Flare Shisha, 273 Pinner Road, Harrow (2026)

11/07/2021

𝗖𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘄

Salutations friends of Flare.

Almost 20 weeks have passed since our - unfortunately - incorrect public service announcement - that's basically 40% of the year, gone, just like that. Wild isn't it? Has the world changed dramatically? Almost. I mean, lots of things are returning to the way they were - while many things aren't. Freedom day is around the corner - that carrot is still dangling. A bag of air which was supposedly lost is also returning home - so people keep telling me in various different memes. Our lounges are going through dramatic changes, honestly, to the point where they might not be completely recognisable - which yes, is as exciting as it sounds.

So much change, so little change - lots of outdoor pubs open, lots of lounges still shut.
So much time, so little time - 20 weeks since the last post, in my mind it's been about 4-5 weeks.
Total paradox isn't it? Well, when the time comes, the ramblings will make sense.
These haphazard messages will one day come together.....right?
Like - if a piece of my written rambling never gets read, did I ever write it at all?
Or, was it all in my head?
Who knows right? This is a second post in as many days - I know no one saw that coming, I certainly didn't.
Maybe England didn't see it coming either.

10/07/2021

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲

Salutations friends of Flare.

The garage. Some of you have been in the garage. Others have read about it in a previous post. Many don't have a clue regarding its existence - or rather, I should say of its history.

We used to joke about it. Calling it the very first lounge we ever ran, or opened. Friends would come from far and wide, I talking from the east of London, to the tops of Luton and from the far reaches of Reading. Why? What was so special? I'll tell you for free that there wasn't any special seating, no decor, barely any heating, no fancy sh**ha pipes. It was just a storage garage. Fact. Boxes everywhere. I don't know what else to tell you folks - this is what it was.

So why? Why did friends travel here? Of course the sh**ha was better than any lounge had to offer, but that wasn't it, or rather, it wasn't the only reason.
"Where the elite, meet and greet."

I didn't even come up with that. That was a friend in this garage - and here's your reason. This - this was the reason friends travelled across the country. To be in the company of amazing conversation and company. The debates, the topics, the discussions - these were absolutely exceptional and not to be found anywhere else. This vibe and understanding was an art and it was beautiful. Nothing compared to that feeling of being in the garage. The first lounge.

We don't want to own a club, or an Insta-lounge, or a place to pretend like you're interesting. We want a place like the garage. Honest, friendly and enjoyable. We've been busy refurbing our lounges to go back to these basics. I'm excited to share more about these changes as they get complete, but friends, let's just say, it's nice to be back.

**ha **ah

26/02/2021

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄

Salutations friends of Flare.

I'm sure as all of us was watching good old Bojo, we were all thinking the same thing.
1 - His hair is getting wilder and wilder. Good on him.
2 - When is the smoke back on!?
Therefore, as a service of public duty, I've taken this opportunity to answer this question for you all.

I also know what else you're thinking - it takes a public service announcement for Flare to even bother posting an update.
Is it the near promise of freedom that got me off the sofa and back to telling everyone Flare is still here?
Or was it coincidental timing that our current projects have come to a close and updating you all was the next step?
Potentially both?

I don't know how we're almost at the end of February. Nor can I believe that an end is in sight for this bizarre world-changing chapter. What I’m trying to say is, I don’t really know how we got here. I can’t imagine where the future is headed - it’s too strange an idea to think about.
However, what I do know is that the smoke? Well, that’s always on.

**ha **ah

18/12/2020

𝗙𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸

Salutations friends of Flare.
Don't you just love a headline that says it all?
That's right friends, our coal burner is finally back in stock!

The demand for home smoking shot through the roof over this summer and with restrictions in place at our ports and ferries, getting stock in was a real challenge. Unfortunately, that was just the first delay. Then we had to face delays of overly busy warehouses preparing for Christmas with less working staff than usual. So many elements came together to brew a perfect storm of total delay. Thankfully, everything is now sorted and the original coal-burning solution that is everyone's favourite is back available online.

Visit our website, eBay or Amazon to get your hands on it before Christmas.
I mean, what could make for a better present this year than the warming feeling of perfectly lit coals for that excellent smoke.

