Newbie needs help

[thestogiewhisperer]

Hi guys,

First of all, I'd like to apologise as I'm sure many of you are sick of this question. Paranoia is creeping in however and would love to deal with this ASAP. I live in the UK and winter is creeping in. I haven't been smoking cigars for long but have built up a collection of 100+ cigars and want to make sure they are being stored properly. Having read a lot of the posts here about rh/temp I'm a little confused as to how to adjust my humidor and the effects of dry boxing during winter. Currently my digital hygrometer in my humidor is reading 66f/64%. I know a lot of this is down to personal preference but what is a temp/rh that you like to aim for as I'm honestly not sure where I like my smokes but know that I want them on the dry side. I currently have a humidor with 62%rh boveda packs in and a tupperdor with 69% boveda packs. Would you suggest also using 69% boveda in my humidor or focusing on maintaining room temperature and/or buying a room humidifier ?

I've noticed as of late that my cigar wrappers are cracking, especially towards the end of my smokes. Also potentially worth noting is that I never seasoned my humidor.

Sorry again for asking a question that has been answered many times before was just hoping for a simplified explanation. 

[cfc1016]

After 20+ years of trying every complicated approach under the sun, I just keep it simple, now. Large tupperdor for the majority of my stock. Couple of small otterbox/pelican-style traveldors for convenience. Everything is kept with 62% bovedas, at room temperature.

That's it. No bells and whistles. No complication. Just airtight containers at room temp with 62% bovedas. Done.

Everything smokes fine. I never have to do any fine tuning.

[thestogiewhisperer]

4 minutes ago, cfc1016 said:

After 20+ years of trying every complicated approach under the sun, I just keep it simple, now. Large tupperdor for the majority of my stock. Couple of small otterbox/pelican-style traveldors for convenience. Everything is kept with 62% bovedas, at room temperature.

That's it. No bells and whistles. No complication. Just airtight containers at room temp with 62% bovedas. Done.

Everything smokes fine. I never have to do any fine tuning.

Thanks man, thats reassuring. So just keep the radiator on but not too high to maintain room temp ?

[mprach024]

I have a cabinet humidor and I target 66F/66 RH for all my shelves.  They stay pretty consistent, every once in a while one of my shelves hits 67 RH when the humidifier kicks on at same time as the fan.  Maybe twice a day they overlap and that happens, but to be honest that’s still fine for me.  I’m really bad at dry boxing, not the performance but just remembering and planning ahead.  There’s a handful I’ll take out and put in a diamond crown humidor that I keep at 62-63 on Sunday for that week, but to be honest I’m usually pulling from my humidor and smoking after I set the cigar on the counter for an hour or 2.  I notice some difference between my dry box and not, but it’s give and take.  Burn issues are far less with dry box, and I get more earth and wood flavors, but feel the ones at 65-66 are smoother, and enhance the sweeter/creamy flavors. Although I am more likely to get a sour stick with the ones I didn’t dry box.  I don’t know, been smoking cigars for 20 years and it all could be in my head as well, and I’m ok with that.  I’d say try it, but don’t stress over it.

[cfc1016]

30 minutes ago, thestogiewhisperer said:

Thanks man, thats reassuring. So just keep the radiator on but not too high to maintain room temp ?

Edit: I don't know why my text got strikeout formatting, and now I can't fix it.

Just keep your house at whatever temp you want. Don't stress over keeping your house climate controlled for your cigars.

1. Airtight container. 2. 62% boveda. That's it. End of story.

Only other consideration I'd take would be light exposure. Keep em in the closet, or at least out of direct sunlight exposure. I don't have closet space for my large tupperdor, so I literally just drape a towel over it to block the light.

Seriously, though. You're unnecessarily overcomplicating it. Airtight container. 62% boveda. Done.

[Habana Mike]

Keys to storage.

Not too hot < 75F - avoid beetles

Not over 68RH - avoid mold, spongy cigars

No less than ~55RH - avoid dry and brittle smokes

Pretty much else you'll probably be fine.

 

[CaptainQuintero]

  Those readings sounds fine to me, especially in the UK. How are the wrappers before you light up in general? It's been pretty damp the just few weeks in the UK, if the cracking is only happening when you're enjoying and near the end of the smoke or could just be the weather outside.

  

[rcarlson]

I might go drier on the tupperdor Bovedas.  Take it down to 62-65 rh and I think you'll be doing better.  69% is too wet IMO.   

[Pag]

Tupperware and Boveda packs and done.
Pop em open every now and then and done. Humidors can be a lot of work when your starting out. Seasoning and all. Tupperware is the easiest and most worry free.


