(NOTE:  Hard copies of these instructions come with every unit.)

NOTE: We will be explaining our ONE-STEP cigar rolling process. We basically put the binder (and/or wrapper) leaf on at the SAME TIME and use the actual RYO Premium rolling belt as a pre-mold before we wrap with a “paper mold”. The ONE-STEP process results in a excellent drawing, quality cigar that smokes and burns evenly. (NOTE:  Using the RYO Premium cigar roller machine, you ALWAYS have the option to:  put a wrapper on at the same time, put on multiple binders and/or wrappers, put your cigars in your own mold, add a wrapper leaf later, add a cap, and even add a cigar band for a professional look.)

Using the RYO Premium cigar rolling machine (as well as hand rolling) is a learning experience and will greatly improve with practice. You will naturally begin to improve your cigar blend recipes as well as the firmness, draw, and finished look of your cigars—all at the same time as your speed of rolling!

BEFORE STARTING TO ROLL CIGARS….

Have your pile(s) of filler leaves ready by making sure that the filler leaves are not too dry and crumbly. Moisten them if necessary using a fine spray mist.

Here is a YouTube video of leaf preparation steps……click here.

Have your RYO Premium cigar roller adjusted to the ring gauge you desire. For beginners, we recommend using a purchased cigar and put it into the rolling pocket after removing the belt rod from the end of the rolling belt in the rear of the unit. (The rear has many hole locations for the rods.) Pull the rolling belt tight and replace the belt rod in the position that tightens around the purchased cigar. Make sure that the rod is parallel with the other rods and not in the wrong hole in the other side of the base. (If the rods are not parallel, it will make an uneven or tapered cigar.)

We suggest starting with only one ring gauge and perfect your technique and recipe before moving to another ring gauge. We factory adjust to a ring gauge of 42 or corona size. (Generally speaking, larger ring sizes draw better and are more consistent than smaller ring sizes.)

…DE-VEINING FILLER LEAVES

Fold a whole leaf in half (vein outward) and grip the vein a couple inches below the tip. Use the other hand to hold firmly on the folded leaf close to where the tear will begin. With one quick motion, rip outward and downward to completely remove the vein (stem) while holding the folded leaf with the other hand. With practice, this will take place very quickly. The leaves can be de-veined beforehand or just before rolling. We suggest de-veining all whole leaves–even the frog-legged leaves. Alternatively, you can also use a scissors, Chaveta, pizza cutter, or ulu knife to cut out the vein.  There are also online videos showing this process.

…BINDER/WRAPPER LEAVES

The binder leaf should be more pliable (limp) than the filler leaves so it is best to keep them moist. You can use specific binder/wrapper leaves or thinner pliable leaves. We recommend keeping them flat in a separate plastic bag. (Most premium cigar makers stretch/flatten them ahead of time using special ringer-style rolls. Very few videos show the actual leaf preparation step.)  If desired, you can use your Chaveta to trim the leading edge of each half leaf to make the seam less noticeable–or cut the binder leaf into a thinner strip.  Cutting against a fabric cutting mat keeps your blades sharp and avoids cutting into other surfaces. It is also easy to clean.

…CIGAR GLUE

You can use many different cigar glues to keep the outer leaf from unravelling. We have used Gum Tragacanth, Gum Arabic, Bermocoll, Guar Gum, and even common vegetable pectin (canning gelatin). Cigar glues (also used for postage stamps and envelopes) are extracted from plants and are odorless, tasteless, edible, and food-safe.

Put a small amount of powdered material into a shot glass or small bowl and add a small amount of warm water. You should mix it up a bit after it absorbs the water to eliminate any lumps. You can also add flavoring to the adhesive if you wish.

…OTHER HANDY ITEMS

…CIGAR CUTTER     We use a large ring size (70 ring gauge) scissor-type cigar cutter for the head (smoking end) cut because it will fit over the stray leaves protruding from the end easily. For the foot (lighted end), we use common scissors to cut at a slight angle. This makes it easy to recognize which end to light. (If you accidentally light the wrong end, the binder/cover leaf will unravel during the smoke!)

…PAPER/TAPE   We tear/cut pieces of paper or newspaper to about 8 inches square to wrap freshly finished cigars ready for storing. We use Scotch tape or post-it tabs to keep the paper from unravelling. We also use a brown paper lunch bag to put the freshly wrapped cigars into for a week or more to remove most of the moisture from the wrapper leaf and cigar glue. We then remove the paper and put them into the humidor for another 2 weeks to “marry” the flavors BEFORE we smoke them.

