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?

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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.

The bigger the better. Go to your local Ross and buy the biggest they have. :-)

My scrap blends rolled up to probably 3x30 or so. Remember, all my cigars are rustic, so size is variable. And the scrap versions are even more variable.

Seriously, How did you learn to do this?

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Originally Posted by SoCal gunner

Seriously, How did you learn to do this?

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Googled "cigar rolling" and found a few videos on YouTube, and also a few articles describing the process. After that it was a matter of practice. It's not quite rocket surgery - you kind of know how cigars go together and what they look like when done, so it doesn't take too much additional info to get started. It takes a fair bit of practice to reliably master the skill of booking the filler and rolling the binder and wrapper so everything draws and burns properly. Most of mine turn out OK from a draw/burn standpoint, and I've come up with a few blends that I really like.

Awesome present, @rodwha !

If Dominican Seco is your only filler, you'll get pretty mild cigars but they will have excellent flavor. You might want to add in some viso and ligero to spice things up a bit :)

Re the rolling pin - I use a miniature baker's rolling pin to smooth out the subveins in the wrapper. Not always necessary, but the wrapper I use is CT Broadleaf which has pretty thick veins. Speaking of which, I always cut out and discard the main veins in all my leaves - filler, binder, and wrapper.

@Sir Lancerolot has good advice on moisturizing. What I do is give the leaves a slight spritz with distilled water and store them overnight in plastic grocery bags prior to rolling. For the wrappers, I give them a pretty good dampening so they're pliable and slightly stretchable when wrapping.

Regarding the use of scraps - I don't normally roll them into cigars - doesn't usually turn out well. I like to make pipe tobacco flakes and ropes with them.

Thanks!

Hmmm... Maybe I need to pick up pipe smoking. I assume to shred or dice it for that application?

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Originally Posted by rodwha

Hmmm... Maybe I need to pick up pipe smoking.

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Of course you need to take up pipe smoking.
It's got nothing to do with weather you make your own pipe tobacco or buy it in tins tho.

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Originally Posted by Emperor Zurg

Of course you need to take up pipe smoking.
It's got nothing to do with weather you make your own pipe tobacco or buy it in tins tho.

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Always loved the smell of a pipe. And a pipe makes one rather dashing I hear.

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Originally Posted by rodwha

...a pipe makes one rather dashing I hear.

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That's exactly right :D. Contemplative and intelligent too!

And in all fairness, there is the possibility of it making you a hipster, but if you still look at all like your avatar, there's no danger of that. :p :p :p

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Originally Posted by Emperor Zurg

That's exactly right :D. Contemplative and intelligent too!

And in all fairness, there is the possibility of it making you a hipster, but if you still look at all like your avatar, there's no danger of that. :p :p :p

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No worries there then. I'm just grown greys and gotten uglier.

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Originally Posted by rodwha

Thanks!

Hmmm... Maybe I need to pick up pipe smoking. I assume to shred or dice it for that application?

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That's actually what got me into pipe smoking (again - I had tried it in the early 90s but gave it up as I didn't know what I was doing and quit in frustration).

You could shred tobacco leaves and smoke them straight in a pipe, which some people do, and it's not bad but a little one-dimensional in my opinion.

Another thing people do is steam the leaves to make a plausible pseudo-Cavendish. I've done this with some success. Straight, unflavored Cavendish is pretty bland, but takes flavoring well and is a good component in other blends.

What I usually do is add tobacco scraps to a Virginia-based flake. Happy to share my recipes if you're interested. Here are some threads on flake and rope technique:

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/the-do...lake-4658.html

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/the-do...wist-1566.html

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/the-do...lake-1392.html

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/the-do...-19-a-908.html

I realize that the flake setup is somewhat elaborate, but it works :) Others on this board have produced some pretty respectable krumble kakes with less elaborate press arrangements (weights, clamps, etc.).

Making a rope is more within reach regarding equipment, but the technique is more challenging.

& of course, you don't need to make flakes or ropes; you could just cut leaves into ribbons and blend them with other tobaccos.

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Originally Posted by Bruck

That's actually what got me into pipe smoking (again - I had tried it in the early 90s but gave it up as I didn't know what I was doing and quit in frustration).

You could shred tobacco leaves and smoke them straight in a pipe, which some people do, and it's not bad but a little one-dimensional in my opinion.

Another thing people do is steam the leaves to make a plausible pseudo-Cavendish. I've done this with some success. Straight, unflavored Cavendish is pretty bland, but takes flavoring well and is a good component in other blends.

What I usually do is add tobacco scraps to a Virginia-based flake. Happy to share my recipes if you're interested. Here are some threads on flake and rope technique:

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/the-do...lake-4658.html

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/the-do...wist-1566.html

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/the-do...lake-1392.html

http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/the-do...-19-a-908.html

I realize that the flake setup is somewhat elaborate, but it works :) Others on this board have produced some pretty respectable krumble kakes with less elaborate press arrangements (weights, clamps, etc.).

