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Hopduro

Hopduro

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blisscigarco said:
Lol, thanks, I appreciate that. I haven't done any new vitolas, capping techniques, blends, or labels lately. Just rolling more of the things I've already done before and didn't want to clog the bandwidth. Anyway, here's something.
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Dear God please take up all the bandwidth with those gorgeous cigars! Wish i could prep binder at work...

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BrewinHooligan

BrewinHooligan

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Hopduro said:
Dear God please take up all the bandwidth with those gorgeous cigars! Wish i could prep binder at work...

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I'm prepping binder and filler right now. Thanks dudes!! Next I will prep wrapper so it's ready for tomorrow. Working from home has definite advantages
 
TheReMixologist

TheReMixologist

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jtriddle said:
Story time... I have read through all of this thread and some of the others relating to home rolling and I must say I am very impressed with everyone's progress and more importantly I was inspired to attempt (again) rolling my own. When I first tried it 5 years ago or so, I had less than desirable results... huge cigars with a super loose draw. Imagine the ugliest wrap job you can think of... yeah, worse than that. Anyway, after following BrewinHooligan on Instagram and messaging him last winter, I was inspired to attempt it again. Bought some leaf, slightly better results, but still bad. Fast forward to last Tuesday after starting this thread from the beginning, I decided to give it another go actually applying the knowledge you guys have shared and I finally have something I'm proud of. Without further ado, I present to you some test blends I've been working on with what little leaf I have currently.

First 5 test blends all using PA Oscuro wrapper and Dominican binder. Fillers are different variations of Nic ligero, viso, and seco, and Dom. seco. All leaves from LO. Obviously no mold was used (just ordered one though). I used the paper towel method. Blends 1, 2, and 3 were done last Tuesday, 4 and 5 were yesterday. Notice the capping progress already, lol.


Practicing my wrapping by replacing the wrapper on the BLB. The one in the middle is the original Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. I replaced the wrappers on the other two with the PA Oscuro. Three on the right are included in the pictured above.


Another re-wrap of a cigar with a damaged wrapper again with the PA Oscuro. Wrapping cigars that were pressed in a mold are so much easier.


Closed foot of the above re-wrap job:


And finally, played around with a little pig tail/blob head.


Thanks for hanging with me on this large post. But mostly, thanks for all the guidance you didn't even know you were giving me. Looking forward to sharing with you my progress! Thanks, guys!!!
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You keep it up! They are looking great! Besides... as a roller... we get double the therapy time ... the roll and the smoke :p Just enjoy yourself while you continue to discover your hand's process.
 
jtriddle

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After sitting in the humidor for a couple of months these are developing some good flavors despite the larger rg (54). Question for you guys. What's the rule of thumb for number of leaves in the bunch of a 54 rg?

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BrewinHooligan

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jtriddle said:
Thank you! I think that sounds like what I used. Just feels a little soft with a loose draw. I had to lightly squeeze them into the mold, too.

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Larger rg sticks are more prone to loose draws. If it feels soft and you want the same length, try adding a half leaf more. Practice practice practice. When I switched from rolling mainly with my 44rg mold to start learning my 50rg mold I had to roll probably close to 50 sticks to get it dialed in consistently.
 
Jim D

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So my first stogies had burn issues. Partly, I think, because the binder was broadleaf and the wrapper was broadleaf. The other part was probably something I was doing wrong. Since then my sticks have been bound with LO Dominican binder and wrapped with LO Ecuador Shade Seco or Ecuador Ligero. No burn problems at all there. I'm venturing back to Broadleaf wrapping with a small [1/4 lb] order of CT 1 DW Maduro, broadleaf because I love the aroma when working with it and really like stogies professionally made with broadleaf components. Do any of you home rollers do anything different when wrapping with Broadleaf vs other wrappers?
 
webmost

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That shade will give you a thinner broadleaf, for a better burn, Jim D.

Here in DullAware, the bad burn capital of the world, I gave up rolling with broadleaf, other than shade. But that's more cause of thickness and veins than it is cause of burn. The burn is no prob. When I first began burning cigars, my go-to stick on a rainy day was the BL wrapped Alec Bradley Black Market. Everything else would go out but that. Then I discovered the FX Smith's Sons. No prob whatever, whether shade, natural, or maduro. Likewise that Flatbed truck which I discovered at a street fair in Merryland ... Panacea blue label, I think. So I got to where I always kept a BL option on hand for those days when the air is thick. Burnt great. Bottom line, I don't think it's the broadleaf ... it might just be your broadleaf, is all. Try another batch.

I'll give you an apt analogy: I settled early on Don's habano 2000 from WLT as my perfecto wrapper of choice. Thin, flexible, great flavor, great olive tan color, dries down tight. Suddenly, his source changed, the crop changed, I dunno. Got two or three batches would hardly burn at all. Thicker. Still tasty. His latest batch, still not so thin, still tasty, darker color -- but burns better.

