The Origin and Characteristics of Hookah Bars

By John McCree


In the last decade hookahs have started gaining a great deal of recognition in the U.S. To explain in simple words a hookah bar is just like cocktail bar, but in a hookah bar you will get hookah in place of cocktails. Hookah bars are normally found in urban settings and quite often near college campuses and universities as well.

Quick History

The origin of hookah can be traced back to 500 years in what was then known as the Subcontinent. Making its way through Iran and into Turkey it experienced an increase of popularity among Turkish upper class and started to spread a lot more rapidly down through Lebanon and Syria and finally to Egypt, therefore, the hookah bar is closely associated with the Middle East. Hookah bars in the middle east became the place for the elite to hang out and smoke hookah.

In a Hookah Bar

In the more ethnic places, the lounges usually look like their roots more closely, often operated by people of Arab ancestry, furnished and embellished with a Middle Eastern or Indian motif. Some are simple, and may not provide other items. However, at others coffee and other drinks are offered. A small bar usually does not have a liquor license and thus they do not serve alcohol. However, in larger towns, many trendier businesses serve alcohol, generally with a full bar designed for cocktails, wine, and beer. It's not unusual to see belly dancers, live bands, or DJs in the more trendy urban hookah bars since they resemble a "night club" more closely than a neighborhood social establishment.

Some hookah bars are purposely built near university and college campuses to draw in the students. Hookah is gaining a great deal of popularity as a less dangerous method to enjoy smoking. Also, because college years are generally a time of new experiences, frequent social interaction, and building strong connections, the hookah lounge applies well to college life. The cities which are well-known for having several secondary education institutions in the U.S. have noticed a great boost in the popularity of hookah bars.

Let's Discuss a Hookah

You want to know what a hookah is? A Persian physician, Abul-Fath-Gilani invented the hookah in 1588. He was in India then. It was named as a "huqqa". This name has remained with this device since that time, however, as this device spread throughout the world it gained several other names such as hubble-bubble and nargile.

While the primitive hookah looked significantly different, perhaps made from coconut shells, the result has always been the same: purify and cool the smoke by moving it through water before breathing in. Following are the main components of a hookah:

1. Bowl - where the tobacco is kept.

2. Body - tobacco smoke gets to the water basin after moving through the body.

3. Water Basin - here the smoke passes through the water. Purified smoke stays in the chamber above the water until it is inhaled through the hose.

4. Hose - after the purified smoke reaches the chamber, the smoker breathes in deeply from the hose connected into the water basin. The hose can be up to many meters long.

The above mechanism gives the smoker soothing and fragrant smoke.

A senior customer of a renowned hookah business in turkey said:

"What you put in the hookah matters not, but who is with you while you are smoking. The point is to enjoy. You'll find, good, old, interesting and all kinds of people in a bar such as this. So long as there is a need for company and companionship, as long as people wish to stop and think, there will be hookah bars."




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