Newbie with a couple of questions about storage!

[Texican]

Good afternoon everyone. I was hoping I could ask a couple of questions here. I'm just now getting seriously into cigars after many years of dabbling. Due to shipping delays (and a lack of common sense/timing on my part), I received my 10 cigar sampler yesterday...but my tupperdore components won't be arriving until at least a week from now. How can I make sure they are kept at proper humidity until then? I have a Xikar 15 count travel humidor that just arrived, and i stashed them in there. It has a small built-in humidifier in it. Do I need to moisten it somehow or is it already activated? As a side note, I don't have any distilled water on hand.

Thanks for any advice you can provide. I would hate to dry out my new cigars.

 

[Boudie]

If you have humidification on the way you don't have a problem. Cigars are normally shipped wet anyway. Keep them in your travel humidor for now.

What do you have coming in so we can kind of see if you have what you need?

 

[Texican]

If you have humidification on the way you don't have a problem. Cigars are normally shipped wet anyway. Keep them in your travel humidor for now.

What do you have coming in so we can kind of see if you have what you need?

Thanks for responding! I ordered the big (236 oz?) Sistema container, two of those Spanish cedar trays, a 4 pack of large 65% Bovedas, and a Caliber IV hygrometer.

 

[Boudie]

Sounds like you are on the right track. You may want to cure your new trays before placing the cigars in them. Are they coming in the same time as the tuperdoor?

Put a Boveda in the traveldore with your cigars while you clean the tupperdore and cure your trays.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Texican]

Sounds like you are on the right track. You may want to cure your new trays before placing the cigars in them. Are they coming in the same time as the tuperdoor?

Put a Boveda in the traveldore with your cigars while you clean the tupperdore and cure your trays.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks! Yup, it is (allegedly) all supposed to arrive at the same time. If my Googling is correct, curing the trays means wiping them down with a little distilled water and letting them dry, right?

 

[Boudie]

You can do that to get started but the trays will require time to absorb all the moisture they need. You can place them in your tuperdore with a pan of distilled water, or the bovedas. after a couple of days check the humidity. Wwhen everything is stable you can move your cigars in.

 

[Rupe]

Sound advice from @Boudie on this one!

Since you said you don't have any on hand, I would suggest picking up some distilled water next time you are at the grocery store. It is dirt cheap (like 89 cents a gallon at Walmart) and is well worth the investment to protect against mold and other contaminants.

As far as the humidifier in your travel humidor, disregard it. Your cigars will arrive overhumidified from the online retailer anyway and are not going to dry out that quickly that you will need to worry about it. As Boudie said, throw them in your travel humidor for now and add a Boveda when those arrive. They will chill out nicely until you can get your trays seasoned.

Also, when seasoning your trays, patience is your friend. This can take a matter of weeks, not hours or days. trying to short-circuit the process by wiping them down can cause warping and mold if you are not careful. For me it's not worth the risk.

 

[Texican]

Thanks for the advice! Do you figure I need to calibrate the Caliber IV, or is that step not needed?

 

[Boudie]

If you are going to use the 65% lbovedas try the hygrometer with just the boveda in a well sealed container or plastic bag. If close just adjust to the boveda. I think the packs are pretty reliable . I never understood calibrating to 72 or 75% is you are never near those numbers.

 

[Bondo 440]

Good advice here. Let me just say I have seen way too many people 'season' their trays and humidors before they have any idea what their Relative Humidity readings are starting off.

" I got my new humidor, wiped it down to season it, added 30 cigars, now I have a sky high 85% RH mess .. help ! "

Like Rupe says, wiping down trays will be a mistake. Take it slow and bringing the moisture up is easier to than drowning everything and trying to recover.

You can season the trays in the tupperdor first if you wish. Add a hygrometer to get the initial readings. The trays may be at 70% for all you know.
If too low, then add a small 1 oz distilled water in a tub, and monitor the RH. After a few days stability, then introduce the 10 smokes. This is the way.

Advanced Play: Honey Badger IDGAF mode:
Personally, since your cigars will likely be somewhat 'wet' (78%RH) I would just store the cigars in the trays in your new tupperdor and let the Bodeva do the work if this was my setup.
You're only talking two trays here, in a plastic tub. I bet the configuration reads high at first. I would think everything will balance out nicely as the cedar take some of the moisture in as well.

 

[Texican]

Thanks so much, everyone. I'm thinking I'll try the "just put everything in there and let it all balance out" approach. Just waiting for Amazon to ship my dang Tupperdor components.

 

[Bondo 440]

Thanks so much, everyone. I'm thinking I'll try the "just put everything in there and let it all balance out" approach. Just waiting for Amazon to ship my dang Tupperdor components.

Sounds good. Don't get me wrong, if you had 4 or 5 trays and a wineador , or a wooden cabinet, the game plan is different.

If you're talking 10 cigars, even if your environment you put them in is a "dry" 60 RH, that's the environment. It doesn't 'boom' immediately dry your cigars to 60.
( though more cigars would respond to swings even slower) So if it sits steady at 60%RH for 24 hours, adjust up. The guys here will advise. Hey, 60% might be your preference, you didn't say.

You can trust your Bodeva, but you need a hygrometer now that you are in the Tupperdor league, to monitor the store humidity.
Hopefully someone can make some recommendations. Some are better than others. Some are no good at all.

