caseytaylor10
New Member
I appreciate any videos or tips on how best to roll a cigar. Not looking to get fancy, but would really like to make this a hobby of mine! Thanks!
Noob here. Rolling my own for first time: @caseytaylor10
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Welcome to the forum. Feel free to tell us a bit about yourself. I would suggest that you scan through our Index of Key Forum Threads, which is linked in the menu bar. Cigar rolling (along with videos) is discussed extensively in the Cigar forum, under How to Roll Cigars.
Bob
Bob
Welcome. Thank you for joining us.
Homegrowngoodnes
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the forum. Keep on rollin!
Alpine
Moderator
Welcome to FTT
pier
pier
GrowleyMonster
Creator of the Imperfecto
Be careful what you wish for, you just might..... TOO LATE!!! LOL!!! Now you know where all the rolling vids are, so get ready to spend the next two days watching. Hope you didn't already have plans haha! Seriously I was inspired to first give it a try when a "How To Roll Your First Cigar" vid popped up in my youtube feed. Do a search with that same title as a search key and you will get a bunch of vids but here is a partial return on that search:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCqCESg3Q7c
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRkyLeVivsE
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY1t2rSOpEM
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj7xh09n_dM
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0hiu_Cv16I
A few tips.
You don't need a mold unless you are going for absolute consistency, which doesn't matter unless you want to put a perfectly matched box of cigars on display or gift it or something. The mold otherwise doesn't help with anything. In fact, getting your bunch consistent enough to get a consistent draw after being mold pressed, takes considerable skill and experience. No mold = the easy way. Just concentrate on not having voids in the cigar, and getting the roll tight enough but not too tight.
Get a kit to start with. Whole Leaf Tobacco (WLT for short) is a popular online vendor here. Also, lots of guys on this forum are growers, and there is I think some trading and swapping happening on occasion. The kits are great. You really only need the tobacco and some cigar glue. Well, you can actually make your own cigar glue, for that matter, but most of the just the leaf kits come with a small amount of glue powder. I use Gum Arabic. You can use Pectin but it can make your cigars taste like pectin, so I understand. I never tried it.
The Chaveta. You can get one, or make one, or improvise. A wheel type pizza cutter works. An Ulu type kitchen chopper works. I like my Olfa 28mm rotary cutter. If you get one of these, get some spare blades, too. They are disposable.
A working surface. I like a 1/4" thick sheet of acrylic, 24" x 24". The smooth surface helps a wet wrapper cling to it so you can stretch it out good. Wood is traditional. Sheet metal works, and I have seen home rollers using an aluminum cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Most hobbies that you get into to save money actually end up costing you more money. Straight razor shaving. Beer brewing. Tinkering with cars. But if you smoke one cigar per day at say $8/stick and you buy tobacco and roll your own instead, you will cut your expenses by 2/3 or more. Plus you will know what you are smoking, and you will eventually put a couple of blends together that you like better than what they stock at your local cigar emporium. You can customize your shape, and the draw, as well as appearance. So you get more, spend less, except for your time. Some guys roll pretty fast. I roll like paint dries, takes me a 20 minutes to roll one of my Imperfectos. Your time is worth something. Then again, how much do you get paid when you sit down for an hour or so and smoke a cigar, huh?
Get a kit. Watch a vid or 20. Follow instructions, use up your ingredients, end up with 10 or 20 nice big stogies, and enjoy. Then go nuts, do your own thing, try stuff. The two main vendors guys on here use, sell pounds or multiples of a pound, but also 1/4 lb samples. You can try a new variety without committing half your week's beer budget.
I just started rolling two or three months ago, and I am trying my hand at growing, too. I now have 60 plants in the ground, or raised beds, or big planters, and I have 70 more seedlings waiting for me to make a place for them to grow up, too. Growing can be surprisingly tricky, and I had a few false starts, but if we don't get any hurricanes this year I hope to end up with around 1000 usable leaves, maybe more. I use around 5 leaves per cigar so roughly 200 sticks rolled from "free" tobacco. Buying a couple dozen yards of premium garden soil sort of makes it not really cheaper but hey it's cool. I am thinking about building a smoking gazebo and surrounding it with concentric rows of tobacco plants next year. Saving money? Nah. I would save money by buying my tobacco and smoking on the patio.
Anyway welcome to the forum, from another noob! And remember, Youtube is your friend!
A few tips.
You don't need a mold unless you are going for absolute consistency, which doesn't matter unless you want to put a perfectly matched box of cigars on display or gift it or something. The mold otherwise doesn't help with anything. In fact, getting your bunch consistent enough to get a consistent draw after being mold pressed, takes considerable skill and experience. No mold = the easy way. Just concentrate on not having voids in the cigar, and getting the roll tight enough but not too tight.
Get a kit to start with. Whole Leaf Tobacco (WLT for short) is a popular online vendor here. Also, lots of guys on this forum are growers, and there is I think some trading and swapping happening on occasion. The kits are great. You really only need the tobacco and some cigar glue. Well, you can actually make your own cigar glue, for that matter, but most of the just the leaf kits come with a small amount of glue powder. I use Gum Arabic. You can use Pectin but it can make your cigars taste like pectin, so I understand. I never tried it.
