You’ve all heard about my love of Nakhla Double Apple. When I first started smoking Double Apple, I was always told to avoid the boxed version of this tobacco and try to find the jar or the can. It had been said that the jars and tins are always fresher and the boxes tended to be dried out or old and stale. I never really questioned it. Now, I have questioned this idea and I am glad that I did.
I just picked up a box of Nakhla and I have found the tobacco to be moist and well flavored. Before hookah really took off in North America, hookah tobacco would sit on the shelves for years before getting sold and we were only getting the left over dregs of the production line in the middle east. Now that things have really picked up in this tobacco smoking hobby, the tobacco that we see on the shelves of our favorite vendors is much fresher and has not been drying out while sitting there. If you have a good vendor then you are all set.
Is the jar or the tin moister and fresher than the Nakhla you’ll get in the box? Maybe. That depends on how long it has been sitting around. When the tobacco is fresh and has been handled properly, there is no real difference that I can determine. The major difference is in the shelf life. The jar has a much longer shelf life than the boxed tobacco, because the seal is better. If you get a fresh box and put the tobacco in a well sealed container, you don’t really have to worry about it at all.
I have yet to try the tobacco from the tin, but the tins are being phased out for a plastic container with a sealing lid, so that’s possibly a moot point.
9 out of 10. Nak DA is an amazing flavor and it is the most smoked hookah tobacco in the world. It’s not for everyone, but it sure is for me. There is nothing wrong with Nak DA in a box as compared to the jar or tin. So long as you can make sure to get fresh tobacco then you don’t need to spend the extra money on the fancier containers. I suggest buying the jar of DA once and then refilling it with the boxed version.