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Weather got hot. Cigars won't smoke.

mb92755mb92755 Posts: 34 ✭
in Cigar 101
Our western Oregon weather just got hot and cigars now won't smoke. They seem soggy and won't stay lit for anything. I have been keeping my smokes at 70-72% and in air conditioned bedroom. This has been ideal for me right up to this weekend when it got hot. Temps are in the 90's. It seems as soon as I get out in the heat the cigar feels soggy, hard to light and won't stay light for nothing. I thought I had a dud last night but it happened again tonight with a San Cristobal Revelation. Has the rapid increase in heat ruined my delicately balanced humidity?

Comments

  • 0patience0patience Posts: 10,665 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2015
    Western Oregon where?

    It was only in the 70s today on the coast. But 80+% humidity from Portland to the coast could have something to do with your cigars.
    In Fumo Pax
    Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy cigars and that's close enough.

    Wylaff said:
    Atmospheric pressure and crap.
  • mb92755mb92755 Posts: 34 ✭
    I have a couple in a dry box for such an emergency. I'll start moving more cigars to drier conditions for the summer. I don't know how humid it is here in the Willamette Valley but it got very hot. I was in Newport yesterday and the temp barely made it to 60.
  • 0patience0patience Posts: 10,665 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Humidity around here is usually 80% during the summer.
    Yesterday was 80% and 69 degrees here. 
    Not sure what the humidity was in Salem, but it might be why you had problems.

    It's one of those things about living in Oregon and smoking cigars.
    In Fumo Pax
    Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy cigars and that's close enough.

    Wylaff said:
    Atmospheric pressure and crap.
  • peter4jcpeter4jc Posts: 16,506 ✭✭✭✭✭
    mb92755 said:
    I have a couple in a dry box for such an emergency. I'll start moving more cigars to drier conditions for the summer. I don't know how humid it is here in the Willamette Valley but it got very hot. I was in Newport yesterday and the temp barely made it to 60.
    Not sure a dry box will help you.  A dry box assumes that the ambient humidity is lower than your humidor.  Are you adding moisture to your humidor in any way?  Is your humidor in fact higher in humidity than the surround air?
    "I could've had a Mi Querida!"   Nick Bardis
  • CharlieHeisCharlieHeis Posts: 8,526 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Maybe check these out.
    "Boveda's patented 2-way humidity control is the only technology that monitors ambient humidity and adds or removes moisture to deliver a precise relative humidity, resulting in the ideal moisture content for your goods." - See more at: http://www.bovedainc.com/#sthash.CdglvhBW.dpuf
  • 0patience0patience Posts: 10,665 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2015
    I keep my cigars between 65-68%.
    In Astoria, it doesn't matter what the.temp is, the humidity is high. Beads are one solution. And at 72% around here, they are going to be pretty damp.

    Edit: what Charlie said. LOL!

    In Fumo Pax
    Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy cigars and that's close enough.

    Wylaff said:
    Atmospheric pressure and crap.
  • Gray4linesGray4lines Posts: 4,691 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2015
    Sometimes it helps to let the cigars acclimate to the outside temp and humidity as well. Take it out of the humi, go out,  and maybe wait a few min before lighting up.  I think sometimes it can make a difference. 

    Also, I know sometimes I like to blow a little air through the cigar to purge it.  This is usually fine, but with high humidity already, it does probably put a little extra moisture in the cigar.  

    Lastly, it's even more important to smoke slow so the cigar doesn't build up moisture and heat.  I've even let a squishy cigar go out for a minute to cool off then it does better after a relight.
    LLA - Lancero Lovers of America
  • jd50aejd50ae Posts: 7,900 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2015
    Went to Jackson. Half way there my cigar became to wet to smoke. Time of the year to order some tweeners just for driving..
  • Dark_RoastDark_Roast Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭
    Cigar Obsession guy does reviews of cigars outside on the net almost every day and he is in Tampa FL. Its hot and humid in the summer and he doesn't seem to have a problem. Check his site out and ask him what he does in the summer.  he might have some tips fr you.
  • mb92755mb92755 Posts: 34 ✭
    edited June 2015
    Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I'm pretty sure I need better humidity control. My humidor is a styrofoam container that some seafood was shipped in. It's nice and square inside instead of tapered sides like the ones you buy for picnics. I have a jar with crystals that is supposed to maintain 68%. I thought that was a little dry for my taste so I started using humi-packs at 72% and have liked it. I don't keep cigars more than 2-3 months and this has been working good.