The Chaveta. You can get one, or make one, or improvise. A wheel type pizza cutter works. An Ulu type kitchen chopper works. I like my Olfa 28mm rotary cutter. If you get one of these, get some spare blades, too. They are disposable.
A working surface. I like a 1/4" thick sheet of acrylic, 24" x 24". The smooth surface helps a wet wrapper cling to it so you can stretch it out good. Wood is traditional. Sheet metal works, and I have seen home rollers using an aluminum cookie sheet or pizza pan.
Most hobbies that you get into to save money actually end up costing you more money. Straight razor shaving. Beer brewing. Tinkering with cars. But if you smoke one cigar per day at say $8/stick and you buy tobacco and roll your own instead, you will cut your expenses by 2/3 or more. Plus you will know what you are smoking, and you will eventually put a couple of blends together that you like better than what they stock at your local cigar emporium. You can customize your shape, and the draw, as well as appearance. So you get more, spend less, except for your time. Some guys roll pretty fast. I roll like paint dries, takes me a 20 minutes to roll one of my Imperfectos. Your time is worth something. Then again, how much do you get paid when you sit down for an hour or so and smoke a cigar, huh?
Get a kit. Watch a vid or 20. Follow instructions, use up your ingredients, end up with 10 or 20 nice big stogies, and enjoy. Then go nuts, do your own thing, try stuff. The two main vendors guys on here use, sell pounds or multiples of a pound, but also 1/4 lb samples. You can try a new variety without committing half your week's beer budget.
I just started rolling two or three months ago, and I am trying my hand at growing, too. I now have 60 plants in the ground, or raised beds, or big planters, and I have 70 more seedlings waiting for me to make a place for them to grow up, too. Growing can be surprisingly tricky, and I had a few false starts, but if we don't get any hurricanes this year I hope to end up with around 1000 usable leaves, maybe more. I use around 5 leaves per cigar so roughly 200 sticks rolled from "free" tobacco. Buying a couple dozen yards of premium garden soil sort of makes it not really cheaper but hey it's cool. I am thinking about building a smoking gazebo and surrounding it with concentric rows of tobacco plants next year. Saving money? Nah. I would save money by buying my tobacco and smoking on the patio.
Anyway welcome to the forum, from another noob! And remember, Youtube is your friend!
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caseytaylor10
New Member
Thank you so very much! Great videos, and great advice! I would be interested in learning more about where you started with growing your own tobacco. I assume just Google tobacco seeds of different types? And random thought, but I think it would be super cool to use some small leaves and hang them under your gazebo like they do in tobacco barns! For decoration! My email is better for me to see replies if you would rather. [email protected]
I’d scope out http://northwoodseeds.com/
@skychaser does a great job with varieties (not just tobacco as well!) Of all the places I’ve researched and are reputable, North Woods Seeds would be the best bang/value for your buck.
If you are interested in growing tobacco, read our New Growers' FAQ, linked in the menu bar. This forum is the largest, most detailed and most accurate body of knowledge on home-growing and home-rolling of tobacco in the world.
Bob
Bob
GrowleyMonster
Creator of the Imperfecto
Most of the leaf vendors sell seeds. Northwoods has a very extensive selection, do your homework and think twice, buy once, so you don't wish a week later you had bought different seeds, cause they have about a hundred varieties to choose from. You can also find seeds on Amazon, and Fleabay. Ebay of course can be pretty sketchy but one seller, O'Neill, treated me pretty good. My next purchase of seeds will probably be from Northwoods. I just started growing this year, got the idea from guys here who grow and post their grow blogs here. Have a look at mine if you are curious, as it is from a total noob perspective. Starting the seeds can be tricky, and it took a few tries to get it right.
Northwood Seeds has over 230 varieties of unquestioned purity, and is run by a long-time forum member, @skychaser. His work is regularly inspected by the state agricultural agent, and is certified disease-free for international shipment. Many random online tobacco seed vendors invent catchy names for their seed, and often have taken inadequate precautions in maintaining their genetic purity.
Since germinating, growing, maintaining, harvesting, curing and finishing tobacco is a significant investment of your time, it seems silly to take your chances on seed purchasing.
Bob
Since germinating, growing, maintaining, harvesting, curing and finishing tobacco is a significant investment of your time, it seems silly to take your chances on seed purchasing.
Bob
skychaser
Well-Known Member
I pay them to say those nice things. Your checks will be in the mail guys. Soon.
He is one of my commercial buyers. He sells on Ebay and Etsy both I think. And through his website. Good guy. Sells lots of different things. https://oneillseeds.com/
He is one of my commercial buyers. He sells on Ebay and Etsy both I think. And through his website. Good guy. Sells lots of different things. https://oneillseeds.com/
GrowleyMonster
Creator of the Imperfecto
I like your style, @skychaser. You will be seeing an order from me this winter. I still haven't really decided what to plant next spring but I know I want to get it in the dirt and harvested before hurricane season, so I will be starting seeds around the end of January. Honestly, I should be starting to harvest about now. I might also try a September planting next year, too. We usually don't get a freeze before about the middle of December, usually later, and some years never.
Hollowtree!1
New Member
There is also a group on Facebook: Cigar Rollers. They are very helpful there.
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