jgohlke
My other hobby
After a year of newbie-ness, I have finally amassed enough cigar facts to put them together into a bit of cigar knowledge. What have I learned? Mostly, I have been overhumidifying my cigars.
Since I've been paying attention, I notice that the cigars bands are usually very tight on my cigars, yet slip off easily from aged cigars that are gifted/traded to me. Most of my cigars "cone" when I smoke, go out often and sometimes even split when I smoke them. They are hard to draw and don't produce that much smoke.
Finally, last week, after 3 failed attempts in a row to have a nice smoke, it finally dawned on me...no matter what the meter says, these cigars are too wet. Although both of my meters show 63-65% RH, the house is fairly warm (78-80) with no basement (Central Florida) and no place to really keep the cigars cooler.
I experiemented. The house RH is about 45-50% with the A/C on, so I put some uncovered cigars inside the house, by the return vent for the A/C. The air doesn't really blow on them, it flows over them (it's a gentle breeze, rather than fan-type wind). I smoked 3 cigars, "dried" in front of the vent for 1, 2 and 3 days respectively. The first day, the cigar was noticeably drier, burned better and had more flavor. The 2nd cigar was hard as a rock when I put in out and still that way 2 days later. Smoking it was futile, I tossed it. I'm chalking it up to a bad cigar. The last one (3 days of drying) was outstanding. Even burn, no coning, lots of smoke and flavor. Really a great smoke...I took my time with and really enjoyed it.
So, what's up? Even though I've read that RH is RH and 70% is 70% etc...I'm thinking that if I could lower my cigars to 70 degrees, they would initially be too wet until the RH stabilized at the new temperature, right? Does this mean they are too wet now? I think so...Also, I only smoke outside and right now (and for the next several months) it will be close to 100% humidity outside. If I try to smoke a big cigar, will it absorb enough humidity over the course of smoking it (1-2 hours) to affect the burn/smoke/enjoyment? It seems like it does.
For now, my plan is to continue to store them as before. But, before I smoke them, move them to the drying area for a couple of days and then store them in my travel humidor (dry box) until I smoke them.
Long-term, I'd like to find someway to keep them a bit cooler. Any ideas? Remember, no basement, no cool nights...the house A/C runs 24x7 for 7 months a year straight....
Cheers,
Joe
Since I've been paying attention, I notice that the cigars bands are usually very tight on my cigars, yet slip off easily from aged cigars that are gifted/traded to me. Most of my cigars "cone" when I smoke, go out often and sometimes even split when I smoke them. They are hard to draw and don't produce that much smoke.
Finally, last week, after 3 failed attempts in a row to have a nice smoke, it finally dawned on me...no matter what the meter says, these cigars are too wet. Although both of my meters show 63-65% RH, the house is fairly warm (78-80) with no basement (Central Florida) and no place to really keep the cigars cooler.
I experiemented. The house RH is about 45-50% with the A/C on, so I put some uncovered cigars inside the house, by the return vent for the A/C. The air doesn't really blow on them, it flows over them (it's a gentle breeze, rather than fan-type wind). I smoked 3 cigars, "dried" in front of the vent for 1, 2 and 3 days respectively. The first day, the cigar was noticeably drier, burned better and had more flavor. The 2nd cigar was hard as a rock when I put in out and still that way 2 days later. Smoking it was futile, I tossed it. I'm chalking it up to a bad cigar. The last one (3 days of drying) was outstanding. Even burn, no coning, lots of smoke and flavor. Really a great smoke...I took my time with and really enjoyed it.
So, what's up? Even though I've read that RH is RH and 70% is 70% etc...I'm thinking that if I could lower my cigars to 70 degrees, they would initially be too wet until the RH stabilized at the new temperature, right? Does this mean they are too wet now? I think so...Also, I only smoke outside and right now (and for the next several months) it will be close to 100% humidity outside. If I try to smoke a big cigar, will it absorb enough humidity over the course of smoking it (1-2 hours) to affect the burn/smoke/enjoyment? It seems like it does.
For now, my plan is to continue to store them as before. But, before I smoke them, move them to the drying area for a couple of days and then store them in my travel humidor (dry box) until I smoke them.
Long-term, I'd like to find someway to keep them a bit cooler. Any ideas? Remember, no basement, no cool nights...the house A/C runs 24x7 for 7 months a year straight....
Cheers,
Joe