——————–BEGIN ROLLING——————–

Here is a YouTube video of how to use the RYO Premium cigar roller machine step-by-step……click here.

1. Sit down in a chair and place the RYO Premium cigar rolling machine on a chair facing you. (Or use coffee table) Your chair should face the front with the rolling handle in the “back” position towards the chair back.

2. Push the rolling belt down between the back of the rolling surface and the rolling rod to form a  long “pocket”. This will be used for the start  of your binder leaf and then the bunched leaves.

3. Place a flattened binder leaf on the belt with the veins UPWARD. The far end of the leaf will be slightly over the top of the pocket. Position the leaf diagonally so, as you roll the cigar, the outer edge of the leaf will completely cover the cigar from one end to the other.

4. Have your blend “recipe” handy to make sure you follow it. NOTE: Premium cigars contains from 3 to 5 different kinds of tobacco leaves in their blend “recipes”. Most of them vary the leaves used by:  genetics, aging, location on the tobacco plant (seco, ligero, volado, viso), and climate where they are grown.

Start bunching your leaves. One way is to use one hand as both the holder of the bunch and “folding helper”. The other hand gets the leaves and folds them. There are good online demonstrations of this technique. Alternatively, you can simply use the pocket to put folded leaves into one at a time. (Bringing the handle slightly upward will help to keep the folded leaves in the pocket.) This alternative system can also be used to roll a much longer cigar than human hands can hold. Remember that the goal of bunching is to get the cigar uniform in shape AND provide as many air spaces from one end to another as possible. You should concentrate on making as MANY FOLDS as possible to create multiple small channels for air. Bunching is VERY IMPORTANT to getting a good consistent draw for a cigar!

5. Squeeze the bunch and make sure it is consistent from end to end. If not, tear off the ends of a couple leaves, reverse end for end, and tuck them into the bunch. Keep forming it with your hands and comparing your bunch to the feel and size of your finished cigar.

If you are happy that the bunch is what you want your cigar to feel like, go ahead and put it into the pocket right on top of the binder leaf. After you have tucked the bunch inside the pocket, bring the handle up more until feeling a bit more pressure. Hold the handle there and feel the bunch through the rolling belt. If it is too big, lumpy, or too soft, now is the time to change that. Just drop the handle back and remove or add leaves.

6. If you are happy with your bunch, pull the handle forward and bring the bunch to the edge of the rolling surface. Hold the handle with one hand and use the other hand to stuff any stray leaves back into the bunch. The bunch should be firmly inside the pocket on top of the binder leaf. You are now ready to begin rolling.

7. With one hand, begin to pull the handle towards you. As you get to the top of the rolling surface, you will feel a bit more resistance. This is the initial “pack” of the bunch.

Use both hands if necessary to bring the handle slightly forward. As the bunch lifts on the rolling surface, move the other hand to the other side of the handle while holding the handle firm with the first hand. It is easier to begin the rolling with both hands/palms braced on the sides of the rolling surface while bringing the sides of the handle forward. The handle will now stay in position by itself.

8. After one revolution of the cigar bunch, you will want to move one hand to the center of the handle and use the other hand to flatten and guide the binder leaf into the bunch as you roll. Concentrate on the edge going into the pocket as it will become the outermost leaf. Continue to roll until you get over half way back. (Handle straight up.)

Place your fingers just over the rolling rod and feel the bunch through the rolling belt.  Your fingers can now firm up the bunch by pressing down on any “lumpiness” inside the rolling belt. TIP: You can make the cigar much more uniform by rolling a quarter turn at a time and continue to inspect/press the bunch. This will happen very quickly as you gain experience.

 

9. At this point or before the handle gets too far, you can put some cigar glue on the edge of the binder leaf as you get closer to the head of the cigar. If desired, you can also put adhesive all along the edge as you roll.

10. Continue to pull the handle forward until the glued end of the binder/wrapper leaf is inside the pocket and on the cigar. Now leave the handle in this position while you begin to get another binder leaf and bunch ready. (This delay acts as a “pre-mold” for the cigar so the leaves will keep the round shape.)

