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Originally posted by Oracle on Fri, 21/10/2005 - 19:08

Straights always have dry tobacco, their paper is thick, and their filters are too long. This results in a cigarette which if you desire to smoke quickly gets to hot too quickly, if you desire to smoke leisurely its visually moving burn-line whips you to smoke faster, and if you desire to place it down for a minute disappears.

Hand-rolled cigarettes use hand rolling tobacco which is, when bought, always fresh and moist and each variety has a distinct aroma pleasing to the nasal senses. Instead of the needlessly thick cardboard cylinder of the straight the hand-rolled dons your personal choice of thickness papers - the thickest of which is many halvings of the aforementioned cylinders. Filters also come in optional sizes. These ingredients acquired, the roller is ready to roll.

Rolling is an art. It is an act of creation on the part of the roller: envisioned in the mind, given substance by the elements, given form by the hand.

"Lesson 4 - Consider the hand. See how its complexity mirrors its primary purpose; to create and manipulate. Delight in hand made things."

If time be short it does not take long to roll a cigarette. If time be leisurely and you of leisurely dispositions then a leisurely roll can become a pleasant and integral part of the smoking experience. In regarding the manner in which the smoke is drawn through the smaller filters of the hand-rolled, as opposed to the manner it is drawn through in those of the straight, you would be wiser for having considered the following.

When drawing from a straight the air readily lends itself to reaching the mouth. When drawing from the hand-rolled air gives a slight resistance. This leads to the smoker of straights having to breathe several times the quantity of air to get the same quantity of smoke. Their experience is diluted not just by this peculiar phenomenon but also by the fact that they will have to take in breaths that are not only deeper (sometimes to the point of endurance) but also faster. The smoking of a straight is a rapid experience when compared to the other tobacco arts. It is the only form which will happily burn itself to extinction when left to its self. Its youthful temper sharply contrasts with the quiet wisdom of pipe shag - whose length of time before it self extinguishes is negotiable when packing. The hand-rolled form, being negotiable to the extent of the artist's ability, transform the constants of the Straight into variables to be picked at a whim.

Consider the tobacco forms in the great chain of being. Would it not run thusly?
The Pipe
The Cigar
The Hand-Rolled Cigarette
The Manufactured Cigarette
The Being known as Snuff
Chewing tobacco
Wet Tobacco

Of course there are many subtle gradations between to numerous to mention - the Cigarillo. And of course there are smoking arts higher than The Pipe - The Spliff for example.

"Lesson 5 - be like the tobacco; sought, subtle, swift... and able to vanish in a puff of smoke."

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Comments -

Filters
Submitted by Loki on Fri, 04/11/2005 - 15:20.

I am a person who likes my roll-ups thin. This is partly because the particular tobacco I enjoy is known for its strong and sometimes harsh flavour. I see a lot of people using filters these days and it makes me think of taking scotch with a dash. It masks the flavour of what would otherwise be a very enjoyable experience.

What is your view on this?

"Older. Wiser. But still without a pint."

One-up-manship of your connoisseurmanship
Submitted by Tsu Much Chu Jung on Sun, 06/11/2005 - 20:25.

I nearly always use filters, except when I'm nearing the end of a pack of tobacco and want to make limited supplies go further (as when I use a cardboard "roach" it's always very thin). A filter doesn't mask the "flavour" of the tobacco, it just gives you less smoke for your pull.

But really, this thread is ridiculous. We're just glamourising our addictions by talking like we're connoisseurs. I smoke because it relieves my withdrawal symptoms and/or gives my hands something to do when I'm nervous or bored. Whilst I appreciate that people have different tastes in terms of whether they like strong or mild tobacco, those who think they smoke for any reason besides the ones I've mentioned are kidding themselves.