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Heartfelt Beads and Humidor Conditions

dirtybranddirtybrand Posts: 3
in Cigar 101
Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this board, but I've been smoking for years. I just bought a 150ct Daniel Marshall humidor and I already own a Davidoff humidor. My question is in relation to the Heartfelt humidity beads. As we all know, no matter how good of a humidor you have, it's not airtight. It's not meant to be airtight. Keeping this in mind, what humidity should I purchase my humidity beads at? If I was keeping my cigars in an airtight container, this decision would be rather easy. I'd go with 65% humidity without a doubt. I'm assuming that if I go with 70%, my humidor will read about 67% or so. I don't want my humidor to be below 65% at any given time and I don't want to go as high as 70%. For me, the optimal smoking range is 65% - 67%. In my Davidoff humidor, I have 69% Boveda packets and my hygrometer reads 67%. Yes, my hygrometer has been calibrated properly. Any suggestions on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • CigaryCigary Posts: 630 ✭
    As usual it's all about personal choice....65% is something that most people keep in their humidors. One thing about wood humidors is they will tend to wander up and down if they aren't 3/4 full...stability is something that we want to keep. A Daniel Marshall humidor is really a great product as well as the Davidoff one you already have....you're to be congratulated for your tastes and choosing quality. It's not that unusual to have humidors that tend to keep less than perfect RH but even with great product we sometimes have to check the basics.....even with a perfect hygro. How is the seal around the humidor....dollar bill tested?? Check the seal with a small flashlight inside the unit in the dark to see if the seal is ok. If you are able to keep your humidor in between 65 and 70 I think you're fine but I know what it's like to want a certain number as far as RH goes.
  • avengethisavengethis Posts: 5,689 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The heartfelt beads keep the humidity at the rh of what they are rated for. Yeah opening will have it drop slightly but if you have enough beads it recovers quickly and again keeping it well stocked of smokes helps the stability. Another option would be to use Boveda packs as they have a 69% rh i believe.
    Team O'Donnell FTW!

    "I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
  • jadeltjadelt Posts: 763 ✭✭
    I use and like the 65%
  • RhamlinRhamlin Posts: 9,033 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I'm partial to 65-68 percent. But I Don fret unless it drops below 63 or over 70. That's when I either add a little moisture or some rice to remove it.
  • dirtybranddirtybrand Posts: 3
    Thanks everyone for their input. I decided to go ahead and get the 65% heartfelt beads for my Daniel Marshall humidor. First off, dealing with heartfelt industries is a nightmare. They have horrible customer service and it took them over two weeks to ship my beads. I ordered a nylon mesh bag to put the beads in as I ordered a half pound, which is more than enough for my humidor. I used the Boveda 84% seasoning packets to season the humidor for the recommended 14 days. After the 14 days, I put in the heartfelt beads without charging them. I figured it was best to put them in as they came so they could absorb excess moisture. After roughly a week with just the heartfelt beads in the humidor, I decided to put sticks in to help get the hygrometer down to 65%. Even with the cigars inside the humidor and twice using a hair dryer on the beads on the air only setting, the humidity hasn't budged much from 69%. It's frustrating because I feel that 69% is way too high and my cigars don't smoke well at this humidity. My hygrometer is properly calibrated so I know it's accurate. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Does it just take awhile to get the humidity to the specified bead level? I'm starting to think they sent me 70% beads as opposed to 65%.
  • The3StogiesThe3Stogies Posts: 2,652 ✭✭✭✭
    69% isn't bad. New humi, bunch of new cigars, may just give it some time to settle down. When I add a batch of cigars to my humi's the rh goes up for a while. I de-cello most of them. If the relative rh is low where you are just open it up for a few minutes, but I would wait if it is stable or trending down.

  • avengethisavengethis Posts: 5,689 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Like I said in the other thread heartfelt was closed for the last week and a half to two weeks of July so if you ordered during that time it took that long to get them. It was plastered all over their site and they offered a 15% discount on their prices during that time as well.

    But you need to give it some more time to settle down or do what I was talking about and just pull the beads out for now and let the humi sit until it gets to the 65% range. Then put the beads back in there and see what happens.
    Team O'Donnell FTW!

    "I've got a great cigar collection - it's actually not a collection, because that would imply I wasn't going to smoke ever last one of 'em." - Ron White
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    beads are very slow to bring down RH.
    they will do it, but its slow, especially if any of the beads have any moisture.
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • Lee.mcglynnLee.mcglynn Posts: 5,960 ✭✭✭✭
    kuzi16:
    beads are very slow to bring down RH.
    they will do it, but its slow, especially if any of the beads have any moisture.
    yup take your time!! I'd wait at least 2weeks
    Money can't buy taste
  • RainRain Posts: 8,958 ✭✭✭
    Cigary:
    you're to be congratulated for your tastes and choosing quality.
    Get a room ;)
  • CigaryCigary Posts: 630 ✭
    Rain:
    Cigary:
    you're to be congratulated for your tastes and choosing quality.
    Get a room ;)
    Lol....tis true as his choices are pretty darn good and to wade though all of the sub par cigars out there sometimes you just go straight to the best and forget about wasting time and money...that is unless you have more money that taste.
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