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