I started working at a beauty and make-up design school on Tuesday (01/4/2014) and though it's been dead quiet, what with the holidays only finishing up today, it's been good to be somewhere and doing something to keep me mostly busy and earning for it.
Now, as the title suggests, this blog is actually about rolling a hand-rolled cigarette (with the aid of a rolling canvas, because let's be honest, being skeef means my rollies come out even skewer than me).
I'm going to reiterate that smoking is incredibly bad for one's health. I am fully aware of this. I also know that the damage done by cigarettes often takes years for the body to repair once one has kicked the habit, and with all these tar filters and goeters on the market I am fully aware of the different things (besides the smoke itself) that cause the damage. I've seen and heard enough horror stories about what the damage is, too.
On the other hand, some people derive a benefit from smoking (maybe one in every 1,000-2,000) and are often warned by their doctors that stopping will either result in serious health issues. Some asthmatics, for instance, immediately find relief when they start smoking, and switching over to menthol cigarettes has been found to benefit these smokers even more than the often chronic medicines they have to use.
Go figure.
For me, it's something to be enjoyed socially or after a hectic day, or even just for a few minutes' relaxation. Yes, I reckon that does count as a form of addiction, but I can also honestly say that I smoke much less than most other people I know, and it's getting even less as the days go by. Yay me!
So, when I started smoking on a regular basis I found that normal "box" cigarettes tended to dry out my throat, leaving me hacking and sneezing and running after glass after glass of liquid. I also found myself paying anything from R 30 to almost R 40 for a box of twenties every two to three days - once it was two days immediately after another, and I'm still on the low end of the "cigarette consumer scale". As a result I went back to my original smoking favourites: loose tobacco and flavoured leaves.
Fruit is such an amazing thing to flavour with, and one can even use essential oils to flavour plain tobacco, but basically tobacco is flavoured by the addition of fruit syrups (okkah tobac is a very good example), by storing it in the same container as a scented medium (such as a bottle of mint oil, opened, in the same box as plain tobac) or by the addition of oils directly to the tobac. I'm not sure how it works (the internet's a bit slow tonight, so I'm blowing steam), but most tobac companies use what is called a tobacco infuser to flavour their products.
When I say "leaves", I don't mean uncut tobac or banana leaves such as are used on the really high end or imported tobac products, but the paper used to roll the cigarette. Many companies offer smokers the option of flavoured rolling leaves for their rollies, ranging in flavour from plain chocolate to honey, coconut to liquorice and even assorted fruit flavours (I once tried the grape one with vanilla tobac - WOW!) They're made of the type of paper as money, but instead of using cotton plants they use - wait for it - HEMP! Yes, hemp, the same family of plants to which everyone's favourite green herb (liar, liar, robes on fire...) belongs. But, since it's made from the stripped stem of the plant and not those always highly suspect leaves or flowers, there's no TCH present in the paper itself. That means, either happily or sadly, depending on which way you swing, that you won't have any of those effects for which hemp (cannabis /marijuana/ dagga) reportedly imparts to its smokers.
Now, to the actual rolling of the rollie.
You need four things:
- Your tobac (plain or flavoured, whichever you're smoking or prefer. I smoke Black Bob's Vanilla or very occasionally Cherry)
- Your filters (unless you have cowboy lungs)
- Your lighter, and finally
- Your canvas roller. It's a little device made of canvas run over two movable bars that you load with filter, tobac and leaf and then actually make your rollie with.
When I'm really into it, I really do turn this into a little meditation ritual all on its own. You can start by breathing slowly and setting your "Four Tools" out in front of you, randomly or in some kind of OCD-inspired arrangement. You then pick up your roller, open it and place it directly in front of you. Take out a filter and place it in the roller (I like starting on the left, as in Western Calligraphy). Replace the packet of filters and pick up your tobac pouch, or tin if you've gone Moonshadow's route. Take out a nice pinch of the tobac and, bit by bit, layer it into the canvas cradle of the roller. Take your time with this, even if you're at a party. This is a meditative exercise and should be treated with some respect (even if it's only a little bit).
Once you've got an amount of tobac laid nicely into the cradle, close the roller. Most simple designs only involve pushing one of the rolling pieces towards the other and letting it clip into place; my Smoking Brand one actually has a flap that closes over the tobac to hold it in place. Whichever one you have, keep an eye on how easily it closes and how much tobac sticks out from between the two bars. If it closes with difficulty or there's quite a bit of tobac sticking out, open it up again (slowly, please, you don't want to drop your creation and start over) and take some of the tobac out, little by little, closing and reopening the roller until it closes smoothly and little or no tobac sticks out.
You then need to test the rolling action. Pull the canvas on the little bar closest to your body towards you. It should stick only a little bit when you start it, and then roll smoothly. Give it three or four rolls, then turn it sideways to check your filter. If your filter's moved away from the edge of the roller by more than a millimetre, you've take out too much tobac, or not put enough in the first time around. That's fine. Just add tiny amounts bit by bit until the filter holds its position.
On the other hand, if the filter doesn't move at all, slightly open the roller and check how tightly the tobac has rolled itself. You'll know when it's too tightly rolled: either it will stand out past the edge of the filter (which isn't always a problem) OR it'll look like a brown sea-sponge. You don't want the sea-sponge effect. take out and smooth the tobac again as with the closing of the roller.
Once you've got your filter in place and the tobac is at the right rolled density, take a leaf from the box. For the most part they're section-folded one into the next for easy removal from the packet. The gum that you wet is ALWAYS on the inside; that means, the same side of the paper as the direction of the fold. It'll make sense when you see it for yourself. Gum edge facing you, slide the lower, ungummed edge, into the roller. You'll know it's in properly when you let it go and it doesn't want to jump out anymore. Very slowly roll the canvas so that the leaf slides into the roller. When that thin strip of leaf with the gum on is all that's left, stop. You then need to wet your gum (licking is still the easiest) before you roll the leaf all the way into the canvas. Once it's wet, roll it completely into the roller. Give it two or three final rolls. You can then open the roller immediately to admire and then smoke your handiwork, or take a few moments to enjoy the feeling of the roller in your hands, giving the gum some extra time to dry out, before you smoke it. It's really up to you.
I'm off to bed. I had hoped to end off with a humorous little something, but in all honesty, I'm so lus for s smoke now I think I'll go and reenact my little rolling ritual.
Goodnight, and sleep tight. Remember, whatever's under your bed is probably more afraid of you than you of it.
XOXO
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