Carnival of the Coals: Starlight Hookah Charcoal
A review of Starlight Insta-Light and Natural Hookah Coal.
We’re going ahead and going to knock out two reviews in one: Starlight Insta-Light AND Natural hookah coal. As far as Starlight is concerned there are a really two types of people out there: Those that love them, and those that have never heard of them. A quick Google Search will reveal just how unknown these fine coal producers are. Shocking.
Little known fact is that over here in Hobo land, Starlight is our coal. We’ve tried, and reviewed, some of the competition out there, but when it comes to our pipe: Its all Starlight.
Starlight is surprisingly a product of China, a country known for its ability to stamp out low-grade hookah crap. Well, it seems Starlight somehow made it through quality control unencumbered. Cheers to that!
The Insta-Lights come in a pair of varieties: the 33mm and the 40mm. Both look almost identical to their Three Kings counterparts. Also, like Three Kings, they spark up quick and even with just brief contact with a flame. As far as taste and performance: I’d have to call it a draw. Many people I’ve smoked with say the prefer them (they even take a few boxes home from Jersey City) and others will say they’d stay with Three Kings. Myself? I think they are pretty much the same damn thing. Over all: These are great coals, definitely worth a purchase especially if it will save you a couple of bones.
So how do the natural coals stack up? Well, let me be honest here, its been a few months since I’d had natural coal in stock here at the office. When you are smoking in-doors: Insta-lights are just too clean and easy to really hassle with the natural stuff. That being said, Ill nod to the purists that say a pure coal is the way to smoke. Nod. Okay, so one of the big issues with natural coal is that its a lot of times too natural for hookah smoking. Its like some guy went into a coal mine, dipped in his shovel and just dumped coal into a bag. Coals will be different sizes, some too big, some too small: Overall it necessitates dirtying up your hands and counter top in order to fix the appropriate allotment atop your bowl.
Starlight natural coals are nice: Each piece is uniform, about a 3inches by 1/2 inch diameter cylinder which can be easy split in two. A side from the ease of use, which is a big upside, these are great, flavorless coals, which is a nice change of pace to the subtle chemical taint of insta-lights. The added bonus here is also the packaging: 1) It comes in a heavy duty outer bag, and 2) a secondary ziplock plastic bag. Together they help make using and keeping natural coal a little less messy.
All of Starlight’s products seem to be spot on, and given that they are usually a bit cheaper than their counterparts ($8/100 33mm insta-lights, $4 for 1kg natural), they seem to be the logical buy. The downside here is that you have to be able to find them. Our local Egyptian market carries them, and I have seen them at other mainstream hookah places as well, but as far as buying online, Hookah Paradise seems about it.
If you can find them, give Starlight a try. They wont let you down like most of the other insta-lights on the market.
Hookah Coal Review: Starlight Hookah Charcoal
Producing Country: China
Type: Insta-Light and Natural
Size: 33mm, 40mm and Natural varieties
Price: $8-12 per 100 coals or $4-6 for 1kg of Natural Coals
Duration: About 30-40min (for 33mm)
Overall: 8/10
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