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Hi every one hope you are all doing well, hope this covid situation hasn’t affected you guys. Please stay safe and keep your loved ones safe too.

Today’s topic will be an introduction to bowls, We will talk about the differences of Killer, Turkish, Phunnel bowl and its properties individually. A quick guide for you on how to pack them respectively.

Killer bowl is made of clay, has a classic shape, flat and thick bottom. There are five or seven holes arranged symmetrically in the bottom and built. Such a bowl is quite easy to prepare. it is mainly used for long lasting sessions as its built is thicker and allows relatively more tobacco volume. It gives out good heating of the bowl and provides maximum strength. In killer bowl you can use layer packing or section packing as there is more depth in the bowl.  The holes in the bowl really play a big hand in bring bringing out explosive taste from the tobaccos. In killer bowls it is easier to control the heat applied onto the tobacco. 

Glazed Killer bowl:
The glaze protects the bowl from the absorption of leaf syrup, which allows the bowl to retain its original properties and appearance for a longer time.
The glazed bowl gives more heat. Therefore, more attention needs to be paid at temperature control.

Non-glazed killer bowl:
A clay bowl without glaze absorbs the syrup of its content to a certain extent. The taste could become more pronounced with each smoking session, but if different flavors are used, they can mix with each other. This type of bowl needs more time to heat up.

Advantage of a killer bowl:
– heat is distributed evenly throughout the bowl.
– Higher strength is obtained.

 

Killer Bowl

                                                                                                                                                           

 

Turkish bowl is great for those who like going classic. This bowl is made from different types of clay (usually non-glazed) and stands out from the others with its thicker walls, which helps maintain a stable bowl temperature for a longer time. Turkish bowl has a round bottom and wider holes, which leads to a better air circulation and easier traction. Such a bowl is simple and easy to prepare and thus is ideal for every novice hookah enthusiast.

Advantage of a killer bowl:
-The heat is evenly distributed over the entire area of ​​the bowl.
-Easy to pack hookah mixture.

 

Turkish Bowl

                                                                                                                                                           

 

Moving on to the phunnel bowls. Phunnel bowl is more shallow and only has one hole in the middle with a curb. With Phunnel bowls the molasses is less likely to drip down into the base unlike killer bowls. Phunnel bowls are thinner so the bowl heats up faster. Such a bowl is simple and easy to prepare, which is a huge advantage for beginners in this field and is the most commonly used bowls in the market. Phunnel bowl works best with finer cut of tobacco especially dark leaf. It also comes in glazed and non-glazed version. The differences are similar to the properties of the glazed and non-glazed killer bowls we mentioned above.

Advantage of Phunnel bowl:
-heat is evenly distributed from top to down of the bowl.
-Easy to pack with up to 5-6 different flavours as you can do seperation like a pizza cut.

 

Phunnel Bowl

 

                                                                                                                                                          

 

Next we shall talk about its volume. Killer and Turkish bowls have a capacity of 20-25g , it can hold a lot more leaf than regular phunnel bowls. That is why the smoke sessions from killer bowls can go up to 2 hours or more if packed well. As for the phunnel it can hold from 15-25g of leaf and the smoke sessions can last from 45 mins to 90 mins. There are some larger-sized phunnel bowls like the Obalako phunnel L where It can hold as much leaf as a regular killer bowl and hence a longer smoking time. However, if you pack a phunnel bowl too dense, the hot air from the HMD might not be able to circulate through the bottom. The Shisha might go dead before all the leaf at the bottom is fully burnt. 

 

If you ask which bowl to use as a beginner we would suggest going for the killer bowl first and slowly work your way up to a phunnel bowl as Phunnel bowl requires more delicate packing skill. When using finer leaves on killer bowl I would use a tobacco strainer which is available in our website to prevent the tobacco falling into the glass base and it doesn’t affect the airflow.

 

A brief intro on how to pack both killer and phunnel bowl. Killer bowl is easy you can just layer you flavours and stack them up like a sandwich. The final level of the bowl should be 1-2mm lower than the rim of the bowl. Make sure after packing the bowl you should poke some holes in to the bowl in the same position of those holes to maximise airflow and performance. As for phunnel bowl make sure you dont over pack or under pack. Either way will cause a harder draw or less taste/smoke. How tight or fluffy you pack the bowl requires many trials and errors or experience until you find the right balance. Every packer has its own preference after all there is not a strict standard on it. Look at the picture below as a reference on how much tobacco to add and how the final product should look like. As we always say never stop trying and experimenting. Our favorite bowls are Japona Mummy bowls for the phunnel style, UPG for Turkish and Solaris for the killer style. DM us any time on Instagram or WhatsApp if you face any difficulty on which to pick and how to pack them. We are always here to give you our best advice and help you make the best choice.

 

 

 

A great example how a shisha bowl should look like