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Help a noob learn a thing or 2...

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Like all new hobbies, we have our ups and downs. I got my tobacco on Thursday, prepped and started rolling on Saturday, and finally smoked 2 the same weekend. The cigars were decent especially since they were rolled by yours truly. However in my ignorance I got my wrapper a little too moist and cased (more like soaked my wrapper too much) now it is super easy to roll with, but any cigars I try to smoke ROTT just do not taste that good. In the mean time I'm still rolling my sticks and hoping that as they spend time in a dry box and then eventually left to rest in my tupperdore their flavor will improve.

Reading the forum, it seems that getting it too wet can be a bad thing causing some bad flavors. Any wisdom that you guys can impart on me for the future is greatly appreciated.

And now I await the jokes on how I got it too wet and it wound up tasting bad.
 
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Like all new hobbies, we have our ups and downs. I got my tobacco on Thursday, prepped and started rolling on Saturday, and finally smoked 2 the same weekend. The cigars were decent especially since they were rolled by yours truly. However in my ignorance I got my wrapper a little too moist and cased (more like soaked my wrapper too much) now it is super easy to roll with, but any cigars I try to smoke ROTT just do not taste that good. In the mean time I'm still rolling my sticks and hoping that as they spend time in a dry box and then eventually left to rest in my tupperdore their flavor will improve.

Reading the forum, it seems that getting it too wet can be a bad thing causing some bad flavors. Any wisdom that you guys can impart on me for the future is greatly appreciated.

And now I await the jokes on how I got it too wet and it wound up tasting bad.
I see some guys on here like to get their shit wet, but I don't. Anything that is not quite flexy enough, I give an extremely light mist, bag, and check an hour later. If it's still not flexy enough, I repeat. never wet, never damp. Just eased into flexibility. When I finish rolling a cigar, it is dry. The wrapper is dry. It can be smoked in a few minutes, once the cap glue has set.
 
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I see some guys on here like to get their shit wet, but I don't. Anything that is not quite flexy enough, I give an extremely light mist, bag, and check an hour later. If it's still not flexy enough, I repeat. never wet, never damp. Just eased into flexibility. When I finish rolling a cigar, it is dry. The wrapper is dry. It can be smoked in a few minutes, once the cap glue has set.
Yeah I'm going to try that after this batch of leaf. I just got too excited... lesson learned
 
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I see some guys on here like to get their shit wet, but I don't. Anything that is not quite flexy enough, I give an extremely light mist, bag, and check an hour later. If it's still not flexy enough, I repeat. never wet, never damp. Just eased into flexibility. When I finish rolling a cigar, it is dry. The wrapper is dry. It can be smoked in a few minutes, once the cap glue has set.

Sounds real good if you say it fast, Bliss. But for a newb, it's just way way easier wrapping a wet leaf laid on a wet board. If you look at my how to roll a beginner cigar, for instance... that doesn't mean that's how I do it. That just means it's a way a newb can make a decent lookin gar without your skills.
 
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Sounds real good if you say it fast, Bliss. But for a newb, it's just way way easier wrapping a wet leaf laid on a wet board. If you look at my how to roll a beginner cigar, for instance... that doesn't mean that's how I do it. That just means it's a way a newb can make a decent lookin gar without your skills.
I think from now on I'll start drier, and only get it wetter as need be.
 
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I think from now on I'll start drier, and only get it wetter as need be.
Watch bliss video on prep and watch webs beginner video
Web gets it wet so it sticks to the board. That really helps a lot when you are trying to figure it out
A good thing for prepping I took away from bliss was wrapping it in a damp towel way ahead of time to case
I'm still new and studying the vids myself.
Good luck brother and have fun
 

Dominican56

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I used to case just before rolling but discovered the leaf is too wet when doing it that way. Now I try to prep it the night before. There is a critical moisture level where the leaf is crackly but not crumbly
 

Jan Bynens

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Besides the moister level also the time is impórtant, to long and the leave tears easy when stretching.
The problem is we roll with many different leaves, and they all have to be treated different. In a factory they roll for months with the same wrapper.
En the leaves are prepared for them !
Even in the same batch there is a difference in leaves. I always separate the thicker and thinner leaves.
 
