How to Roll a Cigar

Whether you've grown your own tobacco, are a cigar aficionado or simply want to give it a try, you can find rolling a cigar is fun. You need practice to roll a perfect cigar, but keep at it. Soon you'll fill your humidor with cigars you've rolled yourself.

Things You'll Need

• Tobacco leaves
• Scissors or food shredder
• Spray bottle
• Flour
• Water
• Humidor
• Fig leaf (optional)

Instructions

1. Shred some tobacco leaves to make the cigar filler. Use a food shredder or scissors to shred the leaves. Set aside.

2. Prepare your binder leaf. A Havana leaf is best, due to it being thicker and stronger than other leaves. Cut out the center vein. Keep the binder leaf damp to prevent cracking while you do this. Use two leaves if you don't have one large enough to make the desired size cigar.

3. Spread some thin leaves to be used as wrappers on a damp cloth. Periodically spray them with a mist bottle to keep them moist as you work.

4. Make a "glue" with 1/4 tsp. flour and 2 or 3 tbsp. water. Microwave the mix for 15 seconds, mix and microwave again. Repeat until the mixture is a thin paste. Set aside to cool and thicken.

5. Add the shredded tobacco to the binder leaf. Spread some of the "glue" along one edge of the binder leaf. Carefully roll the binder leaf around the shredded tobacco. Trim off any excess leaf.

6. Wrap the rolled form with wrapper leaves. Make sure to lay the wrapper leaves with underside down to hide the veins to give your cigar a smooth finish. Apply "glue" to the edges of the wrapper leaves. Roll away from you.

7. Overlap the ends as you wrap the cigar. Trim off ends when dry. Store finished cigars in a humidor to stay moist and not dry out.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't roll cigars indoors, as this can be a very messy project.

• Keep both binder and wrapper leaves moist but not wet while rolling the cigar. Don't allow them to get dry and brittle.

• Placing a small amount of fig leaf in the filler can add flavor to your cigar.

• Don't roll the cigars too tightly or you can't draw air or smoke through them.