It might not look like much, but this little device was once of the hottest piece of glass in the world of hookah. With a boom in the popularity of Tangiers Phunnel bowls we also saw an increase in people complaining about the overly large capacity of the bowls and wasted tobacco.
The Scalli Mod was developed to try and remedy this issue by sitting over the spire and taking up a portion of the bowl. This lets you pack less tobacco while still actually filling the space. The best Scalli Mods were made from glass so they would absorb heat and provide more even cooing of the tobacco. This was also aided by the redirection of airflow. Instead of passing over the tobacco and heading right down the spire the air now needs to go to the bottom of the bowl first to get the the openings in the Scalli Mod and then it can reach the spire. The only problem is that this prevents you from using the super dense pack that is so often prescribed for Tangiers. To pack the tobacco that densely would seal the Scalli Mod and render the bowl useless.
So, do you need a Scalli Mod to get the most out of your Tangiers bowls?
No.
It is an interesting idea that helped some people manage their heat a bit better, saved a bit of tobacco and prevented the foil from getting sucked into the spire, but it’s by no means necessary. I would argue that the effects on smoke are negligible. The one thing it will definitely help with is the capacity of those giant bowls. The new Tangiers Phunnels are more moderately sized, so a Scalli Mod is less necessary for the shisha conservationist, but they are still quite large and I bet there are a few people who still wish they had a Tangiers Pico rather than a small. Well, a Scalli Mod can turn a small into a Pico and next time I’ll show you how I made mine an how you can make your own.