Did it have a good tobacco smell when you took it out of the kiln? The process sounds okay.
Smoking homemade cigars
- Thread starter longashes
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I don't think it was the kilning or cure. I would follow the advice above of the cigar rollers. They have the experience.
notcrack
Well-Known Member
I have just taken delivery of some of Don's fine Ligero, Seco and DAC3. I'm literally desperate to get to rolling some cigars. My family have just had a new addition and I'm looking forward to breaking out the cigars over the Christmas table.
I digress, I tried to roll a few cigars out of Brightleaf, Burley and Oriental. The first couple refused to stay lit at all as I think I had used too much gum sealing them. Then due to a suggestion on here I tried to use just spit and a twist. They then started lighting, but the Oriental filler burned quicker than the Brightleaf wrapper. I then had the bright idea of toasting the cigars in the oven after rolling them. After I had aired the thick smoke out of the house and thrown that idea out, I realised I would have to dip into my drug addled youth to find the solution.
My solution was to have the filler as bone dry as I could get it, have the binder as dry as possible but moist enough to bend with out breaking and then have the wrapper at a fairly low case. Once I had the cigar rolled I ran a flame over the wrapper to dry it out and then I found I could light it and it burned pretty evenly. If I came to a spot that burned unevenly I would wet the side that was burning quickest and then it would catch up with each other. Basically what I'm saying is I rolled and smoked them like giant joints.
I know it's not the most elegant way of doing it, but I'm satisfied.
Joe
I digress, I tried to roll a few cigars out of Brightleaf, Burley and Oriental. The first couple refused to stay lit at all as I think I had used too much gum sealing them. Then due to a suggestion on here I tried to use just spit and a twist. They then started lighting, but the Oriental filler burned quicker than the Brightleaf wrapper. I then had the bright idea of toasting the cigars in the oven after rolling them. After I had aired the thick smoke out of the house and thrown that idea out, I realised I would have to dip into my drug addled youth to find the solution.
My solution was to have the filler as bone dry as I could get it, have the binder as dry as possible but moist enough to bend with out breaking and then have the wrapper at a fairly low case. Once I had the cigar rolled I ran a flame over the wrapper to dry it out and then I found I could light it and it burned pretty evenly. If I came to a spot that burned unevenly I would wet the side that was burning quickest and then it would catch up with each other. Basically what I'm saying is I rolled and smoked them like giant joints.
I know it's not the most elegant way of doing it, but I'm satisfied.
Joe
Joe I had you figured for a pipe smoker. As in it's Not Crack it's tobacco.
If it works for you it's right.
An aside question -- We say RYO and you say MYO. Is that short for make your own? Is that expression more common where you are than roll your own?
John
Randy
Well-Known Member
Im not sure this has been asked before..but what variety of tobacco can you grow and smoke just after maybe air-cured..what I mean is smokes ok without having to age or kiln??
Randy
Randy
John- Roll Your Own is typically used to describe rolling with a filterless paper. Make Your Own means using a filtered tube with an injector. Jumped in there sorry.
notcrack
Well-Known Member
Alabama - My screen name comes from a poster I use to have in my room
When I got my first internet connection I was asked to provide a username and the poster was the first thing that caught my eye. I haven't thought about that story in years and seeing that poster has made me feel quite nostalgic lol.
johnlee - I was actually trying to use terms that you 'Mericans would be familiar with, so I don't know if I've misused the term. I take it as RYO means to actually roll the cigarette with your hands and use no filter and MYO means to inject into a tube. I will update my British to American dictionary immediately
When I got my first internet connection I was asked to provide a username and the poster was the first thing that caught my eye. I haven't thought about that story in years and seeing that poster has made me feel quite nostalgic lol.
johnlee - I was actually trying to use terms that you 'Mericans would be familiar with, so I don't know if I've misused the term. I take it as RYO means to actually roll the cigarette with your hands and use no filter and MYO means to inject into a tube. I will update my British to American dictionary immediately
LOL Joe I got lucky and was right for once. I have to go write this down. PS- Does your store have a web site? I like to window shop.
notcrack
Well-Known Member
I don't think Don will mind me posting the link. I just read his post on crosslinking and he said it was welcomed. I don't want to take the piss. I know he won't lose any custom to me though lol. Don't be shocked at the prices. I am in the process of bringing the prices down to the American levels, but these have been set by other companies that existed before me.
pureleaf.co.uk
pureleaf.co.uk
Nice website Joe. You might consider putting English prices out by your European prices. As in dollars. LOL
Nice site.
