Settling into a whole-leaf lifestyle: RMO

[burge]

That's good I so smoke a little more than 3 but what I do is just take 4 with me out for coffee

 

[geomatic]

Introductions are HERE

After “moving on” after drying days, I went & did more rounds of sun-warming & demoisturizing with everything, ending w/ it all being @ the same stage AFAICT - dry but pliable, not crunchy, rolls very well, burns well sometimes.

My rolling kit consists of a RAW-branded Rizla-style frame+web roller, RAW papers, 8mm & 6mm filters

Learning to roll ‘em the way I want ‘em, and it’s trial & error. If I roll a regular-size cig (8mm), I can only smoke about half at a time, which is okay; w/ 6mm I get a slim, roughly half the weight, and I can smoke the whole thing - but I have a problem getting the fill correct: too little & it burns too fast, too much & the filter falls out. It seems to work out best if I roll the shreds & filter for a while before wrapping it in paper…but I honestly DON’T know if it supposed to work that way.

View attachment 55584

I just rolled these 5…they all feel reasonably firm, but A softened up a lot when lit, and burns hot & fast if I take a full puff

B shortened itself, not enough tobacco, but seems firm enough; not going to smoke all these *now*, this is just an example of my results & I’ll report back.

E represents a problem I’m having more & more often, which seems to be me misfeeding the paper, and I can’t figure out how I’m doing it: I de-crease the paper, keep the shreds & filter tight with tension on the rolling mat, & roll up slowly & carefully. Possibly it’s just this pack of papers

Does anyone have tips or advice based on their years of rolling? Thoughts on filters? Thoughts on papers? Thoughts on getting to predictability?

I’ve been thinking a lot about papers lately, so I’m also curious what y’all think about the various types/offerings on the market & what your favorites are

Preciate y’all being here, hope my questions are old/boring

Thanks for everything

I've been rolling steady since I said that I'd never pay $5 for a pack of smokes, which was roughly maybe the mid 90's. My roller of choice was a metal rizla roller case, although in the last 4+ years I've moved on to the small zen roller that comes with an extra apron. I use 18mm premier/top filters and a 70mm paper size (lately moon brand hemp or rice papers). As you roll more, you just get a feel for the amount of tobacco you like. I have a couple of different antique Havone cigarette cases so I usually roll about 20 at night (each case holds 10 ciggies) so that I have a case that's in my pocket as I'm working outside and another as a backup.

The 18mm filters end up making my cigarettes look like a regular king size cigarette. I've been told over the years to go with an injector, but I can't find a good reason to. You are at the mercy of whatever price the tubes rise to and let's say you are out for the day and misplace your cigarettes... I have an extra roller, papers (actually in an altoids tin) and a bag of filters in the side door of my car, so all I would have to do is by a pouch of smoke.

I got the $130 shredder at Whole Leaf and it's definitely worth not having to fight and clean with that little $40 Polish shredder... so much easier to turn and so much faster. As tobacco, Lemon is major contributor to my blends.

 

[burge]

I tried that way but couldn't get a good smoke. I have a crank injector and make close to taylor made smokes

 

[Nothing Clever]

Just pulled the trigger on my new order
Final selection: Va Bright, Va Red, Izmir

I kept waffling about renewing on the blend, then noticed Bright leaf was (back?) in stock, so I chose to chase my love for Va tobacco in a slightly different direction - with Izmir as a new flavor to learn about. I figure this should give me plenty to play with for the next few months, punching up the remaining ounces of the bought blend in various ways, trying Izmir & the others, maybe finding some great new mixes.

However it goes, I doubt I’ll be disappointed: heck, I just got word the PO has already picked up my pkg…feeling right lucky at the moment

I've been rolling steady since I said that I'd never pay $5 for a pack of smokes, which was roughly maybe the mid 90's. My roller of choice was a metal rizla roller case, although in the last 4+ years I've moved on to the small zen roller that comes with an extra apron. I use 18mm premier/top filters and a 70mm paper size (lately moon brand hemp or rice papers). As you roll more, you just get a feel for the amount of tobacco you like. I have a couple of different antique Havone cigarette cases so I usually roll about 20 at night (each case holds 10 ciggies) so that I have a case that's in my pocket as I'm working outside and another as a backup.

That backs up my experience so far

No antique cases, but I have a cedar-lined silver box that my dad brought back from Belgium after WW2, and a ceramic box with a painted-in-glaze English street scene & matching ashtray; both boxes a remade to hold 70mm cigs, so I love that I get to put my own rolls in them

The 18mm filters end up making my cigarettes look like a regular king size cigarette. I've been told over the years to go with an injector, but I can't find a good reason to. You are at the mercy of whatever price the tubes rise to and let's say you are out for the day and misplace your cigarettes... I have an extra roller, papers (actually in an altoids tin) and a bag of filters in the side door of my car, so all I would have to do is by a pouch of smoke.

