Tips and Tricks

Two complete hookahs with electric heat and no charcoal. The Shii is built on XKAH's proven heating platform, draws like a modern hookah should, swaps its battery mid-session, runs from the mains, uses half the tobacco and stays cool to the touch. Here is how it stacks up against the Enso, feature by feature.

Three ways to smoke shisha without charcoal. The XKAH Pro and Lite are heads for a hookah you already own; the Shii is a whole hookah with electric heat built in. Power, heat, sessions, batteries and what each one costs you in total.

Both XKAH heads heat shisha tobacco electrically on a hookah you already own. The Pro runs from a swappable battery, the Lite from the mains. Here is what is the same, what is different, and which one suits how you smoke.

Shii is a complete hookah with electric heat built in, made with XKAH heating technology. No charcoal, no separate bowl. Here is how it works, what is in the box, and how it compares with the XKAH Lite and Pro.

Germany plans to more than triple its tax on shisha tobacco by 2030, and the EU wants shisha to have its own minimum tax rate. Here's what's planned, where it stands, and whether it affects the UK.

On 1 October 2026 UK duty on shisha tobacco rose from £193.87 to £248.07 per kilo. On a 250g tin that's about £13.55 more duty, before VAT. Here's what changed and why.

InterTabac, one of the world's biggest tobacco trade fairs, took place in Dortmund from 15 to 17 September 2026, on new weekdays and with shisha under the shadow of Germany's planned tax rise.

Shisha, hookah, nargile, kalyan, cachimba, chicha: the same water pipe goes by dozens of names. Here is what it is called around the world, and where each name comes from.

Buying your first shisha? Start with a stainless steel shisha of medium height from a known brand, plus a phunnel bowl and coconut charcoal, or simply pick a starter kit. Here is what matters and what doesn't.

A silicone hose is washable, hard-wearing and the best all-rounder. Leather hoses look and feel premium but usually can't be washed inside. Then choose a mouthpiece you like holding. Here's what to look for.

Fill the base, fit the stem, pack the bowl loosely, add foil or an HMD, and put on fully lit coconut coals. Here's how to set up a shisha step by step, plus fixes for the most common problems.

ShishaMesse Frankfurt took place from 8 to 10 May 2026. Quasar won Best Hookah, XKAH won Best Accessory and BlackCoco's won Best Charcoal. Here's the round-up.