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Bong Water Hacks & Horror Stories, As Told by the Leafly Community

Published on February 8, 2016 · Last updated July 28, 2020

If you were paying attention over the weekend, you know we’ve been doing some semi-scientific bong water experiments of our own. After all, most who use bongs regularly are naturally curious: how does switching in a different liquid for the water in your bong change the flavor and effects of the resulting hit? Does it make it better? Does it even make a difference?

The answer? It depends on what you substitute. We played around with everything from vodka to Slurpees to soda water in our own investigation. Then we turned the question around to our community, asking for any hacks or horror stories that bong aficionados have accumulated over the course of their experiences. Let the following comments – all shared via Facebook – inspire or educate you about best (and worst) practices in bong water, and tell us about your own experiments and experiences in the comments!

Bong Water Hacks

“The concentrate of those Hawaiian punch packets you keep in the freezer. Awesome.” –Anthony Howard

“I put a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil in the bong water to keep resin from sticking to the glass/easy clean. Also helps soothe coughing.” –Allison Campbell

“Used gatorade in multi chamber perc bongs before for Jamaican/American flag lookin bubblin water. No difference in taste or effect there. Just looked cool with the different flavors of gatorade in different chambers of the bong.” –Peter Hoffman

“Chicken noodle soup broth.” –Joe Scully

“Mouthwash gives it a mint taste and you can hit it FOREVER!” –Jose Fievel Medina

“Unsweetened ice tea actually works really well and adds an interesting flavor.” –Matt Williams

“Fresh Wisconsin snow. Biggest, smoothest hits I've ever had.” –Nick Farrell

“Code Red Mountain Dew, still do it is the best.” –Jennifer Peterston

“Skim milk and rose water.” –Kitty Kelsey

"Apple juice all day smoke my bong with apple juice." –Josh Kemp

"Try adding a bit of peppermint extract to the water, it was kinda nice." –Patrick Taylor

“Gatorade and aloe vera.” –Jason Carrera

"Chloraseptic throat spray. Numbs your whole throat after the first hit. Makes monster rips super easy afterwards.” –Chris Prudden

“Unset chocolate pudding…you have to use the non instant type more like really thick chocolate milk. But if you like chocolate you can't beat it every hit will taste delicious.” –Chris Robinson

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“Cola with snow.” –Tomasz Kwiatkowski

“Technically it's not a bong water hack, but frozen strawberries instead of ice cubes for bongs with ice catchers.” –Jesus Cortez

Bong Water Horror Stories

“Oreo Milkshake…100% serious. Jack in the Box Oreo Milkshake. Awful.” –Justin Sund

“I jacked some of my parents E&J Brandy…That was the roughest hit I've ever took.” –Brian Twitty

“Dont. Ever. Use. Jack Daniels. I'd rather get a mouthful siphoning gasoline.” –Paul Brennan

“Back when I was younger and used to drink, I had a bad accident with bong water. My mom hated me toking so out of respect I would empty the water out into a fast food to go cup. One morning after drinking a lot the night before, I woke up thirsty and reached for the wrong cup and ended up drinking the damn bong water. Uggggghh!!” –Jeremy Bearse

“Camel piss once in the Sahara with Bear Grylls.” –Alex Harmon

“Fishtank water…It was 2am & I'm confined to my room when i want to smoke (common courtesy) & I had already smoked a blunt but wanted to smoke some more…in order to fill the bong up I needed to open my room to get to the bathroom but it would let all the smell out. So the only logical thing for me to do at the time was to use tank water lol.” –Jazmin Bernal

"Water from a mud puddle. Whaaa?! I know, right? Not one of my finer moments.” –Karla Jo

“air. It was a sad time.” –Mike Paquette

Comments edited for length and clarity.

We Replaced Bong Water With Vodka, Gatorade and a Slurpee: The Great Bong Experiment of 2016

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Brett Konen
Brett Konen
Brett is a former editor at Leafly who loves travel, craft cocktails, and shining a spotlight on unique lifestyle trends.
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