These get the job done and i find they light easy using a toarch or electric stove and are usually ready by the time my bowl is packed. I still think Coco Nara Coals work the best out of everything I've used.

The reason they take forever is because you're probably setting them on the flame. I use a coal burner and they heat up faster than the chronic hookah coals (I'm using exotica naturals, NOT pre-cut). It probably tastes like charcoal because its not lit all the way through.

I own a hookah bar. I've used virtually every coal on the market these coals are the best. There is a minor ignition smell as with any coal you would put on a stove to light it's called burning. They last forever, have really high heat the whole way through, and they have no flavor once they are fully ignited. I must say though the normal kind seems to be a better deal than the gold I usually get 100 pieces out of cutting it myself.

These charcoals are a pain to light compared to the quick starts (you have to leave it on a stove, and it stinks like charcoal), and then it taints the whole bowl with the charcoal taste. Definitely unlike the description.