The Shisha Blog

Ramadan

2007-09-16T18:47:00.000-07:00

All of the moderators of this blog happen to be Muslim. This particular writer, Mustafa, does not claim to be a great one by any means. Due to my health, I've been unable to fast for two years. This breaks my heart on many levels.

I remember fasting, and loving it. The first fluid of the evening would be ice cold water. For me, this was a great nightly experience. It became a personal tradition. Whether or not we admit it, many Muslims have personal traditions that they've developed for the month of Ramadan. I have a friend who only cooks a special vegetable pakora during this month. Only in Ramadan will they use this special recipe. Collectively we have our traditions that come from the Prophet Muhammad (as), such as breaking the fast with dates. Nonetheless I am always fascinated with the personal traditions people have developed in their personal and family lives.

Four years ago I was associated with some friends who were also fasting. While all of us loved to eat, we also loved shisha. Most of us were afternoon smokers. We would meet in the afternoon to discuss the world, play cards and chess, and smoke. When Ramadan began, we had to hold off of the food and shisha all day. It was that year we created our own tradition.

Everyday for the holy month, we would meet for evening prayers. After that we would have a sensible meal consisting of rice, beef or lamb, vegetables, and anything else we could find in the kitchen. After that, I would prepare shisha for everyone. For some reason, even the shisha is more enjoyable during the holy month of Ramadan. Much like the first sip of ice cold water, the first taste of sweet shisha was a very refreshing experience after a day of work, school, and abstaining from consumables.

To the Muslim readers of this blog, Ramadan Kareem!

What Makes a Cafe?

2007-08-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

I have read many restaurant and cafe reviews. Most of them paint a decent picture of what a place is like. They describe services, atmosphere, decor, and of course the prices. In most of the reviews there is an often overlooked and missing element.

Bricks and design do not make a building alone. People make the building. There is a saying I read in an Islamic History course dealing with Central Asia. The saying was "The Mosque is not made of bricks, it is made of people".

I feel that this holds true with all public spaces. People can make or break any place. I have been to places that are great, but lack customers of any depth or quality. I enjoy the company of good people. Even if they are strangers, I do not like to be in the company of those who act obnoxious.

The places that the moderators of this blog frequent are typically frequented by good people. This makes our cafe experiences most enjoyable.

The New World

2007-07-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

As an aspiring historian, I have maintained a fascination with the Old World.

This is not to say that I prefer to disregard my New World traditions and lifestyle. But the Old World intrigues me. It can be difficult to define these terms, but I tend to consider the Old World to be the Eastern hemisphere and Europe. The New World is the the Americas.

For the most part, New World people are descendants from Old World immigrants, slaves, and rejects from their previous societies. In this regard, we are unique, strong, and and purveyors of both worlds. We look to the Old World at times for examples of what to do and what not to do. Through centuries of Old World colonial influence, we receive our customs, languages, and legal systems. We are forever linked for these reasons.

Recently, my wife has come to stay with me. She is a product of two Old World traditions. An amazingly beautiful woman of Bengali and British traditions, she found herself discussing our lives with me from our own unique perspectives.

Late night on the back porch of a rural home in the hills of Southern Ohio, there was coffee, snacks, and orange-vanilla shisha to help pass the evening away. By the end of the night, I think we gained a higher fascination of the worlds we come from. We discussed religion, politics, and education from every aspect that we understood.

The was night was seemingly perfect. The snacks were cheap, but tasty. The shisha was smooth. The coffee and juice was equally as good. More importantly, in the midst of this modest setting, I came to another realization. The Old World has provided my with so much more than a fascination. It has also provided me with my best friend.

(This Post can also be seen at www.briefcasejournal.blogspot.com)

Leen O'Caffe

2007-07-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago some friends and I (the moderators of this blog), took a field trip to Leen O'Caffe in Columbus Ohio.
Leen O'Caffe is a quaint yet sophisticated spot in the Victorian Village neighborhood of our city. For three years I lived in this neighborhood and enjoyed the atmosphere of it. While there are a number of cafes in the area, Leen O'Caffe is certainly distinguishable among all of them. This cafe is nicely decorated, staffed with very friendly people, and has an array of delights.

I had a bowl of rice pudding, which has been a weakness of mine for years. Needless to say, it was the best rice pudding I've ever had. There is an assortment of smoothies available as well. My friends had smoothies to cure a sudden sweet tooth they developed when walking in. We order our sweets, and of course the shisha.

