Pipe tobacco RH?

LiquidChaos66

So im looking to get some more pipe tobacco. The last batch I had I let dry out and its all crispy now. lol I wasn't too fond of the blend I got. Suggestions for storing it? What RH does it need to maintain? Sorry... im so very much more a cigar guy right now... but want to change that.

onestrangeone

You should get a few glass mason jars for long term storage or if you buy bulk or pouches. If you get tins when you open one if your not going to smoke all of it reasonably quick Jar it. A fair amount of what I've gotten is too moist to burn correctly so I take out what I plan to smoke later and let it dry a bit !5 min to a couple hrs. be careful, to dry burns hot and the taste changes, not in a good way! too wet and it doesn't burn well, gurgles and gums up. I don't know what the 'proper' RH is I'm still learning. I think a lot of it is simply experience and feel.

LiquidChaos66

I was using mason jars for my stuff prior to this. But I decided to use the glass bowl tobacco humidor thing that came from my wife's grandfather. it seemed to have a really good seal on it. but its also been over a year.... lol

Gray4lines

Rh isn't as much of a concern in pipe tobacco as cigars. It is somewhat less compared to 60-70%. As stated go with mason jars or other bail top jars with gaskets and clamps. Many desktop or display jars aren't good for long term storage as you may have found out!

jsnake

I have done this many ways and it seems it really depends on the tobacco. I have a few pouches with 2 to 4 years on them. Just plastic ziplock baggies and the tobacco has all its flavor and smokes great. I also have some that dried out and lost all flavor and suck. This applies to mason jars as well. While none have dried out some smoke the same or better and some suck. Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening is a great Fall aromatic that I jarred at the same time I jarred a tin of McClellan Holiday Spirit. After several years the Holiday Spirit has maintained it's flavor and smokes beautifully. The Autumn Evening has lost some of it's flavor and still smokes well but it is not good for storing long term. I think it is a matter of trial and error in which tobacco quality probably plays a part. I have a 2011 tin of Peterson Holiday that I have smoked tons of but never jarred. I just kept it in the tin inside the plastic and it is still full after 30 bowls at least. This tobacco has dried out yet it smokes better then it ever did before and the flavor is still there.

I always try to jar whatever I open. I just do not smoke fast enough to get through an entire tin quickly. Small tins seem to be small and you would think you could smoke it all quickly but I am telling you this pipe tobacco is deceptive. So what I am doing now is smoking all aromatics that are open and whenever I get through them I will move onto other tins which I am anxious to do. Have the original 2008 Holiday Spirit I want to dive into plus some non aromatic things to explore. From my reading I see most people agree that aromatics do not age well while non aromatics do better.

Personally I would not worry about RH at all unless you plan to go long term and in that case I would use Mason Jars. Most new tobacco is wet and doesn't smoke well. I know many people that pack their pipes anywhere from a week early to several hours before they smoke just to get the tobacco to dry out some so it burns better.

dr_frankenstein56

if you need a number, they suggest aroun 15 to 18% moisture content. which based on my math calculates to between 52 and 62 % relative humidity.

so a 8gram boveda or a tobacco coin work really well for that.

But I do usually set my tobacco out in a dish to dry a bit over night. Usually once i cant smell the plastic edge of the poly glycol i figure im good to go. this has worked for me most of the time.

Aj

LiquidChaos66

Lots of great info! thanks guys! im gonna be in the market for some pipe tobacco soon... I think ive figured out what I wanna get but im still torn between several tin samplers. We will see when the time gets here. lol Again, thanks for the great info I will bear all of this in mind and see what ends up working best for me.

dr_frankenstein56

LiquidChaos66:

Lots of great info! thanks guys! im gonna be in the market for some pipe tobacco soon... I think ive figured out what I wanna get but im still torn between several tin samplers. We will see when the time gets here. lol Again, thanks for the great info I will bear all of this in mind and see what ends up working best for me.

well whatcha looking for? I have about 20 tins open, if you would like to try before buying.

Aj

LiquidChaos66

Its currently a draw between several samplers and one specific type of pipe tobacco - Im looking at the Sutliff English sampler, Sutliff Aromatic sampler, the CAO sampler or Scottish blends. I haven't decided if I want to go English or play around a bit more with aromatics yet.

J.S.

dr_frankenstein56:

if you need a number, they suggest aroun 15 to 18% moisture content. which based on my math calculates to between 52 and 62 % relative humidity.

so a 8gram boveda or a tobacco coin work really well for that.

But I do usually set my tobacco out in a dish to dry a bit over night. Usually once i cant smell the plastic edge of the poly glycol i figure im good to go. this has worked for me most of the time.

Aj

This is right moisture by content (15-18%), especially for storage. If you are aging it needs to be in this range. More than this and it will feel sticky. Less and you will think it is just about right to smoke. For smoking I let it dry a little most people like it in the 12-14% range to smoke although sometimes a little less than that depending on the blend. Get below the 12% mark and it will feel very dry to the touch.

I have no idea about rh on this but once it is in the jar at around 18% I have had no issues with it drying out to this point.