17/12/2020

𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗹

Salutations friends of Flare.
Another short minute ticks by us before an update falls before our very eyes.
The last few weeks have flown by as we've been preparing for the winter. The arrival of new stock and materials that we've had to test out.
New stock will be announced in grand glory on Friday - however, if you head to our website, Amazon or eBay right now, you can get your hands on your favourite burner before anyone else!
Remember mum's the word.
So what about these new materials we speak of? Well, when we started our journey for the perfect smoke, the first thing we did was remove the old wooden smoking handles that would rot and mould.
We ventured into aluminium, glass, silicon and various other metals. Upgrading the dated materials of the past for more modern and hygienic options.
However, as product technology keeps improving and pushing the boundaries, this lets us jump right on in and use these innovations into our industry.
I think what I'm alluding to might be obvious enough for most of our friends, however, for those who have no clue of what these cryptic words mean, then stay tuned.
This smokescreen will be cleared out soon.

04/11/2020

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵

Salutations friends of Flare.
I'd like to introduce Leo - our employee of the month at Flare.
Leo joined Tunnel Lounge about 3 months ago and has been exceptional!
He got accustomed to the lounge very quickly - I mean, he's an outdoor cat with his own one thousand square foot garden, so yeah, real tough.
Leo is really friendly, he enjoys meeting new people but don't disturb him when he's sleeping, he doesn't like that.
His presence has attracted customers from the opposite side of London just so they could meet him.
He also seems to have a habit of going up to the customers that don't like cats. I personally love this characteristic the most.
This little celebrity is drawing in new business and looking after our regular clientele too. He's made it into the inner circle.
It's no wonder that he wins the employee of the month award - congratulations Leo!
What's his award I hear you ask? Catnip flavoured sh**ha of course. Yeah, it's wild.

30/10/2020

𝗧𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀?

Salutations friends of Flare.
I'm not going to lie, as much as I love Autumn, I don't care for Halloween that much at all.
It's a pretty bants occasion and in our lounges, we'll use it as an excuse to try some fun stuff.
Different lighting, effects or even flavours.
However, leading into this Halloween, I've noticed many businesses are really trying to maximise the day.
When I say this, I mean the amount of decor, advertisements and build up.
It surprises me but I guess it's the first nationwide calendar event that has come up since our locked state.
Businesses will be hoping to continue to draw customers out and Halloween may just be the ticket.
We'll see what last-minute surprise we can conjure up this year, but in the meantime maybe we can do the same?
What better way is there to do Halloween this year other than to have a pumpkin base pipe being smoked by a pumpkin?
That's pretty meta. Maybe even cannibalistic. Or maybe that's just Halloween?

28/10/2020

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀

Salutations friends of Flare.
I think it goes without saying that we love Autumn time at Flare. Well. At least I do.
The temperature is cooler but not too cold. All the hot food and drinks get cinnamon or pumpkin spice flavoured.
However, most importantly, the leaves fall off the trees in the wind and the cycle of life repeats as the nutrients of the leaves return back to the ground.
During this beautiful change, the leaves are in colours of brown, copper, red, orange and yellow. It's fantastic.
I never get bored with posting about Autumn time. That's a seasonal constant.

23/10/2020

𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗲
Salutations friends of Flare. This is a shout out to all the friends of Flare. The only question we've been getting asked of late is how are our lounges doing during lockdown? It's a fair question. We've been closed during our peak trading period and now we're running but being closed during our peak trading times. So without a doubt, it's been really difficult. However, our answer is always the same to how we're doing. We're doing well because we have amazing fans. We have some amazing customers who appreciate our quality of work and show their support to their local Flare lounges.No matter what has been going on, our customers have shown love come rain or shine. As I said before, we've been maximising this time with upgrades that again have been going down a right treat for our fans. So this is a thank you to the friends of Flare. We wouldn't be here without your love and support. As long as we have this, we plan to continue to grow and make your local Flare lounges the place for your perfect smoke.

𝗥𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀
Salutations friends of Flare. What a terribly grey day! It's raining non-stop, properly miserable, it's typical London weather - blah blah blah. Do you guys get that too? Do you hear from others how nothing can happen today because the weather won't allow for it? Yes, I agree that some days the weather can physically make it impossible to complete the plans for the day. However, constant drizzling shouldn't stop life. If you lived your life dependent on the weather, then you're quite literally only living half a life. Grab a coat, grab an umbrella, get your wellies on. They were made to get wet. This nonstop attitude is what you need in the rain, in your business, in life. If you sit on the sofa because it's a rainy day, you're far too comfortable. Get some discomfort in your life. Trust me. It'll do you wonders. Now if you can excuse me please, I have to go for my midday walk. Where's my umbrella at...

