JFiz
What the shit man
Greetings all,
I have been enjoying an occasional cigar for many years. A few of my friends invest a monthly house payment into their cigar collection. I have been lucky to be included in the smoking of some of those sticks. Hind sight I only kept a few bands...
I purchased my first humidor about 8 yrs ago as I wanted to be able to keep some cigars handy. It probably holds around 50-60. I would usually just buy a hand full when I was going to a party/bonfire to share with others. It's always been more enjoyable for me to smoke with others. I figured I was doing my share as my cigar buddies shared with me.
Just a few weeks ago I opened my humidor as per my weekly reminder set on my phone to check/add distilled water to my humidifier and discovered a tiny bit of mold. It's was really a stupid mistake. I had put a folded paper towel in the bottom and had added a little bit of distilled water to it as I was a little low on RH which if figured was due to the cold weather of winter. I had planned on researching humidification devices but was preoccupied. There wasn't a problem with RH as the analog hydrometer that came with my humidor was stuck at 62%. I know that after checking it with the salt, cap, water test. It didn't even move after wrapping it in a wet towel..
To get on with it, I examined my sticks and all seems well. It was just on the paper towel and a tiny amount on the wood. There was only a cigar cedar smell to the humidor. I took a cloth with 91% Isopropyl alcohol and wiped the entire interior of the box down lightly and left the lid up for 2 days. Then repeated. It looked fine and smelled like cedar.
That prompted me to get my act together. I had a few $15 and $20 sticks in there from my friends along with some that my wife bought me a few years ago that I wanted to save for a special occasion. About 20 cigars in all.
In the meantime I bought an air/water tight plastic food container for storage and added a 69% Boveda while I got the wooden box ready to re-accept my cigars. I picked up some Boveda 84% packs to season the box and a 12 pack of 69% for long term. I threw out my puck that I had. I couldn't help but get another dozen sticks to keep the box at a "better level" for keeping the RH in line. I also got a digital hygrometer and checked the calibration. I am usually really detail oriented but slipped on the humidor the last few months with a newborn brought into my life.
So, it's been 15 days with the 84's in the box and it's reading 79% today. The house on the other hand is reading 32%. It's understanding that it's taking a while for the box to come to terms with the house RH and considering that I used alcohol. I'm looking forward to getting my humidor back in commission.
I have spent the last couple weeks reading everything I can (in the amount of time iv'e had) find about proper storage and care of my sticks. That's what brought me to this site among many others.
I hope to learn more and further my appreciation for cigars and hopefully meet some good people along the way.
John
I have been enjoying an occasional cigar for many years. A few of my friends invest a monthly house payment into their cigar collection. I have been lucky to be included in the smoking of some of those sticks. Hind sight I only kept a few bands...
I purchased my first humidor about 8 yrs ago as I wanted to be able to keep some cigars handy. It probably holds around 50-60. I would usually just buy a hand full when I was going to a party/bonfire to share with others. It's always been more enjoyable for me to smoke with others. I figured I was doing my share as my cigar buddies shared with me.
Just a few weeks ago I opened my humidor as per my weekly reminder set on my phone to check/add distilled water to my humidifier and discovered a tiny bit of mold. It's was really a stupid mistake. I had put a folded paper towel in the bottom and had added a little bit of distilled water to it as I was a little low on RH which if figured was due to the cold weather of winter. I had planned on researching humidification devices but was preoccupied. There wasn't a problem with RH as the analog hydrometer that came with my humidor was stuck at 62%. I know that after checking it with the salt, cap, water test. It didn't even move after wrapping it in a wet towel..
To get on with it, I examined my sticks and all seems well. It was just on the paper towel and a tiny amount on the wood. There was only a cigar cedar smell to the humidor. I took a cloth with 91% Isopropyl alcohol and wiped the entire interior of the box down lightly and left the lid up for 2 days. Then repeated. It looked fine and smelled like cedar.
That prompted me to get my act together. I had a few $15 and $20 sticks in there from my friends along with some that my wife bought me a few years ago that I wanted to save for a special occasion. About 20 cigars in all.
In the meantime I bought an air/water tight plastic food container for storage and added a 69% Boveda while I got the wooden box ready to re-accept my cigars. I picked up some Boveda 84% packs to season the box and a 12 pack of 69% for long term. I threw out my puck that I had. I couldn't help but get another dozen sticks to keep the box at a "better level" for keeping the RH in line. I also got a digital hygrometer and checked the calibration. I am usually really detail oriented but slipped on the humidor the last few months with a newborn brought into my life.
So, it's been 15 days with the 84's in the box and it's reading 79% today. The house on the other hand is reading 32%. It's understanding that it's taking a while for the box to come to terms with the house RH and considering that I used alcohol. I'm looking forward to getting my humidor back in commission.
I have spent the last couple weeks reading everything I can (in the amount of time iv'e had) find about proper storage and care of my sticks. That's what brought me to this site among many others.
I hope to learn more and further my appreciation for cigars and hopefully meet some good people along the way.
John
