Whatever you want to call roll your own tobacco: RYO, RMO (roll my own), roll-ups, rolllies, blunts, hand rolled cigarettes – the list of slang names is endless.
The actual “roll your own” tobacco term refers to cigarettes made from a specific brand of
pipe tobacco and combined with rolling paper or a cigarette tube, as it is more popularly known, to produce a one of kind hand made product.
- The roll your own tobacco product most consumers purchase is delivered in a resealable pouches, tins or more exoctic containers.
- The actual product is made by inserting shredded tobacco into a manual or electric machine and then making the cigarette.
- Some roll your own folks create the cigarette from hand, rolling a smoke like the cowboys did back in the day and some prefer using a manual or electric cigarette machine.
- A hand or machine rolled cigarette gives a smoker the ability to create a 100% (just about) customized product that can have any diameter, which gives the consumer smoker the ability to control the flavor and strength of the final product.
- Roll your own tobacco here in the U.S. is classified by the IRS under a section of the tax code that provides an exemption for people who practice the roll your own lifestyle versus the cost of a the traditional cigarette that is mass produced by a tobacco company.
- Outside the United States regulations for tar and nicotine levels are not applicable for roll your own tobacco; it’s taxed and priced at a lower rate than traditional tobacco.
- If you are Dutch and/or want to go to the land where roll your own dominates the culture over half of all tobacco products sold in Holland are in fact roll your own tobacco.
Rolling Machines are Integral Products to the Roll Your Own Community
A manual or electric rolling machine functions by just inserting pipe tobacco into a chamber, inserting a rolling paper or tube and pulling a lever for a manual machine or pressing the button for an electric machine.
You can typically roll a cigarette in one of three sizes:70mm, 79mm and 110mm, with the 70mm size producing a roll your own cigarette that is about the size of a commercial cigarette.
Which product – manual or electric? The answer is determined by the volume of roll your own tobacco products you are using per day; under 20 per day and a classic manual machine which you can buy for under $50 is probably the right choice. If higher volumes, then an electric cigarette machine is well worth the additional cost, averaging $50-100, depending on the features you want, like any consumer product.
Electric rolling machines are fast: a typical user who knows what they are doing can product a carton of cigarettes in under ten minutes, with a price of under $25 which is about half most would pay for a traditional factory made cigarette.
What Separates a Roll Your Own Tobacco Smoker from the Crowd?
Your hanging out with your bae on the back porch – you’ve both imbibed a special blend of some type and the question of a roll your own smoke comes up. Better than whipping our a pack of smokes, pull out that tin of tobacco and roll your own and share it with her/him.
Roll your own smokes convey a certain panache, lending an air of swagger and lets you customize your blend. It’s akin to brewing your own beer in the backyard or basement – your self sufficient and you know what you like and what you don’t.
Roll your own tobacco smokers are a community of DIY enthusiasts who embrace things like woodworking with their hands, shaving with a straight razor or as earlier firing up their own still in the backyard and making their own booze du jour.
Some are drawn to the therapeutic process that rolling your own tobacco involves – your twisting the tobacco between the fingers, smoothing out the texture as you go, with some catchy tunes playing in the background. Your self sufficient in every sense of the word and you know what you like.
Roll your own smokers are a thrifty bunch too – they aren’t paying an arm and a leg for a traditional pack of cigarettes, with a cost topping out at $6-10 per pack. Some are saving hundreds of bucks a month using roll your own tobacco products.
You can spend the same amount of green on our fine OHM Au Naturelle Tobacco and smoke for a month or more. And, you can customize your smoke (flavor and size) by mixing tobacco and flavors in an endless smorgasbord of taste.
How to Customize your Roll your Own Tobacco at Home
Always start of the process with an airtight container of roll your own tobacco you’ve purchased. If you want to use booze like whiskey, rum or even good scotch (or even concentrated oils) start with a few drops. Don’t go whole hog into the process with a large amount of tobacco – use a small batch to test the flavoring ratios vs. raw tobacco.
Once you have added your flavor of choice to your tobacco shake it up thoroughly so it’s mixed properly, let the tobacco blend sit for one to two days in a cool shady spot (no direct sunlight). Then pop the lid from the container and let the tobacco dry out for an hour or two and then test it.
Learn more:
Five Great Videos on Pipes and Pipe Tobacco
