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Seasoned in a Week?

Ok, excellent. Thank you @MadMonk. Great lesson about the cigar having a tolerance as well. Never knew that. I use 70% beads and have rarely held at 70%. The RH usually sits closer to 67% which is fine by me so my logic is go a little higher and I likely won't maintain perfect humidification. I dont think I want my RH over 70% so the 69% should be sufficient.

Thank you all for your patience.
 
Cigar FF said:
Ok, excellent. Thank you @MadMonk.
Thank you all for your patience.
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You're welcome! Air exchange is another factor. The Desktop should get plenty if you smoke a few times a week to daily. I'd open the winedor for a few minutes every week if you don't open it pretty regularly.
 
Well, the winedor is another topic....lol but I do open it several times per week. The humidor is going to work and will get a nice workout there. Hence, I want to make sure the humidification is solid as some of the people I work with are pretty clueless and don't have the best "etiquette" that I've seen.
 
Cigar FF said:
Ok, excellent. Thank you @MadMonk. Great lesson about the cigar having a tolerance as well. Never knew that. I use 70% beads and have rarely held at 70%. The RH usually sits closer to 67% which is fine by me so my logic is go a little higher and I likely won't maintain perfect humidification. I dont think I want my RH over 70% so the 69% should be sufficient.

Thank you all for your patience.
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I actually don't know many people that regularly prefer their cigars at 70% RH. At least in my (rather limited) experience, mid 60's is closer to the average prefer range. And if you can tell the difference between 69% RH versus 70% RH, you, my friend, have pretty amazing observational powers. I wouldn't stress too much as long as you are within the ballpark.
 
My late 2 cents. I just bought a new humidor because I didn't think I'd out grow the 100 count HAHAHA. It's in the seasoning process now. Anyway, in that 100 count I use two large 72RH Boveda packs. My humidity stays right at 68 according to my freshly calibrated Hygros. I really like the bovedas and recommend you get some.
 
MichaelD said:
I actually don't know many people that regularly prefer their cigars at 70% RH. At least in my (rather limited) experience, mid 60's is closer to the average prefer range. And if you can tell the difference between 69% RH versus 70% RH, you, my friend, have pretty amazing observational powers. I wouldn't stress too much as long as you are within the ballpark.
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I don't like smoking anything at 70, but some thin and fragile wrappers, like Cameroon seem to do better with higher humidities. Long term aging, yay, smoking, nay. Hell, I smoke some dry boxed out of 65 for a couple days; typically, Nicaraguans.
 
I have noticed some of the cigars have been a little stiff. In my limited experience as well, I find that keeping the humidor at 70% is not as easy despite good seals, etc. I typically see the RH at 64-67%, which is where I prefer to smoke a cigar at. I usually don't smoke the cigar right out of the 70% RH. I wait a day or two and this has come to the way I appreciate the cigar.

I've only seen a couple of applications where a humidor is kept at 70% and its usually with active humidification or at the B & M's. I figure if I drop down to 65%, the RH in my storage will be closer to 63% which is negligible really. With this particular humidor, it will be at my job. The people who will smoke cigars are not the most knowledgable nor do they think twice about keeping the lid open for >5 minutes....lol The current humidor has a lousy seal so I figured 70% beads would keep me in a desirable ball park RH wise.

It may not be logical thinking but we'll see how it works and can always adjust it, if need be.
 
Quick Update: I decided to wait it out another 3 weeks or so before I put faith in the humidor being seasoned. After adding beads (70% Heartfelt) and some cigars before I brought it to work, which was roughly 8-11 days, I was holding solid RH at 66-67%. Brought it to work, loaded it up and for about 2 weeks, was holding at the same RH.

Fast forward to last week, I noticed the RH was way low, 52-55%. I resprayed the beads, added some more sticks so it was less to humidify and still, not getting above 60%. I'm wondering if the ambient RH at work is lower then my home, which is causing the cedar to shrink and tighten up a little, reducing the seal? It was quite sudden that the RH just tanked. I checked to see if it was dropped and there are no signs. Should I add more beads?

