Ok guys I was thinking about making (rolling ) my own cigars I would like some advice on storing the leaves and any thing else you think I might need to know Thanks for the help
The best advice would be to move away from Needles, aka Death Valley's Door.
Lacking that, in Needles' dusty wasteland you will be dealing with some dreadfully dry conditions. So dig round the garage for a 40 or so quart ice chest with a fairly tight fitting lid. Take an old sock & fill it with unscented kitty litter. Soak the sock in the sink. Throw that in your cooler. There's your leaf storage. If you have one of those evaporative coolers, instead of a refrigerant air conditioner, do your work near that. Think tropical.
Get a starter kit from WholeLeafTobacco.com, advertised there as "cigar blends", for under thirty bucks. The heat sealed vapor proof plastic bags Don uses are head and shoulders better than anything the other leaf merchants dream of. As soon as you pull a leaf out to throw in a cigar, fold over the end of the bag to keep moisture in. Carefully observe how damp the leaves are when they first arrive. That's how you want them when you work. Filler just dry enough to make a bit of a crunchy sound as you bunch them. Binder damp enough to wrap tight round the filler. Wrapper damp enough to lay flat round the bound bunch, and then to shrink tight once it's bound.
Now set to work. Your starter kit will include filler, binder, and wrapper, all in a proven blend. It also includes enough cigar glue for the batch. The incredible teensiest amount of glue powder makes a magical amount. All you will need is a pizza cutter or an ulu, a cutting board, and a spritzing water bottle. WLT's web site claims you can make 20-50 7" cigars from one batch. Don't fool yourself into making 7" cigars. Aim for 48 ring x 5". Think hand sized. These are much easier to make than mandingos, and you will get that much more practice out of your batch of leaves. Buy yourself a corona and let that be your model. Hold it in your hand a lot, to get a feel for the bulk and shape you are aiming at.
There are a million how to vids online. Unfortunately, nearly all of them show a skilled torcedor rolling with incredible rapidity; and most of them only show the wrapping process; while exactly not a one of them show leaf prep. Bunching is twice as elusive as wrapping. If learning to make a good cigar requires ten units of learning, I'd say that blending takes five, leaf prep one, bunching takes two, and wrapping just one. That's nine. The tenth unit is of course unobtainable. Bliss Cigar has some instructive bunching vids set to music at
Best leaf prep tip I can give you is think ahead. Unfold your wrapper, remove the stem, spritz it, bag it, put it away. Next day, stretch it out, spritz, bag, and stash. Next day, stretch again, flat as can be... and go. Half that for binder.
Good news about Needles is, once you roll a stick & set it on the windowsill, it will dry out in a couple hours. Here, it's been raining night and day for a week. If it doesn't rain four days straight in Summer, that's called a drought. Damn hard to dry a stick in these conditions.
Enjoy.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
Yeah my dad moved us here back in 1982 from Ohio. I would love to get out of here but neither me or my mom drive and I need to stay in CA. so I don't get less money on my disability check. Would love to move to northern CA. But will have to do what I can I have not had much luck with the beads so would a boveda work and what rh% and how many in the cooler? Thanks for the help
Listen to @webmost! He really knows what he's talking about. Just be ready for a whole new hobby. It's addictive! I have to say though, there's nothing quite like smoking a stick you just rolled.
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC
Do the different types of leaf need to kept separate? as in differant coolers
Course not. One cooler separate bags. One sock full of kitty litter does a whole cooler and way cheaper. I suggest the sock cause Needles is so extreme.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
I'm no expert. Take a look what some of those other fellers roll, like bliss and marcl. Put the pros to shame.
“It has been a source of great pain to me to have met with so many among [my] opponents who had not the liberality to distinguish between political and social opposition; who transferred at once to the person, the hatred they bore to his political opinions.” —Thomas Jefferson (1808)
Amazon doesn't sell it. I think you have to get it at Petsmart. I haven't been able to find it locally.
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC
They are really clean and go a long way. One of these pound jugs make 16 gallons of beads. I use a KFC mac and cheese container with a few slits in the top. I probably fill the beads about half or 3/4 full.
They really are used for maintaining humidity in resting or aging finished sticks.
Working tobacco for rolling is different. I will use large and medium tubs misting mainly, the insides of the tubs. Allowing time for absorption.
