Hand Rolled Cigars

As regular readers of this blog know, Flint and I are cigar smokers, and we have enjoyed many a fine cigar in Korea, thanks to the good folks at Maska's Cigar Shop, located in the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Gangnam, Seoul.
This past Saturday, Maska's hosted a hand rolling event, which featured Alfredo, a roller from the H. Upmann Company. I took the opportunity to travel to Seoul on a hot and humid day with the threat of rain. It's a fairly quick trip to Seoul, though, and the hotel is conveniently located next to the terminal.
I arrived about 3:30. The event was scheduled to start at 4:00, but Alfredo was running a bit late. Each person signing up for the event was eligible for two cigars, so I signed up early.
Alfredo was rolling torpedoes, robusto's, Churchill's, and even double robusto's. I requested one of each of the latter two.
Alfredo set up on a table in the lobby. He had a cigar cutting machine, a wooden cutting board, and a couple of blades for trimming the tobacco leaves. Rolling cigars is almost an art form, and Alfredo is a master.

He starts be selecting the leaves that will become the outer wrapper. The leaf is folded in half, and the stem is taken out. The two halves are then trimmed for consistency, and then laid aside.

Alfredo begins assembling the leaves to be wrapped by bunching a variety from seperate piles into his hand, ripping off bits here and there, and making sure the bunch is a relatively standard length.
Once enough leaves have been put together, Alfredo begins rolling them in the outer wrapper. He makes it look so easy, and the finished product is so tightly wrapped, you wonder if the cigar will draw. Believe me, it does!

The only thing left to do after rolling up the cigar is to finish off the cap. It's sealed with wax, and topped off with a small piece of tobacco so that the one end is completely wrapped. The other end is left untrimmed, in a very rough condition.

The whole process takes about ten minutes to complete, and Vince (Maska's owner) made sure that Alfredo was happy by making sure a tumbler of scotch was always close to hand. Nice working conditions! I wish my boss was so considerate...
Vince says that these cigars are very good if smoked right away (I can attest to that). But after about a week, the cigar takes on a kind of "green" taste, and it's best to let them mature for about a year in order to get a good cigar taste.
After watching Alfredo for a while, and then receiving my cigars, I repaired to the smoking area for a puff. Complemented by tumbler after tumber of Glennfiddich, the double robusto was a magnificent smoke, lasting almost two hours. I was flying at the end of it.

I chatted with Vince for a while, and was lucky enough to be able to sign up for another cigar, this time a torpedo. I'm trying to decide if I should smoke it tonight, or try the Churchill.
Happy dilemma!

Tipping: Why should we do it?

One of the things I like about Korea is that there is no tipping expected. I think it has become too commonplace back home. Tips are expected and in some cases demanded. But why should we tip? How much?

My rule has always been tipping 15% IF the service was well above average. If the service was fantastic I usually tip 20%. I don't tip for normal service. And if the service was REALLY shitty I would leave them a penny. I still tip for exceptional service but I have been wondering why we should tip at all.

A taxi driver takes you from point A to point B and you give him a tip. Why? Isn't his JOB to drive you? Yet you don't tip the bus driver.

A waiter takes your order, brings your food and drinks. Isn't that their job? What about the people that cook the food? What about fast food restaurants? Don't they deserve a tip?

I have friends who tip at buffets back home. At a buffet!?!? They seat you and clear your dishes. What the kimchi!?

I understand in the past tipping may have been necessary. The minimum wage was much lower and in some cases all the persons earnings were tips. But those days are gone, at least in Canada. According to some of what I have read most people in the US, and probably Canada, don't claim their tips at tax time. So we are giving them extra untaxed money just for doing their job.

One of my old friends used to work at a place that got a LOT of business Friday and Saturday nights. On a good night she usually made over $100 in tips on her shift. There were some great nights where she made $300-400. On top of her of her wages. Tax free.

It seems that we are forced, by society, to give tips for average service. If you don't you are a miser, cheap, an asshole. I recently saw a commercial for beer on a US channel that actually chided viewers not to forget to tip. I already pay for your over priced beverage don't be lecturing me about tipping.

The main argument for tipping that I have heard is because the job doesn't pay enough. Well, I have worked a lot of minimum wage jobs in my life. Some of them in the service industry. If I found it didn't pay enough I LOOKED FOR ANOTHER JOB that did. Why should I supplement someones income for just doing their job? Why should I expect someone to supplement mine?

Others say that tipping means that the staff will work harder to please you. So they have to be bribed to do their job properly? That is pretty much what they are saying. Please explain Australia, South Korea, and all the other places where there is NO tipping. I can get great service there without being expected to bribe someone to do their job.

Add to that the fact you aren't REALLY tipping based on the quality of service. You are basing on the PRICE of the meal. One waitress brings you a meal worth 50$ and you tip her $10. Another waitress with the same level of service brings you a meal worth $100 so she gets $20 as a tip. Same service but you base your tip on the price of the meal. That sounds a little stupid.

While looking at tipping and its origins I found an interesting article in The New Yorker. While I like that Keller got rid of tipping I am not sure the service charge is any better. It just goes back to the issue of rewarding someone for doing their job. Pay them more and just increase your prices to cover it. Don't say you got rid of tipping and then force people to pay a service charge. You didn't get rid of tipping. You made it mandatory by doing this.

I try to avoid places that FORCE a gratuity on me. The hotels and restaurants that add 10-20 gratuity to their final price. What if I had crappy service? Why should I be forced to pay? Well, I choose not to go to those places so I don't pay it. When I tipped it was because I wanted to and I decide dthe amount.

I guess when I get home I just may start being an asshole and not tip at all.