Making a rope is more within reach regarding equipment, but the technique is more challenging.

& of course, you don't need to make flakes or ropes; you could just cut leaves into ribbons and blend them with other tobaccos.

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Seems quite a bit more in depth than I'd likely want to go, especially at this point. Thinking I'm just going to have to try out cigarillos with the scraps first.

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Originally Posted by rodwha

Seems quite a bit more in depth than I'd likely want to go, especially at this point. Thinking I'm just going to have to try out cigarillos with the scraps first.

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Or just smoke them in a pipe.

The problem with "scrap filler" cigars is that they tend not to ash or burn consistently. Also, flavorwise, they tend to be all over the place. Kind of like Fuente Curly Heads.

I'd be ok with flavor variations I think. Kinda like a surprise each time!

I've been rehydrating old Boveda packs to drop into the leaf bags. After they get better I'll try again.

Watching the video over again I see that his leaves were at a 45* angle which I obviously wasn't doing as I was just orienting by the veins.

Soon the two I rolled will be ready for the tupperdor. A part of me wanted to be impatient and try one after it dried out just a little. But I'd rather it be right...

Re resting - basically you can smoke a cigar immediately after rolling (assuming it's dry enough to burn), or you can rest it. Smoking it immediately (there's actually a Spanish term for this, but it fell out of my brain) has a certain appeal, but if you don't, I recommend at least 3 months of rest and 6 months is better. In the interest of full disclosure, mine rarely last more than a few months.

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Originally Posted by rodwha

I'm a bit curious on the tools your friends made for you. Mind sharing a pic?

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OK - sorry it took so long!

Antique rolling pin (it was my Mom's - pretty sure she got it as a wedding present)
Chaveta fashioned by knife-making friend out of circular saw blade and fancy handle material.
Cutting board fashioned by guitar-making friend who sometimes does end-grain cutting boards with leftover wood scraps.

Attachment 6963

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bruck

Re resting - basically you can smoke a cigar immediately after rolling (assuming it's dry enough to burn), or you can rest it. Smoking it immediately (there's actually a Spanish term for this, but it fell out of my brain) has a certain appeal, but if you don't, I recommend at least 3 months of rest and 6 months is better. In the interest of full disclosure, mine rarely last more than a few months.

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I leave mine out of the coolidor overnight to kickstart the drying process. They're always too wet to smoke. The day after I roll them I put them in the coolidor for 2-3 weeks, at which time they have reached a good moisture level for smoking. I like the taste of "green" cigars, so I will start smoking them at this point. I have left a few to rest for a few months, and they are definitely worth the wait. My goal is to roll enough to allow me to smoke a few fresh and leave some to rest.

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Originally Posted by Sir Lancerolot

OK - sorry it took so long!

Antique rolling pin (it was my Mom's - pretty sure she got it as a wedding present)
Chaveta fashioned by knife-making friend out of circular saw blade and fancy handle material.
Cutting board fashioned by guitar-making friend who sometimes does end-grain cutting boards with leftover wood scraps.

Attachment 6963

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That is an awesome cutting board!

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Originally Posted by rodwha

That is an awesome cutting board!

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Yep - he does amazing work. That is actually kind of a "second." Some of the wood pieces he used have deeper flaws than he would normally use, and he didn't give it as fine a finish. But it's perfect for me.

He's supposed to be building me a chess board - we'll see. It's a "when I get around to it" kind of project. LOL!

He's going to start on a guitar for me pretty soon. He has a couple in the works, and then mine and another guy's will be up.

http://www.sunbeahmguitars.com

https://sunbeahm.com/

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Originally Posted by Sir Lancerolot

Yep - he does amazing work. That is actually kind of a "second." Some of the wood pieces he used have deeper flaws than he would normally use, and he didn't give it as fine a finish. But it's perfect for me.

He's supposed to be building me a chess board - we'll see. It's a "when I get around to it" kind of project. LOL!

He's going to start on a guitar for me pretty soon. He has a couple in the works, and then mine and another guy's will be up.

http://www.sunbeahmguitars.com

https://sunbeahm.com/

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I can see a chess board like that being sweet! The same with a guitar if left like that and not painted.

I was given a bass guitar by Karmen for my birthday long ago. LOVE the bass but never learned how to truly play it. I left the battery in it and it corroded the wire both from the snap on 9v fixture and the internal board. Been meaning to see if it can be fixed, though in a way I would rather see about trading the 6 string in on a 5 as my hands struggle to reach a bit. But then I don't know that I'd learn to read music and still need to replace the amp I had as I often used it as a portable speaker while I was outside or brewing beer and the power cord wasn't attached well and fried it. Grrr!!! Sure did like making the windows rattle though!