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how to cure sticks rolled from damp filler

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webmost

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Before I trekked out to the Boundary Waters to feed skeeters, I rolled up a handful of sticks from habano leaves which DVick sent me. One leaf habano viso, two leaves habano seco, wrapped and bound by the same half leaf of habano 2000 wrapper; so, in that sense, a habano puro.

side note: Always surprised how much baccy you fellers put into each stick. Three leaves is usually all I can stuff in. If they are larger leaves, then two and a half has to do it. And the amount of binder and wrapper I see guys put on, in all the vids I watch, that's just impossible. I split a habano 2000 wrapper leaf, cut the outer edge of one half for my wrapper, use the inner cutout from that wrapper for my next binder. So three and a half leaves is max max, for the whole cigar. Total waste is negligible. Makes a perfecto which burns an hour and a quarter or an hour and a half.

but... back on topic: DVick's leaves were way damp for me -- made no crunching in my bunching. Smeled wet, too. So I set these sticks aside in a cigar box to dry. Popped one out two weeks later on my return. O. My. Gawd! Absolooly delicious. I am officially a habanofan.

Only thing, still not dry. Dang stick studged up midway. You can feel it in the weight of them, too. So my present project is to salt away a stash of these to dry out.

While I was gone, Indian sent me a box full of goodies to thank me for being a first run buyer. Couple patches, a pin, membership card for their owners' club, a plaque, and so forth. Mostly stuff which might appeal to an eight year old. But the plaque came in this nice plywood box which I like:

indianbox.jpg


The advantage here is this box does not have the sealing flange which a cedar cigar box has. So I'm thinking that should assist the drying process. And the box has never been seasoned, of course, the way a humidor gets seasoned. My Uppowoc Perfectos fit just perfectly. I figure it will hold nine across and four high; so three dozen. If I jam in 50 and set a weight on the lid, I could have them box pressed. I figure on drying these sticks in this Indian box and leave it outside the cooler which holds the rest of my aging boxes. The disadvantage is, it's AA grade pine plywood, so it smells piney, instead of cedary.

Anyone have experience drying out sticks rolled from damp filler? Does this seem like a sensible way to stash them? How long might it take them to dry? Should I stir them from time to time? Is pine a bad choice? If I jam in 50, and set a brick on top, will they still dry out all jammed together?



Once I get these damp leaves all rolled up, then I can attack the new blend kit experiment I promised Don. Prolly make up some magic boxes to shoot around for evaluation. Rolling four more Uppowoc Habanofans as we speak.
 

deluxestogie

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Beautiful cigars.

My humble suggestion is to dry the filler prior to rolling the cigars. That's much, much easier than trying to dry them after they are rolled. If you box press a bunch of wet cigars, you may end up with a brick of mold.

Bob
 

webmost

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Beautiful cigars.

My humble suggestion is to dry the filler prior to rolling the cigars. That's much, much easier than trying to dry them after they are rolled. If you box press a bunch of wet cigars, you may end up with a brick of mold.

Bob

Yeah, I know that... but the wet produces such a smooth result... and it's already wet... tho not wet enough to mold... so I'd like to try and master it, if I can, just for schitzandgiggles.

I do have some unopened habano filler to roll up in the regular way once this stuff is gone.
 

Knucklehead

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Curing is close to the right word. If the cigars dry too fast the wrapper can split. Too slow and you have to watch for mold or rot inside. That's a cool looking box and should do well for drying down the cigars. Like you, I would worry about the pine smell. Will the smell air out or not? On that point, I could only recommend not to put all the eggs in that one basket until you see if it will work without smelling.
 

moscca

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I dry my cigars with small bags of silica beads in a Tupperware box.
Freshly rolled cigars are are nearly 80 % Rh here.
With the beads I hold them e few days around 55%. I take one bag out and let them
slowly rise till 65 before I put the in the humidor for at least two months.
Expecially with thick leafs for rolling two months is the minimum.
I read the cigars need one week to lower 1 % in humidity, what do you guys think ?
 

Smokin Harley

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I let my fresh ones sit out on the table in the rolling room a week now then I put them in a nice used wooden cigar box with a snug fitting lid . Give em a good week to a month to sit . Usually then do I drag one out to sample the blend. Damn if they don't just steadily disappear after that.
 

waikikigun

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I use 2.5 leaves filler in all my ring gauges. The gauge and length determine how much of those 2.5 leaves I use. I don't roll anything over 48rg, tho. With those 2.5 leaves I can go from a 4x44 or 6x37 to a 48x6 stick.
 

moscca

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I use 4-5 leave for a 50-52 gauge, but it is very difficult to measur by the amount of leaves. Leaves can vary a lot in size and thickness. It's about the feeling you have after a while. I only roll 52 gauge now for the moment to get a good feeling how much I need. What I find is that you have some play (?) with it. Even with 10 $ cigars you feel some difference in filling. As long as it is the same over all the cigar no problem.
I'm still amazed how full I can pack a cigar and after sufficiant resting time how well they smoke and burn perfect, better then looser packed cigars.

sorry for the english, no corrector.
 

Smokin Harley

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Mine tend to be in the 48-60 neighborhood. I know ,quite a wide range but I like a nice big ring:length cigar . I like a cooler burn ,I believe I get better flavors that way . Overall I think its the same burn time. However my scrappers tend to be way smaller ring and lengths. like a 4" x 35 or so. Grass cutting smokes .
 

webmost

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Mine tend to be in the 48-60 neighborhood. I know ,quite a wide range but I like a nice big ring:length cigar . I like a cooler burn ,I believe I get better flavors that way . Overall I think its the same burn time. However my scrappers tend to be way smaller ring and lengths. like a 4" x 35 or so. Grass cutting smokes .


Thass nutz
 
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