The relative H argument for Habanos and a few questions

[CigarZen]

» It is all preference. Once you presume that they are being kept at a RH

» that will not cause damage to the cigars it is all about preference. 60%,

» 62%, 65%...whatever maximizes your cigar experience is the best RH.

Excellent point -- may be the question should be what RH/Temp do you find produces the cigars you enjoy most and why? What is it about cigars stored in those conditions do you prefer?

It seems at 65% my sticks smoke at bit cooler and may, depending on the stick, show more richness in the profile. Lower RH of 61-62% burned better and had a bit sharper profile.

What do you gents think?

[Ken Gargett]

» Lately however I have gone back to 68% for my Robusto's and Torps as they

» are more flavoursome again.

i would have argued for 67.6% for the robusto's and 68.2% for the toprs but i don't want to be picky.

[El Presidente]

» » Lately however I have gone back to 68% for my Robusto's and Torps as

» they

» » are more flavoursome again.

»

»

»

» i would have argued for 67.6% for the robusto's and 68.2% for the toprs

» but i don't want to be picky.

Ken. That is why you are the FOH village idiot ;-)

[stogies&hoagies]

» »

» I store my cigars in the 61-62% range as I feel they taste is better, burn

» better and age better. I also find that drier cigars have less problems

» with burn and splitting when smoked in 90%+ humidity (typical southern

» summer). This is just my opinion

I agree with this

[Ken Gargett]

» » » Lately however I have gone back to 68% for my Robusto's and Torps as

» » they

» » » are more flavoursome again.

» »

» »

» »

» » i would have argued for 67.6% for the robusto's and 68.2% for the toprs

» » but i don't want to be picky.

»

» Ken. That is why you are the FOH village idiot ;-)

i am disappointed to see that the prez has trashed rule 2 along with rule 4 of the FOH directive he put in place.

[Ginseng]

» So .....Ginseng

»

» Is the table that i have not correct, in regards to how temp effects

» humidity? I am in my first years of cigars, and want to learn as do many

» others. I think its interesting when we talk about humidity, not to many

» people talk about the tmp and humity combined. That was my point in

» posting the chart.

»

» ???Fohiba????

»

» actually my name is Stan for those who dont know

» So .....Ginseng

»

» Is the table that i have not correct, in regards to how temp effects

» humidity? I am in my first years of cigars, and want to learn as do many

» others. I think its interesting when we talk about humidity, not to many

» people talk about the tmp and humity combined. That was my point in

» posting the chart.

»

» ???Fohiba????

»

» actually my name is Stan for those who dont know

Oh heck,

Terribly sorry for the typo. "F" is near "C" and obviously I could use more time with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. There was no ill intent behind the mispelling as I spell fake Cohibas as "Fauxhibas."

Stan,

I don't think the chart you presented represents how temperature and humidity affect each other. In other words, how could changing the humidty in an environment change the temperature much at all.

What I really think that chart is is a table of saturation as a function of temperature. So, in other words, if you have a sealed container of air that is 70F and 70% RH, there is a certain amount of water in there along with the air. The moisture holding capability of air increases as a function of temperature. So, when you heat up this sealed container, the level of saturation, here measured as the relative humidty, decreases. Same amount of water in the air. However the saturation level is lower because the air can actually hold more water.

The same case for cooling it down. Moisture capacity goes down at colder temperatures, thus, the saturation level (which is a relative measure) goes up.

In both cases, because the container is sealed, no water can get in or out. So if there were 5 grams of water to begin with, there will be 5 g no matter the temperature. This is why the 60F value of relative humidity is "not possible" Clearly it is possible. What this really means is that the air is 100% saturated and if you cool it down any further, since the moisture capacity of the air is exceeded, the water has no place else to go but to condense out onto the walls of the container.

Now, throw some cigars in there and the table no longer holds. The reason is that tobacco has its own saturation/desaturation (sorption/desorption) characteristics with respect to temperature. What you will have is an active equilibrium between the tobacco and the air as reservoirs of water.

Of course all this is of academic interest only. Cigars are best maintained somewhere between 60-75% and other variables will fine tune what the "best" value will be.

I hope that helps a bit but I think it might not. It has been many years since my college days in chemical engineering.

Wilkey

[Colt45]

» » Ken. That is why you are the FOH village idiot ;-)

»

»

»

» i am disappointed to see that the prez has trashed rule 2 along with rule

» 4 of the FOH directive he put in place.

sounds like a case of "you only hurt the ones you love"

[cigarnv]

Following the table it appears that I should store my cigars (60-62%) in an aquarium:-)

[El Presidente]

Reid.

Ken. Apologies mate. I was way out of line. Call our complaints and councelling line (1800BLAMESMITHY) if you think it will help.

[SuperT]

When I started in this game, I was the 70% guy. HAD to be 70%. If I errored, it had to be on the + side, 71%, 72%, etc.

NOW, as I've evolved as a cigar smoker - I've brought that number down. My cabinet is pegged at 63-64% and I've considered going lower. My cigars are smoking really well, but I'm wondering if it can get any better??? I used a Cigar Oasis Plus and it works flawlessly.

I also have an 'over-flow' coolerdor that is a little harder to zero in (as of late). It typically sits around 65% - but this morning it was at 69% (heh-heh). I use kitty litter beads in that one.

[soutso]

I have been asked to post my thoughts on the best relative humidity at which Habanos cigars should be stored.

I have given it a lot of thought and the argument is perhaps not as cut and dried as I expected.

Within the humidor here at CZAR house, we store cigars at 68% RH (63 F) We generally hold 7-10 dasy supply within our humidor and so it is important to hold the cigars at almost the optimum humidity for the vast majority of cigars.

In our longterm storage warehouse we store the cigars at 70-72% RH and at a lower temp (14 degrees Celsius).

In my private humidor I store my Cuban cigars at 65% relative humidity. However I generally place the cigars I am going to smoke over the weekend in a dry box (60% RH) on Friday night when I get home from Rugby training. This is ony for cigars which I will smoke over the weekend.

Lately however I have gone back to 68% for my Robusto's and Torps as they are more flavoursome again.

Using the above method (drybox at 60% RH)worked perfectly for my preferred long panetela vitola's and anything up to a 42 ring guage but I found my Robusto's and Torps to lose flavour.

So now I keep my Robusto's and Torps out of the dry box and smoke them at 65% RH.

Yesterday I tried a Robusto out of the CZAR humidor at 68% RH and it had me questioning again tha validity of lower RH for my bigger ring guage cigars.

Has anyone also experienced this? Differing relative humidity works best for different cigars? If so, what are your theories as to why and what is your storage solution?

Some great input.

This week I will take 6 2000 ERDM GC and split them into two groups of three. The first three we will himidify at 69-70% RH and the second at 65% RH. I and two other tasters (I will involve Ken) will do a review.

By no way a definitive answer but just another piece to the puzzle.

Dear Mr Presidente,

Somehow I stumbled on this old thread. Out of curiosity do you have an update on your findings?

Cheers