What's new

Greetings

Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jul 13, 2022
Messages
17
Nice to meet everyone, nice to be here.

I joined the forum because recently I’ve been rediscovering an old passion of mine; I’m hoping to learn more about the world of cigars, and I am particularly interested in all of the advice of those here who are rolling their own. I discovered this place through Bliss’ videos, and I’m looking forward to sponging up all of the great experience and information you guys have. Cheers.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jul 13, 2022
Messages
17
Howdy, Midwesterners. For the record, I’m a Utah dweller. Makes the cigar habit that much more expensive and exciting.
 

Growley Monster

Proud Creator of the Imperfecto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Apr 12, 2020
Messages
53
Location
New Orleans
Welcome from New Orleans!

Rolling is fun and saves a lot of money. Of course you would save even more if you didn't smoke cigars, but that option is not really on the table, is it? Get a kit! Roll some up! Let them dry for a day or three and smoke one, see how you did! You can buy them for $10+ each, or you can roll them for a couple of bucks each. Either way, you could get a pretty darn good cigar or a pretty darn sucky one. The difference is when you roll your own, you can learn and improve, and make them better.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jul 13, 2022
Messages
17
Welcome from New Orleans!

Rolling is fun and saves a lot of money. Of course you would save even more if you didn't smoke cigars, but that option is not really on the table, is it? Get a kit! Roll some up! Let them dry for a day or three and smoke one, see how you did! You can buy them for $10+ each, or you can roll them for a couple of bucks each. Either way, you could get a pretty darn good cigar or a pretty darn sucky one. The difference is when you roll your own, you can learn and improve, and make them better.
Thats definitely the plan. I’ve got some old wood molds on the way too, along with various other goodies. I figured why not? I could use another hobby.
 

Growley Monster

Proud Creator of the Imperfecto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Apr 12, 2020
Messages
53
Location
New Orleans
Thats definitely the plan. I’ve got some old wood molds on the way too, along with various other goodies. I figured why not? I could use another hobby.
Great! Just don't get too hung up about the molds. Molds are unnecessary for the DIY roller, and they make bunching more critical and exacting.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jul 13, 2022
Messages
17
Great! Just don't get too hung up about the molds. Molds are unnecessary for the DIY roller, and they make bunching more critical and exacting.
It seemed like everywhere I looked, people were using them. Now you’re telling me that I can’t trust what I see on the internet at face value?
 

Growley Monster

Proud Creator of the Imperfecto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Apr 12, 2020
Messages
53
Location
New Orleans
It seemed like everywhere I looked, people were using them. Now you’re telling me that I can’t trust what I see on the internet at face value?
Well, if you saw it on the internet then I guess I must be wrong! :giggle: Seriously if you want to use a mold that's cool. I am guessing that more guys use them, than not. I just find it easier to not use molds. It actually takes more skill to get a great cigar from a mold than to get a great cigar without one, at least that is my observation, but I haven't been rolling that long and I forgot to check the internet before I decided what to think.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jul 13, 2022
Messages
17
Well, if you saw it on the internet then I guess I must be wrong! :giggle: Seriously if you want to use a mold that's cool. I am guessing that more guys use them, than not. I just find it easier to not use molds. It actually takes more skill to get a great cigar from a mold than to get a great cigar without one, at least that is my observation, but I haven't been rolling that long and I forgot to check the internet before I decided what to think.
For my curiosity, what does using the molds do to affect the quality of the cigar? Compact them and screw up the draw?
 

Growley Monster

Proud Creator of the Imperfecto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Apr 12, 2020
Messages
53
Location
New Orleans
For my curiosity, what does using the molds do to affect the quality of the cigar? Compact them and screw up the draw?
Yes, if you have too much leaf in the bunch. The reverse is true, also. Without the mold, an extra half leaf is no biggie. The cigar just comes out slightly bigger. Or smaller, in the opposite case. With the mold, you HAVE TO have the right amount of filler because you don't really have any say in how big the cigar will be. The mold is an artificial constraint that keeps the cigar from simply being the size that it must be to draw properly with the amount of leaf that happens to be in the bunch. With practice and maybe a bit of natural talent, eventually you will nail it with a mold, like 99% of the time. Initially, you need to make it easier, not harder. At least that is my view, and there are other rollers who will probably tell you that you must use a mold if you want consistent cigars and want to truly roll like a pro.
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jul 13, 2022
Messages
17
I really appreciate the advice. I’ll take it to heart and give it a go with trying to make a couple by hand, and accept that they’ll be hideous for the first several times. I guess I had it in my head that I wanted to make something pretty, but that comes with experience; it’s probably better to start by making something actually smokable.
 