“Can’t find a good reason to”…pretty much exactly where I am with it. In the process of shifting filters from 15mm to 18…cause I can’t find a good reason *not* to

I had an injector back ‘70, ‘71…I lacked patience back then & especially impatient w/ the injector…I shifted to pipe

I got the $130 shredder at Whole Leaf and it's definitely worth not having to fight and clean with that little $40 Polish shredder... so much easier to turn and so much faster. As tobacco, Lemon is major contributor to my blends.

I may change my mind on shredding after I deal with another 3 pounds o’ leaf, but so far it’s the kind of precision manual task I grew up taking pride in doing well, not unlike blade-sharpening; arthritis may take the fun out of it at some point, so it’s good that the option comes well-recommended

Likewise your words on the lemon leaf…I’ll remember

 

[Nothing Clever]

New tobacco day yesterday!

Currently puffing on some red leaf & enjoying the quiet!

All the leaf they sent is just beautiful - I’ve separated out some leaves from each & raising their case a bit. Only shredded some red so far…this seems higher in nicotine than the blend, but the flavor is mild & it has a nice throat hit. The shred is much finer this round, and it’s burning slowly but smoothly.

The folks @ the warehouse popped in a little present: ~1oz of threshed burley - guess it’s time to make its acquaintance!

It & the Izmir are both kinda dry & a bit stuck together, but I’ve been fluffing as they’re humidifying: shredding this stuff by hand is gonna be a challenge, tho. The burley in particular is making me think of @Knucklehead’s wire-cloth grater….

This is a super-satisfying smoke…can’t wait to see what the others have in store! Thanks to the fine folks here & @ WLT

 

[Nothing Clever]

I sound like I’m on TikTok….

Shredded roughly a half-ounce of each. Have sampled all 3 solo, favorite is the red leaf, but the bright is close. Izmir almost seems mentholated by comparison…’mild’ may be too strong a word for the flavor by itself, but I get hints about how it might work in a blend.

1st ‘blend attempt’ (not a bad first step):
Va Blend 40%, Red leaf 30%, Bright 20%, Burley 10%
All I was checking was shifting the blend baseline
Mission accomplished

2nd, following up on a tip in the WLT reviews:
Red leaf & Izmir 50/50
*This* I like a lot

So, w/ the Bright solo, those three are what I’m smoking

 

[Nothing Clever]

Now we’re getting somewhere:
Bright 50, Red 25, Izmir 25
This is about the best cigarette I’ve ever had

If I may, I have a couple of questions:
It seems like the leaves want to be more leathery than papery for de-stemming & slicing; the case target I’m currently shooting for is being able to ‘cleanly’ unfold & stretch out the leaves without much tearing, so I can “flatten” & “stack” them for easier rolling into slicing cigars. Is this a reasonable target/approach or am I just being weird about it? Tips & ideas for improvement are welcome

I’ve de-stemmed ~1/4# of both the bright & red; last night I laid out & rolled up these cigars of bright:

Those rolls came in @ 3oz for the pair, took ~30 min

Because of space concerns, I’m juggling all this in these 6qt (shred) & 16qt (leaf) Sterlite boxes, maybe 10% into de-stemming, 5% shredding so far. Goal is to keep moisture even enough that there are no leaves both part-leather & part-paper. Tough to unfold before they rehydrate, hard to rehydrate evenly before they’re opened up…the 16qt complicates it by being just too small to lay leaf out in them while keeping enough space.

Maybe I’m overthinking this, but I’d love to hear from long-timers about their particulars for adjusting case under such conditions: spray amount, airflow or no, days between checks, max # of days before risking mildew, etc.

I’d figure most of this out immediately if I could just see it being done, but since I can’t I have to compensate, so thanks for sharing your experiences with me & helping me keep the sheer guesswork to a minimum

 

[burge]

Looks good I just do Virginia love the different tastes you can get.

 

[Nothing Clever]

Still welcoming comments, but I got a fresh lesson in patience…the Izmir has loosened up a lot, and the red leaves that were folded up tight got moist enough to open up after 3 days of misting & reshuffling - got them stretched out, flattened rolled & shredded last night…

Odd thing about the Izmir…it seems to *want* to be de-stemmed - much of it gets half-stripped just separating the leaf clumps…& those stems come out so easily, it’s almost hypnotic. The stems seem to hold most of the moisture, as the leaves get brittle very fast

That said, some of the leaves have gone soft & dark, like spinach leave get when they’re old - I’m afraid mold may result, or that those leaves may no longer be fit for smoking

Opinions?

 

[burge]

Still welcoming comments, but I got a fresh lesson in patience…the Izmir has loosened up a lot, and the red leaves that were folded up tight got moist enough to open up after 3 days of misting & reshuffling - got them stretched out, flattened rolled & shredded last night…

Odd thing about the Izmir…it seems to *want* to be de-stemmed - much of it gets half-stripped just separating the leaf clumps…& those stems come out so easily, it’s almost hypnotic. The stems seem to hold most of the moisture, as the leaves get brittle very fast

That said, some of the leaves have gone soft & dark, like spinach leave get when they’re old - I’m afraid mold may result, or that those leaves may no longer be fit for smoking

Opinions?

Good tobacco does not go bad. One thing you don't do is mist all the time. You have to let the leaf dry out.