Bowls

Bowls are an essential part of hookah smoking, they are what the shisha is packed in and the coals placed. When packing a bowl the shisha should always be packed slightly below the rim to avoid the rapid burning of tobacco. There are several variations on the bowl in the modern world of hookah smoking. Pictured to the right is a Tangiers Phunnel bowl.

Classic Egyptian
The Egyptian bowl is what comes with all Egyptian hookahs, it is wide and relatively medium in terms of depth, it is designed to smoke drier tobaccos such as Nakhla and provides a good smoke when used for such.



Modern
The Modern or Mod bowl is what comes with most Chinese hookahs, they are the current standard with most low end hookahs. Much like Egyptian bowls the holes are placed at the bottom



Vortex
A vortex bowl is a modern innovation in the hookah, its design varies greatly from other traditional bowls, a spire is placed in the middle and rather than the holes on the bottom the holes are placed on the side of the spire near the top to prevent the juices in the shisha from dripping down the stem to the water below.



Phunnel
The phunnel bowl is a design that, like the vortex places a spire in the center of the bowl and places a hole at the top rather than on the sides to maximize airflow while keeping the juices at the bottom of the bowl and not in the stem and water.



Glass
Glass bowls are newer in the hookah world and are available from a few different producers the most reputable being Crown Glass. Crown makes a variation of the phunnel as well as their own style called the Crown Classic that places the holes on the rim of the bowl.