Shisha smoking is a new experience in Cape Town and follows the cosmopolitan trend around the world. It’ quite common at restaurant’s and cafés in the Middle East, from Turkey to India, and is flourishing in Northern Africa, Europe and the United States.

It originated in Turkey more than 500 years ago and, in different parts of the world, the shisha is known by a variety of names: water pipe, hubbly-bubbly, hookah and nargile (the Arabic name). It is smoother than smoking a cigar or cigarette, and takes on the flavour of the additives mixed in the tobacco.

Smoking shisha is traditionally a sociable way to relax when gathered with friends and after a meal. It is a ritual that is not hurried, and it is smoked for the flavor and not for any kind of effect, and can last for two hours or more.

Specially prepared tobacco is mixed with molasses or honey and dried fruit pulp, and smoked in a shisha or hookah. An assortment of fruity flavors is available