The shisha was superb. Instead of using glass or clay bowls on the pipes, this cafe uses real fruit. We ordered a "special" orange hookah. This was served with juice and ice in the base and a real orange for a bowl to hold the shisha. We ordered a second one without the ice and juice. This one was flavored with lemon and mint in a real lemon bowl. Both of them were wonderful.

The moderators of this blog have been around the world smoking shisha. While most of us would agree the shisha was not the best, it certainly was remarkable. The shisha that was served was flavorful and smooth. The atmosphere was polished, and the service was great. Leen O'Caffe is also the most polished shisha cafe in Central Ohio. Prices were higher than comparable cafes in the area, but worth it. Considering the real fruit involved in their shisha and the great service, none of us thought any price was a problem. All these aspects combined require that we give Leen O'Caffe an "Alhamdulilah" rating (again, explanation of our rating system coming soon).

If anyone is stopping by Columbus and wants a retreat to a nice neighborhood cafe, I recommend looking them up.

Why homo sapiens stood up?

2007-07-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

Evolution class is killing me, its so boring. The professor just talks and talks; non-stop about who knows what. All I do in class is daydream about mixes of Shisha and figure which one would suit the days mood. Today was different, its exam day. I tried to take a nap but I overslept. But I am happy that after today I wouldn’t think about “Why homo sapiens stood up”. Damit I don’t know, did they notice Homo erectus was right behind them.

My Trip to MSU

2007-07-11T14:43:00.001-07:00

I'll have to say last weekend was a bit out of the norm for me. I visited the state up north, hoping to find the type of recreation the Michigan State students are subjected to. The campus was smaller than OSU's, but the atmosphere was more intimate . The student population were extremely friendly, and some of them even showed me around their campus strip (sort of like or High Street in Columbus Ohio).

Walking around I saw a sign that read "HOOKAH", now to most that really doesn't ring a bell, but to me that meant all the world. It was 58 hours since I've had shisha, and I was ecstatic. The aroma of burning flavors and beautiful black lights was soul-filling, if you could call it that! Blue Midnight it was called, and as I walked in the service was welcoming. They would hand you a menu as you walked in and give you a choice between House flavors and Premium ones. Being the mint nut that I am i ordered my usual Double Apple Mint, hoping to gain a positive experience from the state we so much hate (due to sports rivalries).

To keep the story short, the lounge didn't really live up to its theme. It was a chill spot to hang, but when flavor is measured in scale (100grams) to be exact, it kind of takes the originality and authenticity out of the experience. There were so many health related options, like double wrapped foil and wooden non quick combustible charcoal. Nonetheless the shisha died out pretty fast and the experience was not a memorable one. I talked to the manager, which by the way is an OSU grad, and asked if I could write an article about their store and he agreed to it. I wasn't hoping for any special treatment after saying that, but I did hope to get some sort of pampering to enjoy my final night at the lovely campus in East Lansing. To my surprise it was exactly the same. Sadly I didn't enjoy my experience at that lovely decorated hookah lounge, but to give them the benefit of doubt I did arrive on a weekend, and the essence of a hookah lounge is lost on weekends, due to high traffic.

Overall I would rate this Narghille experience a Masha'allah (explanation about our rating system coming soon...). The people were nice and service was awesome but because the shisha was mediocre this lounge unable to receive a higher rating.

Wait Your Turn

2007-07-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

When it comes to the culture of Shisha, there are laws and civic codes that coincide with it.

In the United Kingdom for example, cafes serving shisha fell under a recent smoking ban. The laws there killed the culture. In the United States, smoking laws depend on the state and districts within the state. All states agree that a person should be at least 18 years of age until legally allowed to smoke.

Underage smoking, while common, is not condoned in public establishments. If cafes allowed underage smokers to smoke, they face potential fines and closure. The underage crowd remains steadfast in their determination to continue to work around their problem. Almost daily, at Gypsy Cafe, underage smokers creatively try to work around the rules. Typically they come in with small groups and go directly to a seat. They do this in hopes that by skipping the counter, they can avoid being asked for an ID. This always fails. Other times, it may come to an overused statement of "I left my ID in the car". This doesn't suffice either.

Our best advice to those hoping to enjoy shisha and the culture surrounding while being underage, is to wait your turn. Enjoy your youth in every stage. The earlier stages of your youth do not allow you to be a part of what you will do in your latter stages of your youth. Take your life one step at a time. You won't regret it in the long run, trust us. If you are 15 you may decide that by the time you are 18 you may not even want to try shisha. In our minds, you are still cool. We like you more, when you're not trying to walk around the laws.