Yeah I found it at pet smart but it is only sold at the store I will have to get next month
How much do you need? I picked up a bag today for my coolidor and will have a lot left over...
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC
It's not about getting it for free. I have extra, you need some. enough said.
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC
Comments
Lacking that, in Needles' dusty wasteland you will be dealing with some dreadfully dry conditions. So dig round the garage for a 40 or so quart ice chest with a fairly tight fitting lid. Take an old sock & fill it with unscented kitty litter. Soak the sock in the sink. Throw that in your cooler. There's your leaf storage. If you have one of those evaporative coolers, instead of a refrigerant air conditioner, do your work near that. Think tropical.
Get a starter kit from WholeLeafTobacco.com, advertised there as "cigar blends", for under thirty bucks. The heat sealed vapor proof plastic bags Don uses are head and shoulders better than anything the other leaf merchants dream of. As soon as you pull a leaf out to throw in a cigar, fold over the end of the bag to keep moisture in. Carefully observe how damp the leaves are when they first arrive. That's how you want them when you work. Filler just dry enough to make a bit of a crunchy sound as you bunch them. Binder damp enough to wrap tight round the filler. Wrapper damp enough to lay flat round the bound bunch, and then to shrink tight once it's bound.
Now set to work. Your starter kit will include filler, binder, and wrapper, all in a proven blend. It also includes enough cigar glue for the batch. The incredible teensiest amount of glue powder makes a magical amount. All you will need is a pizza cutter or an ulu, a cutting board, and a spritzing water bottle. WLT's web site claims you can make 20-50 7" cigars from one batch. Don't fool yourself into making 7" cigars. Aim for 48 ring x 5". Think hand sized. These are much easier to make than mandingos, and you will get that much more practice out of your batch of leaves. Buy yourself a corona and let that be your model. Hold it in your hand a lot, to get a feel for the bulk and shape you are aiming at.
There are a million how to vids online. Unfortunately, nearly all of them show a skilled torcedor rolling with incredible rapidity; and most of them only show the wrapping process; while exactly not a one of them show leaf prep. Bunching is twice as elusive as wrapping. If learning to make a good cigar requires ten units of learning, I'd say that blending takes five, leaf prep one, bunching takes two, and wrapping just one. That's nine. The tenth unit is of course unobtainable. Bliss Cigar has some instructive bunching vids set to music at
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKQPvIbslAFFDYDGi-EivRQ
Best rolling discussion is presently here:
http://www.botl.org/forums/cigar-rolling-tobacco-growing.247/
Best leaf prep tip I can give you is think ahead. Unfold your wrapper, remove the stem, spritz it, bag it, put it away. Next day, stretch it out, spritz, bag, and stash. Next day, stretch again, flat as can be... and go. Half that for binder.
Good news about Needles is, once you roll a stick & set it on the windowsill, it will dry out in a couple hours. Here, it's been raining night and day for a week. If it doesn't rain four days straight in Summer, that's called a drought. Damn hard to dry a stick in these conditions.
Enjoy.
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC
I'm no expert. Take a look what some of those other fellers roll, like bliss and marcl. Put the pros to shame.
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
https://www.amazon.com/Pro-Sense-Results-Crystal-Silica-8-Pound/dp/B00MR4HCG2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1475471329&sr=8-3&keywords=exquisicat
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
Some time back I started using these White Gel Water Crystals.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Gel-Water-Crystals-1-Pound-Vase-Bowl-Filler-1LB-Jar-Makes-16-Gallons-/162132352652?hash=item25bfd75e8c:g:PNYAAOxyNW9SLOvz
They are really clean and go a long way. One of these pound jugs make 16 gallons of beads. I use a KFC mac and cheese container with a few slits in the top. I probably fill the beads about half or 3/4 full.
They really are used for maintaining humidity in resting or aging finished sticks.
Working tobacco for rolling is different. I will use large and medium tubs misting mainly, the insides of the tubs. Allowing time for absorption.
How much do you need? I picked up a bag today for my coolidor and will have a lot left over...
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0134SQN4G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=264J8MZC8VD9F&coliid=I3S1Q077V8DFOT
I didn't measure a pound, but it should be close.
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC
“I come in peace. I didn’t bring artillery. But I’m pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f@$# with me, I’ll kill you all.” -Gen. James Mattis, USMC