Humidor and proper storage / Seasoning
Hello, I am new to this and have read about beads but I don't see them on this site where do you purchase them and what exactly are they? When storing the cigar in the humidor do you remove the plastic wrapper from the cigar? What is the salt test and how do you perform it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
0
Comments
beads are a silica product designed to soak up humidity when it gets to high and put out humidity when it gets too low. Its a modified version of the "do not eat" packets at the bottom of beef jerky
i dont remove the cellophane when i put them in my humidor but it wont hut the cigars if you do.
the salt test is a test to calibrate your hygrometer.
here is the salt test:
get a bottle cap (i use the top to a gatorade bottle so i know i have enough salt and water)
get some salt.
get some distilled water
get a plastic zip-loc style bag.
put salt in the bottle cap.
start adding distilled water to the salt and stir untill it makes a salt/water paste.
place that little set up inside the zip-loc bag. dont spill it.
place hygrometer in plastic bag next to the bottle cap
let it sit for about 36 hours or so.
your hygrometer should be at exactly 75.5% RH. if it isn't then you need to calibrate it so it does. If its an analog dial style there will be a screw in the back. turn it untill it says 75%... if you have a digital that can be adjusted do so (read those directions) if it cant be adjusted then make note of how far it is off. My hygrometer is low by 4 so i put a sticker on it that says "-4"
kuzi16:
Thank you very much for your replies it is greatly appreciated, now when my humi arrives I'll know what I should be doing to get started.
ad far as plastic being off just to age... i dont see why. Cellophane is a porous material. there is air exchange. if you doubt this is true leave your sticks out in the cellophane overnight or a few days in the dead of winter. tell me they arent dry. I dare you.
i keep the cellophane on to protect my cigars. thats it.
you may just not like the Onyx. try another one later. Maybe your mouth wasnt ready for a cigar. some days are hit or miss. ... but it kinda sounds like you arent to big od a fan of a maduro wrapper. some are good some arent. go by what you like, not by what others say is good.
The other school of thought pretty much applies to the rest of the world, with some noteable exceptions, Davidoff for example. However many of these cigars that do not put cello on do so only out of tradition and trying to appear cuban.
Cigars take a little bit from each other through the process of exchanging oils. To test the fact that oils can seep through cello I have poured baby oil inside a cigar wrapper and let it sit, trust me it leaks out. I look at the cello similar to an oil filter in your car. It slightly impedes the flow of oil through my car but it prevents anything damaging from getting into my engine.
As far as the Onyx Reserve, cigars are very personal. One persons favorite cigar may be complete rubbish to someone else. Also take a Cigar Aficionado review with a grain of salt. A couple of things to keep in mind when reading a CA review. First and foremost they are a business that makes the majority of their money on advertising in their magazine. If you rip a company's cigar you think they're going to spend a lot of money advertising in your rag? Second, their reviews are based on the opinions of a few people after smoking THE FIRST INCH of a cigar. Yes you saw that correctly they tasted all 42 flavors of Baskin Robins in one inch of a cigar. When I see a highly rated cigar from CA or CI to me it means that the cigar is likely a high quality cigar but I never take it to mean I'm going to like it.
Im sure that a Cellophane tube with a few drops of baby oil in it would let the oils get through. however, this is hardly scientific on if the oils in one cigar would transfer to another. there is probably way less oil in one cigar than one drop of baby oil. ... probably a different viscus to it as well. there is (for lack of better terms) "osmotic pressure" holding the oils in one cigar. if all of your cigars have cellophane on them then there are two layers of cellophane that the very minute amount of oils would have to get through (if they even would seep out of the cigar in the first place)
Im sure there is a way to test all of this but i dont have the time, the patience, or the lab to do so.
I just think that given all the above mentioned variables that the chances of one cigar picking up a noticeable amount of flavor from another while both are in cellophane is slim to none.
and this doesnt even take into account if we could actually taste the difference if it DID make the trip.
besides that i agree 100% with what you said. Cuba has no cello cos well, they are cubans. (Davidoff is still snoby enough to ACT cuban.)
CA is not and never will be where i go to get Honest reviews. when there is that much money involved in anything, its almost impossible to be honest.
just one justification of my keeping cellos on
not only is it resistant to mold but insects as well.
Hey Pheobs, can you smell the infused cigars thru the box? If there are no aroma's lingering from the box itself why not? You could also place the box inside of a Zip lock bag and then into the collection.
So what you are saying here Pheob's , is that you have so many cigars that you are now box aging them? Lucky guy.