Hookah Tobacco and Its Culture
Tobacco is a type of broad-leafed plant of the nightshade family that originated in North and South America. It also refers to the dried and cured leaves. These leaves are smoked, and smoking is done in the form of a cigarette, in a smoking pipe or in a water pipe, such as a bong or a hookah.
The most frequently used substance in a hookah is a mixture of tobacco and a sweet substance, like honey, semi-dried fruit or molasses, in a 1:2 ratio. At first, tobacco was mixed with one of these sweet substances to form ‘jurak’, a flavourless and moistened tobacco. There are also experimental flavoured tobaccos produced by Egyptian tobacco companies to sell more products, especially to women. One of these is ‘shisha’, a fruit-flavoured tobacco which started in the late 1980s. At present, shisha tobacco is available in many flavours, such as strawberry, cappuccino, mint, apple, melon or mango.
From multiple hoses, the hookah’s design has led to one filtration chamber. This is to simplify the use by groups, since numerous hoses will reduce suction and smokers have to cover up their mouthpiece if it’s not in use. The hookahs with multi-hoses are well-liked in the Western countries, where hookah smoking became a social trend. However, hookahs with multi-hoses are not common in Africa and Asia. In Arab society, smokers use a singe-hose hookah. When one smoker is done, the hose is either placed on the table or handed to the next user.
Traditionally, hookahs are decorated to provide a distinctive appearance. Hookahs display similarities to the traditional American Indian peace pipe.