Again, take your lives one step at a time.

Oh Hell Nah

2007-07-06T12:39:00.001-07:00

I am writing to you guys from the back of Gypsy, I don’t know why I’m hot, is it because the sun is 10ft away from my head or isn’t that I just sh!tted on my exam. I don’t care. I ponder on this over good Shisha. That’s was the background story. Ok here I am at gypsy. Damn Oh Hell Nah the door is closed. I checked my time, no I am not early. Wat the hell happened.

Ok what does a Shisha head got to do in the mean time. Think.. Think …I cant think, I just got off a evolution exam. My head is hurting and the sun is not taking easy on a brother. Damn.. Damn what does a brother got to do.

After 1hour, I come back checking for any life in gypsy, is that a light, yes..yes. I felt like I just discovered fire. Its open… Double Apple Mint come to papa

MINT

2007-07-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Our day usually starts off with a fresh roasted cup of coffee and probably a bagel or a slice of bread with the usual PB&J combination or I can't believe its not butter 'butter'. We end up forced to go to class even though its summer, or head out to work and ponder in progression when we will be palming that shisha grip. I zone out in class occassionally and think about the plethora of flavors available at gypsy and pair up combinations in my head to see which one might suite the smoking pleasure I want to experience. Mr. Stevens noticing my sense of 'unawareness' directs a question at me which in turn brings me back to reality! I realize "Oh wait I'm still not at gypsy, I have an hour to go for this class to end, and I have to be at work for three more hours!" I just say 'I dont know' to the question just asked, but truthfully all I could think about at that moment was 'DOUBLE APPLE MINT'.

It has been a minute since gypsy offered the mint flavor and although they offer a lot more flavors to, I still believe it is a vital component in a memorable experience. The fruitty essence (No Homo) of a mint mix just brings pleasure to all my senses and invigorates a sense of awareness that I otherwise ignore. I know I am not the only person who thinks this way, so that's why I believe that almost every flavor should have prepacked mint mixes to make up for the scarcity of the flavor! Chocolate-mint is a perfect example which is sold in stores nationwide, so is lemon-mint...This should be the common trend in stores for all the 'mix-mint' lovers out there!

I might be speaking out of my ass right about now, but hey I know in two hours I'll be smoking and enjoying my hookah and you'll be reading this and thinking " this guy is a feen!" But you know what try it and in three months' time let me know what you think!

July 4th Festivities

2007-07-04T16:16:00.000-07:00

To commemorate the victory over the British we smoked the day away with double grape explosion, these special fireworks came out of our nostrils. The weather's great after a little sprinkle of rain or too. It's only seven the day is just beginning, who knows what the day has in store for our smoky souls.....

...In Columbus on the evening before the 4th of July, the city hosted the annual Red, White, and Boom celebration. Our good friend Ali captured some video of the grand finale. Approximately 20,000 people filled the city's downtown and surrounding districts to watch the show.

American tradition dictates that the Independence Day celebrations are not complete without fireworks and a barbecue. We would like to forge a new tradition. In this tradition we would like to add to the pot of diversity that this country celebrates on a daily basis. In this new tradition, we meet among friends for shisha and discuss the love of our freedoms and benefits; as well as our faults and potential betterments.

It is good to be in the United States.

Shisha Blog and the Inaugural Post

2007-07-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

The Shisha Blog has arrived!

In France during the Age of Enlightenment, aristocratic men could be found in various salons and parlors discussing the world. In those days, global communications and media moved at the pace of wooden ships. Despite the snail's speed of communication, conversations in an Enlightenment-Era salon could encompass events in Persia, India, Africa, Europe and the New World.

July 2, 2007, people sit in cafes and discuss the same places and events in a much speedier paced world than enlightened France. Wooden ships have long been retired and communication moves as fast as email and mobile phones can allow.

In a contemporary salon we call shisha lounges, the old with new is combined. The centuries old tradition of smoking shisha in long stem pipes combine with new world traditions of mass communications and the discussions that develop because of them.In Columbus Ohio, one such lounge that brings together the moderators of this blog is Gypsy Cafe. For us, this place is our second home, office, and cafe of choice.

As this is the first post of hopefully many, welcome to the Shisha Blog.