Where Did Hookah Bars Come From?

Hookahs were originally introduced in the U.S. in the 70’s, but, it wasn’t until recently that they began to grow in popularity.To explain in simple words a hookah bar is the same as cocktail bar, but in a hookah bar you will get hookah instead of cocktails.One can readily get hookah bars near colleges and universities and in highly populated cities. 

Quick History
Hookah and the idea of hookah bars originated five centuries ago in the subcontinent near where today is the border of India and Pakistan.Hookah bars are principally linked to the middle east as it was the origin of hookah and the region from where hookah gained a lot of popularity.Hookah bars became popular in the Middle East as the spots where people used to socialize and smoke hookah with others.

In a Hookah Bar
Bars that are designed to imitate the region of origin of hookah have generally Arab people operating them. The furnishings are in line with the Middle Eastern culture of Indian culture.A few are simple, and may not provide other items.Many, however, provide coffee, sodas, and snack foods at least.Typical neighborhood lounges don’t have liquor licenses and so do not gain profit from alcohol.The larger bars, however, have a liquor license and they serve many cocktails in addition to wine and beer.Smaller hookah bars generally have music systems, however the larger bars have belly dancers, live DJs and the atmosphere appears to be a lot more like a night club.

Near college campuses, hookah bars tend to be more casual with a wide mix of patrons, including students obviously.Hookah is believed to be safer than smoking cigarettes, cigars or other things and therefore hookahs are gaining a lot of popularity.Also, as college years tend to be a time of new experiences, frequent social interaction, and building strong connections, the hookah lounge lends itself well to college life.The cities which are popular for having a lot of secondary education institutions in the U.S. have noticed a great increase in the popularity of hookah bars.

Let’s Discuss a Hookah 

You’d like to learn what a hookah is?A Persian physician, Abul-Fath-Gilani designed the hookah in 1588. He was in India then.At the time it was invented, it was given the name of “huqqa”. The term hookah comes from the very same Indian word “huqqa”.

The first hookah was made from coconut shells and it was not like the hookahs that are produced in the modern day, but the function of that hookah was same of purifying smoke by passing it through water.A simple hookah has the following four parts:
1. Bowl – where tobacco is placed.
2. Body – the smoke leaves the body and reaches the water basin.
3. Water Basin – keeps the water, where smoke is passed through to be cooled and purified.Purified smoke remains in the chamber above the water until it is inhaled through the hose.
4. Hose – the smoker puffs on the hose to breathe in smoke from the chamber where it is kept after purification.Ordinarily a hose is about one to two meters long.
The end result is a calming and aromatic smoke.

A customer of a hookah bar in Turkey once said:
“What you put in the hookah matters not, but who is along with you when you are smoking.It’s a full experience.You’ll find, good, old, intriguing and all sorts of people in a bar like this.Hookahs bars will remain in the world so long as people wish to take out time to enjoy the company of their friends.”

Hookah Joe is a writer specializing in hookah-related topics. You can check out more of his work at www.hookahdetective.com, where he provides information on hookah topics, like hookah bar and hookah shop.