Hookah Smoking, a centuries old tradition, has made it to the trendiest clubs and nightlife clubs of London, NYC, LA, Paris, Ibiza and tokyo, College coffee shops, and a must have of any cool get together... It really went from something you would see Middle Eastern students share in their dorm room to a social event, a community and a lifestyle.

What is a Hookah:
Basically a hookah is a multi-steammed water pipe for smoking tobacco. It operates by water filtering the smoke.

Also known as:
Depending on what country you are a hookah is also known as:
water pipe, nargeela, nargile, narghile, nargileh, argeela,arghileh, shisha, sheesha, okka, kalyan, or ghelyoon or ghalyan.

Where did it originate?
Well just like the answer to who marked the first footprint in America there is no consensus: Some say it originated in India, some in turquey and others in what is known as Iraq. But with out a doubt it is widely used and part in everyday life in the Persian Gulf, Lebanon, Palestine, Sirya, Iraq, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries

Design & Function:
1.the base, vase, or smoke chamber, which is partially filled with water.
2.the bowl or head, which contains the tobacco; the heating apparatus is placed on top
3.the pipe or stem which connects the bowl to the base by a tube that descends into the water
4.the hose, which connects to a second tube in the pipe that does not descend into the water, but only the air of the smoke chamber.

Tobacco:
The tobacco used in Hookah smoking is called "maasel" a 1:2 mixture of shreded tobacco with sweetener such as honey, molasses, or dried fruit.