Help! How do I roll a cigar

[jbumgar]

How would I hand roll a cigar? Or is there a better way? Could I use my zigzag 100mm hand roller that is coming? What leave's should I use for wrapper? What should I use for filler? I have burly and fired cured viginia.

 

[Knucklehead]

I prefer the 120mm, it makes more of a cigar than a cigarette size like the 100mm: http://www.amazon.com/Juicy-120mm-J...1389974701&sr=8-1&keywords=120mm+blunt+roller

I posted pictures of both in this thread: http://fairtradetobacco.com/showthread.php?2859-Rolling-with-scraps-or-making-small-cigars

For hand rolling videos, there are several here in the Cigar forum, or go to Youtube and search "cigar rolling". There are hundreds.

 

[deluxestogie]

I've found it difficult to roll a decent cigar using a cigarette roller--even a tiny cigar. The rollers are designed for a rectangular seam the length of the cigarette (as with cigarette papers), whereas a cigar really needs an oblique seam to hold it all together.

I roll all cigars with my fingertips. Align the wrapper strip (half of a leaf) so that the secondary veins will be parallel to the length of the cigar, the outer leaf edge directed toward the foot, and the darker surface of the wrapper (it was the upper surface of the growing leaf) facing the cutting board. Start rolling at the foot (lighting end) and roll toward the head (mouth end). If you plan to smoke the cigar immediately, you don't even need glue--just stick it in your mouth and light.

Do check out a number of cigar rolling videos to see the technique. In principle, it's simple. Rolling a cigar that draws well and also looks good just requires practice. [I needed to roll ~30 cigars before I got a fairly consistent draw. Maybe 100 cigars to start getting them to regularly look presentable.]

filler: dry but not crumbly
binder: flexible but not wet
wrapper: flexible, stretchy and damp

Bob

 

[Southern Planter]

Well... now I know what, ahem... a blunt is.

 

[Knucklehead]

Well... now I know what, ahem... a blunt is.

It got it's name from the pot smokers taking the tobacco out of a Philly Blunt cigar and using the wrapper to roll marijuana. They could drive down the road in their hooptie mobile and look like they're smoking a cigar.

 

[webmost]

How would I hand roll a cigar? Or is there a better way? Could I use my zigzag 100mm hand roller that is coming? What leave's should I use for wrapper? What should I use for filler? I have burly and fired cured viginia.

I don't think you're getting much of a cigar with that blend there Jbum. Don has some jim dandy beginner cigar making combos. Try one of them.

Go getcha a cigar at the store and take it apart. You know, once you destroy the part up by the cap, the rest unrolls fairly easy. Like anything else, taking one apart shows you how one goes together.

 

[Southern Planter]

So what was a blunt before the dopers snatched the term?

 

[Ben Brand]

I started roling cigars last year with a lot of help from members, I must have rolled 200+ and all I can say is practice and more practice, sometimes I can roll a damn good cigar, but sometimes it looks like the dog played with it, but they all tasted great. Good luck.

 

[Knucklehead]

So what was a blunt before the dopers snatched the term?

It was a particular size of cigar manufactured by the Philly Cigar Co. mostly sold through convenience stores. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillies_(cigar)

 

[Knucklehead]

I started roling cigars last year with a lot of help from members, I must have rolled 200+ and all I can say is practice and more practice, sometimes I can roll a damn good cigar, but sometimes it looks like the dog played with it, but they all tasted great. Good luck.

Mine look like they came out of the south end of a north bound dog, but they do smoke good.

 

[Frozenthunderbolt]

sometimes I can roll a damn good cigar, but sometimes it looks like the dog played with it, but they all tasted great. Good luck.

So long as the don't look and taste like the dog produced them then it's a win Ben!

 

[DGBAMA]

Align the wrapper strip (half of a leaf) so that the secondary veins will be parallel to the length of the cigar,

Bob

That makes the ones I have made so far "bass ackwards". I have been wrapping with the secondary veins close to perpindicular to the length of the cigar, thinking this would promote a more even burn and prevent "runs". OOPS, guess I have an excuse to make more now and try to do it right.

 

[Chris A]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r45pVdtYgt0&nomobile=1

This was posted here by someone a while back. Since I've used this method my cigars have been very consistent, and consistently good looking, good smoking. Get the tobacco in the proper case as Deluxe mentioned, and have at it.

Chris

 

[BarG]

All cigar wrappers have similar but different charachteristics as far as durability and stretch, vein thickness etc.. Hand rolling is the best way to learn. Practice getting your filler in proper case and wrappers also. It will make all the difference in the world . If your filler is crumbling while rolling its too low case. If your filler rolls too tight and won't draw it's probably too high case. If your wrapper splits or cracks its probably too low case rather than rolled improper. Practice and prepare leaves in advance for best results.

 

[BarG]

Mine look like they came out of the south end of a north bound dog, but they do smoke good.

Mine look like they came out of the north end of a south bound Boar but they taste Fair to excellent ! No shit!

 

[deluxestogie]

That makes the ones I have made so far "bass ackwards". I have been wrapping with the secondary veins close to perpindicular to the length of the cigar, thinking this would promote a more even burn and prevent "runs". OOPS, guess I have an excuse to make more now and try to do it right.

I should clarify that there is no right or wrong method of rolling a cigar, so long as the method gives you a cigar that you enjoy (smoking or looking at). My guiding light is ease and simplicity. Aligning the secondary veins parallel with the axis of the cigar does result in a more visually appealing cigar, which I don't usually care much about. But doing it that way makes it easier for me to get a cigar that smokes well. And the stiffness of the secondary veins is less of an issue.

The same is true with the case of the components. If you are skilled and careful, you can end up with a fine cigar regardless of the case--BUT it's harder to do if the case isn't right. A finished cigar that is damp requires time and suitable ambient conditions to allow it to reach a smokable case. My cigars usually get lit within a few minutes (or less) of rolling.

Allowing time for the "flavors to meld" is mostly myth. Roll it. Smoke it.

Bob

 

[Neo Maxx]

I started roling cigars last year with a lot of help from members, I must have rolled 200+ and all I can say is practice and more practice, sometimes I can roll a damn good cigar, but sometimes it looks like the dog played with it, but they all tasted great. Good luck.

this way .same this way i started rolling cigar . try everday, everytime. then you can do this,(thank you Ben Brand

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