Catch-Up

I will make no excuses or pretenses about my prolonged absence. I'll only say, it's good to be back. And hi, McLane.

Here's a butt-ton of recipes and reviews I thought I'd already posted but haven't apparently!

HookaH-HookaH - Acai Berry

In the box: Not overtly fruity on the nose. Much like white grape, it's kind of rocking a fermented feel. Very unique, I'll give it that!
In the bowl: It's actually very floral. Like a rose? I can actually tolerate? It makes me see what everyone likes about a good rose! Acai is mellow but present, fruity/berry-y but not fake. Tasty and wonderful. Also probably one of my favorite favorite mixers. I should get a gigantic tub of this, stat. And you. should. too.

star star star star star
5/5 stars for H-H ACAI!!!

Orange + Acai + Margarita = The Everything Fruit!
Blackberry + Acai + Hazelnut = Purple Haze!

Becky's Shisha Kitchen!
Recipies of Delicious Smoking

Ha7elnut

Another mild and delicious chill-out flavor from the kitchen, this one is. The seven spice, I'll reiterate, is much different than when I first opened it. The nuttiness is really complimented by the spice amalgamation. After a bit of burn time it actually started tasting like chai. Nudge nudge, H-H.

1/2 Hazelnut + 1/2 7-Spice = Ha7elnut!


This one's not worthy of a name

Having in mind that my H-H Chai is too licoricey, and mintyness is the perfect foil to licoriceyness, I thought that equal parts Chai and Spearmint would be great. This was a grievous miscalculation on my part. Chai is so overpowering, I didn't taste the mint at all... so there was no coolness or, I don't know... enjoyability? If you're into this kind of thing, I would recommend either saving your Spearmint or messing with ratios.

1/2 Chai + 1/2 Spearmint = Something Becky hates


Mint Paddy's Day

DESSERT HOOKAH DAY. Have I got a sweet after-dinner class act for you. Cappuccino with Irish cream mixed and packed, with mint sprinkled over top is the smoothest of the smooth. Rich, creamy,

1/2 Cappuccino + 1/2 Irish Cream + Mint (on top) = Mint Paddy's Day!


York

There's nothing much written on this page, except for a big banner at the top that says "Knee-Deep in Cooch Napkin." Basically, this choco-mint mix tastes exactly like you'd expect and want it to. Mix credit goes to Mike Frye! :)

1/2 Chocolate + 1/2 Spearmint = York!

Now get outta my kitchen.

See you later, Internets, I am at a party! <3

Actually Lazy Sunday

I feel, dear readers, that I have not been making good on the part of my tagline what says "whatever else I have to say." Verily, posts have been few and far between, and compared to ow I normally talk they've been downright curt when they do come around.

If your one of those 4 people that reads this blog and just doesn't comment, I apologize to you. It has been this way because all of the interesting and colorful stuff I've had to say lately has been, well, a total downer. I've been having a shitty semester. Really shitty. For a number of reasons. Are my problems complex and therefore kind of interesting? I guess. Are the ways in which I'd go about relating them colorful? Most yes. But is this a freaking Livejournal where half the people that come across would think that I'm positively flooding my keyboard with wristblood while I write these rants and cut myself? Probably. And I don't want to present/propagate that image, and I don't want to bore or get you down, so online I try to keep it upbeat. And if upbeatedness is not to be had that day then I won't write much of anything.

WHICH brings me around to saying that this weekend has been pretty damn good, and very relaxing, and super freakin' snowy so I'm in the mood to charm the pants off you with a couple blend reviews.

Becky's Shisha Kitchen!
Recipies of Delicious Smoking

Had this one in the book for a while, actually. I'm starting my good-faith effort to use up flavors that I bought because they sounded like not-licorice and they turned out to be straight up licorice. Starting with the 7-Spice which may I make you aware, has changed drastically in smell from the first time I opened it, and it shows in these blends.

(a la Aladdin introducer [voiced by Robin Williams I bet you didn't know])
Arabian Iiiiice....

I mixed 1/4 Nakhla mint, 1/4 Hookah-Hookah Spearmint, and 1/2 extremely non-anise smelling H-H 7-Spice to synthesize what I hope will be the most exotic Popsicle ever.
THE RESULT: This mix is simultaneously cold and smoky. Dare I say it is perfect? I may darest. There's something so balanced and non-creepy crawly I get about the 7-Spice this time... do you know what I mean when I say creepy crawly? How licorice in any considerable amount just oozes over your tongue like asphalt on a hot day? Yeah, well, it's not there. Mint is, I suppose, the perfect foil for anise, though I may use a little less in the future. It's a powerful ally, you know?

