{"id":1705,"date":"2019-10-26T21:21:35","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T21:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/news\/lifestyle\/los-angeles-and-inglewood-black-owned-cigar-lounges\/"},"modified":"2019-10-26T21:21:35","modified_gmt":"2019-10-26T21:21:35","slug":"los-angeles-and-inglewood-black-owned-cigar-lounges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/news\/lifestyle\/los-angeles-and-inglewood-black-owned-cigar-lounges\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles and Inglewood Black-owned Cigar Lounges"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">In recent years several Black-owned cigar lounges have opened, allowing people to stay within their own communities to enjoy one of their favorite pastimes.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">By Jason Lewis<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">African Americans are the second largest consumers of cigars, and Los Angeles and Inglewood provides a number of Black-owned cigar lounges for locals to partake in one of their favorite pastimes. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a lot of action around L.A. with the opening of Black-owned cigar lounges over the past few years,&rdquo; said Clifford Jones, operations manager at Smo&rsquo;Kings Fine Cigars.&nbsp; &ldquo;Among the Black cigar community, there are a collection of folks who enjoy cigars and socializing together.&nbsp; That greater community tends to float from lounge to lounge.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s a lot of friendships that are made, networking opportunities, and business opportunities that comes out of this smoking community.&nbsp; I think that it&rsquo;s a benefit that a lot of lounges opened up in proximity to one another.&nbsp; It gives people choices, and each has a different flavor.&nbsp; Some have a party vibe, some have more of a relaxed feel, and some are somewhere in between.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The African-American cigar culture in the greater Los Angeles area is so rich that filmmaker Kareem Fort is producing a documentary on the local cigar scene.&nbsp; He started off with a YouTube web series called &ldquo;Beyond the Smoke,&rdquo; and he filming a documentary called &ldquo;Smoke Big,&rdquo; which will feature 2nd Street Cigar Lounge in downtown, the Debonair Cigar Lounge in Mid City, Smo&rsquo;Kings in Ladera Heights, Drobe&nbsp;<span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Stogies<\/span> in Inglewood, and L.A. Lounge in Inglewood.&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/gjo9B-jZ1zM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Cigar smokers like the aroma of a good stick, and this activity is very relaxing.&nbsp; The social nature of smoking cigars keeps the culture going.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;Cigars bring people together,&rdquo; Fort said.&nbsp; &ldquo;When you smoke cigars, you&rsquo;re going to average from 45 minutes to over an hour.&nbsp; You&rsquo;re pretty much stable at that time.&nbsp; You&rsquo;re not going anywhere.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s not like a cigarette where you take a few puffs and keep it moving.&nbsp; With cigars, you&rsquo;re going to sit down and be around other people.&nbsp; You&rsquo;re going to spark conversation.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Many cigar smokers stop by the local lounges to watch a sporting game, or just to hang out with other people who enjoy a good smoke.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>2nd Street Cigar Lounge<\/strong>, 124 W. 2nd Street, just east of Spring Street in downtown Los Angeles. <span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>****Update: <span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>2nd Street Cigar Lounge<\/strong><\/span> closed.&nbsp; It reopened as <span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>The Debonair Cigar Lounge<\/strong><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span>&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/2ndStreetCigars\/?ref=br_rs\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/2ndStreetCigars\/?ref=br_rs<\/a><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-1700\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7791_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7791_web.jpg 900w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7791_web-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7791_web-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption><em><strong>2nd Street Cigar Lounge owners (L-R) Gregory Hayes, Joseph Williams, and Larry Pickens. Photo by Jason Lewis<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Pa-6-ESOga4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We&rsquo;re in a unique location,&rdquo; said co-owner Larry Pickens.&nbsp; &ldquo;Downtown is exploding right now.&rdquo; &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Pickens owns the lounge in downtown along with Larry Pickens and Gregory Hayes.&nbsp; The business partners have been a part of of Los Angeles&rsquo; cigar scene for years, and they like that Black cigar smokers have welcoming lounges to go to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We got started in 2014, and since then we&rsquo;ve seen other (Black owned) lounges expand across the city, which is good,&rdquo; Pickens said.