Home Cigar 101

hi humidity cigars

so i,like many, have problems with keeping the RH in check. it bounces all over the place anywhere from 80 down to 60%. usually im gone a few days from home on weekends and this is when the humidity skyrockets bc the days before i try to adjust the low RH. so im wondering what do you guys think is the best way to dehumidify a "wet" cigar. 1. a fast way like sticking them in a dry box or 2. slowly try and lower the RH. im thinking a fast approach would maybe dry out the outer surfaces and the middle would stay wet and when checked they would seem ok even tho theres an unbalance. with number2, to me the sticks would dry uniformly and have a better chance of being a more even drying until the proper RH (whatever RH u prefer) is achieved. just random thinking since i can never get my humidor to balance and stay that way for more than 2 days. by way i use just the gel pack things that you dip in water for about 15 seconds in 20 count humidors. on side note, do you think a fluctuating RH does anything to the flavors of the cigar. for example is it possible that a a cigar thats gone thru lets say 3 big swings of RH that would normally be a mild creamy nutty cigar possibly start to have more spicier muddled flavors. just wondering bc of my problems and seems like each cigar (of same brand lets say 5 vegas golds) always seem to taste different. seems like they taste good rite outta the shipment box but once settled in my humidor and this fluctuating occurs they end up having different tastes (still wrappped in cello by way).

Comments

  • CaptCapt Posts: 127 ✭✭
    This is a multiple question post. Let's see: .1 Never "dehumidify" a cigar rapidly. The only thing you will get is cracked wrappers and burn issues. .2 Yes, cigars can changed flavor profiles is they are over humidified. Ever smell a pile of wet leaves in the fall? They smell nothing like dry ones. You get the point. .3 Get a different media for humidification. I am the wrong one to ask, as I do not use beads, I use digital Cigar Oasis' in my desktops and walk-in.
  • i have tried the humidification devices that come with the humidor and yeah those dont work at all for me. i seen couple people talk about a dry box so thats why i was posting about this. i usually prop the lid open just a tad so humidity can escape to bring it down slowly yet still keep some humidity inside. my place is probably the worse to try and even store cigars in as i have old old wood windows that let everything in so temp is hi in house when warm and cold when cold so constantly fudging with the humidors. yes i need to break down and buy a good device but kinda think right now mite not be good time til i move into a place that is more temperature and RH controlled. oh well i think i mite just stick with lower RH and not mess with it much until it gets too bad.
  • ScramblerScrambler Posts: 746 ✭✭
    I'd say your best bet is to invet $10-$20 in some humidity beads. I recently went on vacation for 9 days, when I got back the hygrometer read the same as when I left. Every day when I open the lid its at the same spot. I had a hell of a time keeping my humidity down before I bought the beads. What makes them worth it is they can both release and absorb humidity, to keep it more consistent.

    And yea, lower RH is better than too high. You're much better off keeping them in the 60's than at 80%
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    again ill agree on the beads. but htis issue sounds like somehting that i had issue with when i first started.
    Im not sure where you are ihn your cigar life, but when i first started keeping cigars my humidity was all over the place also. It turns out that i didnt have enough cigars. It may sound funny at first but when y ou think about it, it makes sence. Cigars are hygroscopic and "breathe" water. if you have more cigars in there it will regulate RH because there are more things in the humi that are at your humidity to overcome when there is a change.


    ...im not sure if that even made sence to me... lemme try again...

    if you have a cup of water and you add 3 drops of food coloring you will get a very bright shade. if you add 33 drops of food color to 30 gallons of water the color will be much more washed out.
    this is kind of what is happening in the humidor. it takes much more water to change the RH when there are more cigars.


    i hope that made sence.
  • urbinourbino Posts: 4,517
    It do.
  • wmaxhamwmaxham Posts: 80
    I'd say it may be ur box?Try a more sealed box that wouldn't be effected by the temp in it house? Also. It prolly be best tokeep it box in the lowsest place posible in the summer and highest place in the winter. Lower to the ground would be the coolest place in summer. And warmest up higher in the winter. But these are only my theries. I don't no if it will actualy help much.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    i keep my humidor in the smae place all year. I also have crappy wooden windows. as long as the box isnt in the sunlight and you are ok with the temp youll be fine.

    id still witch to the beads.
  • dutyjedutyje Posts: 2,263
    I believe "hygroscopic" just means that a substance absorbs moisture, rather than it "breathes" moisture. Cigars are no more hygroscopic than a sponge. The real point is that cigars (like many substances) tend to achieve a humidity equilibrium with their surrounding environment.

    My theory:

    Having a lot of cigars in your humi will reduce the amount of air in the humi. When you open the box, there is subsequently a reduced air exchange. This creates a smaller volume of air which needs to be brought back to the equilibrium. This lower volume of air will also be spreading its effects among a higher volume of cigars, therefore the effect will be diluted. A box with only a few cigars will see larger swings in humidity because of the large volume of air which will be exchanged upon opening.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    dutyje:
    I believe "hygroscopic" just means that a substance absorbs moisture, rather than it "breathes" moisture. ...
    .... Having a lot of cigars in your humi will reduce the amount of air in the humi. When you open the box, there is subsequently a reduced air exchange. This creates a smaller volume of air which needs to be brought back to the equilibrium. This lower volume of air will also be spreading its effects among a higher volume of cigars, therefore the effect will be diluted. A box with only a few cigars will see larger swings in humidity because of the large volume of air which will be exchanged upon opening.
    first point: "breathe" was used because the moisture can go in and out, not just one way but i can see how that would cause confusion

    the air exchange may have something to do with it. however cigars are hygroscopic, but at a rate that is less quickly transfered than in the air. in other words, they hold moisture for a moment. if you have a full humidor at 65% rh and you open it for a moment the recovery time will be faster than an empty humidor because there are more hygroscopic elements in there. (beads, foam, wood, water pillows, boveda packs, humi pacs, a myriad of polymers, and of course cigars are all hygroscopic)
  • dutyjedutyje Posts: 2,263
    right... just like if you had a giant sponge taking up most of the space in your humidor, then opened it for 20 minutes and closed it again... the humidity would return to its pre-open state (assuming equilibrium had already been reached) very quickly... but if you have an empty humidor and conduct the same experiment, it would take a long time (on the order of days, depending on size) to return to its pre-open state.

    The point about hygroscopic was merely to say that it only implies the substance absorbs or attracts moisture... not that it necessarily relinquishes it. Saying something is hygroscopic really only makes a statement about the transfer of moisture in one direction. And actually, it will transfer that moisture more quickly than air alone.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    right. but if you filled that humidor with a block of copper the air exchange would mean little and the recovery time would be quicker than if it was empty but not as quick as if there are cigars in there. so in a way, cigars are a humidification device.
  • dutyjedutyje Posts: 2,263
    Now there I 100% agree with you.. because the cigars will be motivated to release a little moisture that they've acquired in order to achieve equilibrium (this is the non-hygroscopic part).
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    mmmmmm osmosis....
  • zoom6zoomzoom6zoom Posts: 1,214
    kuzi16:
    osmosis....
    would be a good name for a band...
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    zoom6zoom:
    kuzi16:
    osmosis....
    would be a good name for a band...
    they are a band. kind of a jazz funk thing goin on. they're from my area. I saw em once when i was back in school. it wasnt my thing so i didnt stick around for long.

    http://www.geocities.com/osmosismusic/
Sign In or Register to comment.