posted
I agree with George Carlin's opinion on cigars. Unfortunately, it's way too inappropriate for Hatrack.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
They're basically made by rolling tobacco leaves together - there's really not much else in there. Not sure about the smoke, but they're easy to dispose of because they're basically leaves.
Here's what I know and how I like to do my cigars.
a) Like Dag said, they're made by rolling tobacco leaves. Usually, a good smoking leaf is rolled inside of a 'wrapper', a thicker or larger leaf, sometimes of a different type than the tobacco inside the cigar, which is called filler. the Filler comes in two varieties, long and short, Long filler is just that, longer leaves of tobacco. Short filler is more like short shreds of tobacco rolled together.
Ciagrs come in many, many types and sizes. Maduro, Churchhill, torpedo, classic and many others, with ring gauges (ciagr diameter) ranging from pinky size to half again the size of your thumb.
b) A cigar (of any decent quality, we're not talking gas mart counter here) will come with one end cut flat and the other end sealed. The sealed end comes in two major styles, the torpedo and the , umm,, dammit I can't remember the name for the other style, but its the standard style, just curved like the front end of a submarine. The torpedo shape is characterized by a conical end, meaning that the closed end of the cigar comes to a sharper point. You start by cutting open the closed end. This is done using two major methods, the punch of the snip. The snip is the standard, using a scissor or guillotine cutter, you simply cut off the end of the cigar to provide the opening size your prefer. The punch is a small circular blade that 'punches' a hole into the closed end of the cigar. A punch will not usually work on a torpedo shaped cigar. When choosing a cutter or size opening to create, the larger the opening the more air you draw, and the faster the cigar burns.
First, don't start off with a major, super powerful, strong cigar. Find a smaller, milder cigar if you're just starting out. I prefer the CAO Gold brand. (I'm a big CAO fan) Also, remember, DO NOT INHALE. Seriously. Don't. Cigar are meant to be enjoyed as a flavor, the smoke is enjoyed by tasting it in the mouth. If you inhale it you will likely double over coughing, and you won't get the best out of the flavor of the cigar.
Now, cut your cigar end. Next, use your tounge to dab/sponge off the end you just cut; This removes any loose shreds of tobacco from when you cut the cigar.
Now to light it. Matches are best, a torch lighter is next best, and anything like a zippo type fuel is worst, (The butane can sometimes impart a taste to the cigar) I would suggest using a torch lighter, the fuel burns clean without any extra taste, and matches can be a pain when you're trying to get started. Hold the cigar in your left hand (if right handed) and the lighter in the right. Hold the flame about 1 inch to 1/2 inch away from the tip of the cigar and slowly start to heat the tip. Rotate the cigar as you heat it to prevent one edge from burning. After heating it for about 20 seconds, put the cigar in your mouth and bring the lighter up. Hold the flame about 1 inch away from the cigars end and start drawing small breaths, the air will draw the flame to the cigar and proceed to fully light it.
Continue these small puffs while rotating the cigar, eventually the end of the cigar will start to flame up with each breath. When this happens, remove the lighter and draw only a coupld more breaths. Stop drawing air through the cigar and the tip should stop flaring. Your cigar should now be lit. Look at the burning end, it shouls be a dull red all over the end. If not, blow a small stream of air onto the curning tip, rotating as necessary to make the entire tip light.
As the cigar burns it produces ash, there are arguements either way, but I go with the philosophy of don't tap the ash off if you dont have to. Let it hang there, it's not hurting you. I usually only tap it off when it is in danger of falling on my clothes, or if I have to walk around a room where I don't want the ash to fall on the floor.
You will likely have a band on the cigar. Don't try to peel it off until you have been smoking it for a few minutes. As you smoke, the heat from the incoming air will soften the glue on the wrapper, letting you pull it off without ripping it or damaging the cigars wrapper. (I keep all my bands and put them in a frame together for a display next to my humidor.
c) The smoke varies by brand and style. Some cigars have little or no smoke, and others have a thick heavy smoke that hangs in the air. From personal experience, the darker a cigar's wrapper the heavier the smoke produced. Since the flavor of the cigar is in the smoke, most of the smokes are scented, and a good cigar will not taste or smell like a cigarette. I will continue to evangelize CAO cigars, so if you want something light and simple, try a CAO Gold. Something heavier, with a stronger flavor, try a CAO Brazilia. CAO also has 'flavored cigars', things like honey and vanilla and such, The one's I've had are quite tasty.
d) Disposal. When you're done smoking, you should usually just lay the cigar in the ashtray and let it go out. Unlike a cigarette, a cigar will go out if you are not smoking it. Of course, you could also just mash it out in the ashtray, but that usually produces a more acrid bout of smoke. after that, pitch it in the trash. If you're worried about setting the trash on fire, dip it in water before tossing it.
posted
I saw a guy light up his cigar with a cutting torch at work the other day...it amused me greatly...I had been hoping for a long time to see someone do that...