&nbsp; &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve (Black people) never had a spot to call our own.&nbsp; We&rsquo;ve always had to go to other people&rsquo;s spots.&nbsp; We&rsquo;ve created our own haven in different areas of the city.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">For cigar smokers, these lounges become a home away from home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We create a family environment,&rdquo; Hayes said.&nbsp; &ldquo;When people come here, it&rsquo;s like &ldquo;Cheers,&rdquo; where everybody knows your name.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">While many people enjoy going to bars and clubs, cigar lounges offer something a little more laid back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;At a bar, people drink, they get a little loud, and they can get a little rowdy,&rdquo; Williams said.&nbsp; &ldquo;But at a cigar lounge, you sit, you talk, you smoke a cigar, you enjoy a game on TV, and you have a great conversation with other people.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s beyond the cigars.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s about the people.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">2nd Street Cigar Lounge is in a prime location because of the nightlife in downtown.&nbsp; Many people stop by this lounge either before or after a night out on the town.&nbsp; They also host special events throughout the year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Drobe Stogies<\/strong>, 1322 N. La Brea Avenue, Inglewood, south of 64th Place.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/stogieshop\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/stogieshop\/<\/a><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-1701\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7579_web.jpg\" alt=\"Drobes Stogies \" title=\"Drobes Stogies \" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7579_web.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7579_web-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption><em><strong>Drobe Stogies (L-R) owners Ryan Taylor and Jakim Stewart with general manager Vince Wade. Photo by Jason Lewis<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure>&nbsp;<\/figure>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/A3-02UpVPBs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Cigar lounges have hardwood floors, leather couches and lounge chairs, and fine art on the walls.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s the atmosphere that Drobes Stogies co-owners Ryan Taylor and Jakim Stewart and general manager Vince Wade have created.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;People like the ambiance of Drobe,&rdquo; Wade said.&nbsp; &ldquo;They feel relaxed, like it&rsquo;s their home.&nbsp; And they appreciate that. They vibe in here.&nbsp; They love the music and they feel like they can sit down and have a great conversation.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Drobe offers more than cigars and a cool place to hangout.&nbsp; They have a &ldquo;burn and learn&rdquo; event series that features a book club, health and wellness workshops, financial literacy workshops, poker nights, and a golf club.&nbsp; They also feature live jazz. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We went into this with the concept of &lsquo;intellectual entertainment,&rsquo;&rdquo; Taylor said.&nbsp; &ldquo;This has really resonated with the people in the community.&nbsp; People were thirsty to go outside of the traditional bar setting.&nbsp; Often people (in those establishments) can be too young and void of quality conversations.&nbsp; So we decided to create an environment where professionals can engage one another in an enjoyable and relaxed environment.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We wanted to promote interaction amongst our people,&rdquo; Stewart said.&nbsp; &ldquo;And networking and building relationships.&nbsp; There&rsquo;s conversations that are very key that go along with enjoying cigars.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Drobe Stogies is unique in that they also sell custom clothing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We&rsquo;re a cigar lounge that sells custom suits, shirts, ties, pocket squares, and all of the accessories that come along with it,&rdquo; Taylor said.&nbsp; &ldquo;The pairing of suits and cigars is a unique venture.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>The Debonair Cigar Lounge<\/strong>, 1111 S. La Brea Avenue, just south of Olympic Boulevard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thedebonaircigarlounge\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thedebonaircigarlounge\/<\/a><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-1702\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7015_web.jpg\" alt=\"The Debonair Cigar Lounge\" title=\"The Debonair Cigar Lounge\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7015_web.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R7015_web-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption><em><strong>The Debonair Cigar Lounge owners Antonio Martin and Dererk Harris.&nbsp; Photo by Jason Lewis<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The name of the Debonair Cigar Lounge lets customers know what they should expect from this Mid City cigar lounge which is owned by Derek Harris and Antonio Martin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We have a mature classic style,&rdquo;&nbsp; Martin said.