 

[Bondo 440]

You mentioned keeping your cigars at the "right humidity' but never mentioned what you prefer.......

62-67% RH Considered by some "dry" smokes at the starting end of the spectrum
Pros; nice burn, stays lit, profile benefits
Cons: If you go too dry you get your wrap unwinding ./ lower end can negatively affect taste profile / cracks easily .. while smoking or simply dropping on a carpet.

67-72%RH Mid- Zone

73-77% RH
Pros: I dunno. I guess they burn longer. I try not to let mine get this "wet" .I'm a mid zone guy. At 75 i'm on red alert.
Cons: higher RH is Borderline environment for Tobacco Beetles to prosper / / taste profile of cigars (definitely 5Vegas gold ) taste sour / Cigars crack while smoking (steam)

That's all I know . Let us know how it goes.
Have fun

 

[Boudie]

The Boveda guys will be on a Cigar Journal podcast this Friday 2pm EST and in the announcement was

- Boveda in 65% (for aging/high humidity climates), 69% (the classic), and 72% (for low humidity climates)

I learned this with experience but have never seen it as part of a post associated with the Boveda reps.

 

[Texican]

Interesting bits of info! I'm in a high humidity climate, but honestly it was dumb luck that drove me to order the 65% packs, not specific research

 

[Natefiet]

The Boveda guys will be on a Cigar Journal podcast this Friday 2pm EST and in the announcement was

- Boveda in 65% (for aging/high humidity climates), 69% (the classic), and 72% (for low humidity climates)

I learned this with experience but have never seen it as part of a post associated with the Boveda reps.

And it changes depending on your storage environment ie wooden/glass top humidor versus tupperware with airtight gasket. I would never use 72% in a tupperdor.

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[redneck_toy]

Good afternoon everyone. I was hoping I could ask a couple of questions here. I'm just now getting seriously into cigars after many years of dabbling. Due to shipping delays (and a lack of common sense/timing on my part), I received my 10 cigar sampler yesterday...but my tupperdore components won't be arriving until at least a week from now. How can I make sure they are kept at proper humidity until then? I have a Xikar 15 count travel humidor that just arrived, and i stashed them in there. It has a small built-in humidifier in it. Do I need to moisten it somehow or is it already activated? As a side note, I don't have any distilled water on hand.

Thanks for any advice you can provide. I would hate to dry out my new cigars.

Throw them all in a big ziplock bag. They'll be good for a week or two

 

[Altercall]

62-67% RH Considered by some "dry" smokes at the starting end of the spectrum
Pros; nice burn, stays lit, profile benefits
Cons: If you go too dry you get your wrap unwinding ./ lower end can negatively affect taste profile / cracks easily .. while smoking or simply dropping on a carpet.

I would disagree with part of this assessment. I’ve been at 65% for years. Never had any issues with wrapper unwinding or cracks. Low 60s maybe, but mid-60s is actually preferred for older cigars and aging. As you eluded to, I find it evens out the flavor profile on the sticks I like. It may hurt some of the body of the stick, but it brings out the complexity in the wrapper.

Also to note for @Texican. Any time you change the humidity in the stick it CAN go through a sick period. Flavors changes or uneven, and burn gets really uneven. That’s part of why it’s so important to have consistent humidity in your setup. Don’t be alarmed if you your sticks change at first. And down the road, give new sticks a couple weeks to acclimate to the humidity of your humidor.


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[Bondo 440]

I would disagree with part of this assessment. I’ve been at 65% for years. Never had any issues with wrapper unwinding or cracks. Low 60s maybe, but mid-60s is actually preferred for older cigars and aging. As you eluded to, I find it evens out the flavor profile on the sticks I like. It may hurt some of the body of the stick, but it brings out the complexity in the wrapper.

Also to note for @Texican. Any time you change the humidity in the stick it CAN go through a sick period. Flavors changes or uneven, and burn gets really uneven. That’s part of why it’s so important to have consistent humidity in your setup. Don’t be alarmed if you your sticks change at first. And down the road, give new sticks a couple weeks to acclimate to the humidity of your humidor.


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65% is also my preferred number as well. I used to do 70% but dropped to the 65 % club right around the time I got here and liked the results.

I believe our opinions are actually in agreement as well. My comments about the most drastic of conditions are evident, quote, "at the starting end of the spectrum" , which be 62%RH
(which you yourself refer to as low 60s) I reread and saw how that could be misunderstood.. I welcome your clarification for the good of the order.

@Texican , it's not unusual to experience a sudden surge in RH after introducing a new order of smokes to the Tupperdor.
Just throwing it out there, as some have panicked the first time they see this. If the storage unit has a proven stable RH% then just stay calm, everything will level out but it will take a bit of time, as quoted above by Altercall .

 

[Boudie]

When Boveda said to consider your environment when selecting Boveda Rh packets is it because wetter cigars smoke better in low humidity environments and dryer cigars smoke better in wetter environments OR

Is it because if you keep your humidors at a lower rH in damp environments the cigars and packets are better able to absorb the influx of damp air when you open the humidor and provide more moisture when opening in dry environments?

By doing what they suggest (65% packs in high humidity, 72% packs in low humidity and 69% in moderate environments) and assuming you do occasionally open your humidors are you basically smoking all your cigars at 69%?