Hello Shishawa Family and welcome to Shishawa’s official Summer Setlist for Shisha. It’s no secret that we adore the summer season and with products like Tropical and Exotic Flavors, we’re not sure how you ever figured that out. What makes this time of the year so endearing to us is the togetherness that it brings, and nothing truly gets people together like a bowl of hookah in the summertime. We want to highlight some of our favorite things to do during this season and drop you some pro tips we have learned along the way in our celebrations.
1.) Just Keep Swimming
Possibly the most synonymous activity of summer, swimming is what we long for nearly all year. While we can all swim in flavorful Shishawa clouds every day of the year, it’s when you combine these two activities that you get something special. We know what you’re thinking though, all those trips getting in and out of the pool just to steal a few puffs will get old, and we hear you. Our pro tip for this activity comes in the form of a vinyl hose. At just a few dollars, if you don’t have one of these hoses already in your stash you will have to add it to your cart as soon as you read this: THEY FLOAT. That’s right, nearly every vinyl hose with a plastic handle available will float on water and keep those ice-cold pool exits at a minimum. On the other hand, if you are having a much-needed beach day, bury your hookah vase in the sand. This will not only give it stability, but the sand will insult the cool water and keep you from getting a warm drag, you can even make a sandcastle to cover your purge and create some smoking effects!
2.) Grill N’ Chill
Good food and good hookah are a pair like no other. While we love some pistachios, chips, and dips, as finger foods during a session a larger, flame-grilled meal needs to be on the menu during summer festivities. Although you may encounter different tastes and dietary restrictions, planning your food menu around your hookah flavors and mixes is not only fun but a satisfying way to spend the night, especially when you’re boxing up those leftovers! A pro tip we have found with BBQing is sticking with citrus-based flavors for both menus. No matter, if you’re cooking meats, vegetarian, or even vegan, a nice sear and bite of citrus, will keep you coming back for more. With this in mind, Citrus Mint, Lemon Mint, and Mandarin Zest will be the stars of your hookah menu! Lastly, make sure you keep your charcoal tongs and grilling tongs as far away from each other as you can. No one wants a dusty serving or BBQed coal. We of course speak from experience.
3.) Level-Up Your Shisha Session
We believe hookah is a great form of entertainment in and of itself but adding actual games to your summer hookah session is always a proper way to level up your evening. Active games such as bocce ball, cornhole, horseshoes, croquet, spike ball, and even beer pong can be an exciting twist to elevate the night and keep spirits high. For these games stick with a larger hookah and longer hose, this will make its location more evident and less prone to accidents while making accessibility easy for everyone who is competing. Along with a hookah that is easy to spot, place your hookah in an ice bucket to add another dimension of coolness to your drinks and base. The ice will ensure none of that summer heat gets to your water and causes a hot session and the ice bucket may just protect the glass from flying projectiles shattering it.
4.) Art, Thou Going to Pass the Hose?
Summer sunsets are some of the most beautiful to witness during the year and can be a huge inspiration both in life and art. They also set the tone for some of the most remarkable hookah sessions you can have outdoors. With this in mind, a great way to spend a summer night is through art and hookah. Start early and paint or draw the sunset as it progresses or make an immersive time-lapse of the twilight hours and hookah session using your silhouettes and camera. You can even use our flavors as inspiration and paint with the colors you taste either using intricate mixes or standalone flavors. There are endless mediums and ideas to choose from! The best pro tip we have found with art is having bowls pre-packed and ready to go. Breaking your concentration can be a good thing when creating a piece, it gives you time to ingest what you have made so far and look at alterations or how you’d like to proceed, but not having a satisfactory puff within reach and having to stop to create a new bowl can be a total mood killer. By having a few bowls at the ready you will forego transferring any paint or your creativity into the wrong piece. We also urge you to try painting some disposable hookah hoses. These hoses are cheap to buy in bulk and offer an exciting medium to create with, and upon finishing, you even get to smoke with your art!
5.) Wine, not?
We here at Shishawa LOVE a wine and hookah pairing night. Although they can take place anywhere and anytime, it is on the nights of summer that they feel the most in sync. The beauty of wine tastings is that no two wines are the same and getting your guests to bring their own favorites to share promotes togetherness. Another dimension you can add here is creating a sangria from scratch with everyone and offering a movie night to accompany it. Be sure to grab a variety of flavors to mix with these blends such as Purple Grape, Mandarin Zest, and Strawberry Jam as these will all lend to what notes are found in wines. We have three pro tips that work the best for wine and hookah nights: diffusers, HMDs, and base mocktails. A diffuser helps quiet your hookah and provide a layer of smoothness to the pull, and while we love the traditional pull and rumble from a hookah in cases like these where a movie and light conversation are in order, it will be a necessity. HMDs allow for more relaxed smoking and on these nights where the hookah may not be tended to perfectly, it will help prevent burning by regulating the temperature even when not smoking. Finally, base mocktails are an amazing and fun addition to wine and hookah tasting. Think of them like a sangria you get to smoke but remember bases are for mocktails – not cocktails. Don’t add any alcohol to them.
No matter what your summer goals may be this year, you can scratch “be the best party host” off your list after adding one or even all of these to your next set of festivities. What are your favorite things to do in the summer that involve a sweet bowl of Shishawa? Drop them in a comment on our Instagram and let others in on your fun! Thanks for stopping by the blog and we’ll see you on the next one.
