Storing Cigars in a Tropical Climate

[Guybrush]

Does anyone have any experience in storing cigars in the tropics? The humidity is between 70% and 100%. There is no 24h AC. I will stay for a year or longer and smoke 3-5 cigars per week.

[TheLiquidGator]

Sounds like a job for Piggy.

[Optic101]

Hi Guy,

The climate here is temp 26-32 C and RH 60-90%

For daily consumption I have a desktop which I keep between 60-62 % at room temperature (25-28 C)

To avoid to much temp change the desktop sits in a cabinet.

For storage I have a wine fridge and converted a larger Fridge to keep the temp between 18-20 C.

The wine fridge (12 bottle) could never keep the RH as there was too much condensation.

My solution was using airtight container for the cigars inside the fridge.

Since then the micro climate is stable.

For the large fridge I am using the same concept.

Used these infos as basic knowledge.

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=100310&hl=%2Bthe+%2Bvault#entry221211

Good luck and enjoy your time.

[kyee]

I've used Damp Rid cannisters to absorb excess humidity in my Aristocrat 4884 humidor.

[Scroats]

I would just use your preferred 2 way humidity media (beads, boveda, etc) and plan to dry them out periodically. Probably easiest to put in a bag with some rice.

I would also consider going a bit lower on the RH if temps will be high.

[Guybrush]

The problem is the desktop humidor. Eyertime I open it the humidity will rise. I guess the damp rids will not maintain a certain level of humidity and I will probaly need a lot of Bovedas.

[PapaDisco]

My Bovedas in Saigon slowly bloat up. I usually just bring a few home to San Francisco and swap them for the Bovedas in my tuperdore that are slowly going crunchy. But then I travel back and forth a lot. Has anyone experienced drying out a Boveda? With the membrane I doubt the oven would be a good idea, what about a cold, dry freezer?

Answered my own question. We moved in May to a new office in Saigon with much more serious air conditioning, and that alone is allowing my formerly squishy, jungle soaked Bovedas to slowly dry out.

[NastyPirate]

  On 2/18/2015 at 6:23 AM, Scroats said:

I would just use your preferred 2 way humidity media (beads, boveda, etc) and plan to dry them out periodically. Probably easiest to put in a bag with some rice.

I would also consider going a bit lower on the RH if temps will be high.

++ 1. This is what I do. I live mostly in Belize, which is "tropical". I have no issues at all using beads. I just tend to dry them every 3 weeks or so.

[Guybrush]

My Boveads arrived together with a high precision balance to check the adsorbed water content. It took me weeks to get the staff. A lot of things are difficult to get here. I also ordered liquid deodorant. Unfortunately the flasks arrived in pieces and the whole parcel smells of perfume. The Bovedas are each wrapped in a plastic overwrap but I don't know how tight they are. I really don't want to flavor my cigars with deodorant.

What a mess. Buying new Bovedas would take another month.

[SMQQKIN]

Cigars in boxes placed in sealed Ziploc bags with 65rh bovedas & a damprid bucket located in the bottom of my large humidor cabinet fixed my humidity issues.

[Guybrush]

That was my plan.

I was exited to get the Bovedas.

[PapaDisco]

If you don't have 24hr AC, but you do have 24hr electricity and can afford the wine fridge, that would be a big help.

The bovedas will handle your humidity just fine, but the big swings in temperature seem to make the cigars tend towards bitter somewhat more. At least that's been my impression in Vietnam.

[ImTripN2]

Where I live part of the year, the humidity rarely drops below 80-85%, and in my experience it is best just to leave them in their original boxes in a room without air con. I tried to store them in a drier environment, but as soon as I brought them out to smoke, they sucked up so much of the ambient humidity they were harsh and barely smokeable. After a couple weeks on the shelf, they acclimate and smoke just fine.

[PapaDisco]

  On 6/22/2015 at 4:18 PM, ImTripN2 said:

Where I live part of the year, the humidity rarely drops below 80-85%, and in my experience it is best just to leave them in their original boxes in a room without air con. I tried to store them in a drier environment, but as soon as I brought them out to smoke, they sucked up so much of the ambient humidity they were harsh and barely smokeable. After a couple weeks on the shelf, they acclimate and smoke just fine.

I also found that, instead of fighting to keep my sticks dry in Saigon, it was better to just let them acclimatize for several days or weeks before smoking. They are still somewhat more challenging to keep lit, but the burn even instead of the wonky burns I was getting with a 65%rH cigar that had just been brought out to a 90/90 deck. With the latter, the wrapper would quickly absorb moisture while the filler would stay dry and burn twice as fast.

[CdnLimitada]

I use a wine fridge as was already suggested. I have no idea how I lucked out but my particular one holds a humidity of about 60%. It isn't perfect but I love not having to do a thing to keep it at a stable temperature and humidity.

[lbagak]

I live in Malaysia which is 90% + humidity 25c degrees minimum. I just try and keep the temperature stable and use beads. Seems fine and no issues with the cigars.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk