| The tobacco used in hookahs is different than | | | | Since hookah tobacco is very wet it must be |
| that associated with cigarettes, or, indeed, | | | | smoked using a hookah charcoal. Rather than |
| any other form of smoking. It is, | | | | being lit directly, the tobacco is heated |
| traditionally, a damp blend--called tobamel | | | | with a coal placed on tinfoil or wire mesh |
| or maassel--of fresh tobacco leaves with | | | | above or in the bowl holding the damp |
| molasses or honey and semi-dried fruit or | | | | mixture. Each bowl of this wet tobacco lasts |
| fruit pulp. Some smokers would add | | | | a long time, usually requiring several |
| pomegranate juice or perhaps rose oil to the | | | | replenishments of the charcoal. In the past, |
| water, which added flavor to the smoke. | | | | among those rituals and traditions |
| Later, hookah tobacco was also mixed with | | | | surrounding the lighting and smoking of the |
| fruit extracts, and in the 1980s tobacconists | | | | hookah, or narghile, were strict prohibitions |
| began experimenting with various flavors, so | | | | against lighting the tobacco incorrectly--or |
| that now a virtual smorgasbord of highly | | | | even allowing a cigarette smoker to light |
| aromatic hookah tobacco is widely available. | | | | their cigarette off of the hookah coal. |
| | | | |
| While some hookah smokers still prefer a | | | | Hookah tobacco is generally only 30 percent |
| strong Turkish tobacco, many delight in the | | | | tobacco and 70 percent fruit flavoring and |
| large assortment of flavored tobaccos, often | | | | molasses or honey. It contains .05 percent |
| called shisha. The dark, wet mixture comes in | | | | nicotine and most types contain no tar. |
| flavors ranging from apple, cherry, apricot, | | | | Because the tobacco is heated, rather than |
| and watermelon, to rose, jasmine, vanilla, | | | | actually burned, studies have shown that |
| honey, and licorice, with more exotic blends | | | | there are fewer carcinogens produced in |
| beyond that, such as lemon-cola, cappuccino, | | | | hookah smoke than in other forms of smoking. |
| apple-mint, and a list of custom blends that | | | | However, concerns about the length of time |
| is nigh on infinite. | | | | smokers generally spend around a bowl of |
| | | | hookah tobacco do warrant consideration, and |
| Prices for packaged tobacco range anywhere | | | | studies have shown that carbon dioxide intake |
| from $4 to $17 depending on quality, and a | | | | is actually higher in hookah smoking. Though |
| variety pack of flavors might cost about $30. | | | | mellower and less carcinogenic, hookah |
| The price in most lounges for a bowl of | | | | tobacco is still tobacco and the health risks |
| hookah tobacco ranges from $4 to $9 for | | | | remain. Hookah tobacco should only be smoked |
| slower burning leaf or custom blends. | | | | by adults over 18 years of age, and then |
| | | | smoked in moderation. |