Brand/Flavor:
Hydro Black Widow (Blackberry)
Methodology:
-20 hits/person over 35 minutes
-4 individuals in the circle
-3 half used up CoCo Naras on standard Mya bowl
-3 hose Mya Staff filled with cold water with a small Heba diffuser
First Impressions:
The cut on Hydro is very fine, like grass clippings or even wood splinters soaked in syrup. The smell is pretty fruity and definitely a berry smell, but not quite blackberry.
Post Mortem:
Mostly blackened and almost completely dry, but it's hard to tell what this means given how dry this stuff started out.
Pros:
-Thick smoke by any standard
-No buzz
Cons:
-Flavor misses the mark
-That "hydro" aftertaste is kinda strong
-No buzz
Andrew's Thoughts:
Coming off our experience with Blue Viper, I had fairly specific expectations for this shisha: I was going to get thick, beautiful clouds, tasting strongly of sweet blackberry with just a hint of the "herbalness" that seems to be inherent to sugar cane-based smokeables. Unfortunately, this is not what I experienced when smoking Hydro Black Widow. Though I did get the familiar giant clouds, the flavor itself was overwhelmed by the grassy flavor of the Hydro base, with only a generic berry sweetness managing to come through. And while this bowl was nigh immortal (when we finally stopped it was due to the coals and our preferences rather than any limit imposed by the shisha), we simply had no desire to keep smoking. While I wouldn't go as far as calling this stuff disgusting, it certainly wasn't an experiment I'm itching to repeat.
Eric's Thoughts:
Every single time I smoke hydro, I'm impressed by the size and density of the clouds, so much so that I tend to forget that I'm smoking an herbal, which makes it just that much more amazing. Unfortunately, that is where the praises for this flavor stop. Now I don't quite know what a blackberry tastes like. I thought they were the same thing as black raspberries, maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. But despite my ignorance in the matter, I can say one thing definitively, this shisha did not taste like berry of any kind. I mean I would get slight hints of it here and there, but never once during the session did I say "This is definitely berry". Rather, the shisha tasted a generic sweet flavor and nothing else, like a sugary syrupy flavor, rather than a sweet berry flavor. And of course, the typical hydro wood-ish flavor was there again, and stronger this time too. Beyond that, the most frustrating thing was that the smoke smelled of berries, it just didn't taste that way. Bottom line is Hydro continues to deliver consistently good smoke, but the flavor was off by enough to make me say look at different flavors.
Peanut Gallery:
(Caroline)
Hydro seems to exclusively use flavors better suited for children’s chewable Tylenol. They are always ridiculously sweet and remind me of all the times I had a headache as a child.
The Blackberry was not an interesting flavor—it was mostly just sweet, and what little flavor there was closely resembled that of the Blue Viper. It did produce a decent amount of smoke (as Hydro usually does), but for me at least, that is not enough to completely redeem it. This is not a flavor I would willingly smoke again.
Conclusion:
While it certainly won't kill you, Hydro Black Widow leaves our desks without recommendation. Your more tolerant friends might appreciate it, but we doubt you will.
C+
Hydro Black Widow (Blackberry)
Methodology:
-20 hits/person over 35 minutes
-4 individuals in the circle
-3 half used up CoCo Naras on standard Mya bowl
-3 hose Mya Staff filled with cold water with a small Heba diffuser
First Impressions:
The cut on Hydro is very fine, like grass clippings or even wood splinters soaked in syrup. The smell is pretty fruity and definitely a berry smell, but not quite blackberry.
Post Mortem:
Mostly blackened and almost completely dry, but it's hard to tell what this means given how dry this stuff started out.
Pros:
-Thick smoke by any standard
-No buzz
Cons:
-Flavor misses the mark
-That "hydro" aftertaste is kinda strong
-No buzz
Andrew's Thoughts:
Coming off our experience with Blue Viper, I had fairly specific expectations for this shisha: I was going to get thick, beautiful clouds, tasting strongly of sweet blackberry with just a hint of the "herbalness" that seems to be inherent to sugar cane-based smokeables. Unfortunately, this is not what I experienced when smoking Hydro Black Widow. Though I did get the familiar giant clouds, the flavor itself was overwhelmed by the grassy flavor of the Hydro base, with only a generic berry sweetness managing to come through. And while this bowl was nigh immortal (when we finally stopped it was due to the coals and our preferences rather than any limit imposed by the shisha), we simply had no desire to keep smoking. While I wouldn't go as far as calling this stuff disgusting, it certainly wasn't an experiment I'm itching to repeat.
Eric's Thoughts:
Every single time I smoke hydro, I'm impressed by the size and density of the clouds, so much so that I tend to forget that I'm smoking an herbal, which makes it just that much more amazing. Unfortunately, that is where the praises for this flavor stop. Now I don't quite know what a blackberry tastes like. I thought they were the same thing as black raspberries, maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. But despite my ignorance in the matter, I can say one thing definitively, this shisha did not taste like berry of any kind. I mean I would get slight hints of it here and there, but never once during the session did I say "This is definitely berry". Rather, the shisha tasted a generic sweet flavor and nothing else, like a sugary syrupy flavor, rather than a sweet berry flavor. And of course, the typical hydro wood-ish flavor was there again, and stronger this time too. Beyond that, the most frustrating thing was that the smoke smelled of berries, it just didn't taste that way. Bottom line is Hydro continues to deliver consistently good smoke, but the flavor was off by enough to make me say look at different flavors.
Peanut Gallery:
(Caroline)
Hydro seems to exclusively use flavors better suited for children’s chewable Tylenol. They are always ridiculously sweet and remind me of all the times I had a headache as a child.
The Blackberry was not an interesting flavor—it was mostly just sweet, and what little flavor there was closely resembled that of the Blue Viper. It did produce a decent amount of smoke (as Hydro usually does), but for me at least, that is not enough to completely redeem it. This is not a flavor I would willingly smoke again.
Conclusion:
While it certainly won't kill you, Hydro Black Widow leaves our desks without recommendation. Your more tolerant friends might appreciate it, but we doubt you will.
C+
