Hooked on Hookahs

Hooked on Hookahs

The Purple Caterpillar a tobacco enthusiast’s dream opened its doors the 26th of September to the city of Terre Haute. A city that has until recently had only the usual cheap spirits and loud music to enjoy. The major point in question with the city in the beginning was the overall goal of this venture. I asked Michael Egy the founder of the (PC) what his goal was in creating such a vastly different business, his explanation was simple. “To give people a different choice and a safe, clean place to enjoy your company while enjoying a tradition that has been around since the 1600’s”. This paper will discuss the problems faced in opening an unusual establishment while at the same time examining the historical, current and future outlook of this infamous water pipe.

This tradition began around 1630 with the Turkish culture they inherited this tradition from Istanbul most likely. The “Nargile” or hookah as it’s traditionally called in the US has been a part of Istanbul’s coffee shops nearly since its creation. A special spot is reserved in nearly every coffee shop for a hookah smoker. These people were previously thought of as cherished customers because they returned time and time again to enjoy the sweet smokes offered. Often however these customers began to bring there own flavors of smoke. And enjoyed them in there own personalized hookahs. The shops actually store each individual hookah until that customer returns and they are the only one who is allowed to use it. But what is it about this tobacco that is so special. Let me begin by explaining that hookah tobacco or "shisha" as it is traditionally called is not a drug, not addictive, and is safer than cigarettes. So what is it exactly, more or less it’s the experience not the tobacco that brings people back to such a place. But in terms of the plant it is an all natural flavored alternative to inhaling smoke. The hookah actually vaporizes the tobacco which means it heats the plant to the exact temperature at which the chemicals in the tobacco become gas. This is a great alternative the actual process of burning such as with a cigarette. There is no smoke only vapor that is sweet to the taste depending on the flavor and is not harsh on the lungs. Plus the taste is exactly like what you order and you don’t get the terrible smell usually associated with tobacco. The water pipe actually consists of four different parts the mouthpiece, which usually has interchangeable personal mouth guards, the elongated tubes, the bowl and the body where the water is stored. The vapor is pulled through the water not to filter but to cool it down, even though the vapor is not harsh it is hot because the bowl on top is covered with coals that burn for nearly an hour. The vapor is so smooth in fact you can almost completely inhale the vapor and not cough. The feeling after inhaling the smoke is surprisingly refreshing; the vapor tastes excellent. It leaves the smoker with a slight euphoric mindset. The tobacco does naturally contain a certain amount of nicotine “."Each bowl has none of the tars and only 0.05 percent of the nicotine of an entire cigarette," says Mr. Egy. There are some of the typical health risks associated with this sweet treat but the only one of major importance is that the tobacco does slightly lower your blood sugar, this is why we serve drinks with natural sugar. There is no caution for those who are diabetic