Okay, you have probably heard of hookahs before. You’ve seen them in movies set in the middle or near East, the cultures that actually invented them, where they usually adorn the corners of a Casbah, several locals in traditional dress gathered around idly enjoying it and participating in local gossip. This is not an insensitive cliché, this is a common sight to this day, at least in locations where smoking isn’t prohibited.
To fully appreciate a hookah, let’s talk a little bit first about its role in the cultures that invented it. It is clearly a device intended for multiple users, and that is because it is, among other things, a tool for social interaction. That depiction in movies of several old friends gathered around enjoying a hookah together is an accurate depiction, as these have been a social locus local trade agreements and big international political patents throughout the region’s history, at least since the day tobacco was introduced from the New World. No one is entirely certain if the hookah was invented upon the introduction of tobacco, or if it existed before this is a way to consume other dry herbs, but it definitely came into its own of tobacco either way.
So, let’s talk a little bit about how these devices work. The actual mechanism isn’t complicated at all, the “smoke” produced by a hookah simply being heavier than air, thus causing it to sink through the straight chamber into the hollow base of the device. Users drawing the tubes also causes more of this to be pulled from the tobacco and into the chamber. Notice the use of quotes when I mentioned smoke? That’s because, scientifically-speaking, it isn’t really a conventional smoke. Hookah tobacco, usually called shisha or chillum, isn’t intended to burn the way a cigarette or pipe tobacco are. It is extremely moist and sticky, vibrant in appearance and pungently flavored. Trying to ignite it would be rather difficult, and this is by design. This tobacco is slowly roasted and vaporized via heat from charcoal, basically releasing the flavors and tobacco oils, the things that you actually want, but not producing the ash and carcinogenic compounds that help comprise actual smoke.
This makes it a lot healthier than cigarettes, though no use of tobacco can never be 100% healthy. To be honest, precious few things in life are ever 100% healthy, even exercise can kill you if you overdo it!
Chillum can come in a wide variety of flavors, and in the modern world, companies in New Zealand, Australia and Europe are producing even more unique flavors, some of which rival the variety and outlandish nature of electronic smoking solutions. If you are interested in a hookah, or perhaps you already have one and are looking for the latest in the industry, Chillum NZ is absolutely your side of choice to shop. They are your one-stop shop for just about every variety of hookah and chillum could possibly want, and some you could never have imagined.
