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How Does a Hookah Work?
Updated 29.04.2025 2 min read 
In a nutshell
- A hookah works on a simple negative pressure principle: when drawing on the mouthpiece, a negative pressure is created in the hookah that draws fresh air in from outside through the bowl.
- The drawn-in air flows past the glowing charcoal, heats the tobacco, and causes flavourings and molasses to evaporate, producing smoke.
- The smoke produced travels through the smoke column into the water of the hookah, where it is cooled down and creates the characteristic bubbling sound before reaching the smoker via the hose.
- The blow-off works in the opposite way to smoking: blowing creates excess pressure that lifts small balls in the outlet openings and directs the smoke outwards in a controlled manner, without pushing it back through the water.
- Additional features such as diffusers or variable blow-off systems allow individual customisation of the hookah to personal preferences.
Find Out in This Article
- How the individual parts of a hookah work together and what their functions are
- Why a negative pressure builds up when you draw and what it triggers
- How charcoal, tobacco, and air interact and how the smoke is produced
- What happens to the smoke on its way through the water and why it bubbles
- What a blow-off is and how this effect works technically
- Additional tips on diffusers, smoke production, and setup variations
How a Hookah Works
Find the shisha tobacco that suits you best – in just 3 questions.
If you've always wanted to know how a hookah works – or how it's possible to smoke hookah tobacco through a water-filled Glasses – you've come to the right place. In this article, we'd like to introduce you to the individual parts of a hookah and give you all the information you need to understand the basic principle behind virtually every water pipe. To do so, it's important that you're familiar with the individual parts of a hookah:
And This Is How a Hookah Works
Let's assume you've already prepared your hookah for the session. There's water in the Glasses, you've packed a Bowl with your favourite tobacco, the coals are lit and have been placed in an HMD so you can get started straight away. You grab the mouthpiece, place it to your lips, and take a good strong draw. In doing so, you pull air through the hookah Hose from the Glasses. The escaping air creates a negative pressure inside the Glasses. If your hookah were made of a very thin material, it would now contract. Since that's not the case, the negative pressure is equalised by drawing in air at the next weakest point. In this case, that's the air inside the downstem in the water. Since this air is not sufficient to equalise the negative pressure, and since the missing air in the downstem also needs to be replaced, additional fresh air is drawn in from outside the hookah. The fresh air then flows past the coal, heating it up. The coal heats the tobacco, causing part of the molasses and the flavours contained in the tobacco to vaporise. This produces smoke and even more heat.
Tip: Note: The tobacco is not actually burned in the true sense – it's more of a slow, smouldering dry-out.
The hot smoke then travels down the smoke column into the water of the Glasses. There it is cooled down and, as it rises through the water, produces the hookah's distinctive loud bubbling sound.
Tip: If you have a diffuser at the end of the downstem, it can dampen the noise considerably.
The smoke then travels through the base, along the Hose, and finally arrives where the negative pressure was created – in your lungs. That's essentially it. Virtually every hookah on the market works according to this principle. The blow-off, however, works a little differently.
And How Does the Blow-Off Work?
In contrast to actual smoking, blow-offs work a little differently. With a blow-off, the smoke no longer needs to be cooled down, which means it no longer needs to be pushed back through the water. Instead, when performing a blow-off, you exhale the already inhaled smoke directly through specially designed openings in the base. These openings typically contain small ball bearings. When drawing in air, these are also pulled inward, preventing fresh air from being drawn in through the outlet openings. During a blow-off, however, these balls are lifted by the resulting overpressure inside the Glasses, and the smoke is directed out through the designated blow-off outlets, depending on the hookah's design.
Some hookahs even feature a variable blow-off that can either be reconfigured between sessions or simply switched during the session itself.
We hope we've been able to answer all your questions – and we're always especially pleased to receive positive feedback on our posts. You'll of course find a wide selection of hookahs in our shop.
FAQ: How Does a Hookah Work?
What happens when I draw on the hookah?
When drawing on the mouthpiece, a negative pressure is created in the hookah. This causes air to be drawn in from outside through the charcoal. The charcoal heats the tobacco, producing smoke. The smoke travels through the water in the hookah, is cooled down, and then reaches you via the hose.
Which parts make up a hookah?
A typical hookah consists of the following components: Charcoal HMD or aluminium foil Tobacco Bowl & bowl adapter Charcoal tray Smoke column Base Hose port Downstem Diffuser (optional) Glasses with water Hose Mouthpiece
Is the tobacco burned when smoking a hookah?
No. The tobacco is not burned but slowly heated by the heat of the charcoal. In the process, molasses and flavourings evaporate – it is a smouldering process, not combustion.
What does a diffuser do on a hookah?
A diffuser ensures that the bubbling noise during smoking is significantly quieter. This is very practical if you want to watch videos while smoking, for example, or if the walls in your home are thin.
How does the blow-off work on a hookah?
With the blow-off, smoke is actively expelled from the hookah through designated openings. Small balls in these outlets are lifted by the excess pressure and allow the smoke to escape. Depending on the hookah design, a blow-off can be configured in very different ways.
Can the blow-off be adjusted on every hookah?
No. Variable blow-off systems were very popular for a while and still have their place in the community. With us you can find, for example, the Moze Breeze Two, the Moze Breeze Pro, and the Moze Varity, which offer this feature. The Breeze Two was even at the centre of the hype around the variable blow-off at the time.
Are there differences in the construction of hookahs?
Yes, although the basic principle is the same for all of them. Differences exist mainly in the design, the blow-offs, the materials used, and the accessories – and it is precisely these details that significantly influence the smoking behaviour.
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