Hookah smoking around the world
A hookah pipe is an instrument used to smoke tobacco through a water chamber, which cools and filters the smoke. The hookah can have a single hose for a single user or multiple hoses. Multi-pipe bongs or hookahs are a great idea for an event or social occasion.
The hookah originated in India and is part of the culture throughout the Middle East but recently it has gained popularity in Europe, Australia, North America and Brazil. One of the more popular hookahs types is known as the Malabar hookah and comes from the city of Koyilandy.
The hookah has a number of alternative names: in Arabic the pipe is referred to as a shisha and this is the most common name used in the Persian Gulf states. Meanwhile, Islamic countries close to the eastern Mediterranean such as Turkey, Cyprus, Jordan and Syria enjoy a narghile. In Croatia and Albania the hookah is a Lula, while in Serbia and Bosnia Herzegovina the pipe is called a nargile.
Hookah pipes are most common in the Arab world, where the smoking of flavoured tobacco has entered their tradition and culture. It is estimated that Arabs are the biggest users of shisha pipes worldwide. Nearly all cafés offer shisha smoking and the cafés are the centre of Arab social life, being likened to the bars and pubs in the Western world.
Because of the increase in smoking bans across Europe and North America, many hookah cafés have begun to offer a smoking experience by using non-tobacco mu’assel, a mixture of molasses and honey.