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[Meklown]

On 10/11/2020 at 6:36 AM, cfc1016 said:

Airtight container. 62% boveda. Done.

Agree with Colin. There are many more elaborate methods to be found on this forum but this is generally a very simple straightforward rule. 

On 10/11/2020 at 5:57 AM, thestogiewhisperer said:

I've noticed as of late that my cigar wrappers are cracking, especially towards the end of my smokes

Could be due to the dry environment, or if you're using a straight cut it could mean you're cutting too deep, or maybe you bite. If it's exclusively towards the end of your smokes I don't think there is much to worry about. If it's all the way through, the suspicion would be that your cigars are too dry. 

On 10/11/2020 at 5:57 AM, thestogiewhisperer said:

Also potentially worth noting is that I never seasoned my humidor.

Does that mean you're using a wooden desktop type of humidor? If that is the case, even less reason to worry about temperature fluctuations. As long as they are out of the sun, it really shouldn't be the case that your house heats up / cools down so drastically such that the cigars within a wooden container gets affected that much.

 

Good luck and happy smoking!

[Connoisseur Kim]

3 hours ago, rcarlson said:

I might go drier on the tupperdor Bovedas.  Take it down to 62-65 rh and I think you'll be doing better.  69% is too wet IMO.   

Much agreed @rcarlson! 69% is too wet for my taste as well. The only thing beats tupperdor is high quality cigar cabinets like Avallo or bigger coolidor IMHO.

[thestogiewhisperer]

19 hours ago, CaptainQuintero said:

  Those readings sounds fine to me, especially in the UK. How are the wrappers before you light up in general? It's been pretty damp the just few weeks in the UK, if the cracking is only happening when you're enjoying and near the end of the smoke or could just be the weather outside.

  

Wrappers are fine before lighting up, had a few smokes crack around the final third. I'm guessing its the weather as I smoke outside

[CaptainQuintero]

15 hours ago, thestogiewhisperer said:

Wrappers are fine before lighting up, had a few smokes crack around the final third. I'm guessing its the weather as I smoke outside

  It's most likely the weather I'm guessing then, I only smoke outside. I usually water the cigar if it's an older one or if the wrapper feels particularly thin and that solves the issues of risking a split.

  Might be worth having a go at that and see how you get on, with it getting colder now it could risk splits more if you keep smoking through the winter. I usually pack up shop until spring when it starts getting too cold!

[thestogiewhisperer]

2 hours ago, CaptainQuintero said:

  It's most likely the weather I'm guessing then, I only smoke outside. I usually water the cigar if it's an older one or if the wrapper feels particularly thin and that solves the issues of risking a split.

  Might be worth having a go at that and see how you get on, with it getting colder now it could risk splits more if you keep smoking through the winter. I usually pack up shop until spring when it starts getting too cold!

Looking into getting an outdoor heater, I unfortunately don’t have that same level of self control lol

[Gorangutang]

Hi guys,
First of all, I'd like to apologise as I'm sure many of you are sick of this question. Paranoia is creeping in however and would love to deal with this ASAP. I live in the UK and winter is creeping in. I haven't been smoking cigars for long but have built up a collection of 100+ cigars and want to make sure they are being stored properly. Having read a lot of the posts here about rh/temp I'm a little confused as to how to adjust my humidor and the effects of dry boxing during winter. Currently my digital hygrometer in my humidor is reading 66f/64%. I know a lot of this is down to personal preference but what is a temp/rh that you like to aim for as I'm honestly not sure where I like my smokes but know that I want them on the dry side. I currently have a humidor with 62%rh boveda packs in and a tupperdor with 69% boveda packs. Would you suggest also using 69% boveda in my humidor or focusing on maintaining room temperature and/or buying a room humidifier ?
I've noticed as of late that my cigar wrappers are cracking, especially towards the end of my smokes. Also potentially worth noting is that I never seasoned my humidor.
Sorry again for asking a question that has been answered many times before was just hoping for a simplified explanation. 

1. You should have seasoned your humidor. Patience is key. Depending on how long it’s been in use now probably not at issue anymore.

2. Check the seal on your humidor. If you can put a dollar bill under the Iid and it slides out easily it’s not tight enough. It also should be completely stuck.

3. If you want to use 62% then the most appropriate place for that is in a sealed tupperdor. So you could consider switching the tup and the wood humidor bovedas. General rule is of you are going to go a little higher on humidity the best place to do that is a humidor since they are not 100% air tight.

4. You are overthinking this - 65% boveda and keep them in a place where the temp is consistent and stays between 65-70 degrees and out of the light.


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