In this on‑camera monologue, Zach Selch sits at Wafi Gourmet in Dubai, with the Burj Khalifa and fountains as a backdrop, and walks viewers through the experience of smoking shisha. He explains what shisha is—a water pipe that uses tobacco soaked in molasses and fruit juice, a ceramic head, and real‑wood coals—and demonstrates the preparation steps, including the use of a disposable mouthpiece (the “shisha condom”). Selch describes the social role of shisha in the Middle East, likening it to going out for a drink in the West, noting its prevalence among Arab men (and women) during business meals and social gatherings. He offers practical tips for maintaining flavor, such as blowing out the coals regularly and keeping the head clean. The segment also includes a brief interaction with the shisha attendant, Karim, and ends with a promotional call‑to‑action for his international sales mentorship service.
Chapters
Sitting in one of the best places in the world to have shisha. Right behind me is the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. Right next to me are the fountains. So you can see You can see the tall building, the fountains, hundreds of people enjoying their afternoon. It's a little early, that's why it's a little empty, but I'm enjoying myself. This restaurant is called Wafi Gourmet. It's really one of the best Lebanese restaurants In Dubai, which probably means it's one of the best Lebanese restaurants in the world outside of Lebanon. And we're gonna have a little bit of Lebanese food later on, but right now I'm sitting here enjoying shisha. If you're ever going to be in the Middle East, you're going to end up being offered shisha. Shisha is essentially like going out to drink. It's a water pipe, and I'll probably smoke it once, twice a year when I'm in Dubai. Dubai, Saudi Arabia, sometimes Egypt, maybe once or twice a year. It's like having a cigar, not necessarily terribly healthy for you, but it's not the end of the world. It's actually pretty delicious when you get used to it. A couple of tricks to it. Like a cigar, you want to keep it going, right? It's wet tobacco. What they do is they take tobacco and they soak it In molasses and fruit juice. The very best shisha tobacco is going to come from Bahrain. I don't know why. They don't grow it there and they don't grow the sugar there. The head, which is ceramic, sort of like unglazed pottery, is filled with tobacco, which is wet and moist and sugary, and then they put coals on top. So you can see what's going to happen is you pull the coal fire through the tobacco, creating the smoke. And most Arab men that I know, certainly everybody I do business with, goes out for shisha the way you might go out for a beer or a drink in the US or Europe. Obviously, in a Muslim country, people aren't drinking, so this gives them another option, another Socialization option, and it's very common. You know, it's nice, gives you a mild buzz. Sometimes women do shisha too, but— well, actually, you'll see women about as much as men, but men go out. You know, pretty much every business meal I see, people will finish up with shisha. It's not that uncommon to have shisha. Then what you do is you take the coals off and, and then— Blow it out. While you take the coals off while you're eating. So let's take a quick look at what this looks like. Okay, so you have your shisha and you have your coals. They typically give you a little fork so you can move the coals around, and if you're not smoking You want to blow out every now and again. All right, so you go— to keep the head clean, because if the head gets full of dirt, of smoke, it gets a little bitter. As long as everything keeps moving, you're, uh, you're gonna have a good flavor. This This is the shisha guy. He is going to make the shisha. We have a disposable tube, you see, and now he's going to connect what they call the shisha condom, which is a one-time shisha device to put in your mouth to keep you from getting infected. And you see he's breaking it so it could only be used once, and now he's handing it to me. Thank you, Karim. You're welcome. Let's take a look at what we have here. We have the coals, and you'll notice the coals are uneven because they're made from real wood. Okay, you don't want the fake ones that look all even like squares. Then you can see when we inhale, we're pulling the smoke Smoke through the head. The head is full of tobacco. Remember, when you're ready to grow your international sales, reach out to us. We can help. When you decide it's time to grow your international sales, call us.
