Since the dawn of the silver screen, it has been very common to see a depiction of locals in traditional dress gathered around a hookah whenever main characters enter an exotic Casbah or similar location. Unlike many other tropes when predicting other cultures, this isn’t an insensitive nor inaccurate depiction at all, with people native to those regions being the first to point out that this is still a common practice, and is very much a deep-rooted part of their culture since at least the introduction of tobacco from the New World.

In these cultures, it isn’t uncommon to negotiate trade, come to political agreements or simply share the gossip while gathered around one of these devices, enjoying the unique variety of tobacco called chillum or shisha. This is a very unique tobacco indeed, not even actually being smoked in the traditional sense of the word. As a matter fact, it isn’t even burnt, but is slow-roasted and vaporized via heat from charcoal. Even the charcoal is unique, not being the type of charcoal your dad used to use to burn the hamburgers during family barbecues. This charcoal produces little to no smoke, and even in cases where smoke is produced from, it isn’t imbibed by the users of the hookah at all.

Essentially, what you get, at the end of the day, is the oil from the tobacco, as well as the flavoring. It doesn’t contain any of the ash or carcinogenic byproducts that burning tobacco produces, this being the things that make traditional smoking so very hazardous to one’s health. That isn’t to say that it is 100% healthy, but nothing in life is 100% healthy. Even vegetables and exercise can be lethal if you overdo it with them, after all.

Chillum is even different in feel and appearance from typical dried and shredded cigarette tobacco, being extremely sticky and moist, very vibrantly colored and giving off a strong but pleasant smell. It comes in a variety of flavors, some of them traditional Arabic and near East Asian flavors, some being modern concoctions rivaling the variety offered even by electronic smoking alternatives. It is a heavier, or moist type of “smoke”, being far less of an irritant, not drying out the mouth and throat, and being much cooler and more pleasant overall.

Given the increasing pressure on people to give up traditional tobacco, it is in the lead alongside these affirmation electronic solutions is the new way for people to enjoy their smoke should they choose to do so at all. It is worth noting that children should not use this any more than any other tobacco products, it still isn’t ideal for people with respiratory or heart conditions, and using it where smoking is banned will probably get you in trouble.

If you are intrigued, but don’t know where to start, you don’t have to scour the Internet to find your ideal source of information and eventual outlet for leading hookah and chillum brands or varieties. Chillum NZ your one-stop online shop for all of your hookah and hookah accessory needs!