First Smoke Since Lowering RH

[Mattb82]

I was always a 69 degree and 67% RH guy.  I recently moved my stash to the basement a month ago and switched to 65 degrees and 60%RH. It's a completely new experience. Just smoked a RASS and experienced flavors I didn't know existed. No bitterness, greatly improved burn, just excellent experience for me. Flavor was just so distinct. Had a nice wrapper crackle on the pinch but not too much. Just right 

[stogieluver]

Yep.  A lot of us here have been advising FOH'ers to try going down to around 60rH.  It really is amazing the improvement in taste and burn.

[Jimmy_jack]

Mine stays 58-63Rh and I love it. That plus 24-48 dry box is key for me.

[PigFish]

... where is that 'dead horse' when you need him???

-Piggy

[RijkdeGooier]

Welcome to the club. 

[LGC]

Welcome to the proper storage club! Now isn't that a heck of a lot easier than storing too wet, dry boxing for a week, putting the cigar in the lettuce crisper, crossing your fingers, and hoping that it isn't plugged? Most people will never experiment and draw their own conclusions.

[Sean3]

Indeed...I have had similar results from lowering my rH.  Glad you found this awesome nugget of info, one of the many perks of belonging to the FOH Forum. 

[schquigly]

I keep mine as close to 60 as I can and my friend who I usually split boxes with keeps his at 68 and I've had a few of his compared to mine and vice versa, but he won't budge. I guess user preference is key, but I've had lousy results with his compared to mine.

[BMWBen]

I think this is slowly becoming one of those "The grass is green, the sky is blue" statements, which is good considering how popular the 70/70 suggestion is on some forums.

[sikfrayme]

I lowered my humidor from 67% to 63% about a year ago and have been so happy I have.  In addition I store a few cigars that I take with at 62% which has been working out great for me.  Taste and draw improvements have been significant!  

[LandCruiser]

I just finished my large wineador setup, and went with 1lb of 65% humidity beads.... 

 

Would the difference be stark enough to warrant spending the extra $$ to order more and drop it to 60% or should I just stick with the 65s? .... 

[BarryNY]

How big is your winedor?  My 28 bottle has about 1 pound of Heartfelt 65% divided up inside 2 nylon stockings sitting on the middle shelf.  The top is usually lower RH than the bottom.  I keep the CC on top and the still existing NC on the bottom:

I don't know how ordering more 65% beads would drop it to 60%?  Just don't overdo the distilled water...mine are barely charged...

Piggy - he needs a lesson in Heartfelt beads..........

[LandCruiser]

No no, I meant would ordering 60% RH beads be worth the $$ or would I be better off just sticking with what Ive got? 

 

I have a dual zone, so the plan is to do 1 mesh bag of 1/2 lb in each side. Good call on the upper shelves being a low % humidity, I will just stick a hygrometer up there and see what the top shelves are sitting at. May not need to mess with anything. 

[mnmlst]

Just before joining this forum, I started using 65% Boveda and I've recently ordered 62% packs. Looking forward to the spring after my stash has had a few months at 62%. Thanks to all the members for helping me see the light as well.  Now if I could just stop ordering boxes during 24:24, I could get a wineador...

[BarryNY]

44 minutes ago, LandCruiser said:

No no, I meant would ordering 60% RH beads be worth the $$ or would I be better off just sticking with what Ive got? 

I have a dual zone, so the plan is to do 1 mesh bag of 1/2 lb in each side. Good call on the upper shelves being a low % humidity, I will just stick a hygrometer up there and see what the top shelves are sitting at. May not need to mess with anything. 

They are currently not showing 60% beads on their site - just 65 and 70.

Everyone here extols the virtues of a lower RH environment so I think you are close.  I think you can be comfortable with somewhere bet 60-65%.  

Now, what instrument you are using to measure that RH....that's a whole other rabbit hole....

[LandCruiser]

2 hours ago, BarryNY said:

They are currently not showing 60% beads on their site - just 65 and 70.

Everyone here extols the virtues of a lower RH environment so I think you are close.  I think you can be comfortable with somewhere bet 60-65%.  

Now, what instrument you are using to measure that RH....that's a whole other rabbit hole....

Huh, thats strange, when I ordered 2 weeks ago there was 60-65-70 ... 

To measure I am using a Xicar hygro and the AcuRite remote weather station with display so I can check without opening the doors, etc. 

Both seem to be pretty accurate 

[Mattb82]

At the end of the day as Piggy says, there are no 60,65, or 70rh beads. There are only beads that you can charge or dry out to those 60,65, or 70 rh levels.

[BarryNY]

29 minutes ago, LandCruiser said:

Huh, thats strange, when I ordered 2 weeks ago there was 60-65-70 ... 

To measure I am using a Xicar hygro and the AcuRite remote weather station with display so I can check without opening the doors, etc. 

Both seem to be pretty accurate 

I'm using Acurite too.  I would put the Acurite in a "small" environment along with the Xicar (like your wooded humi) for 24 hours and see how they match up.  I have 8 of their remote sensors and 4 are spot on and the rest are off by 1-3%RH.  They only have a +/- 3% standard of accuracy.  I think the Xicar has +/- 1%.

The good news is that the Acurite can be calibrated.

[yhomas]

I have a coolidor that averages ~75F.  It was up to ~64% for a while, and the cigars were underperforming, so I deliberately dried it out to ~61% and things got distinctly better.  Tried a fee cigars at ~55% (sitting in AC) and that seemed no good (bitter). 

[LandCruiser]

4 hours ago, BarryNY said:

I'm using Acurite too.  I would put the Acurite in a "small" environment along with the Xicar (like your wooded humi) for 24 hours and see how they match up.  I have 8 of their remote sensors and 4 are spot on and the rest are off by 1-3%RH.  They only have a +/- 3% standard of accuracy.  I think the Xicar has +/- 1%.

The good news is that the Acurite can be calibrated.

Thanks for the help man, I do know that the AcuRite is incredibly slow at adjusting to changes in RH.... which really kind of bugs me, but it seems to serve its purpose in that if something does go wrong, I will at least notice it, even if its 5 hours later.... 

Im going to stick the AcuRite sensor on the top shelf and see what kind of reading im getting after 24 hours. 

The sticks I have had stored at 65-67% for the past 2 weeks seem to be smoking great at the moment, I will move a few up top and see if I notice any change after a week or so. 

[subport]

13 hours ago, Mattb82 said:

At the end of the day as Piggy says, there are no 60,65, or 70rh beads. There are only beads that you can charge or dry out to those 60,65, or 70 rh levels.

Because this is the truth. They are all the same no difference at all. It just depends on the water content you charge with. What I had 70%rh just works as a charm 62-63% rh now. 66F

[Mattb82]

100% @subport. He completely changed my thinking for the better with beads.