1st Humidor
Greetings everyone!
My name is Mike and I am fairly green in the world of stogies. Im a college student in Boston and love to unwind with a nice single malt scotch and a 'gar. Ive always just went out and picked up one or two at a time from the cigar shop down the street but i recently took the plunge and got a southport humidor from this site along with some Cusano c10s, corojo ltd diploma's, and some gurkha black dragons. Im really new to using humidors so what do I need to do to it to make it ready to store my slowly growing collection? My friend told me I needed to "season" it with distilled water in order to prime the wood for humidification and storage? is this correct?
Any further info will be appreciated...
Right now I am storing all 14 of my cigars in a large ziplock bag with 2 of those humidification pillows that came with my order. How long are these "pillows" good for?
Thanks,
Mike
My name is Mike and I am fairly green in the world of stogies. Im a college student in Boston and love to unwind with a nice single malt scotch and a 'gar. Ive always just went out and picked up one or two at a time from the cigar shop down the street but i recently took the plunge and got a southport humidor from this site along with some Cusano c10s, corojo ltd diploma's, and some gurkha black dragons. Im really new to using humidors so what do I need to do to it to make it ready to store my slowly growing collection? My friend told me I needed to "season" it with distilled water in order to prime the wood for humidification and storage? is this correct?
Any further info will be appreciated...
Right now I am storing all 14 of my cigars in a large ziplock bag with 2 of those humidification pillows that came with my order. How long are these "pillows" good for?
Thanks,
Mike
0
Comments
the pillows will last a few weeks but you wont need them for that long if you get your humidor seasoned.
to season a humidor you need to place a bowl of distilled water in the humidor along with your humidification device and hygromiter. once the humididty holds at about 70% rh you are good to put your cigars in. take out the bowl but keep the hygromiter and the humidification device. this should take only about 2 days. ...3 at longest.
my last humidor took only 24 hours. ... but i had a very big and shallow bowl in there and a pound of heartfelt humidity beads. the humidor was a 120 ct. it worked out well.
I was told by others that I need to rub the insides of the humidor with water as well?
Is it the same thing as leaving a bowl of distilled water in the humidor until I have an rh of 70%?
So in my humidor I have a hydrometer and a humidification device, Do i need to soak the humid. device in distilled water as well to keep it moist?
Thanks for your help
Mike
As for rubbing the inside with distilled water, I have heard both sides. One camp says do it, the other recommends not to. The nay-sayers view is that the liberal an application of water directly to the wood can encourage splitting. I myself would err on the side of caution, as well as advocate patience in the seasoning process. Your cigars will be absolutely fine in the bag with the pillows for a few weeks like Kuzi said, so take your time aging your new humi and you will be much happier in the long run
As for that humidification device, if it is the green sponge type, may I suggest upgrading to humidification beads? They are designed to both absorb and desorb humidity to the level they were built for. I use the 65% and they work, but keep my green rectangular sponge in the lid for extra water storage, as I live in the Northern Rockies and the climate is dry here. They also have 60% and 70% depending on your tastes; most folks here prefer 65% I have seen.
However, since your starting out, and your smokes will be ok in the bag with the pillows, I would most certainly follow the seasoning process that Kuzi talked about. I wouldn't take the chance of oversaturating the cedar
As for using a humidification device, Smoke=Fire has your back. Seriously look into using the beads, I think the majority of people here use them. They are so much easier to use and maintain. I use the 65% beads and living in So. Fla. I have the opposite problem from Smoke. Being that's its very humid here I only need the beads to maintain the humidity level.
Well Congratz. on your humi. and I'll also recommend the beads they're worry free...
Congrats on your first humi. I would definetly recommend against directly rubbing water onto your humi, I personally experienced splitting in the cedar lining of my humi when I did it. This is especially true if your humidor is a cheaper one, as the cedar linings are usually thinner.
Now on to the actually humidification. I recommend either Boveda packs or the cigar oasis. I haven't had good experiences with the beads. THe Boveda packs are available at almost every tobacconist I've been to and are maintenance free. Simply throw them in there and keep an eye on your hygro and replace when humidity starts going down. The cigar oasis is all I use now aside from my travel humidor(which I use the Boveda packs for) and I love it however it might be a little rich for you as a college student. If it isn't though DEFINETLY grab one.
Also make sure you get a digital hygrometer. I found one on ebay that you can calibrate.
Again Congrats.
What everyone has said is pretty much spot on. I would also add that you should get a digital hygrometer. The analog (dial) ones that come with humidors are usually inaccruate adn should not be used excpet for decoration.
Joe