    I'm testing a possibility that the COM cigars I got were over humidified in PA and arrived that way here. Both the cigars I had trouble with had just arrived last week and got put away while I went out of town. I haven't had trouble with the ones I had on hand.
  • jsnblnchrdjsnblnchrd Posts: 33 ✭
    It sounds like you just didn't let them rest long enough from shipping.  I try to let mine rest at least a month from shipping.  It takes patience (let's face it, it sucks waiting....lol), but it's worth it.
  • avengethisavengethis Posts: 5,689 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2015
    Well with it being a Styrofoam container you may want to drop to a lower rh in the summer when the ambient air rh is higher.  That will help balance it out.  Then in the winter when it gets a bit drier you can go to a higher rh.  Just be careful because at 72% if your temperature gets up there you will be more prone to beetles.
    Post edited by avengethis on
    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
  • Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,734 ✭✭✭✭✭
    avengethis said:
    Well with it being a Styrofoam container you may want to drop to a lower rh in the summer when the ambient air rh is higher.  That will help balance it out.  Then in the winter when it gets a bit drier you can go to a higher rh.  Just be careful because at 72% if your temperature gets up there you will be more prone to beatles.
    Beatles?! Oh no! Which type? George,Paul, John or the dreaded Ringo? 
  • avengethisavengethis Posts: 5,689 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I dont know what you are talking about.
    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
  • Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,734 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited June 2015
    avengethis said:
    Deny deny deny.
  • raisindotraisindot Posts: 1,294 ✭✭✭
    Bob_Luken said:
    avengethis said:
    Well with it being a Styrofoam container you may want to drop to a lower rh in the summer when the ambient air rh is higher.  That will help balance it out.  Then in the winter when it gets a bit drier you can go to a higher rh.  Just be careful because at 72% if your temperature gets up there you will be more prone to beatles.
    Beatles?! Oh no! Which type? George,Paul, John or the dreaded Ringo? 
    Could be the dreaded Oh No! Japanese Beatle, or the Billy Beatle, which only affects box-Preston brands. 
  • YaksterYakster Posts: 27,598 ✭✭✭✭✭
    We're having a heat wave ... so I moved my humi and tupperdor back upstairs after I fired up the air conditioner.  I'm hoping to avoid mold and beetles, my 69% Boveda packs have been doing a good job of keeping the humidity from climbing, but I've been looking at winedors on Craigslist.
    Join us on Zoom vHerf (Meeting # 2619860114 Password vHerf2020 )
  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Right now, it's 82 degrees with 34% RH on my patio. I just lit up a Varina Farms Breakfast Blend. If I don't fire one up at this time of day I won't get one at all - it'll be too durned hot. 

    Supposed to hit 102 today and 106 tomorrow and Monday. Not fit for man nor beast.....   B)
  • Usaf06Usaf06 Posts: 11,311 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Was 80 degrees at 5 am today when I got out of the woods from surveillance. The humidity was 76% and temps felt 86 degrees according to our local news. It's f'ing miserable
    "I drink a great deal. I sleep a little, and I smoke cigar after cigar. That is why I am in two-hundred-percent form."
    -- Winston Churchill

    "LET'S GO FRANCIS"     Peter

  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Usaf06 said:
    Was 80 degrees at 5 am today when I got out of the woods from surveillance. The humidity was 76% and temps felt 86 degrees according to our local news. It's f'ing miserable
    I sure don't envy you. My memories of Florida heat and humidity coupled with the bugs and other critters in the woods aren't fond ones. 'Miserable' is probably an understatement.... 
  • CharlieHeisCharlieHeis Posts: 8,526 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Usaf06 said:
    Was 80 degrees at 5 am today when I got out of the woods from surveillance. The humidity was 76% and temps felt 86 degrees according to our local news. It's f'ing miserable
    69° here with a high of 75 and a nice breeze to go with it. Very pleasant day.
  • spartanfunspartanfun Posts: 22 ✭
    South Louisiana today, 84 feels like 95 high of 90 today, 77% humidity
  • 90+_Irishman90+_Irishman Posts: 12,409 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Personally (and this really is all personal taste, find what works for you and stick with it), I prefer to keep my humis on a bit of the drier side of things and keep them in the low to mid 60's for rH. 61-64% is my happy zone, I find that they stay lit and hold ash better and more importantly I don't get that hot stringent tannic bite unless it is a very young cigar that would do that anyways.

    Brett
    "When walking in open territory bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them."
  • AlanSugarhouseAlanSugarhouse Posts: 15 ✭✭
    I am having some what of the same issues with the sticks I have been smoking down here (Humidity outside is 90%). The last  few either went out for no apparent reason. Or after a little while it was hard to get a good draw out of them. I am checking to make sure my hygrometer is reading correctly. Maybe it's my humidor. 
  • Usaf06Usaf06 Posts: 11,311 ✭✭✭✭✭
    High humidity will give cigars fits while smoking. Try dry boxing a day before smoking
    "I drink a great deal. I sleep a little, and I smoke cigar after cigar. That is why I am in two-hundred-percent form."
    -- Winston Churchill

    "LET'S GO FRANCIS"     Peter

  • Lee.mcglynnLee.mcglynn Posts: 5,960 ✭✭✭✭
    As I agree with @Usaf06 I think your storage rh is probably high! Take it down to low to mid 60's and you should be fine
    Money can't buy taste
  • Lee.mcglynnLee.mcglynn Posts: 5,960 ✭✭✭✭
    mb92755 said:
    Our western Oregon weather just got hot and cigars now won't smoke. They seem soggy and won't stay lit for anything. I have been keeping my smokes at 70-72% and in air conditioned bedroom. This has been ideal for me right up to this weekend when it got hot. Temps are in the 90's. It seems as soon as I get out in the heat the cigar feels soggy, hard to light and won't stay light for nothing. I thought I had a dud last night but it happened again tonight with a San Cristobal Revelation. Has the rapid increase in heat ruined my delicately balanced humidity?
    70-72rh?!?! Wtf!!! That's way too high and you've let the dumb internet persuade you that that's good! Boy that's very high and not good it's great for mold and Beatles but horrible for cigars! I wish I had read that first. 
    Money can't buy taste
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