I am fairly new to cigars. For the past few years, I have smoked whatever friends would have, and sometimes I would buy a few sticks from my local B&M. I'm starting to get a bit more serious and I am starting to pay attention to what I am actually smoking. I'll be spending some time here looking for suggestions and absorbing knowledge now that the weather is finally getting better and I will be smoking more. Not much is better than sitting on the deck at night with a drink and a cigar.

Now, a bit about myself...

- I live about an hour west of Chicago.

- I have been a Cubs fan since birth, a Blackhawks fan long before you could watch them on TV, and like everybody else in Chicago a Bears fan as well.

- I am a homebrewer and my drink of choice is my home brewed beer and the beer my friends make. If that isn't available, I lean toward small batch bourbon.

- I have been told that I am proficient in two languages, English and Sarcasm

Goals for this summer include...

- Finding a good "yard gar" for when I am cutting the grass and doing other yard work. Thinking something in the mild to mild/medium range, and inexpensive.

- Smoke a bunch of different cigars to have a better idea of what I like and what I don't like.

- Perfecting my spent grain waffle recipe. Once that is done, I'll move on to pancakes.

Cheers. Anybody that lives near me is welcome to stop over for a beer and a cigar.

🍺

Kurt

Good mild yard gar, may I suggest LIGA4 and Mark Twain for a start. You can nail a bundle cheap and they are good tasting to me and a few friends.

Try to remain calm when bidding. it is not about winning, it is about getting a good price, way below retail. Once you have built up some street cred, start trading a few so that you will get to try an assortment of cigars and build up a circle of friends who you can count on for advice, and the occasional surprise.

Good luck Noob. 🇨🇮

Oh your intro was so promising too.......welcome aboard ya commie.

At least you're a Bears fan though. Patriot fans are azzwholes.

And what's up with home brewed beer with inexpensive cigars? At least you got half of it right. The BOTL's here will set you straight on the cigars. Try Fuente's. Get yourself a WOAM, relax, and hire a teenage kid to cut the grass.

Jay Cutlet is your QB.... 😂 😂 😂

jes

If your cigar smoking is limited by cold weather what about your brewing? I am stuck brewing outside and it is now starting to get too hot to brew in comfort (I live in Florida). Sometimes I wish I had an A/C indoor space but then I would need an alternative to propane and more importantly a dedicated space.

An expensive cigar in Chicago can be reasonably priced one elsewhere. Depending on what you brew, there are many suggestions in the Web on beer and cigar pairing. Should be a cool way to start exploring.

There are a few homebrewers on this forum. Welcome.

Was doing some home brewing a while back, one of these days I'll get back to it

And pay no heed to Tony.....he's always disagreeable

Palama, thanks for the reminder about Jay. Trust me, I'm not a fan of Jay, but he is still better than most of the quarterbacks that the bears have had (which isn't saying much).

tampatom, its good to see another home brewer here. I have family in the Tampa/St. Pete/Clearwater areas as well. My first two batches ever were extract and bottled. The third batch was all grain and kegged. A year later I had a 5 tap keezer in the garage along with a decent stereo system, video projector, and cable TV. The brewing happens in the attached garage, so the weather is a non-issue. I have brewed in some very cold temps, but with the garage door slightly open and a 200k BTU burner roaring, the garage stayed nice and warm. I will have the occasional cigar out in the garage as well, but not very often as the smoke tends to linger and the garage is used for more than just my "man cave". My dog loves the spent grain dog biscuits, and a friend with chickens and hogs takes some of my spent grain in exchange for fresh eggs (a definite win for me), I will have to try making some of it into bread.

cacman, don't get me wrong, the quest for a good and inexpensive yard gar is only so I have more money to spend on brewing and higher quality more full-flavored cigars to enjoy at night on the deck with my friends and my wife. I already have a teenage kid to cut the grass, my own, but he travels to Florida along with my wife to spend a month with family every summer, so I do end up cutting my own grass once or twice.

ZRX1200, I never said the waffles were for me. 😳 Breakfast is normally nothing but coffee (hot, black, and bitter) and maybe some farm fresh eggs and home cured bacon. My wife is the commie, but who am I to complain when she shares everything she has with me. As long as I keep her happy, she is more willing to share and I won't have to resort to going camping with you. 😨

I will check out some of the "yard gar" suggestions and try to hold off buying too much stuff until I get a feel for how things work around here. All the B&M's around me are starting to advertise their Father's Day sales, which are normally a good chance for me to pick up a handful of single sticks for a reasonable price to try before committing to 5-packs.

And I'll try to keep the sarcasm in check, at least for the first couple of weeks, but I cannot promise anything.

Kurt

Im on the other side of the city, just south of Gary.

Also a homebrewer, but have let it lapse for a while. With the weather improving, I've got some grain ordered. Grow my own hops, give my chickens the spent grains.

Stick around.