the best Hookah bowl: find the perfect head for your shisha

Shisha Bowl: How to Choose the Best Head for a Hookah?

There are many misconceptions surrounding shisha bowls. Some users mistakenly believe that a particular type of bowl produces more smoke or that a specific kind of bowl enhances the flavor. While it is indeed essential to choose the right bowl for a perfect session, it is important to make your selection based on the right reasons and specific criteria. At Darnashop, you will find the widest selection of shisha heads, including different materials (clay, ceramic, glass, or silicone), tobacco capacity (for short or long sessions), and compatibility with heating systems (Kaloud, Beskar Pilot, Rebel, Provost, etc.). Therefore, we deemed it crucial to provide you with a guide to help you select a shisha bowl that will give you plenty of smoke while preserving the flavor.

Different Shapes of Shisha Bowls:

There are numerous shapes of shisha heads available, ranging from cheap bowls to luxurious ones. The shape of the bowl influences the possibilities available to you as it determines the heating system you can use with your shisha head, the type of tobacco flavor you can utilize, as well as the duration and intensity of the session.

The Tobacco Cooking Method: The Number One Criterion

The first question you should ask yourself when choosing a bowl is: "Which heating system will I use with this bowl?" It is crucial to use a compatible bowl based on whether you heat your tobacco by placing the charcoal on aluminum foil, in a closed system like a Kaloud Lotus, or in an open chimney-like system such as the Beskar Pilot. A bowl designed for a Kaloud is not compatible at all with a chimney-style bowl, and vice versa. To help you choose a bowl that is compatible with your intended heating system, you will find a filter on Darnashop's bowl category page that allows you to display heads based on compatibility with different systems (Rebel, Kaloud, aluminum foil, etc.).

Classic Bowl, Phunnel Bowl, or Vortex Bowl: What's the Difference?

While the external shape of your bowl determines its compatibility with a specific heating system, the internal shape of the bowl determines the type of tobacco flavor it can accommodate. The most classic bowls have a hollow shape with holes located at the bottom. This is the most common and traditionally known shape. This basic shape allows you to use traditional shisha tobacco. If you opt for this type of bowl, you need to be careful not to block the holes (as it would hinder airflow), and it should be noted that you cannot use anything other than tobacco or tobacco-molasses mixture like WAYS. Classic shisha bowls do not allow the use of stones (such as Shiazo or Ice Rockz), gels (Ice Frutz), or pastes (Hookah Cream, True Cloudz). Conversely, if you choose a phunnel or vortex bowl, the holes in your bowl will be elevated. A phunnel bowl has a single central hole that is higher than the bottom of the bowl, while a vortex head has a raised center axis with holes on top. Phunnel and vortex bowls allow you to use very moist shisha tobacco as well as steam stones, gels, or creams without ever clogging. Phunnel bowls allow for longer smoking sessions while preserving the flavor by retaining the moisture in the head for maximum taste!

Choosing the Right Shisha Head Size: Session Duration

The volume of the shisha head is also a crucial factor in choosing the right one. The larger and deeper the bowl of your shisha head, the more tobacco it will consume during each session. It's important to understand that you cannot fill a bowl lightly if you don't want a long smoking session, or vice versa, fill it more to prolong the session. To achieve the best flavor and smoke, you should always fill your bowl completely. Therefore, it is important to choose a head that is suitable for the desired session duration and the number of participants. If you want to smoke for a longer time without replacing the head, you will need to choose a larger-volume bowl. Similarly, if there are more people smoking from the same hookah, a larger bowl is necessary because the head doesn't have time to rest between different users.

Glass, Ceramic, or Silicone Shisha Head: Which Material to Choose?

Shisha heads are available in various materials such as clay, ceramic, laboratory glass, aluminum, or silicone. Each material has its advantages and disadvantages that should be considered when making your choice.

Efficient and Affordable: Clay Head

Known since the 18th century, clay heads are still popular among many shisha enthusiasts. Simple and effective, clay bowls are particularly advantageous in terms of price. While they may not be the most aesthetically pleasing, they function perfectly well and are inexpensive to purchase. There are clay heads for shisha suitable for all heating methods (aluminum foil, chimney, Kaloud, etc.). This type of bowl is recommended for those on a budget and fans of traditional hookah smoking.

Ceramic Shisha Head: Bestseller

Appearing at the same time as modern hookahs in the early 2000s, ceramic has become the most widely used material in shisha head manufacturing. Today, nearly 70% of shisha bowls sold in France are made of ceramic. More durable than raw clay, ceramic consists of a clay body to which a glaze (usually colored) is applied to solidify and waterproof the clay. The shisha head is then fired at high temperatures to obtain its final shape. Ceramic offers endless possibilities in terms of shapes and colors. Some ceramic bowl brands create true works of art (like the Japanese brand Katuro) by handcrafting each piece and using high-quality glazes to produce unique pieces. Ceramic bowls are both high-performing, aesthetically pleasing, and respectful of the traditional spirit of hookah smoking. They offer an excellent quality-to-price ratio and are suitable for most smokers.

Silicone Bowls: The Unbreakable Head!

Silicone bowls were born from the ingenious idea of a shisha smoker who noticed the excellent heat resistance of silicone when watching his wife remove a cake from a silicone mold. The advantage of silicone bowls is that you can drop them without worrying about breaking them. Another notable advantage is that silicone heads do not require a gasket and can be connected directly to your hookah. Ideal for portable hookahs, silicone heads are not compatible with aluminum foil cooking (directly placing charcoal on silicone could damage it), and the existing models are mainly compatible with heating systems like Kaloud Lotus and Beskar Rebel but do not allow the use of a chimney or Provost.

Glass Bowls: The Modern Head

Glass laboratory bowls are the most recently introduced type of shisha head. Made of heat-resistant borosilicate glass, these bowls are appreciated for their exceptional flavor delivery. Glass bowls do not retain flavors from previous sessions and provide an enhanced taste experience. Easy to clean, glass bowls do not age and maintain their shine and brilliance. Both aesthetic and modern in design, glass heads give a contemporary look to your hookah and allow you to observe the tobacco cooking process due to their transparency.