How To: Make Your Shisha Last Longer

This blog was last updated 06/30/2023

Waste not, want not. The exact source of this famous idiom is unclear, but the meaning of the phrase should ring true with many hookah smokers. If you use your hookah supplies, shisha in this specific case, wisely, then you won't run out as often and will be able to smoke a tasty bowl of shisha as often as you like. In this guide we are going to go over some simple steps you can take to ensure that you use your shisha efficiently and avoid wasteful habits in the process.

The most common cause of shisha waste is likely improper storage. When stored properly, good quality shisha does not have a specific expiration date. It can sit for months and months and still provide a good quality smoke. The most important things to remember are that, in almost all cases, exposure to light, heat, and air can accelerate the degradation of your shisha.

Certain shishas, like Tangiers, enjoy a bit of air from time to time, but with almost all other brands we recommend storing your shisha in air-tight containers and that you store those containers at room temperature and away from light. A cabinet or drawer works perfect for this. Keep your shisha stored correctly, and you will find yourself never throwing away old, dry shisha.

When you are smoking with a large group of people feel free to load that Harmony or Vortex bowl full to the top, add 3 coals, let her rip, and pass that hose around. Chances are that you and your friends are going to smoke that bowl until it's bone dry and all the flavor is gone.

If, however, you are planning a solo smoke session while watching a movie, working on a project, or just lounging on a lazy Saturday afternoon, take a second and think about how much you are actually going to smoke. In a situation like this, it's probably best to consider a more shallow bowl, which holds less shisha but still smokes great.

Use of shallow, or narrower, hookah bowls when smoking by yourself, or when smoking a quick bowl with friends, allows you to get great taste & cloud size while also conserving the amount of shisha you use. Underpacking a normal sized bowl is an option, but the distance from your coals to the shisha provide a less than optimal experience.

We recommend picking up an Alien Mini Phunnel bowl if you are into the Phunnel style or a Small Mya Bowl for a more traditional holes-on-the-bottom Egyptian style bowl. Each of these will allow you to have a regular smoke session while using less shisha.

Everyone loves blowing some monster clouds during their sessions, but these clouds come from adding extra heat to your bowl and that in turn can lead to more shisha being consumed during a normal smoke session. Next time you smoke, try using 2 coals instead of 3, or 3 half coals instead of 2 whole coals.

If you are patient and allow an extra minute or two for the bowl to heat up, and stagger your puffs by a few more seconds each time, you can often get better results than you would by blasting your shisha with a ton of heat for the whole session. Check out this short video on how to break natural coals in half for more info. Please be very careful when attempting this.

Our final shisha conservation tip is to just use the most modern technology we've got to get more efficient sessions. The new Kaloud Samsaris bowl is specifically designed to use less shisha than a traditional bowl, while also delivering longer than average sessions when paired with the Kaloud Lotus. Check out this awesome video of the founder of Kaloud showing you how he gets 2+ hour sessions with just a few pinches of shisha and a rotation of 1-2 coals.