or apple), herbs such as mint, or natural sweeteners like honey.
Hookah is an alluring form of smoking because it requires time and patience. It is more than lighting up a cigarette on the go to get a quick fix of nicotine. Hookah is designed to be a hobby, to encourage the smoker to stop and enjoy. There is pleasure in choosing the tobacco, lighting coals, sitting around the pipe with a group, and savouring unique flavours.
How E Shisha works
In traditional hookah, there is a bowl at the top of the hookah pipe. In this bowl, you will place your chosen tobacco and flavourings. On top of your tobacco, you place a hot coal, separated from the tobacco usually by a perforated piece of aluminium foil. Beneath the bowl is a plate used to collect ashes and dead coals from previous uses.
The longest part of the water pipe is the body, gasket, and valve. These pieces connect the bowl and plate to the base of the pipe. The base of the hookah, also called a vase or water jar, is a basin which contains a certain amount of water.
Finally, the last piece of your hookah is a hose and a mouthpiece. Each pipe is different. Some have a single hose and mouth piece, while others are designed to be used social and can have upwards of four hoses and mouthpieces for ease of sharing.
A traditional hookah works like this: First, you light the coal and place it on top of a piece of aluminium foil to suspend it over the tobacco in the bowl. Once you inhale through the mouthpiece, air is pulled through the coal into the tobacco, which produces smoke. This smoke passes through the body of the pipe and into the vase. The smoke passes through the water and cools and condenses; finally, you inhale the flavourful smoke into your lungs. Having taken one long drag from the pipe, pressure changes in the body and continually pulls air through the coal so the process continues.
An electronic hookah works slightly differently. Essentially, if you are not using a shisha pen, you will attach an e-shisha head to your already set up water pipe. This way, you can still enjoy the artistry of a hookah of your choice, since you’ll be using the body and stems to smoke your e-shisha.
When you are using e-hookah, there is no need to use coals to heat up your tobacco and no smoke will be given off. Instead, the head you attach to your water pipe is powered by a substantial battery. This battery will heat coils inside and vapourize the e-liquid of your choice. This vapour will then follow the same path as traditional shisha and come out through the mouth piece after it travels through the water base.
Since the beginning of the vaping market with e-cigarettes, companies have been attempting to replicate smoking. E-cigarettes are fitted with LEDs, soft faux filters, white paper bodies, et cetera. By using the same hardware as traditional hookah, e-hookah allows for an authentic smoking experience.
E-hookah pens work differently, of course. If you’re familiar with the anatomy of an e-cigarette, you’re already ahead of the game.
E-hookah pens are generally disposable pieces, so you’ll only have them a short while before switching to another flavour. They are fitted with a flavour cartridge—take your pick, there are tons out there!—a battery and an atomizer. Once you turn your device on, your atomizer heats the e-liquid in the cartridge and creates a vapour, which you inhale.