Rolling your own

[Shawn hines]

Originally Posted by Homebrewer

In my research I came across a couple examples of cuban rollers using newspaper instead of a press. All you have to do is cut a long strip of newspaper about 3" wide and then, after you apply the binder, with the paper at an 75* angle, roll the cigar up tight in the strip of paper as if adding a second binder. When done, twist both ends of paper and let it rest 45 minutes. I was able to get a lancero shape this way and was surprised at how tight the bunch had become. It was as if I had taken it out of a press. Keep in mind that I haven't tried one of these cigars yet so I don't know about any potential draw issues, but they feel solid. Sorry, didn't take pics this time. I'll post some from my next roll.

Very interesting, I would love to see some videos of how to do it and how they come out. When you fire one up let us know how it burns.

[DaBear]

Originally Posted by Homebrewer

In my research I came across a couple examples of cuban rollers using newspaper instead of a press. All you have to do is cut a long strip of newspaper about 3" wide and then, after you apply the binder, with the paper at an 75* angle, roll the cigar up tight in the strip of paper as if adding a second binder. When done, twist both ends of paper and let it rest 45 minutes. I was able to get a lancero shape this way and was surprised at how tight the bunch had become. It was as if I had taken it out of a press. Keep in mind that I haven't tried one of these cigars yet so I don't know about any potential draw issues, but they feel solid. Sorry, didn't take pics this time. I'll post some from my next roll.

I swear I've seen a video of this somewhere, but for the life of me cannot remember where.

[Shawn hines]

Giving a review on Roxy's tonight with a friend

Roxy review

[BlkDrew]

well we are settled in the new apt. She let me have the spare room as the "cigar room" for storing and rolling, not smoking (that is for outside) I got the new mold and turned out 10 of each today. the new size is a "40 x5.5" but with a wrapper i believe it will be right around 42. i can't wait to try them. I was very careful on how much filler i used making sure that they will not be packed too tight

[DaBear]

Just got my mold in today, a 6x50 round cap mold. Now just waiting on my tobacco which should have been here by now. Both the mold and the tobacco were sent from Ohio, the mold was sent a day and a half later and has already showed up, yet no sign of the tobacco. Hopefully it'll get in tomorrow and I can have my first batch of trial blends by Monday.

[BlkDrew]

Originally Posted by DaBear

Just got my mold in today, a 6x50 round cap mold. Now just waiting on my tobacco which should have been here by now. Both the mold and the tobacco were sent from Ohio, the mold was sent a day and a half later and has already showed up, yet no sign of the tobacco. Hopefully it'll get in tomorrow and I can have my first batch of trial blends by Monday.

did you order from Wholeleaftobacco? show us some pics when you get it in. i want to see the quality and if they prepped it at all.

[jluck]

Tip of the hat to you "roll your own" gents! That's really neat! hummm....maybe someday.

[DaBear]

Originally Posted by BlkDrew

did you order from Wholeleaftobacco? show us some pics when you get it in. i want to see the quality and if they prepped it at all.

Yea, thats where I placed my order. The guy was helpful and responsive so I'm not too worried, but still, even with USPS it shouldn't take this long, as proven by my mold shipment. If I can steal a camera from one of my roommates I'll do so as I don't have one currently.

Oh, and how long do you typically leave them in the mold for? 24 hours or just overnight?

[akumushi]

Originally Posted by BlkDrew

well we are settled in the new apt. She let me have the spare room as the "cigar room" for storing and rolling, not smoking (that is for outside) I got the new mold and turned out 10 of each today. the new size is a "40 x5.5" but with a wrapper i believe it will be right around 42. i can't wait to try them. I was very careful on how much filler i used making sure that they will not be packed too tight

These sound perfect for a short winter smoke. I'm still down for a fiver when you get some quantity made

[DaBear]

Well just got the order in, it was shipped UPS, so I guess it got delivered earlier this evening and they never bothered to knock. Any who, looks good, and he threw in a small bag of perique to play around with(though it'll most likely get chopped up and used for my pipes). It all looks good, pending what Don says about the Dark Air Cured leaves I got(both the seco and ligero showed up with white splotches all over them that aren't mold, but look more like something was sprayed onto the leaf itself). I'll post pics in the morning after I get a response from Don and have a chance to unpack everything. I'll probably have my first few thrown in the mold before I head up to Empire to watch some football.