Posts: 1158 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Cigars smell nasty. Cigar smokers smell like bus station bathrooms. They are smell pollution. Don't smoke a cigar anywhere near me.
Posts: 1112 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
I'll remember to pick up a stogie just for you, Icarus. Seriously, if you don't like threads about not smoking, don't post in it (there's an antismoking thread for that now).
When I smoked, I actually liked to inhale the smoke. At first, yeah, it was hard to do, but after I got used to it, I enjoyed the smoothness of it (and the fact that I hated holding cigar smoke in my mouth).
Since I didn't have much money when I was smoking (because I was working low paying jobs), I usually ended up buying the Quikie Mart cigars. Personally, I preferred Swisher Sweets, or the Chocolate brand (can't remember the name). I do regret never having the chance to smoke a cuban cigar before I quit smoking. Posts: 851 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Swisher Sweets, the poor man's cigar. Got to love em. Cuban Cigars aren't bad. I still have one left from one of the times I went to Canada.
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I loves me a good cigar. I do inhale, but only every 10 puffs or so. I like a good tobacco buzz, but inhaling a whole cigar is like an all-night drinking binge.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
As a no-holds-barred ciggie smoker, I must contend that I respect (deeply) the occasional cigar smoker. This is an art, not an addiction. The rare, though durty, pleasure in the rain of inferior products.
posted
When I was a missionary in Honduras, I went on a tour of the Flor de Copan cigar factory in Santa Rosa de Copan. I wouldn't say the factory is famous, but it is internationally known.
It was a fascinating tour. We got in because a couple of the employees were members of the local branch of the Church. We got to see all the steps, including rolling (which was all done by women) and placing in the wooden molds (after they're rolled, they're stuffed in these molds to give them a uniform shape and help them hold it), and even the carpentry shop where they made the cigar boxes. We got small, empty boxes to keep as souvenirs, as well as a couple of unused bands. Really cool.
Makes me wish I had finagled a tour of the Botran distillery (makers of many liquors including Botran Rum) in Guatemala when it was in my area and one of the supervisors was a member.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
I like the smell of most cigar smoke, though I find cigarette smoke apalling. I still won't touch the things, though, and I try not to breathe around them; school-sponsored programs featuring pictures of black lungs scared that curiosity right out of me. Of course, in retrospect, I'm fairly sure any picture of organs that are supposed to be hidden would scare the crap out of me.
Did you sample the wares? I kinda like the smell of a fine cigar (robust and lively) but I've never felt all that adept at it. Rum, though. That musta been nice. All piratey and such.
posted
I'm guessing that his reference to his "missionary" work there would have prevented him from sampling. I could be wrong, however,
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
No, I think there would have been a problem if I had "sampled the wares" as an LDS missionary. But it was very educational.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
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well, at least you smelt the smells and developed an appreciation for the process and economy/passion in context. Prolly a lot better than your average cigar-shop snooper.
quote: Seriously, if you don't like threads about not smoking, don't post in it (there's an antismoking thread for that now).
Who said I don't like the thread?
Guess what: this is a public forum. You can't stop me from expressing my feelings, or force me to confine that expression to a thread you can more easily ignore. So deal. It's not like my expression of disgust can affect your experience of smoking a cigar, or prevent you from doing so. So read it or don't, and get over it. For myself, I like to think of posting of my disgust for cigars as symbolic revenge against the people who light cigars up in public. When someone lights a cigarette up outdoors, you can't smell it unless you're next to them. But a cigar you can smell from fifty feet away. It destroys my enjoyment of food if I'm eating, and it destroys my enjoyment of being outdoors when I'm not. I consider smoking a cigar in public to be an aggressive act. Nasal rape, even. I can't stop people from doing it, though. Just like you can't stop me from posting in this thread.
posted
Cigar smoke is pretty darn bad.... I don't see why we don't just ban it, at least in anywhere public where people might be around to inhale it.
(For that matter, though, I don't see why we don't ban smoking in general from all public places. It's got to be worse than, say, gay marriage.)
