Cigar Rolling Kit

For Christmas I received a Leaf Only cigar rolling kit. I'm pretty excited to try this out. The mold block appears to create a Corona sized smoke, which is excellent as far as I'm concerned. According to the video the length isn't an issue. As is the block cavities are just shy of 5".

The leaves it came with were these:

https://s14.postimg.org/9sv3ehukx/IMG_3858.jpg

So I'm curious what I'll end up with. Medium sticks?

For those of you that roll your own who do you buy your stuff from? What do you use to roll and cut on?

The kit does not include the knife or the cigar end cutter. For now scissors will do fine but I'll likely get the real deal once I get the hang of it. I may just deal with my guillotine cutters as I prefer a punch anyway.

Nice gift, something I've been interested in for a while Just know I don't have the time right now. @Bruck is the resident expert he should be able to answer your questions.

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I decided to take a good whiff of the various leaves and noticed the filler seemed rather dry so I moistened a paper towel with distilled water and placed it in the ziplock bag. This isn't a bad idea is it?

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Originally Posted by rodwha

...According to the video the length isn't an issue...

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That's not what she said

Great gift! Please keep us posted on your journey.

I buy from Leaf Only. There is another site (I forget what it is, but Google will remember), but I haven't seen anything there I wanted.

I started with an old cutting board and a sharp knife. Since then a friend who makes cutting boards made me one, and a friend who makes knives made me a chaveta. I use a plain old guillotine cutter as well.

It's OK to store the leaves a little on the dry side. They need to be moistened right before you roll them, in order to make them pliable enough to take cigar shape without crumbling. Filler should be no more moist than that - just enough to keep from crumbling when you roll them. Binder and wrapper can be a little moister if necessary so that they flatten up against the other leaves. They may also shrink a little as they dry, resulting in better contact.

I use an old rolling pin to flatten the binder and wrapper.

I use fruit pectin for tobacco glue, but I'm thinking about trying the real thing when I run out of pectin.

I don't use a mold, which results in "rustic" looking cigars. "Cigarros Rusticos" is my brand. LOL!

I don't make New Year's resolutions, but one of this year's non-resolutions for next year is to get back into rolling - it's been too long.

Check out the home rollers section of Cigarbum - you'll find good ideas for blends.

I recall seeing a fella use a rolling pin. It's been quite some time but IIRC it was to flatten the veins. Is that right?

Fruit pectin, huh? Apparently that works well?

I've figured I'll end up making my own cigarillos too with the scraps. I considered making a mold or just free stylin' it. Cigarros Rusticos sounds good!

I'm a bit curious on the tools your friends made for you. Mind sharing a pic? I figure I'll have to go get myself a cutting board as I prefer to have my tools as my tools and the ones the ole lady has that she wouldn't mind so much if she never saw again are rather small. I'm guessing you want wood/bamboo so as not to kill your blade edge?

Hand rolling section... novel idea! I had forgotten having seen that long ago.

Can I have a moderator move this to the hand rolling section please?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rodwha

I recall seeing a fella use a rolling pin. It's been quite some time but IIRC it was to flatten the veins. Is that right?

Fruit pectin, huh? Apparently that works well?

I've figured I'll end up making my own cigarillos too with the scraps. I considered making a mold or just free stylin' it. Cigarros Rusticos sounds good!

I'm a bit curious on the tools your friends made for you. Mind sharing a pic? I figure I'll have to go get myself a cutting board as I prefer to have my tools as my tools and the ones the ole lady has that she wouldn't mind so much if she never saw again are rather small. I'm guessing you want wood/bamboo so as not to kill your blade edge?

Hand rolling section... novel idea! I had forgotten having seen that long ago.

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I've had mixed success rolling the scraps into small cigars. The last few I've done have worked pretty well. It took some practice to get the draw right.

I'll post pictures of my stuff when I get a chance.

Yep - rolling pin to flatten out the veins in the binder and wrapper.

Agree about the tools - your cutting board will become tobacco-fied pretty quickly.

Wood or bamboo is fine. You'll definitely want a big one.

How big of a cutting board will I be wanting?

Roughly what ring were you making them into? Wondering if it's even possible to work with scraps to make something like a 32x4. It seems the cigarillos made from scraps are generally in the 20-something ring and maybe 3.5". Wondered if there's a reason for that.