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Besides the moister level also the time is impórtant, to long and the leave tears easy when stretching.
The problem is we roll with many different leaves, and they all have to be treated different. In a factory they roll for months with the same wrapper.
En the leaves are prepared for them !
Even in the same batch there is a difference in leaves. I always separate the thicker and thinner leaves.
Good to know, all these levels of prep and I tried to go straight from A to Z
 

Dominican56

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For a wet or really damp new cigar I microwave it.

I'll put it in for 4 seconds, take it out and gently blow though it while feeling the exiting air. If it's only warm air, not steam I'll blast it again for 3 or 4 more seconds the gently blow through it. On the second heating in the mic. I'll usually get some steam. I'll repeat the process a few times letting the stick rest a minute in between microwave blasts.

Then I put the fairly warm cigar in the freezer for ten minutes or so. The cold air is quite dry which replaces the air in the cigar as the leaves in the stick shrink back to size. (Moisture in those internal leaves expand as they are heated)

When I take it out of the cold I immediately put it in a baggie so it doesn't draw dampness as it comes back to room temperature.
This is a process I use to test a new blend. Takes a bit of practice so as not to cook the cigar.

You only want the inside hot enough to release the water into steam.

Sometimes the glue at the tip comes loose, no problem, I glue whatever came loose again and wait a while for the glue to dry.

So far I've had great success with this procedure.

EDIT:
If it's a cigar I want for the next day I simply place the naked cigar in the refrigerator overnight (after de-wetting it) and put in a baggie so it doesn't draw moisture as it comes to room temperature. Keep in mind that refrigerator orders will taint the cigar. Lucky for me I don't have that issue.
 
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Reading the forum, it seems that getting it too wet can be a bad thing causing some bad flavors. Any wisdom that you guys can impart on me for the future is greatly appreciated.
For me, becoming proficient at any new endeavor, requires understanding WHY things are, not just accepting conventional wisdom. In that spirit, Let me say that I believe the "bad taste" from wet leaves is caused by fermentation. When tobacco leaf is aged it is placed at a (relatively) high moisture and temperature. The leaf "ferments", releasing ammonia and other compounds. Overall the flavor of the leaf improves but the process gives off compounds that are disagreeable. A wet stick can begin fermentation. The solution is to bring down the humidity. That's what dry boxing is for.
 

Dominican56

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For me, becoming proficient at any new endeavor, requires understanding WHY things are, not just accepting conventional wisdom. In that spirit, Let me say that I believe the "bad taste" from wet leaves is caused by fermentation. When tobacco leaf is aged it is placed at a (relatively) high moisture and temperature. The leaf "ferments", releasing ammonia and other compounds. Overall the flavor of the leaf improves but the process gives off compounds that are disagreeable. A wet stick can begin fermentation. The solution is to bring down the humidity. That's what dry boxing is for.
steam and heat aren't so great a taste either. That's huge with wet tobacco. It brings other bad elements out when steam is generated. I don't believe it's as simple as "fermentation" going on.
 
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So I've gotten a bit better at rolling and am now trying to mostly dry roll, my question now is, since the inside is relatively dry, how wet do you dry rollers get your wrapper? Also about how long until the cigar is dry enough? Mine have been sitting a few days now.
 

Dominican56

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So I've gotten a bit better at rolling and am now trying to mostly dry roll, my question now is, since the inside is relatively dry, how wet do you dry rollers get your wrapper? Also about how long until the cigar is dry enough? Mine have been sitting a few days now.
Usually overnight for me. My basement has been really low humidity this fall so I simply roll the night before. Most of the time overnight is good enough. (overnight is about 24 hours)

If I've rolled with fairly well cased leaves that won't dry enough for smoking overnight I microwave 'em. I put them in the microwave for a few 6 second blasts and blowing out the steam in between each nuking while they are hot. I then put the stick in the freezer or refrigerator for a few minutes to cool off before I nuke them for a third or fourth nuking. The air in the refrigerator is more dry than the house air. I want the dry air replacing any air that may move back into the cigar. Gotta be careful because it's possible to actually dry the stick into a fragile crumbleable (my new word) piece of rolled up tobacco.

I store all of my rolls in a plastic box that holds two cedar trays. The plastic box has 3 Boveda 65% humidity packs. Sometimes I put the rolls in directly after wrapping. (FWIW)
 
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