Hookah and Hookah Bars

By John McCree


Originally made popular the in the U.S. in the 1960's and 70's, hookah smoking is becoming progressively common ever since the turn of the century. A hookah bar is a business establishment where individuals come with their buddies to enjoy a "hookah". One can readily locate these bars near universities and colleges and in very populated cities.

Brief History

Hookah and the idea of hookah bars originated 500 years ago in the subcontinent close to where currently is the border of India and Pakistan. These bars are chiefly linked to the middle east as it was the origin of hookah and the region from where hookah gained a lot of popularity. Hookah bars became popular in the Middle East as the places where customers used to socialize and smoke hookah with friends.

Features of Hookah Bars

In the more cultural areas, the lounges often appear like their roots more carefully, often operated by people of Arab descent, furnished and embellished with a Middle Eastern or Indian motif. A few are simple, and may not serve extra items. But some multifunctional bars offer snacks, coffee and sodas too. A small bar typically doesn't have a liquor license and therefore they do not serve alcohol. The larger bars, however, possess a liquor license and they serve several cocktails along with wine and beer. Smaller hookah bars normally have music systems, however the larger bars have belly dancers, live DJs and the environment appears to be a lot more like a night club.

Some hookah bars are intentionally built near university and college campuses to attract the students. The trend has become common as a less hazardous replacement for other sorts of smoking. Also, as college years are generally a time of new experiences, regular social interaction, and building solid connections, the hookah lounge lends itself well to college life. Cities popular for their secondary education institutions, like Washington DC or Raleigh, NC have seen a surge in popularity with regards to these lounges.

The Mysterious Hookah

Now you must be thinking what a hookah is? What is so special about this device that it is becoming popular all across the globe. Hookah was designed by a Persian physician in the late 1500's. It was called as a "huqqa". This name has remained with this device since that time, however, as this device traveled around the world it gained several other names for example hubble-bubble and nargile.

Whilst the primitive hookah looked considerably different, probably made out of coconut shells, the result has always been the same: purify and cool the smoke by passing it through water before inhalation. The structure of the hookah has 4 main components:

1. Bowl - the tobacco is placed here.

2. Body - the smoke leaves the body and reaches the water basin.

3. Water Basin - here the smoke goes through the water. After purified, the smoke is kept in a chamber above the water until it is inhaled by the smoker.

4. Hose - the smoker puffs on the hose to breathe in smoke from the chamber where it is kept after purification. Ordinarily a hose is approximately one to two meters long.

The end result is a soothing and fragrant smoke.

A senior customer of a prominent hookah business in turkey said:

"The thing isn't what you put in the pipe, but who is along with you when you're smoking. It's a whole experience. All kinds of people, old, young and fascinating come to bars such as this one. All what people really need to come to a hookah bar is a heart to socialize, meet and spend some time in the company of close friends."




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