Darkside Shake

Buy Shake by Darkside online

With Shake, Darkside brings something fresh to its range. The brand's new flavours aren't the usual single flavours but mixes, put together by Darkside's own hookah masters from the existing range and fine-tuned until they were just right. We currently carry 19 Darkside Shake flavours, each in a 120g tin.

Cut, moisture and smoking behaviour are the same as the regular Darkside flavours. The maker calls the line Masterpiece in every Mix, and in Russia the same idea runs under the name Shot.

What sets Shake apart from the regular Darkside flavours?

The regular Darkside flavours are single aromas. If you want a mix, you blend it yourself. With Shake that work is already done: the tin holds a finished composition, say cheesecake with blueberry and strawberry, or pomegranate with cherry and raspberry.

The second difference is the base tobacco. Darkside runs two strength levels: Core is the punchy one, Base the milder one. The regular Darkside flavours use Core, Shake uses Base. That puts Shake in the middle of the range within Darkside's own line-up, and the nicotine doesn't hit the way it does with the Core flavours. It's still a dark blend hookah tobacco though. Compared to Virginia, this is still strong stuff.

Shake is also one of our hookah tobacco topsellers.

Which Shake flavours are there?

We carry all 19. Sorted by flavour direction, they look like this:

Berry

• Forest: blueberry, raspberry and wild strawberry
• Garden: strawberry, raspberry and grapefruit
• Wild: watermelon, raspberry and blackcurrant
• Bali: rambutan, blackcurrant and blueberry
• Peak: strawberry, wild berry, cranberry and pine needles

Sour and tart

• Samurai: pomegranate and cherry
• Fuji: raspberry, pomegranate and sour cherry

Tropical

• Asian: mango, passion fruit and green apple
• Beach: pineapple, mango and maracuja
• Latin: feijoa, also known as Brazilian guava, plus pear and melon

Creamy

• Atlantic: cheesecake, blueberry and strawberry
• Tahiti: kiwi, strawberry and cream
• Persian: nougat, melon and lemon
• Venice: soufflé, pear and melon

With a chill

• Iceberg: pineapple and kiwi with a cooling note
• Nordic: pear and mango with a cooling note
• Rio: maracuja, lemon and ice

Spiced and one of a kind

• Mountain: pine with a resinous herbal note
• Liberty: energy drink, grape and lime

Darkside Iceberg Shake To the product Darkside Rio Shake To the product Darkside Forest Shake To the product Darkside Tahiti Shake To the product Darkside Wild Shake To the product

Which Shake flavour should I go for?

Depends on what you usually smoke. For berries, Forest and Garden are the obvious picks, and Peak adds the pine needle note Darkside is known for. If you want creamy, start with Atlantic. The cheesecake and blueberry come through clearly there, while the strawberry stays in the background.

There are two pairs worth telling apart. Persian and Venice get mixed up a lot because both have a cocoa note in the aftertaste. Persian is much nuttier, Venice milder and sweeter. Samurai and Fuji sit close together too, but the raspberry in Fuji adds to the pomegranate and makes the flavour milder and rounder.

Do I still need to mix Shake?

You don't, that's the whole point of the line. Every Shake can be smoked on its own. That said, mixing them with each other or with the brand's regular single flavours can open up new territory.

Mixes with other Shakes are especially worth it, since two tins put you at five or six aromas in the bowl in no time. Mountain Shake works particularly well for mixing. The pine note goes with almost anything and makes a great fresh component.

How do I pack a bowl with Shake?

One quirk before you start: inside the tin, the tobacco sits in a plastic bag. Cut the bag open, tip the contents into the tin and bin the bag, then you're back to your usual handling.

The molasses settles at the bottom over time, so give the tobacco a proper stir before you pack.

After that, fill it loosely and fluffily and stay about two millimetres below the rim. Darkside can expand a little under heat, and once the tobacco touches the HMD from below, it turns harsh quickly.

You have plenty of room when it comes to bowl shape. Multi-hole bowls work well, a Cosmo Bowl for example, and so do Darkside's own Darkside bowls. Phunnels with small chambers are less suitable, we'd steer clear of those with these flavours. If you're unsure, our bowl finder will point you in the right direction.