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Adventures in home rolling

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I love beer so I brew my own, I love coffee so I roast my own, I love cigars and after seeing what @HIM* could roll at home and sampling some of his creations I decided I too would try to roll my own. I watched countless hours of videos on how to roll online before even placing an order for leaves. I wanted to keep my costs low in case I didn't like rolling or what I could make. I ordered a kit from wholeleaftobacco.com that they said included enough leaf to roll approximately 20 robustos which included Corojo wrapper leaf, Dominican binder, Corojo Seco, and Criollo Ligero. I added a pound of PA Oscuro binder that turns out to be mostly wrapper grade to play around with the blend a little, you can't see in the pictures but this leaf has a ton of mineral sparkle. Total cost including shipping for everything was a little over $60. I went out to Walmart and bought a metal baking sheet for a rolling surface, some kitchen shears for trimming the ends of the sticks, and a pizza cutter to cut the leaf. I also bought fruit pectin (no sugar added) to mix with distilled water to make cigar glue. I am far from an expert as my pictures will show but it has been fun so far. A thread like this is pointless without pictures so here we go

The order after it arrived:
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Placing the leaves in bags and spraying with distilled water to get up to case:
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The work station:
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Prepping filler to wrap in binder:
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Rolled up in newspaper after wrapped in the binder to "mold" the cigar since I was too cheap to buy molds at this point:
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Unwrapped from the newspaper and ready to apply the wrapper leaf. I roll the veins down on the wrapper with a beer bottle to try and make it as flat as possible:
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All wrapped and ready to dry out for a week or two before smoking:
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I rolled this one on Friday night and smoked it last night. It was soft from not being rolled tight enough and smoked pretty wet but I was pleasantly surprised that it had a decent burn and a nice flavor. It was sweet and creamy with some nuts and spice.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1425917284.314528.jpg

Thanks for looking!!
 
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That's great. May make sense to get mold for better product. How much are they?
The cheapest molds I can find are $60 and I will definitely invest in those at some point. Right now I am more focused on getting my fill and rolls right and am sure that I enjoy the blends I am playing with enough to justify the expense.
 
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Looks awesome man! Subscribed. I can see myself trying that sometime in the future if they turn out decent. Maybe I can purchase a few from some of you home rolling savants to see how they are
Thanks brother! I like to share my beer with people to get honest feedback and after I'm a little more confident in my rolls I will be sending sticks out to be reviewed so I can improve and possibly get ideas for new blends.
 
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DUDE - Super Cool!!

I wish you all the luck in your pursuits and a quick learning curve!

What a great way to pass time! I am not being a smart ass - I think it's really cool when a guy gets his hands dirty! At worst, you'll get an even greater insight into the hobby that many of us will not. At best, you'll have something to be proud of an boast over lol!
 
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have you tried any fermenting yet?
I have not, the leaf I buy is already aged and fermented. I am seriously lacking in space for that and I have a feeling the climate here is way too hot to be ideal for that process. I will stick with fermenting hopped barley water and fruit juice for now
 
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I will be getting into serious home brewing as well. I love beer. Don't even drink much by way of liquor although I can appreciate it but craft beer is what I love. The only reason I haven't started is a space issue but I'll be purchasing a home before too awful long and I will have a dedicated space just for brewing. It's something I've been looking forward to for years. What do you like brewing now?
 

HIM*

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Are you taking the mid rib out of your seco?




I will be getting into serious home brewing as well. I love beer. Don't even drink much by way of liquor although I can appreciate it but craft beer is what I love. The only reason I haven't started is a space issue but I'll be purchasing a home before too awful long and I will have a dedicated space just for brewing. It's something I've been looking forward to for years. What do you like brewing now?
If you have any questions about getting started or the process feel free to ask.
 
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I will be getting into serious home brewing as well. I love beer. Don't even drink much by way of liquor although I can appreciate it but craft beer is what I love. The only reason I haven't started is a space issue but I'll be purchasing a home before too awful long and I will have a dedicated space just for brewing. It's something I've been looking forward to for years. What do you like brewing now?
I like to brew funky Brett ipas and saisons the most but I brew a bit of everything except lagers due to time and temperature requirements.
 

HIM*

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I usually only remove them from the ligero since its so thick but I know people do it both ways. I think it helps make the leaf easier to tube leaving it in.
 
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The cheapest molds I can find are $60 and I will definitely invest in those at some point. Right now I am more focused on getting my fill and rolls right and am sure that I enjoy the blends I am playing with enough to justify the expense.
What's mineral sparkle, is it plume? I bet a woodworker with a router could make you several sets of molds for way less than $60. I bet you did have fun and I've thought about trying it but I'm sure to fail and waste the money. Glad you ended up with a stick you could smoke!:)
 
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