[DaBear]

Whelp, that was a quick response. Don claims its "frog eye" and after a few minutes googling up on it, it certainly does sound and look the same, so problem solved. I'll have pictures up and my first few rolls done in the morning.

[DBall]

Better set aside a couple of those coronas for me, Drew...

[BlkDrew]

I got you covered Dan,

And as far as time in the mold, I do an hour, turn 1/4 and let them sit another hour. If the binder is on the moist side will let them sit in the mold for a day.

[DaBear]

First five are wrapped and ready for smoking. Gonna let them sit out and dry out some more, but I should be able to find a good blend with these. Ironically, the first one I wrapped definitely looks the best.

[Shawn hines]

Originally Posted by DaBear

First five are wrapped and ready for smoking. Gonna let them sit out and dry out some more, but I should be able to find a good blend with these. Ironically, the first one I wrapped definitely looks the best.

What is it that is said here??? O yeah Need pictures..LOL

Congrats can't wait to see them

[DaBear]

Originally Posted by Shawn hines

What is it that is said here??? O yeah Need pictures..LOL

Congrats can't wait to see them

Gotta get a camera first.

Tried 3 of my five blends, had 2 using the TN90 seco, first was with 3 half ligero leaves and ended up being too light and you couldn't taste the filler over the broadleaf so I put it down after an inch(imagine a FdO wrapped in broadleaf), the second was much better with 8 half leaves, I'll probably make a few with 10 tomorrow as I can tell it will taste better with more. The one with the Dark Air Cured seco was good on the first I tried, with 6 half leaves of ligero. It reminded me a lot of the La Casita Criollas, with just that distinct broadleaf flavor with a nice earthy undertone.

Just got done with de-stemming all the ligero and TN90 seco. I'll de-stem all the DAC seco tomorrow at work(assuming my boss doesn't yell at me for bringing my rolling set up with me).

[BlkDrew]

well i got to do some rolling today. I will finish the rest this evening. on the right you can see the petit corona (x2 maddie with the QB52 binder and maduro wrapper), then the corona extra (with QB52 binder and Havana CT wrapper, and on the right the Robusto (which is the double maddie)

[backwoods357]

Andrew, those look awesome.

Bear, so frog eye is some kind of a fungus?
I know literally nothing about tobacco maladies, so I did a little googling. I am familiar with water spots and the green marks sometimes called frog eye, but frog eye seems to be a fungus:
Frog eye: http://www.ipmimages.org/browse/deta...imgnum=1440028
Weather fleck: http://www.ipmimages.org/browse/deta...imgnum=1402062
Maybe frog eye is just a loose term.

It really is so cool to see so many brothers getting into rolling.

[DaBear]

Originally Posted by backwoods357

Andrew, those look awesome.

Bear, so frog eye is some kind of a fungus?
I know literally nothing about tobacco maladies, so I did a little googling. I am familiar with water spots and the green marks sometimes called frog eye, but frog eye seems to be a fungus:
Frog eye: http://www.ipmimages.org/browse/deta...imgnum=1440028
Weather fleck: http://www.ipmimages.org/browse/deta...imgnum=1402062
Maybe frog eye is just a loose term.

It really is so cool to see so many brothers getting into rolling.

Did some google-fu of my own and was lead to believe that is was the result of too much nitrogen in the soil(or too little, one of the two )

[Ncpsycho]

Drew finally kicked a month long cold and started back to sticks last night ..... Some milagro and those roxys you sent me... Simply awesome even burn good draw and awesome flavor my buddy couldnt believe they were from a home roller.... Ill be ordering some more as soon as i finish these 5 since i have no room thanks