Category: Hookah Bars

Hubble-Bubble, Narghile and More More More

Hubble-bubble (Nargile)

The Hubble-Bubble Narghile Pipe
 

Hubble-bubble, or Nargile is one of the oldest traditions in Turkey and has enthusiasts of all ages and sexes who find great pleasure in smoking it. The original nargile came from India, but it was rather primitive as it was made out of coconut shells. The basic idea was to remove the inside of the coconut and dip a straw in its shell. Its popularity spread to Iran, where the word “nargil” means coconut in Persian, and to the Arab world. However the hubble-bubble completed its evolution in Anatolia when brought in the 17th century and having become a very important part of coffee house culture, has not changed its style for the last few hundred years. Even today the hubble-bubble continues to give a special breed of smokers enjoyment.Turkish craftsmen engraved beautiful designs such as clear, white or colorful bottles that look as if they were made out of crystallized ice, or more common designs like fruit or flowers.

Rules were created even for lighting the hubble-bubble and, as one of the main pastimes of the male population in the society, the preparation of the hubble-bubble was ceremonious and deliberately prolonged, especially for the eldest male in a family. In order to beautify old Turkish houses, a special corner was put aside where the hubble-bubble was placed.

A hubble-bubble consists four parts: Body, bowl, tube and mouthpiece.

Body-G??vde: This is the part where the bowl is placed and is filled with water in order to cleanse filth created by the burning tobacco and also to absorb the nicotine. Some professional hubble-bubble smokers used certain fruit like sour cherries or grapes in their g??vde just to enjoy the motion it created in the water. The body is usually made of glass; however more elegant ones are made out of porcelain, silver or crystal and embellished with gold, silver or coral. These bodies formed a unique type of Turkish handcraft and were mostly decorated with floral motifs.

Bowl-L?ºle: A specially-formed plug of tobacco (t??mbeki) is put in the bowl, which is pierced and covered with a conical cap so that that the flame may be sheltered on windy days. T??mbeki is a special tobacco; not all tobaccos qualified for usage in the hubble-bubble, as only special dark, strong, and very high-nicotine tobaccos found favor with hubble-bubble enthusiasts. This tobacco was washed several times before use, as it was extremely strong. Only oak charcoal was to be placed on the top of the tobacco.

Tube-Marpu?ß: A long flexible hose attached to the pipe and air in the body part, is conveyed by means of this tube. A marpu?ß might be embellished with embroidery, beadwork or other woven handicraft art. There may be more than one tube so that two or more people can smoke together while chatting. Atop the pipe is a small metal tray to catch cinders.

Mouthpiece-Aƒüƒ±zlƒ±k: At the end of the tube (marpu?ß) there is a mouthpiece to inhale the smoke. Don’t puff as strongly as on a cigarette. Rather, suck the smoke gently and don’t inhale deeply. The sucking should generate pleasant bubbling sounds in the water, which is part of the fun.

All pieces of the hubble-bubble were produced by special craftsmen, whose jobs were named after the pieces they produced. The areas where these craftsmen used to concentrate are called by these names ‚Äì even today there is an area called Marpu?ß?ßular in Covered Bazaar.

Now Turks don’t have as much time to sit and smoke hubble-bubble as their fathers and grandfathers did years ago. Unfortunately, like most wonderful things from the past, the hubble-bubble suffered a decline with the availability of the cigarettes, which forever changed the way Turks use tobacco. However, recently hubble-bubbles have caught the interest of the new generation in Turkey in search of their history and traditions, and at coffee houses and recently the swiftly-spreading nargile caf?©s you can see many people enjoying this old pleasure.

In addition to young Turks, tourists who visit Turkey are attracted to the hubble-bubble and often buy them as souvenirs to take home to their family and friends. The new fashion is hubble-bubble flavored with strawberries, apples or cappuccino. It takes about an hour to smoke a pipe full of fruit tobacco, two hours for the stronger stuff. The smoke is noticeably cooler than cigarette smoke, and lightly intoxicating.

Old Turkish hubble-bubble lovers state that smoking a hubble-bubble is nothing like smoking a cigarette and also add “Cigarettes are for nervous people, competitive people and people on the run. When you smoke a hubble-bubble, you have time to think. It teaches you patience and tolerance, and gives you an appreciation of good company. Hubble-bubble smokers have a much more balanced approach to life than cigarette smokers.” As long as there is a need for company and friendship, as long as people want to stop and think, there will be nargile caf?©s” is one of the most popular sayings nowadays.

(thank you to http://www.mymerhaba.com/ for much of this information)

Help This Poor Soul Start a Hookah Bar in Oregon

It’s hard enough to start a business. This excited young fella wants to start his own Hookah Bar in Eugene, Oregon and he wants to get a bit of support or words of encouragement. He is also wondering if it is a good idea to drop out of college to make the idea happen. Of course, I would say that he certainly should and that college is only preparing you for cubicle life, but I’m sure he’d rather hear what you have to say. Here’s his question:

I am an 18 year old college student, just about to finish his sophomore year in college. I am severely dissatisfied with school right now, and really have very little interest in continuing my education right now, although even if I go through with this, I would plan to go back to school within 3 or 4 years.

So here is the plan that has been brewing in my brain for the past few weeks. This is the first time I have actually put anything down in writing, so excuse me if it is a little bit rough around the edges.

