La Hoja Boricua puts Puerto Rico's cigar lounges, artisans and events on your phone

For a long time, finding a good lounge or a hand-rolled cigar on the island meant asking the friend who knows. Sergio of Cigars Podcast decided to put it all in one place. It is called La Hoja Boricua, a guide to cigars in Puerto Rico that fits in your phone.

When we talked, he explained what he is after: he wants to “put in the hands of Puerto Ricans a tool for easy access, and give artisans and owners easy access to the consumer.” After going through it section by section, I think he pulls it off.

What it offers

• Places. A map of the island with 28 lounges and 13 shops, from Aguadilla to Luquillo and from Arecibo to Ponce. You can filter by town, tap “Near me”, and each place has its Instagram and a directions link.
• Artisans. More than 30 Puerto Rican cigar makers and rollers, each with their town, their story and where to find their cigars. Some names readers here already know are in it, like El Club del Turro and Willy’s Cigars.
• Catalog. More than 40 cigars made in Puerto Rico, filtered by strength, by wrapper (Lares-grown leaf included) and by maker.
• Events. Launches, tastings and lounge nights, with the date, the place and a link to the original post. Each one can be added to your phone’s calendar.
• Mi Hoja. A free account gives you a humidor, a tasting journal, a step-by-step guided tasting, favorites and a “passport” that gets stamped for every place, artisan and cigar you try. There is also a section on pairings with rum and coffee.

The catalog, artisans, places and events are open without an account. You must be 21 or older to create one.

What I like most

It puts the island’s artisans on the same footing as the big brands. Many of these rollers have no online store and no distribution beyond their town, and here they appear with their name, their story and their cigars. The Ruta del Tabaco, which links places and artisans into a route around the island, is an invitation to go and meet them.

I also like that it works like an app without being one: no App Store or Google Play needed.

How to install it

The app is in Spanish.

iPhone: open lahojaboricua.com in Safari, tap the Share button, choose “Add to Home Screen” (“Agregar a pantalla de inicio”) and tap “Add”.

Android: open lahojaboricua.com in Chrome, tap the ⋮ menu and choose “Install app” (“Instalar app”) or “Add to Home screen”.

It is free and for adults 21 and over only. If you smoke on the island or are visiting, it is worth having on your phone.