Growley Monster

Proud Creator of the Imperfecto
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Apr 12, 2020
Messages
53
Location
New Orleans
Whole Leaf Tobacco and Leaf Only are probably the two most popular online cigar leaf vendors, and both have some excellent kits, both complete everything-you-need kits, and also kits with only the tobacco. They are quite economical for what you are getting, especially the tobacco-only kits. You can improvise most of your equipment. Just pick out a blend that sounds like what you want in a cigar. You will not be disappointed.

Just a tip. Lately I have used a lot of Ecuador-grown Habano2000 Viso that I bought from Leaf Only, and about half the leaves are actually usable for binder or wrapper, so a one pound stack of leaves gives me filler, binder, and wrapper, enough for I don't know, I guess about 20 to 24 cigars, for $24. I really never counted or weighed or measured. Blend, schblend. We don' need no steenking blend. Seriously this Viso is a bit mild for Viso, but still punchier than a Seco. Big leaf, good quality. If you want prettier cigars, get a 1/4lb sample of Nicaraguan Connecticut Shade Wrapper leaf to dress them up. Otherwise, the Ec. H2k Viso is rich and tasty, and burns well enough when used all by itself for the whole cigar. When you can roll a nice stogie for a little over a buck, and have fun doing it, you got a win/win/win situation.

Your first sticks don't have to be ugly. Just watch the videos. Get your binder into medium case and your wrapper into full case. (moisture content) and stretch them out good. Make sure the underside or veiny side of the binder and especially the wrapper leaf is up, the tip end of the half leaf is toward you, and the leaf's outer edge is away from you, and the side veins are more or less horizontal, side to side. You might try rolling your leaf out with a small rolling pin to flatten the veins a bit, then stretch the leaf out good again. Using a very slick rolling surface (I use a 24" x 24", 1/4" thick piece of plexiglass) helps the wrapper and binder leaves to cling and stay put when you stretch them, so you don't have to roll with one hand and stretch leaf with the other. You want the side veins to end up on the cigar running parallel to the axis of the cigar, so they can sort of disappear into the crevices between the filler leaves. Roll the bunch back and forth in steps as you roll, like three steps forward and two steps back, to press the veins into the cigar. Remember you want the wrapper to go on fairly tight and well stretched but not so tight as to constrict the cigar or burst open as the wrapper dries and shrinks while the filler absorbs moisture and swells.

Your first cigars won't look like Opus X but they don't have to look like Backwoods, either. But you and I are in agreement in that how it smokes is more important than how it looks, unless you are just showing off at your local cigar store smoking room. Then again, smoking an obvious DIY stogie actually gives your Davidoff or Romeo smoking neighbor cause to be envious, even if he won't admit it.

A lot of guys who roll without molds, roll the bunched and bindered cigars up in paper to settle in a bit before applying the wrapper. I tried it and I don't see the difference, but my rolls are usually perfectos so it's a different can of worms from rolling parejos. (standard straight sided cylindrical cigars, that is.)
 
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Joined
Jul 13, 2022
Messages
17
I went ahead the other day and ordered one of the WLT kits (Terroso) because it seemed like it would make cigars that more or less were in the neighborhood of flavors I liked. I figured that would be easier than individually selecting types of leaf from the various sites, without knowing for sure if I would be getting something usable. There’s a lot of information I’ve been skimming off of the forum here, but also some stuff I just don’t know yet. I’ve pretty much been learning off of Bliss’s videos, and a few others, but your last post also answered some questions I had that I didn’t know how to ask. Thanks again! I imagine there’ll be a lot of trial and error.
 
Top