&nbsp; &ldquo;When we thought about a name for the cigar lounge, the Debonair fit perfectly.&nbsp; When you come into the Debonair Cigar Lounge, you&rsquo;ll come into a classic and upscale style lounge.&nbsp; You&rsquo;ll experience the debonair lifestyle.&nbsp; That&rsquo;s an emphasis on cigars, fashion, respect, gentlemen, all in one place.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;When people come in, they sit down on nice, comfortable leather chairs, and reclining chairs that make them feel like they&rsquo;re smoking at their house,&rdquo; Harris said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Debonair Cigar Lounge has TVs for the sports games and they feature live jazz music every 2nd Friday of the month.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>SmoKings Fine Cigars<\/strong>, 6715 La Tijera Boulevard, in the Ledera Center.&nbsp; <a>https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Smo-Kings-Fine-Cigars-Tobacco-220291974685434\/<\/a><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>****Update: SmoKings has closed.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-1703\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R0597-900.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R0597-900.jpg 900w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R0597-900-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/6S8R0597-900-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Windsor Hills resident John Coleman stops by SmoKing&#8217;s get get some work done during the day.&nbsp; Photo by Jason lewis<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Smo King&rsquo;s Fine Cigars in the Ladera Center is like the man cave that every guy wishes he had.&nbsp; Big screen televisions line the walls with leather couches and sofa seats positioned just right so each person can watch the game of their choice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;This place is like a home away from home,&rdquo; said manager Darcel Goldson.&nbsp; &ldquo;Because of the comfort.&nbsp; You come here and there&rsquo;s peace.&nbsp; You can lay back.&nbsp; You have control over the TVs.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s not like we control them.&nbsp; Everybody respects everybody.&nbsp; The majority of everybody knows each other because of living in the area or from hanging out here.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">For Windsor Hills resident John Coleman, the lounge serves a few different purposes.&nbsp; As a health care consultant, he mainly works outside of the office.&nbsp; Instead of working from home, or at a local coffee shop, he swings by the cigar lounge which has free Wi-Fi. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;I make this my office, because if I&rsquo;m at home, I get preoccupied and won&rsquo;t do the work that I need to do,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp; &ldquo;But I can sit in here, where it&rsquo;s relatively quiet, and I can get all my work done.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">When there are conversations, just about everything that guys talk about is discussed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We talk about sports, politics, marriage, kids, life, everything,&rdquo; Coleman said.&nbsp; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s actually one of the places that I like to come to because there are a lot of older successful men here who have raised their kids and have moved on into retirement.&nbsp; They give a lot of sound advice about moving into the next stage of your life.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Smo&rsquo;Kings also features live jazz music.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>LA Lounge<\/strong>, 2521 West Manchester Boulevard, Inglewood, just east of 5th Avenue. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/laloungecigars\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/laloungecigars\/<\/a><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">LA Lounge co-owner Larry Solomon used to have to travel miles outside of his community to sit in a cigar lounge, so he created a spot for him, his friends, and cigar smokers in his community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;Most of the cigar lounges that we&rsquo;ve been going to prior to Black people opening their own, we had to go to places up on Melrose, or Downy or Carson,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp; &ldquo;They were okay, but they weren&rsquo;t us.&nbsp; We&rsquo;re not racist or anything, but it just wasn&rsquo;t us.&nbsp; We wanted something different.&nbsp; We wanted a place so that people didn&rsquo;t have to go out of their neighborhood to smoke their cigars.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">L.A. Lounge has a pool table, a patio, live music on Friday nights, Tacos Tuesdays, Wednesday night Bible study, Thursday night throwback, turn it up Fridays, and chill out Saturdays.&nbsp; The nightly events attracts a wide range of people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;This place isn&rsquo;t just for men; we get a lot of women who come in,&rdquo; Solomon said.&nbsp; &ldquo;They smoke and they conversate.&nbsp; This is a place for grown people to come and chill.&nbsp; We get everybody in here.&nbsp; Business owners, working people, actors, comedians, politicians, athletes.