Shisha
Shisha is the common term used in hookah lounges and elsewhere for the flavored tobacco which is smoked in a hookah or nargile. Less frequently, this substance is called tobamel or maassel.
History
In the Middle East, shredded tobacco has long been was mixed with sweeteners such as honey, molasses, sugar or semi-dried fruit. Many contemporary manufacturers use glycerin as the primary sweetener in shisha because of its low cost and humectant qualities.
The practice of adding strong flavors is a relatively recent one but has grown in popularity in the past 20 years.
Terms
Shisha
Shisha is derived from an Arabic term for a water pipe. Shisha is thus a synecdoche derived from shisha tobacco.
The other terms discussed here originate from terms for the smoking material itself but none of them are used among English-speakers with the same frequency as shisha with its distinctive double voiceless postalveolar fricative.
Tobamel
Tobamel is derived from Latin. The tob element is a contraction of tobacco and mel is a word for honey.
Maassel
Maassel (also rendered as mu'essel and various other ways) is Arabic for honeyed.
Tumbâk
Tumbâk is word of Turkish origin and refers simply to tobacco, not necessarily flavored or sweetened. The Farsi word tumbeki is similar.
Jurâk
Jurâk, mainly of Indian origin, might be considered as an intermediate substance between traditional sweetened tobaccos and the fruity shisha of modern tomes. The term applies both to a tobacco mixture that includes fruits or aromatic oils as well as tobacco that is just sweetened.
Merchandising
Some notable brands of flavored tobacco from include: Abajûra, El-bâshâ , El-'Esfahâny, En-nahla, Ibyâry, Shîh 'el-beled, Zeglûl. All of these are Egyptian except for Shîh 'el-beled which is Tunisian. Today there are also numerous varieties produced in the West with more coming to market each year.
Besides being sold in little packets as is rolling tobacco, shisha is also sold in cardboard boxes and plastic jars. Packaging is generally illustrated with bright floral motifs, fruit, lush gardens and romantic images of sultans or pashas.
The relative proportions of tobacco, treacle, fruits and spices, on average, 30%, 50% and 20% respectively. The substance is generally valid for two years; boxes usually indicate the production date. Health warnings about lung cancer risks and cardiovascular disease appear on these products as they do tobacco products elsewhere in the world.
Some manufacturers produce tobacco-free flavored herbal blends and market these as shisha as well.
Flavors
Shisha is sold in a proliferation of flavors, especially in the United States. Some of the flavors in which it is available are derived from the addition of artificial flavorings' other manufacturers shun these. A few of the flavors are not that of substances one would hear, but rather are based upon the odor of flowers or whatever. A partial list of the flavors in which shisha is available in the United States includes:
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Zaghloul is often served with a broken coal mixed into the shisha itself.