I discovered the joys of smoking a shisha (a water pipe, a.k.a. hooka, nargila, and I am sure many other names in different parts of the world) in the Middle East. It seems to be gaining popularity in the U.S., too.

I have experimented with a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as accompaniments, and many of them taste surprisingly bad. For example, Turkish or American coffee really clashes with the flavor in my opinion. Ditto for red wine and scotch. I haven't tried cognac. Diet coke might even be OK. I guess the same drinks would be good or bad with a normal pipe, but the complement to a cigar seems to be different, since the smoke in a shisha is lighter and cooler. (I suppose that it might depend to some extent on the flavor of the shisha tobacco.)

Really, the best choice that I have discovered, which actually complements the taste of the tobacco, is black tea with milk, either sweet or not sweet, like they drink in the Middle East and Indian subcontinent. By the same token, I bet that Thai iced tea would be OK.

Does anyone have any other ideas or experiences?