Drink Cigar Rolling

[rajangan]

Ok, y'all. I just got home from bowling and since I'm not a pro at either bowling, or cigar rolling, I want to show you all that this is all doable. If I can do it, you can too. Pipe smokers, if anything, are practical and gotta admit that when you smoke a cigar, the draw is more important than the g, d, look of the thing, right?

Photo 1- in this frigging pic, I'm getting my geshizzle organized. At the top I got an old dry Mexican wrapper that's going on the fill, then I got some corojo, some Paraguay, both filler, then I got a couple Indonesian wrapper leaves they're gonna be my wrapper and binder

Now, photo 2, next I prepare the binder and wrapper. Binder, left is a full leaf with stem removed, the two sides starched on top of each other, the right is the wrapper, which is half a leaf, with one side nicely trimmed so I have a nice clean edge, and any sort of tear that might propagate also trimmed off

 

[rajangan]

Ok, now, photo 3. Because tobacco is frigging precious, I'm trimming it beforehand to the length I want so I don't waste.

Photo 4

Stack that stuff

Photo 5 roll one of the three (I forgot to mention that) corojo leaves up with all those trimmings.

Photo 6 ok, so, like I said, bowling and beer, anyways, next I rolled the second leaf up with the Paraguay leaf and the Mexican leaf, and places or next to the first one, THEN rolled up the third leaf with nothing in it. See, no waste. This is me next to my double binder with those three leaves, with stuff rolled inside them.

 

[rajangan]

Ok. Photo 7. To bad this ain't a video, but believe you me, there are lots of fantastic videos way way better than this montage of heck. This is after rolling those things up in the double binder. Pardon me. Half way through. Then next pivot is after, and the following is after using a cigar cutter to get a nice head or foot, or whatever the pros call it

 

[rajangan]

We're almost there. Now I'm gonna wrap it. As you can see, I forgot to use the dried up Mexican wrapper leaf in the filler. That's fine.

So, now, you might say that's am ugly cigar, and you'd be right, but it had good draw resistance and burns well, and tastes good and cost a buck and I did it in less time than it too to make these posts. A $1 cigar that tastes like a $18 CAD cigar.
My point is not that I'm awesome. The point is that I'm average and that you can also roll tasty $1 cigars in 5 minutes.

 

[rajangan]

Sorry re. spelling and auto fill. Wish you were here though.

 

[oldtoby]

Man, that looks delicious. I agree, it's all about the draw.

 

[sumusfumus]

rajangan...
Thanks for the process shots. Never knew one could make a homemade cigar if so inclined. Very interesting to see how a cheroot is made.
What keeps the whole package together? Why doesn't the wrapper, unwrap? Do you use some king of "glue" to hold the wrapper leaf around the inside bundle of leaves...I think you called it the filler?
Nice job. I don't smoke cigars, but I buy trimmings from a man who rolls cigars, and use them as a minor component in a pipe tobacco blend that I make.
Again, thanks for the education.
Frank

NYC

 

[rajangan]

Hi sumusfumus,
Since I'm smoking it right away, I don't need any glue. I just keep rolling it clockwise now and again in my mouth to be sure it doesn't unroll.
Cigar glue, however can be ordered online. I personally use xanthan gum which I bought at the organic store. You mix a little with water until you get a sticky liquid. It only stays sticky for a couple days, so you can't simply have it sitting around. When using it, at the very end of wrapping, you spread a little bit on the wrapper leaf. When it dries, it will continue to hold, so you can roll a bunch for later.

 

[cortezattic]

Thanks for the nifty demonstration. I learned a few new things today! :clap:

 

[thesmokindragon]

:clap: - I had learned to roll cigars years ago from a Cuban master roller - only about a year ago where I really started rolling again - the key to draw is your filler prep - I roll everything entubado ( you could use accordion, book styles as well but I suggest sticking with entubado if draw is your main focus ). Also using premium whole leaf long filler is key as you deliver perfect draw most of your flavors will come from your filler leaf.
Some of my favorite blending has come from a filler combination of Honduran Viso, Aged Colombian Seco and Aged Dominican Volado with a Honduran Binder and a Maduro wrapper - A great cigar , some of my friends have smoked these blends all the way down until they have burned their finger tips, hehe

 

[derekflint]

Way to go !!!

 

[civalwar]

Thanks

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Darn your eyes, Rajangan! Just when I think I have this year’s crop planned out, and now I have to grow more cigar varieties, ha ha.

Thanks for this post, you’re awesome! I really want a homegrown cigar now.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Interesting and educational post....thanks :clap:
Regards,
Jay.

 

[saltedplug]

I'm a cigar snob so I usually spend between $7 and $11 per-needless to say, I don't smoke many cigars! You make rolling seem possible, and I'm inspired!

 

[sumusfumus]

So interesting. I watched some You-Tube videos that showed some gents hand-rolling cigars. Went to a wedding reception, years ago, and there was a cigar-roller there making cigars for the wedding guests. Having, no interest in cigars I never paid any attention to what the man was doing. I should've watched.
Nice to see the "old ways".... still are the best ways.
Frank

NYC

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

That’s definitely not your first rodeo. Rolling a cigar is much, much more difficult than most would think. Well done! With that said, I’ll continue to pay someone else to do it and stick with Padron, My Father and Tatuaje.

 

[shanegreen]

I am enjoying this. I am ordering seeds this week, so it gives me an idea what to order. Now for stupid question. What keeps it all from falling apart? Is the leaf that wraps around it all wet?

 

[mso489]

Looks like a well-made cigar to me. I'd be right proud of myself.

 

[rajangan]

Shane, the wrapper and binder is much more moist than the filler. You spritz them a short while before using them. You can't store them that moist because they would mold. Since I'm going to be smoking it and because I'm going to be smoking it right away, I just use saliva at the very last part of the wrapper to make it hold. Also, I rotate it regularly as I smoke to keep it from getting loose. If I were rolling for a friend, or for myself, but to smoke at a later date, I would use cigar glue just on the last inch of wrapper.