Adventures in home rolling
- Thread starter BrewinHooligan
- Start date
Very nice! What are you storing the leaf in and using for a heat source? I'm convinced I need to do this. The PA broadleaf I use is a thick and strong leaf that I feel would be an excellent candidate for this.
Bunched yesterday and wrapped today
Ok, so Brazilian Villain #11 was the first iteration of blend #1 (aka i ran out of criollo ligero and subbed in Dominican). And i really liked my first blend a lot! I have not had the #11 yet, but now I'm excited for itOf course I don't remember, but I did take pictures of them!
Also of course, I can't figure out how to attach pictures. I managed to create an album, and put them in there, but can't figure out how to tell you where the album is and can't find any help with this forum engine.
Regardless, the two that I have smoked both say 2/23/16 #11 Braz. The first one was a little skinny thing that was really great, then second one was bigger and was very good, but something about the little one was just special. Both drew well and burned nicely.
Blend:
0.5 Dominican ligero
1 Dominican Seco
1 Brazilian viso
Dominican binder
Various wrappers
The torpedo was equal parts of everything
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- Joined
- Mar 15, 2016
- Messages
- 75
The kiln is just a wooden box. Nothing fancy but big enough to hold quite a bit.The Heat source is only one tungsten filament light bulb. Its mounted about 1/2 way up the box and gives me a range of about 95 to 120 depending on where in the box I put the leaf. After fermentation it goes back into a large cooler where I store all my leaf.
The broadleaf is perfect. I am convinced that depending on the strength of the solution and how wet you make the leaves, they breakdown and actually come out thinner than they went in.Its something that really needs dillagence and practice but I am quite sure you could make wrapper out of stuff you might never think of.
Warning, once you go down this road you will never be the same...lol
Hey guys. I joined this forum because of this thread. The knowledge shared here is like nothing any one would find any where else. I have a question though, I can't search the thread for the answer so I apologize if it's already posted somewhere. What is your average cost of a home rolled cigar? And how does that compare to a cigar bought in a brick and mortar? Being relatively new to the world of cigars, I hear a lot of people complain about the prices. I usually smoke $5-6 dollar cigars and I'm comfortable with that, but I think the quality of a hand rolled cigar, once the skill is acquired, would be much higher than those sticks. Thanks guys, for this incredible thread. I can't wait to get started in this hobby.
Depending on the size of the cigar and the wrapper leaf used I guess my cost is somewhere around $1-$3 per stick not calculating the value of the time put into the stick. I have paid $10+ for cigars from the store that I don't like as much as what I roll but I have figured what I like and how to blend for my tastes.
Is it drying up yet? It does look amazing. Can't wait for taste tests. I think you have gone past the point of no return.
My latest batch of fermented wrapper.This stuff was left in for a week longer than the first batch but at a lower temp.It is unbelievable.It feels like it was dipped in motor oil. The pic does not do justice.It is freaking gorgeous and absolutely oozing with oil.
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- Mar 17, 2016
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I didn't go to Tabaneros. I did drop into Nicahabana for a second before shooting over to Tampa Brewing co for a beer.
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Well jump on board!
The kiln is fairly inexpensive to make. The only electrical is a light bulb as a heat source. I do use a dimmer as a way of increasing or decreasing temperature.
My most recent experiment really requires no kiln. Tobacco sealed in bags or jars and set out at room temperature between 70 and 90 degrees. NO hotter. These temps help the fermentation to start the process. I've also added ammonia carbonate in an aqueous solution to help accelerate things. After several weeks the leaf gets exposed slowly to a higher temp in the kiln to remove the ammonia.
The ammonia leaves without a trace and the big advantage is the time spent fermenting is cut in half. I'll post results shortly.
FYI... if you want a darker 'maduro' looking wrapper, after fermentation is done at room temperature the higher temps of 120 to 130 degrees will darken the leaf to whatever degree of darkness you want. Almost black really.
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- Mar 17, 2016
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- 26
That looks amazing! I love smoking square cigars!
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That's a sweet box press!!!! NICE!!!
