Hookah, also known as a water pipe, nargeela/nargile/narghile/nargileh, argeela/arghileh, shisha/sheesha, okka, kalyan, hubble bubble/hubbly bubbly, or ghelyoon/ghalyan is one of the oldest traditions in the Middle East and now known worldwide. Today, both men and women enjoy hookah as a way of relaxation from the everyday stresses in life.

Because of the growing popularity of sheesha, you can find them in homes, restaurants and lounges. Non smokers find the variety of herbal flavoured sheesha to be calm and relaxing, while the smokers are intrigued by the flavour and smoothness of the flavoured tobacco sheesha.

Guide to Hookah Setup:

1. Fill the glass vase (a.k.a. glass base) with water so that the metal stem is submerged about an inch into the water.

2. Wet the Base grommet and slid the shaft (a.k.a stem) into the vase (wetting the Base grommet will make the shaft slide easier into the glass vase).

3. Place the metal charcoal tray on top of the hookah shaft.

4. Secure the hookah bowl on top of the metal shaft with the bowl grommet (a.k.a. large rubber stopper).

5. Blow through all of the hoses before each smoking session to clear out any smoke residue.

6. Place the hose or hoses into the shaft. Be sure the connection is airtight, use the hose grommet(s) (a.k.a. small rubber stopper(s)) if required.

7. Test that the setup is airtight by placing your hand on top of the hookah bowl then sucking in through the hose. The setup is airtight when you feel a slight pull on your hand and you see and hear bubbles inside the glass vase.


8. Loosely “sprinkle” some shisha into the hookah bowl. Be sure not to pack the bowl too tightly, so that the airflow is not restricted.

9. Cover the hookah bowl with a small piece of aluminum foil and perforate with a pin or similar object. Metal charcoal screens are a quick alternative.

10. For self-lighting charcoals: hold a charcoal disc with metal tongs and hold over a lighter. The charcoal will spark and smoke for several minutes as it heats. When the charcoal stops sparking, blow on it gently to make it red hot and then carefully place it on top of the covered hookah bowl to one side.

For natural charcoals: Use a heating element (i.e. electric or gas Stove top) to get the coal red hot. This will take approx. 8-12 min.

11. Gently press down on the charcoal, while sucking in through the hose. It will take several minutes for the smoke to build up inside the chamber of the glass vase.

12. Relax, share and enjoy!

Never tried hookah before?

You don't know what you are missing. Because of the growing popularity of hookah, you can find them in homes, restaurants and lounges. Non smokers find the variety of herbal flavored shisha to be calm and relaxing, while the smokers are intrigued by the flavor and smoothness of the flavored herbal shisha.

Hookah, also known as a water pipe, nargeela/nargile/narghile/nargileh, argeela/arghileh, shisha/sheesha, okka, kalyan, hubble bubble/hubbly bubbly, or ghelyoon/ghalyan is one of the oldest traditions in the Middle East and now known worldwide. Both men and women enjoy hookah as a way of relaxation from the everyday stresses in life. Guess it's time to find out for yourself.

For more information on the history of the Hookah, please visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hookah