just starting out with my first question

[wesvan]

Does the wrapper, binder, and filler have to be of the same moisture content when rolling? And what would be a optimal moisture content. Not wet but maybe just barely moist or something like that?

[Remo]

Maybe Blkdrew will chime in as he rolls his own, I have no idea as I only smoke them

[shilala]

Whenever I've watched torcedors, they wet the tobacco just enough to make it pliable so as to facilitate rolling.
Most have an old, nasty coffee can full of water and just flick it on the primings.
It's not a big, wet, sloppy mess. Imagine wetting newspaper just enough so it'll stick to a wall, but not fall apart.
They use as little as possible, but as much as is necessary, I suppose you could say.

If the rollers are shooting for an equal amount of water across the wrapper, filler and binder, I sure didn't notice.
Watch a few cigar rollers on YouTube and see what you think.
That's not as good as in person, but I think you'll be able to form a pretty good opinion of your own.

[mosesbotbol]

I thought tobacco was generally on "the wet" side at time of rolling?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by wesvan

Does the wrapper, binder, and filler have to be of the same moisture content when rolling? And what would be a optimal moisture content. Not wet but maybe just barely moist or something like that?

Tobacco needs to be a bit on the wet side for rolling. The filler and binder are tougher than the wrapper leaf, so they don't require as much. At the factories I visited, the tobacco was kept in a high-humidity room prior to being bagged up into quantities needed to make 50 cigars at a time. The torcedors then kept these plastic bags closed to reduce moisture loss. They also all had spray bottles of water to mist the leaves down. This was especially important for the rolleras who were applying the wrapper leaves as the leaves are fairly thin and fragile.

The exception to this was Padron, who does everything differently than everyone else. They dunk their tobacco in buckets of water and wring them out like you would a dishrag.

[shilala]

Adam, did you get to see how much water comes out when they crank down the press on the molds?
(I know molds is the wrong word, but I'm at a complete loss for the right word. It'll come to me in about 10 minutes. )
I didn't get to see that, or just plain don't remember.

Is it a form?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by shilala

Adam, did you get to see how much water comes out when they crank down the press on the molds?
(I know molds is the wrong word, but I'm at a complete loss for the right word. It'll come to me in about 10 minutes. )
I didn't get to see that, or just plain don't remember.

Is it a form?

All of the places I visited, they called it a mold.

I don't recall any water coming out of it, I think that if you were to compress a cigar that much, you'd make it unsmokeable.

[markem]

Originally Posted by CigarNut

The cigar should be at a consistent humidity (moisture content) otherwise you risk cracked wrappers. In general, this is not something you would need to worry about. The only time I have seen this is when I take a cigar from my humidor and go outside to smoke and it is either muck more or much less humid outside than my cigars -- which I keep in the low 60's.

Optimal humidity is personal preference. A lot of people keep their cigars around 65% RH, but there are no rules. It's all about what you like.

He's asking with regards to when the cigar is actually rolled, Michael.

[CigarNut]

Originally Posted by markem

He's asking with regards to when the cigar is actually rolled, Michael.

That's what I get for using a small font on a small screen and having old eyes