Posts: 2432 | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
This is something that piqued my interest...how do you puff on a cigar without inhaling? I mean, you're breathing in...right? That involves inhaling the smoke, shouldn't it?
Posts: 3658 | Registered: Jan 2002
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posted
Yep, that's my deal. I'm not a huge fan of cigars, but man, a pipe is a delight.
I started smoking a pipe now and then in my 20s but got out of the practice because it just didn't look right for someone my age and also having to tell people that they could NOT use my meerschaum to light up a bowl of chiba.
Now, with my wife and I getting ready to have kids, I've got to start the process, once again, of stopping smoking. Cigarettes, for better or worse, are hard to kick.
I've been thinking of switching back to a pipe for a now and then treat kinda deal. Yanno, just a sit out on the backyard deck with a good book, a good pipe and a big glass of iced tea. I'm kinda looking forward to it now...
When you slurp on a soda at your local eatery, does it immediately enter your stomach? Does it fly down your lungs for a couple of minutes of coughing fun? Nope. Same technique.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
In fact, in order to inhale a cigarette/pipe/cigar/crackpipe, you have to get it into your mouth, then suck it into your lungs. It's a two-step process.
Of course, there's always the french inhale.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
With a cigar you're less likely to get lung cancer of course....and more likely to get throat and mouth cancer. So pick your preferred danger of horrifying death.
posted
Condsidering the fact that I don't take any major medication, I think an occasional smoke is a good trade off. Either way I'm filling my body with chemicals that aren't designed to be there but make me feel all good and tingly .
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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quote: Primal Curve I'm starting to like this kinglear fellow.
I do what I can...
quote:Farmgirl How come cigars smell nasty, but pipes smell good? (at least some pipe smoke)
the tobacco is prepared differently. Though, you can get cigars rolled with pipe tobacco inside them as smoke shops.
Posts: 100 | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote: So please, now that you have this thread, please refrain from making anti-smoking comments in threads where people are discussing or asking legitimate questions about smoking.
There are no legitimate questions to be discussed about smoking. Smoking is disgusting. Smoking kills you. Smoking kills the people around you. Smoking kills unborn people inside of you. These are facts. This includes cigars, pipes, and weed. There is no room for debate, discussion, scintillating conversation, sugar coating, or whining. If I was in a restaurant in a table next to yours, and every few moments I threw some Anthrax germs in the air, you'd be upset too. There is no reason to become a new smoker in 2004 other than weakness. Game over.
Posts: 2532 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Now there's one stress-relieving addiction that I don't mind. In fact, I'm drooling for some this very moment.
Posts: 2292 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
I hope you got what you were looking for Phanto, because I fear it has been quite derailed. Hey, what do you know. It was done by the anti-smokers who want to tell me how to live my life. Yours too.
odouls268: Your last post is TOTALLY your opinion, even though there are others who agree with you. This may be a public forum, but could you at least have the courtesy of letting a discussion be? Anthrax is much worse than smoke. Have you gotten an Anthrax shot? I just got my booster the other day for it.
quote: There is no reason to become a new smoker in 2004 other than weakness. Game over
Your opinion your opinion. Who knows why some people smoke? Heck, I have known the Navy to start people smoking. The Navy is trying to get us all to quit! Ok, I am fine w/ that, as I can understand it. However, more sailors turn to smoking as a stress relief than those that quit. I guess it has to do w/ (as I am sure some of the other military people would agree) being overworked and underpaid.
quote:Rolf Singer So pick your preferred danger of horrifying death.
Thank you, I will.
quote:Xap For that matter, though, I don't see why we don't ban smoking in general from all public places
I hope that you don't mean my truck. I agree about other public areas, but my truck is MY TRUCK. Please don't argue this issue w/ me Xap, as I am not arguing you.
Hmmmmm. Tis getting late. I have to be up in a few to "take care of my bastard children". Oddly enough, some of them are older than me. I just out rank them.
Edited to say: I loved a good pipe now and then when I unloaded trucks. MMMMMM, I think I smoked black cherry flavor. I think I will buy a cigar tomorrow for old times sake.
[ April 10, 2004, 02:23 AM: Message edited by: Stan the man ]
Posts: 2208 | Registered: Feb 2004
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"Yep, that's my deal. I'm not a huge fan of cigars, but man, a pipe is a delight."
*note to self: slow down in the posting perusals*
fallow
PS. On the other hand, I think pipe-smoking quite suits a visual of katharina. just visual, not smelly-wise.
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