1/4 Mint + 1/4 Spearmint + 1/2 7-Spice = Arabian Iiiice! (Like Arabian daaays...
more often than not, are hotter than hot, in a lot of good waaaaaaaays...) *sigh*

The Everything Fruit

You know how fruitcake is called fruitcake, and it kind of tastes like there's some fruit present, but if you're munching on a store bought one (god knows why) you realize that the only fruity thing about it are these Gummy Bear looking bits that don't even taste like fruit themselves but are closer to Spice Drops? Yeah, I guess this mix is like that. I wanted something fruity when I mixed 1/2 H-H orange, 1/4 Acai Berry, and 1/4 Margarita, and I can't say I didn't get it.
THE RESULT: It is well balanced if nondescript. I thought that the sour Margarita would actually be too much and it's not at all. It's a different kind of nondescript than the Slammer I wrote about a ways back, but this wishy-washiness is far superior. The likeness does bring me about to an observation, though, as I am a scientist, and that conclusion is: ORANGE IS A NOTHING FLAVOR. I haven't tried it alone, but I guess I should, because in a company so well versed in fruit flavors, I went on trust that H-H's Orange would knock me out of the park, but it's fairly nonexistant in both of these mixes. Nothing says, let alone screams, "orange" and it was half of the bowl, you know? The sour gets even a bit lost for my taste, but I'm kind of okay with that because I added Margarita in the hopes that it would be an assimilated accent. I'm getting mostly Acai Berry but that's fine, because I love that flavor.
I do really like this mix though. I mean, A LOT. But I couldn't say why I like it since typically I criticize blandiness. But I guess when you compare blandy fruit and blandy sour you get inexplicable good. *shrug*

1/2 Orange + 1/4 Acai Berry + 1/4 Margarita = The Everything Fruit!

Now get outta my kitchen.

7 Spites

Sigh. Let me iterate my feelings on Hookah-Hookah 7-Spice with a haiku.

My disappointment
Seven spice, full of anise
Where's the other 6?

I elaborate:
I hate black licorice. I hate it. Ever watch me stumble across a licorice Jelly Belly? I spit profusely regardless of whether or not there's a napkin on hand. I had heard a review that said H-H 7-Spice was balanced and cinnamony. "Like a more herbal red hot." The reviewer said he was expecting a lot of anise but there was surprisingly little. I was so excited. Alas...

HookaH-HookaH - 7-Spice

In the box: Initial cinnamon, then almost immediate licorice. Neither is too face-melting though. Ultra fine shred, ultra wet, funny little nuggets.
In the bowl: Mellow, fine, almost sweet at first but not spicy. LICORICY. Anisey. The three people I was smoking with were all about it, but I couldn't finish the bowl. On a few hits it was a bit cinnamony going in, but only vaguely. Then on the exhale it was all licorice, getting more intense on subsequent exhales after passing the hose. I had to call it quits. I took half of the bowl out (the coal hadn't been anywhere near that half yet) and mixed in some of my Nakhla mint and was able to finish in relative peace, though the clouds made a sacrifice. The mint's flat out coldness, the "winter in my throat" effect as my one friend put it, countered pretty nicely the relentless, crawling, sticks-around-like-mold effect of the becursed anise.

+ mint = Tolerable!
hypothesis: +cinnamon +chai = Actual 7-Spice?
star star star star star
Hookah-Hookah 7-Spice: 1.5/5 stars,
because I need to mix it but haven't mixed it much yet.

Nakhla and Hello

First review and first we meet! I'm not being very loquacious with my keystrokes because my hand are littered with horrible ropeburns. It's a fun story! I'll tell you when I can type properly.

Anyway, here's a quick-n-dirty rundown of the first boxes of shisha I ever received.

Nakhla - Mint

In the box: Thick cut. Pretty sticky. Lots of stems though. Aromatic but not overtly minty unless you put your snoot right in there. Mildly sweet if you're just whiffing.
In the bowl: Cold! Minty but not devastatingly minty but again, super cold and refreshing. Haven't smoked it alone and don't think I should. I've been happy to just give it half the bowl.

+ vanilla = Ice Cream!
+ vanilla + strawberry = Different Ice Cream!

Nakhla - Strawberry

In the box: Same cut, sadly. Not the juiciest, but smells scrumptious! A bit candyish but I don't mind.
In the bowl: Splendid, sweet but not too strong at all. Probably the only one I'd smoke alone because it's the right blend of interesting and underwhelming. A bit more candy-y than true to taste but I love it. I definitely ran out of it the fastest!

+ vanilla = Strawberries & Cream!
+ vanilla + mint = Different Ice Cream!

Nakhla - Vanilla

In the box: Same huge stemmy cut. Pretty sticky and smells of a very serene vanilla. Not like opening a bottle of extract or anything. Dee-lightful.
In the bowl: Smooth and extra-creamy. Gentle and lovely to mix, smooths out anyone whose path it crosses. Not too bad by itself just not to exhilarating. Pleasant. Smile times. Arguably the most mixable flavor ever.

+ mint = Ice Cream!
+ strawberry = Strawberries and Cream!
+ strawberry + mint = Different Ice Cream!

Overall Nakhla is moderate. Smoke/clouds is moderate, smell is moderate, buzz (which was only there for the first few days I noticed...?) is moderate. I don't like the cut. Lots of gnarly stems and it burns on the top of the bowl while shielding the bottom of the bowl from heat and leaving it untouched. Not a bad starter pack, mainly because it's as if those flavors were born to be together. Not a repeat buy unless I see a unique flavor that I tell myself I can't live without. Or boredom. Boredom could bring me back. For now I'll just file Nakhla under "Ol' Reliable" and move onto something zestier. Something that actually comes in a resealable package maybe!

star star star star star
Nakhla in general: 2.5/5 stars