The Plan

I live in Eugene Oregon, the land of the hippies. Hookah, the Middle Eastern smoking device, is very popular with college students in this area. I would like to provide a hookah bar where students can come, chill, study and smoke. I would also have small meals and coffee/tea for people who were there, although I don’t want to become a restaurant.

The other thing I should note is that I inherited a bit of money from my grandmother, and I think it would be enough to start this business with and keep it going until it is profitable. After the first few years I would find someone to manage it part time and go to school half time until I had finished my degree.

Am I crazy, or could this actually work? Am I missing anything big?

If you have a moment, drop by and give him some support or tell him how much of a dumbass he is being. It’s up to you. The link to his forum is here.

Cool Smoke: Hookah Cafe’s The Hot New Thing

Here is a very cool article from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the takeoff of Hookahs in the USA. It has some cool ideas in it, and is one of the few articles I’ve seen in newspapers that doesn’t portray the hookah in a bad light. Thank God, someone is working to change the illusion that this is just a bong.

Cool smoke: Hookah cafes the hot new thing

By KIMBERLY EDDS Washington Post

Thursday, April 24, 2003

Los Angeles — Scott Nelson leans back in his chair as he blows smoke rings in the air. The smell of apple and peach tobacco inside the Gypsy Cafe, just steps away from the University of California campus, is so thick you can almost taste it as it escapes from the tall water pipes on top of nearly every table.

For hundreds of years, Middle Eastern men have flocked to water pipes — also known as hookahs or narghiles — to smoke fruit- flavored tobacco, talk and watch the world pass by. Now hookah houses are appearing in U.S. cities, including Jacksonville, Fla.; Evanston, Ill.; and Madison, Wis. (the Cafe Hookah, which opened about six months ago).

In college towns or big cities such as Chicago, San Diego and Washington, cafe owners want their walls bursting with trend-seeking college students and 20-somethings eager to try the newest thing and tell their friends about it.

“It’s just relaxing,” said Nelson, 19, who drives more than a half- hour every Friday night to hang out at the Gypsy.

“We’re addicted to the hookah,” said Catherine Rieder, 18, as she puffed away. “With a cigarette, you can take it with you, but with the hookah, you can only do it once in a while. It’s special.”

Nestled between a movie theater and a cookie store, the Gypsy Cafe, with the feel of an unhurried European coffee shop, attempts to seduce its clients with the taste of another world. Lush purple draperies envelop the richly textured walls, as hookahs — with elegant necks and glass bodies that seem to dance in the light — sit with their hoses wrapped around their necks like exotic snakes.

Hookah enthusiasts say tobacco smoked from the water pipe contains a small proportion of the nicotine and none of the tar and chemicals found in American cigarettes. But health officials aren’t ready to give the hookah their seal of approval.

Several studies indicate that hookah smoke contains significant amounts of nicotine and high amounts of arsenic and other heavy metals, said Tom Houston, director of science and community health advocacy for the American Medical Association. Incidences of lip and tongue cancer among hookah users are reasonably high, and the effect on the heart of using hookahs is the same as cigarette smoking, he said.

And Houston worries about young people who develop a taste for nicotine through smoking a hookah, and “when they can’t find a hookah bar they borrow a cigarette, and there they go.”

The flavored mixture, shishah, is tobacco combined with fruit and molasses or honey. Flavors include mint, jasmine and mango. Double apple — a mixture of red and green apples — remains a bestseller.

Tobacco is placed on a metal plate with a hole in the bottom that connects to a water-filled metal container below and is heated by special charcoal. When the smoker inhales, smoke travels through the water, down the tube and into the smoker’s mouth. The result, enthusiasts say, is a delicious assault on the senses that has none of the harshness of cigarette or cigar smoking.

And the experience is easy on the pocketbook. A bowl of tobacco averages $10 and lasts about 45 minutes between two people, leaving plenty of time for conversation and dessert.

More than 13,000 customers have made their way through the doors of Cafe Hookah in Madison, Wis., since it opened six months ago, owner Vartan Seferian said. He plans to open four more Midwest locations in the next few months, all in college towns.

“Having a hookah bar is like going to a mountain with a little hammer and shovel, and finding gold and thinking, how am I going to get all this gold down?” Seferian said. “It has been crazy. Just crazy.”

Cafe owners and enthusiasts attribute the sudden surge in popularity to factors including a weak economy and greater interest in the Middle East.

Copyright 2003 Journal Sentinel Inc. Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media

Laws Forbidding Hookah Smoking Differ

Why is it that in some states you can puff away inside, and in others it is illegal? I spent much of the last two years in Arizona where you can sit inside and smoke all you want without a problem. The laws there don’t allow cigarettes inside, but they make an exception for hookahs. On the other hand, now that I’m in Poughkeepsie, New York, there aren’t really any hookah bars, and the one that is trying the take off… Zorona cafe in Arlington NY… can’t seem to get the city to OK it.

So, my question is, why the huge difference? I know state laws can be ignorant sometimes, but if you want to go into a hookah lounge, then you are taking your health in your own hands. Let people mandate themselves!

As a side note, there are some hookah bars in NYC that still allow smoking hookahs inside and just hope the health department doesn’t come around. I’d like to see that more often.