𝗨𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆
Salutations friends of Flare. So one of my earliest memories of running the lounge was something I hadn't thought about or planned for when the business kicked off. This was the level of maintenance that goes into just keeping the premises working. So here we are, trying to get our operations into place - making sure the sh**ha smoking experience is on point. This was obviously paying off as our customer base was rapidly growing with each passing day. However, at the same time, we were working so hard behind the scenes to literally keep the lights on. Whether it's a leak in the roof, the fence falling down, the bathroom flooding, the heating not working, the power tripping or the fridge failing - we'd had to sort these issues while trying to keep the lounge open. Famously, on some nights we'd have a power cut on the entire street but our lounges would still be open. Nothing lighting the scene other than the soft glow from the sh**ha coals. Granted, we have far fewer fatal issues now as we've managed to fix a large number of the problems we inherited. Nonetheless, there is always a new challenge every day. Something or another will break, or need attending to. So we move. We mend, we fix, we correct - all the while, serving a damn good smoke.

16/10/2020

Locking down again?
Salutations friends of Flare.
Being based in London, we're on the brink of moving into the high alert tier - meaning tighter restrictions on who we can meet, eat and smoke with. With two and a half months until the end of the year, for a lot of people, this cannot come quick enough.
I'm sure you've heard this too, maybe you're one of the people who have been saying that the whole year just needs to be forgotten and written off? Indisputably this is a strange year. Affecting people in varying ways. I mean, nearly everyone has had to change plans and some have even had to change life plans.
As a business, it has been a mixed bag. At Flare we've had the time to line up our ducks, get our stock in order, design our plans and figure out where we're headed. In our lounges, trying to keep businesses running in the middle of lockdowns, curfews and social distancing has been mighty challenging.
However, with every challenge comes new opportunities. While our doors have been shut, we've been refurbing, upgrading and finding our silver linings.
We want our customers to come back knowing we haven't just been hiding away from the storm. On the contrary. We want them to see the beacon of change we are supporting.
If I had to summarise the ramblings from today, it would be to always make the best of any situation.

09/10/2020

27 December 2013

Salutations friends of Flare.
Something must be afoot? Another post? Amazing right?
No promises, but being at home does present itself with more time, so let us all enjoy these ramblings while we can.

As with most reflections of mine, I tend to think about the beginning. Flare Sh**ha was founded at the back end of 2013. About this time 7 years ago now in fact. The sh**ha scene in such a short space of time has changed and developed so much. It's really great to see the industry grow and overcome the challenges it has had to face.
We played our part in shaping the home smoke scene with our signature coal burner. At the time we know it would be a product that people wanted - however, to become the UK's best selling and favourite choice for sh**ha coal was unprecedented. While we've all been locked at home, you can imagine the number of people dusting off their home smoke kits and renewing their home smoke skills! Myself included - it's a rare treat for me to personally enjoy the smokes in the comfort of my home. So I dedicate this post to the burner that started it all.

The home smoke scene has never been more important than now - so thank you NCB, you've been lighting coals faithfully for many long years for us all.

02/10/2020

Talking about strange times.

My dear friends of Flare, I hope this message finds you well.
Nobody could have seen this coming. The world stood still and the word was spread - there's a new Flare blog post.

This really is a special update, I mean we find ourselves in completely unprecedented times. Times such that current generations have not had to face before. It's a rare life-changing and defining period of everyone's lives. So we do hope that you are doing well, that you're safe and making the most of what you can.

Over the lockdown, there has been a lot of time to reflect which got me into the mindset of blogging again. I was reading over the Chronicles and truth be told, it actually had me chuckling to myself - yes, yes I was sitting here laughing at my own jokes.
Like, who is this blog really for? Is it for you? Is it for me? Is it for my sanity? Who really knows. Around once a year there is a grand Flare announcement that the Chronicles are back - bar last year. On 27/04/18 I announced that I will start sharing the stories and excitements of running our first lounge. The last update was 04/05/18 which was revealing our latest innovation to the game. Then the all too familiar radio silence that Friends of Flare are no strangers to.

Anyway, I'm glad I've set time aside to finally get these thoughts down. With any luck, there will be more thoughts. So this surprising message out of the blue comes with no meaning.
There is no announcement, there is no news. Just an open message to friends and well wishes.

Speak soon, friends!

Flare Shisha

11/07/2021

10/07/2021

26/02/2021

18/12/2020

17/12/2020

04/11/2020

30/10/2020

28/10/2020

23/10/2020

16/10/2020

09/10/2020

02/10/2020

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