Don says he's phasing out retail sales so I wouldn't worry about it. He might tell you his supplier of the Powermatic Shredder or you could work some kind of a deal with him. It might make a nice addition to your line. I don't know about customs or shipping but coming direct from China might save you £'s.
I must have missed it. The prices are £/oz.? gm.? Lb.?
Do you think an FTT link would help or hurt you business?
John
To be honest having a link here on FTT has brought me some attention to my website and a few interested persons in buying some leaf. It has helped for sure. Nice site too Notcrack, I forgot to comment on it when you gave me the link previously
marksctm and I have been PMing a bit about toasting burley. I know this subject has been visited before. Over the last couple of days I toasted some leaf I thought was really pretty harsh on the nose & throat. I toasted it for a total of 25 minutes @ 250°F. I sprayed it with water every 5 minutes or so. After toasting I brought it back into case and rolled a cigar. By this AM it was dry enough to try. It is a pretty good smoke. The harshness is entirely gone. My taste buds are shot but it tasted OK to me. It is nothing I'd write home about but OK. At least now I have found a satisfactory use for burley I couldn't smoke before. I still have enough for another cigar. I'll let it age a few weeks and try again. I'll let you know if anything changes.
John
John
longashes
Member
My thread was hijacked!
Well after letting the cigars dry box for a week or two, then put them in the humidor again to moisten up a bit, they seem to smoke better now. Not as good as you would want but most seem to stay lit as long as you are actively puffing it.
Now I have another issue. A few I have smoked have tasted good, but then others have tasted like dung with a side of bitterness. Any thoughts on that?
Well after letting the cigars dry box for a week or two, then put them in the humidor again to moisten up a bit, they seem to smoke better now. Not as good as you would want but most seem to stay lit as long as you are actively puffing it.
Now I have another issue. A few I have smoked have tasted good, but then others have tasted like dung with a side of bitterness. Any thoughts on that?
longashes
Member
I'm smoking another one of my handmade cigars. I have smoked several now. Some have burned very well and had a good taste, and others have not burned at all and/or had a very bad taste.
This one tastes pretty decent. It has a sweet oaky taste with almost a hint of maple syrup. It's not blowing me away, but it's still pretty cool to sit down and smoke something that you created. Six-seven months in the making. From babying the seeds to seedlings, to tilling the ground and getting them ready for planting, to watering and fertilizing them, to picking the ripe leaves, washing them, hanging them up to color cure, organizing/filing them in the kiln to super ferment, and pulling stems/rolling the cigars.
It's hard work and I had a lot of help from my friends, but all in all I think of this project as successful. Will I do it again? I'm not sure, but if I do, it will be in less amounts of tobacco next year. We have rolled almost 60 cigars and still have another 150 at least to roll (I'm guess more). I WILL be giving some out to friends, and also in a contest through http://crapnetwork.com. Stay tuned for that.
This one tastes pretty decent. It has a sweet oaky taste with almost a hint of maple syrup. It's not blowing me away, but it's still pretty cool to sit down and smoke something that you created. Six-seven months in the making. From babying the seeds to seedlings, to tilling the ground and getting them ready for planting, to watering and fertilizing them, to picking the ripe leaves, washing them, hanging them up to color cure, organizing/filing them in the kiln to super ferment, and pulling stems/rolling the cigars.
It's hard work and I had a lot of help from my friends, but all in all I think of this project as successful. Will I do it again? I'm not sure, but if I do, it will be in less amounts of tobacco next year. We have rolled almost 60 cigars and still have another 150 at least to roll (I'm guess more). I WILL be giving some out to friends, and also in a contest through http://crapnetwork.com. Stay tuned for that.
longashes- don't you love it when a plan comes together? Congratulations! About time for a smoke break dontcha think?
Mostly my cigars go out as soon as I stop puffing on them. Hard packed or loose, mid case or low it seems to be the same. I use my well water to bring my leaf up to case for rolling. It is hard as the dickens. I have read the comments about chlorides in the leaf make it burn badly.
Question: Do you think the calcium carbonate/iron oxide from the hard water would have the same effect? -- John
Question: Do you think the calcium carbonate/iron oxide from the hard water would have the same effect? -- John
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