11. While you are bunching for the next cigar, you can move the handle slightly forward which results in a slight turn of the cigar. (This action simulates turning a cigar 90 degrees inside a wooden cigar mold to eliminate the parting seam.) You can do this motion several times during your next cigar bunch as long as the cigar stays on the rolling surface.

12. If your next binder leaf and bunch is ready, go ahead and pull the handle forward until the finished cigar drops into the tray.

13. Rotate the handle rearward until it rests on the stops, put the rolling belt back to form a “pocket” and it is ready to roll another cigar. We suggest cutting the foot end of the fresh cigar at an angle at this point to identify the end that gets lighted.  (It is easy to get them mixed up as you inspect the fresh cigar.)

14. You can use small strips of paper or newspaper as a cigar mold by laying the freshly-rolled cigars on the edge of the paper and then roll it tight.  After rolling, hold it with one hand and put a small piece of Scotch tape or post-it tabs on the seam to keep it from unrolling. Alternatively, you can also put the fresh cigar back into the pocket in the rear and put the paper on top. (TIP: Put some tape on the paper face-up before rolling so it will naturally adhere to the paper. Bringing the handle forward will result in the finished paper-wrapped cigar dropping into the tray.

 

ADJUSTING THE RODS FOR OTHER RING GAUGES:

There is only one adjustment to be made on the RYO Premium. You have to put the rear part of the rolling belt on the rods so it is tight when a cigar of your preferred ring gauge is in the “pocket” when the handle is in the rear or “ready” position. There are three rods on the rear of the RYO. The one closest to the rolling surface should stay there. The belt should go under that one. The belt can then go over the last rod. (for starters, put the next rod all the way back in the farthest hole from the rolling platform. Then put the end loop into a rod midway between them for starters. By changing the position of the rod with the loop determines the length of the belt–which determines the size of the finished cigar.

COMMON ISSUES TO AVOID:

–If you do not press the “lumps” out of your bunch while in the rolling belt, it can cause a less-than-perfect burn in the finished cigar.
–If you get the filler too moist, it will make the finished cigar too dense and consequently draw too hard.
–The most common problem with your cigar burn is that there is uneven moisture inside the cigar. Be patient!

HELPFUL HINTS/TIPS:

—After rolling your first cigar, cut the ends and try it for draw immediately. Do this for your first few cigars to make sure the draw is what you want.
—Before deciding on a blend, puro (small sample cigar of just 1 type of leaf) each batch of leaf for flavor and smell. Alternatively, cigar blending kits are available online.
—Clearly mark your batches of leaves.  It is easy to get them mixed up when bunching.
—Good binder/wrapper preparation is:  first unfold the leaf, remove the stem, spritz it with water, bag it, store. Next day, stretch it out, spritz again, bag, and store. Try to get it as flat as possible as it is much easier to roll with.
—Chop up the cut ends and scraps and use them in a short-filler cigar. Sprinkle the chopped tobacco right inside the pocket and roll as usual.
—You can also use the RYO Premium as a cigar bunching machine by allowing the bunch to form without adding a binder or wrapper.  After a few minutes, remove the bunch and hand roll as usual.
—You can also sprinkle a small amount of aromatic pipe tobacco on top of the leaves in the pocket for a change of flavor.
—To keep your humidor moist, you can use the green “plant foam”, a nylon sock full of kitty litter, or soak pieces of flower pot reddish terracotta ceramic. Use a plastic container with some holes in it to prevent them from coming into contact with any cigars.
—Because the smoke from the outside of the cigar is first to touch the insides of your mouth, pay special attention to choosing an acceptable outside leaf (binder/wrapper) of your cigar.  To test this, buy a cigar known for unique infused flavors, remove the outer wrapper, and smoke it that way.  It will have a distinctly different taste!
—Again, remember to cut the “light” end (foot) with a scissors at a slight angle to identify it–or use a another method. After lighting, the burn will still become “even”.
—We put our freshly rolled and paper-wrapped cigars into a paper bag to begin the drying process. We leave them in the paper bag for about a week before removing them and putting them into a humidor.  Again, BE PATIENT!  Enjoy!

NOTE on the Model 140 Mini.    It is important to keep as much of the tobacco leaf inside the pocket using one hand as shown.  This keeps the bunch as uniform as possible as imperfections in a little cigar is more noticeable than a larger ring gauge cigar.

RYO Premium (Osprey Press)
2107 Ibis Drive
Buffalo, MN 55313
763-682-3293

sales@ryopremium.com