Shisha Tobacco

Shisha Tobacco

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Shisha tobacco, which is smoked out of an Egyptian hookah pipe, is a blend of molasses, fruit and tobacco. The properties of shisha tobacco are rather complex, and unique. Rather than igniting combustible material with a flame, shisha tobacco requires that a hot coal be used to release a slow steady heat that is not quite hot enough to combust or burn anything.

The hot coal boils the molasses, which in turn, vaporizes the fruit and tobacco. An Egyptian hookah pipe smoker doesn't exhale carbon filled smoke, but rather steam vapor. As a result, there is no tar or many other chemicals associated with combusted smoke.

The smoke leaving the smokers mouth is really more of a steam vapor than smoke. This vapor instantly dissapates into the air, much like a cold winters day.

The blend is a kind of tobacco used in smoking the shisha (Nargila, Argila, Boury and Gouza). It is a blend of international tobacco leaves. This blend gives a special flavor and taste with the additives of molasses extracted from sugarcane and other additives. The Authorities of Measurement Standards have decided on those additives, so that it will be adequate for smoking.

The usage of shisha tobacco in Egypt was introduced with the Ottoman's occupation by the beginning of the 19th century. The idea was initiated from the Ottoman's vision whilst smoking the shisha they brought in with them from Turkey. They used to smoke what was called " Tombak"; a kind of tobacco planted in Turkey and Iran and where its preparation does not include and technical process (craft) and its quality depends on the kind of tobacco used.

By that time the Egyptians were fond of imitating the Turkish for what they have seen of development in the various areas that accompanied their existence; in the fields of industry, agriculture and culture.
The problem for Egyptians was from where to bring the shisha and the tobacco?

Thus they started to think in making a replacement for it. They brought a coconut fruit and made two holes to extract the syrup inside and then they used a bamboo stick as a substitute for the rubber tube. The haggar was made of burnt clay, where you place the tobacco on. Thus the process of producing the shisha was launched successfully and the Egyptians named it Gouza as an autonomy to the name of the coconut fruit in Arabic.

The Egyptians started to think in bringing the tobacco, by that time there were many people working in selling the rolled cigarettes. It was a flourishing trade by that time. It was known that the tobacco used in the rolled cigarettes was cut in fine layers, different than what was used by the Ottomans.

During the trials for smoking the hookah, the tobacco was not stable on the haggar, thus they failed in imitating the Ottomans.

In one of the trials, one of those who loved smoking was having his dinner; bread and molasses extracted from sugarcane which was a very popular dessert in Egypt. He was trying to fix the tobacco, then an idea occurred to him to use the molasses for being sticky to give the tobacco texture; the process ended successfully. The most important thing is that it gave the smoker a distinguished flavor whilst smoking, thus the new method of smoking started which was mixing tobacco with molasses (extracted from sugarcane) thus was named.