Shisha has become so popular all over the world now. Interestingly, when more and more people smoke for the first time wondering what really they smoke. What shisha tobacco is made of. And why it is so wet and so on.
What is shisha tobacco made of?
Here are the main components of shisha tobacco.
- Tobacco leaf is the main component. Grown in the USA, Africa, Turkey. After being picked up, tobacco leaves are soaked in water for a short period of time. Because the longer they soak, the less strong the final product will be. Next, stems and veins are cut to make it smooth. And after that, the soaked leaves go to the next stage of production. During the production, the shisha tobacco loses basically all the tar that usual tobacco would have. Moreover, the tar is what may have a negative impact on health.
- Honey or molasses – these are the ingredients that make tobacco as wet as we used to see it. Initially, manufacturers were adding honey. But unfortunately, honey has a rather short shelf life. Therefore, now all tobacco is made with molasses. Molasses is a by-product from the production of sugar and starch. The leaves are soaked in molasses and remain moist. That is why tobacco smolders slowly rather than just burns.
- Glycerin is the third most important component. Glycerin is absolutely harmless. It is part of many beauty products we use every day. It gives that strong smoke to the shisha tobacco.
- Favorings make shisha tobacco tasty. Thanks to them, store shelves simply burst with different tastes. There is no need to worry at all. The flavors are absolutely safe. As these are the same food flavors that are added to our food.
- Colors just add that nice burgundy or orange color. Usually plain tobacco is yellow or brown which are considered not very good colors for marketing goals, So many manufacturers make it look prettier. However, more and more producers have stopped using them.
Types of tobacco leaves
In total there are over 50 types of tobaccos. But these four types are the best ones to produce the shisha tobacco: Virginia, Burley, Oriental, Maryland.
Virginia tobacco is used for 70% of shisha blends. Such as Al Fakher tobaccos. It is characterized by a mild and slightly sweet taste. Dries with the help of the smoke.
Burley tobacco leaves are stronger. They are more suitable for experienced smokers. This variety of leaves is air dried. Oriental tobacco is grown in Turkey. The tobacco has a fairly low tobacco content. Therefore, it is considered the mildest tobacco for shisha. Maryland tobacco is mainly grown in the United States. It does not have a bright tobacco taste and smell.
These varieties are characterized by different ability to absorb flavorings. For example, for fruit-flavored tobaccos, manufactures use Burley tobacco. This type absorbs up to 25% of flavors. Other kinds absorb about 8%.
Nicotine – To be, or not to be, that is the question
When choosing tobacco for smoking, you need to pay attention to the nicotine content in a particular brand. Especially, if you are a beginner and not used to strong tobacco. Tobaccos with a low nicotine content have around 0.05% of nicotine, on the contrary, strong tobaccos generally have up to 0.5% of nicotine. So first start with light tobaccos. Then if you feel like it, switch to stronger varieties or just keep doing the light ones.
Just a fun fact about the shisha tobacco – it has been known that the shisha smoke contains very small drops of water and steam, which are formed due to smoldering of the tobacco. As we already know, tobacco is soaked in molasses, which allows it to remain moist and therefore it smolders when you smoke rather than just burns.