So it might be just the batch you got.

I have a smallish batch of PA broadleaf which Larry the tobacco butcher sent me. I'd mail it to you to try out, but for the fact I have not used any myself, so I can't vouch for the burn.

CT BL Shade is prolly your best route.
 
Jim D

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webmost said:
That shade will give you a thinner broadleaf, for a better burn, Jim D.

Here in DullAware, the bad burn capital of the world, I gave up rolling with broadleaf, other than shade. But that's more cause of thickness and veins than it is cause of burn. The burn is no prob. When I first began burning cigars, my go-to stick on a rainy day was the BL wrapped Alec Bradley Black Market. Everything else would go out but that. Then I discovered the FX Smith's Sons. No prob whatever, whether shade, natural, or maduro. Likewise that Flatbed truck which I discovered at a street fair in Merryland ... Panacea blue label, I think. So I got to where I always kept a BL option on hand for those days when the air is thick. Burnt great. Bottom line, I don't think it's the broadleaf ... it might just be your broadleaf, is all. Try another batch.

I'll give you an apt analogy: I settled early on Don's habano 2000 from WLT as my perfecto wrapper of choice. Thin, flexible, great flavor, great olive tan color, dries down tight. Suddenly, his source changed, the crop changed, I dunno. Got two or three batches would hardly burn at all. Thicker. Still tasty. His latest batch, still not so thin, still tasty, darker color -- but burns better.

So it might be just the batch you got.

I have a smallish batch of PA broadleaf which Larry the tobacco butcher sent me. I'd mail it to you to try out, but for the fact I have not used any myself, so I can't vouch for the burn.

CT BL Shade is prolly your best route.
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Thanks for the feedback Webmost, I'll be wrapping the 8 I bunched last night. I think I will just pull it as tight as I can to thin the leaf and keep it as,tight to the burn as possible. I'm hoping the old burn problems were due to that batch and being new at rolling. As that was 9 months ago, this is a new batch and not so much of a newbie roller...
Edit: Per the info on LO's webpage, there are approximately 45 leaves per pound and they are medium to heavy thickness.
They just smell so good I have to try again!
 
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BrewinHooligan

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Jim D said:
So my first stogies had burn issues. Partly, I think, because the binder was broadleaf and the wrapper was broadleaf. The other part was probably something I was doing wrong. Since then my sticks have been bound with LO Dominican binder and wrapped with LO Ecuador Shade Seco or Ecuador Ligero. No burn problems at all there. I'm venturing back to Broadleaf wrapping with a small [1/4 lb] order of CT 1 DW Maduro, broadleaf because I love the aroma when working with it and really like stogies professionally made with broadleaf components. Do any of you home rollers do anything different when wrapping with Broadleaf vs other wrappers?
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I use LOs CT 1LS broadleaf wrapper all the time and it is relatively thin for broadleaf and burns well. I think your issue was broadleaf binder and wrapper. With that Dominican binder and a broadleaf wrapper you should be fine as long as you have seco in your bunch closest to the binder. Reminds me I need to roll some stuff to wrap with it. Been a slow week for rolling for me and I'm getting that rolling itch
 
BrewinHooligan

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Jim D said:
Thanks for the feedback Webmost, I'll be wrapping the 8 I bunched last night. I think I will just pull it as tight as I can to thin the leaf and keep it as,tight to the burn as possible. I'm hoping the old burn problems were due to that batch and being new at rolling. As that was 9 months ago, this is a new batch and not so much of a newbie roller...
Edit: Per the info on LO's webpage, there are approximately 45 leaves per pound and they are medium to heavy thickness.
They just smell so good I have to try again!
Click to expand...
I haven't tried that maduro leaf you're getting. If you do place an order of that leaf and want to swap a few leaves for some of the broadleaf I work with let me know as I'm curious how different that maduro is from what I'm using but not wanting to commit to an order right now.
 
TheReMixologist

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Jim D said:
So my first stogies had burn issues. Partly, I think, because the binder was broadleaf and the wrapper was broadleaf. The other part was probably something I was doing wrong. Since then my sticks have been bound with LO Dominican binder and wrapped with LO Ecuador Shade Seco or Ecuador Ligero. No burn problems at all there. I'm venturing back to Broadleaf wrapping with a small [1/4 lb] order of CT 1 DW Maduro, broadleaf because I love the aroma when working with it and really like stogies professionally made with broadleaf components. Do any of you home rollers do anything different when wrapping with Broadleaf vs other wrappers?
Click to expand...
The bl holds moisture longer but requires more moisture to relax...agree on stretching it as tight as it will go and leave plenty of dry time or fill with predominantly lingerie (fucking auto correct...lol) LIGERO for equality in the slow burn. The Med blm dries out a bit faster :p. Happy NY to ya!
 
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