&nbsp; We get all ethnicities.&nbsp; Everybody comes here and everybody is welcome.&nbsp; Even though we&rsquo;re Black owned, my philosophy is that everybody is green.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><strong>Cuban Leaf Cigar Lounge<\/strong>, 424 E. Florence Avenue, Inglewood, off of Locust Street.&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cuban-Leaf-Cigar-Lounge-629436394207293\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cuban-Leaf-Cigar-Lounge-629436394207293\/<\/a><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Cuban Leaf Cigar Lounge may be the best kept secret in Los Angeles and Inglewood&rsquo;s cigar scene, and that&rsquo;s by design.&nbsp; The windows are pitch black so that people walking by cannot see inside.&nbsp; There is a doorbell at the front door and a sign that says, &ldquo;Reservations required.&rdquo; &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;A lot of celebrities and pro ball players come here to relax and not worry about people just walking in,&rdquo; said owner Pahvae, who is from Inglewood.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Once a customer walks in, they are met with a classy lounge with high-end leather couches.&nbsp; This lounge does not have a sports bar feel like other lounges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We&rsquo;re built for the ladies, so our decor is softer and a lot more romantic for them,&rdquo; Pahvae said.&nbsp; &ldquo;They need a place to come and feel comfortable.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Pahvae keeps this lounge and the cigars exclusive for his clients.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;We rotate our sticks out every week, so when you come here it&rsquo;s going to be a different experience,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp; &ldquo;Most of my sticks are limited, award winning cigars.&nbsp; So you&rsquo;re not going to find some of these cigars at the other spots.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Sisters of the Leaf <\/span><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SOTLSoCal\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SOTLSoCal\/<\/span><\/a><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\"><br \/><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-1704\" src=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_3524_web.jpg\" alt=\"Sisters of the Leaf\" title=\"Sisters of the Leaf\" width=\"450\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_3524_web.jpg 450w, https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_3524_web-240x300.jpg 240w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption><em><strong>Sisters of the Leaf members (L-R) Akilah Wallace, Tiffany Ibrahim, and Myesha Michelle. Photo courtesy of Myesha Michelle.<\/strong> <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure>&nbsp;<\/figure>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qldcLXVXmbw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Sisters of the Leaf isn&rsquo;t a cigar lounge, but a group of women who get together to enjoy cigars together.&nbsp; The group&rsquo;s founder, Myesha Michelle, was typically one of the few women smoking with the men at various cigar lounges throughout the city. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;I had no idea how many women smoked cigars,&rdquo; she said in an interview with the Youtube web series &ldquo;Beyond the Smoke.&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;As social media built in popularity, I found many women who were smoking cigars.&nbsp; So I figured that there was some way that we could get together and smoke together as a community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;My idea of this community is to allow women to smoke a cigar without felling that it&rsquo;s just a boys club.&nbsp; Because that&rsquo;s initially what people think.&nbsp; The idea is to let women know that this is something that you can do too.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Michelle has some simple advice for women who would like to try out cigars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">&ldquo;It is intimidating to walk into a cigar lounge, which generally may have mostly men,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp; &ldquo;I&rsquo;d say ask questions.&nbsp; The person who runs the cigar lounge has a love for cigars, and would be delighted to show a woman around.&nbsp; Be curious, and be open to trying it out.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Sisters of the Leaf host events at the Black-owned cigar lounges.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">In recent years several Black-owned cigar lounges have opened, allowing people to stay within their own communities to enjoy one of their favorite pastimes.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[1420,1426,1428,1419,1429,1418,1425,1421,1424,1430,1423,1422,1427],"class_list":["post-1705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","tag-2nd-street-cigar-lounge","tag-black-cigar-smokers","tag-cigar-aficionado","tag-cigar-lounge","tag-cigar-snob","tag-cigars","tag-cuban-leaf-cigar-lounge","tag-drobe-stogies","tag-la-lounge","tag-smoke-magazine","tag-smokings-fine-cigars","tag-the-debonair-cigar-lounge","tag-women-cigar-smokers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastandardnewspaper.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}