Just hanging out

Sitting here at the Cigar Factory.

The old man brought me a bouquet of flowers for my performance tonight. He brought them and hid them behind the factory front counter until I came out.

I didn’t practice today, but there’s something about being in the “ambiente.”

It’s me and a bunch men, sitting out back, bbqing, smoking “puros.”

Life is simple and beautiful.

My mom reminded me last week that I shouldn’t be smoking, and she’s right. So I’m not smoking anymore, not like I was when I was learning.

A cop came by to pick up some cigars rolled especially for him. They are HUGE. So huge, the cigar roller couldn’t use a mold for the “tripas.”  He used paper napkins to wrap them tightly to hold the shape.  What I am curious about is why a cop needs cigars THAT big.

The old man is coming to the show tonight to roll cigars after, and he’s letting me roll a few.

I love this.

 

What Makes A Cigar Cuban

Aside from the leaves coming from Cuba? (good luck with that)

There’s a style to finishing the cigar that makes it Cuban. Yesterday I had my first cigar event at a Polo Match in Palm Springs. The cigar roller that came with me explained to me how every cigar made in Cuba was finished.

The wrapper is applied as usual, but at the end, the twist is trimmed with making a cap on the head.  Then out of tobacco leaf, a tear drop shape is cut and used to wrap the cap (pañuelo) on the end so that there are two lines marking the the wrapper circling the head twice. Then a final circle is added at the top.

That’s how you tell a Cuban cigar. The two lines circling the head.

 

They left me alone to do it

Punishing Cigars

I started the day at the factory wrapping more cigars.  They left me alone to do it, from time to time, the old man and the guys checking in on my progress, especially when I’d yell out in excitement when I rolled a perfect one.  I one up from the tray and began to roll it on my cut piece of “capa” and the “capa” ripped.  So I reached for another piece, cut it, started to wrap and…rip! I yelled out in frustration.

One of the rollers came over to me to see what was happening. “I keep ripping the capa!” He said, let me see…and sat down in my seat, proceeding to roll it in a new wrapper.  Rip! He picked it up and flung it down angrily at the table. “Estas Castigado!” (You’re punished!)

I thought it a bit odd at first. But he moved out of the way and told me to continue with another.  I sat back down, and reached for that unfinished cigar accross my work table and proceeded to wrap it, and then RIP! “Ugh! I did it again!”

He came over and noticed I had taken the “punished” cigar. “No, eres tu. Es el cigarro ese. Por eso lo castigue!” I laughed. “No, en serio. En cuba, cuando no se deja un cigarro que le pongan capa, lo castigamos. Que se quede alli esperando hasta que este listo. Y si ya no me queda tiempo al final del dia, pues asi se quedo.”

I thought that was beautiful

I punished that cigar again, and went on to finish my tray.  At the end of the day, I reached for it and tried to roll it again. You guessed it…the wrapper ripped again.

He said,”Ese cigarro es de un espiritu que anda por alli.”