I currently have the small sleeve from Heartfeld filled about as much as it can be filled. I believe this is more then what is recommended on their site for a humidor this size. The humidor is opened several times per week so circulation is no issue. I'm not sure where to go from here.
 
Any chance curious folks are opening your box and gawking at the sticks?

If you suspect the rh at the station is lower than at home, you could get a desktop thermo hygrometer and measure both locations for a few days to compare.
 
Absolutely people are opening it but after 5 hours of the box being closed, I should expect the RH to stabilize a little, no? I'm pretty pissed about this RH thing...lol Just when I think I figured things out..... :mad:

I can certainly try measuring the RH outside of the humidor. I just don't understand how it went from being okay to low humidity.
 
Cigar FF said:
Absolutely people are opening it but after 5 hours of the box being closed, I should expect the RH to stabilize a little, no? I'm pretty pissed about this RH thing...lol Just when I think I figured things out..... :mad:

I can certainly try measuring the RH outside of the humidor. I just don't understand how it went from being okay to low humidity.
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Sounds like it's being opened too often and/or too long, and isn't recovering before it gets opened again.

The beads are passive, and will reach equilibrium, but they aren't instantaneous.
 
Understood. I wonder how you find the appropriate "recovery" time? I made sure I put extra beads in there to overcome the possibility of frequent opening/closing episodes. I have checked after 24+ hours of being closed and still have seen the RH low. I'll continue to observe. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Cigar FF said:
Understood. I wonder how you find the appropriate "recovery" time? I made sure I put extra beads in there to overcome the possibility of frequent opening/closing episodes. I have checked after 24+ hours of being closed and still have seen the RH low. I'll continue to observe. Thanks for the suggestion.
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As a worst case scenario, if someone left it open and it dried out...you are basically attempting to re-season it.
 
Well, it looks like I'm going to have to attempt to re-season the humidor as I cannot get the RH in the box above 55% unless I put the hygrometer on top of the beads. It's either a seal or somehow the box dried up a bit.

I checked the RH of the environment outside of the box and nothing was out of the ordinary. If a re-seasoning doesn't work, I will need to find a new humidor. Does anyone have a good recommendation for one that allows for displaying cigars, preferably under $150 U.S.? I am not a fan of glass tops as I've had issues in the past with maintaining humidity. I think this may also be b/c it wasn't a quality made humidor. I was thinking if I had something that was more of a display type, it would limit the need to frequently open the humidor. At this point, I am open to any suggestions as I feel like I completely suck at this humidor thing....lol
 
Just curious but why is it that you need to frequently open the humidor?

Ashton makes a good mid-level humidor that depending on the wood type can fall into your range. Alternatively consider switching to a Tupperware container. They are airtight and will hold the humidity level very well. That or make an inventory list of what you have in the humidor so that you don't have to open it to shop for cigars.
 
I echo the Ashton recommendation. You won't regret it. A solid humidor should be a good investment to keep your sticks ready to smoke and even short term aging if you wish.
 
Gentlemen, thank you for the recommendation. I will look at the Ashton humidors.

I've personally had 2 wood humidors and both of them suffered from humidity loss. I know they were both solid for many months then just crapped out. I'm beginning to think it's me...lol I then switched to a Lock and Lock for my main storage for a while. Still use it today. Flat out solid method for storing cigars, although, not the prettiest (for any newer folks reading this). I then had a small concern about temperature so I went to a winador. Zero complaints with it. Unfortunately, this wouldn't fit where I store the cigars at work.

I am thinking that something that can display the cigars is a good option. Although the tupperware is solid, I still think people would rummage through cigars to see the ones on the bottom. The people at work are pretty good with not leaving the lid open for extended periods of time. I do have to consider that people may not know how cigar storage works so it's best to make it as idiot-proof as possible.

Again, many thanks for the constructive guidance throughout this thread!
 
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