Cigars

Yup very cool, cigars about 20% cheaper too - been enjoying some Trinidad Short Robustos, beautiful smoke

Alright you can stop it now VV

Padron... Non Cuban... could it be? I think so, I'm in for the win.

Padron cigars. I'm impressed.

Padron... Non Cuban... could it be? I think so, I'm in for the win.

Padron cigars. I'm impressed.

.......if so, these are a good deal......

http://www.jjfox.co.uk/p41670/Padron-1964-Anniversary-Series-Exclusivo-1s.php?prodcat=1&startpoint=0

What am I doing wrong?
I struggle to keep any moisture in my humidor, the dial's barely above 50 half the time, and the cigars are getting rock hard. I've got two humidifiers in there I'm trying to keep topped up with distilled water, but I swear they were in better condition when I only had a tupperware box.

I have no way of keeping the temperature down, which doesn't help. I could keep the humidor in the car I suppose!

Any tips?

What am I doing wrong?
I struggle to keep any moisture in my humidor, the dial's barely above 50 half the time, and the cigars are getting rock hard. I've got two humidifiers in there I'm trying to keep topped up with distilled water, but I swear they were in better condition when I only had a tupperware box.

I have no way of keeping the temperature down, which doesn't help. I could keep the humidor in the car I suppose!

Any tips?

Might be a daft question, but did you "season" / prepare your humidor before putting your cigars in?

Here's a good link on what to do, if you haven't:

http://www.cigarpleasures.com/display/humidor_setup_and_care.html

I did, if I remember correctly. I'm just not very good at checking it every day. Mind you, I shouldn't have to should I?

Wooden humidors are lovely, but many just aren't up to the task. A lot of times the craftsmanship isn't ideal for storing cigars as they don't seal well. If it's a humidor with a lifting lid, you should be able to let the lid drop from a few inches and it won't slam shut but sort of 'whoosh' at the end.

Another way to check the seals is to put a torch inside, turn out the lights and shut the humidor and see if you have any light leaking out.

As far as seasoning a humidor, the best way I have found is to buy a cheap spray bottle, fill it with distilled water and spray the inside. Wipe off the excess with a clean cotton rag or t-shirt, let it dry for a few hours, and repeat. It can take a few times doing this.

What kind of humidifiers are you using? They might require something other than just distilled water, ie, a propylene glycol/water mix. In the States cigar shops sell bottles of this but you can also just buy propylene glycol at a drugstore and mix it your self to a 70/30 or 60/40 ratio.

A dirt cheap solution for more humidity is to buy a small tupperware, go to a florist or craft shop and buy wet florists foam. Make sure it is the wet not the dry variety. It's essentially a dense sponge and just soak it with your propylene glycol/water mix and put it in the humidor.

Don't know if you can readily buy those things here as I have trouble finding just distilled water.

I don't know if you've calibrated your hygrometer, but if your cigars are rock hard that's probably not the issue. Still, it won't hurt to calibrate it if it's not been done. Put the hygrometer in a ziploc bag with a small cup or large bottle cap with a salt and water mix. The salt should have the consistency of wet sand at a beach and it will maintain 75% humidity. If you seal up the bag and leave it for a minimum of 24 hours to let it adjust you can see how accurate your hygrometer is. It should be very near 75% on the nose.

If all else fails, go back to the tupperware. I have some lovely wooden humidors but I don't store my cigars in them. I've used tupperwares, picnic coolers and wine fridges to store cigars. It ain't elegant, but it works very well.

I might go with the florists Oasis stuff . That's what's in the humidifiers anyway (they're round ones about the size of a Jammy Dodger biscuit).

You can get big bottles of distilled water cheap from motor factors (it's usually used for topping up car batteries)
I will buy more propylene glycol. I ran out, so have just been on pure water.

I calibrated the hygrometer with the bag of salt method and the wettest it said was 65 or 70, so I've been working on the "60 = 70" basis. Most of the time, though, it says 50. My flat is too warm I think.

Lower temps tend to make holding the humidity harder, unless your flat is Saharan, I don't think that's going to be the cause.

I think the propylene glycol will help you out and a larger surface area of humidifier as well.

I'm recalibrating my hygrometer at the moment. Although the instructions state that to do this, I should leave the hygrometer in a zip-lock bag with some wet salt for 4 hours, I've taken Dale's advice, and am leaving it in for 24+ hours. My bedroom gets pretty hot when the heating's been on for a while, and the RH in my coolidor regularly fluctuates between 2% and 5% (depending how long the heatings been on for). So I'm wondering, when the 24+ hours are up and I am pressing the claibrate button on my hygrometer, should I be worried about the temperature in my room (which is where I'm recalibrating)?

When I press the calibrate button, my hygrometer automatically goes to 75% RH (as that's what the RH shoud be in the zip-lock bag with the salt). But if that's the base point for the hygrometer - where it works RH out from, surely if the room was 10 degrees colder when I pressed the calibrate button, the hygrometer would be basing the RH on a differnet percentage...

Does that make sense? Am I explaining it properly?

Temp and humidity do affect each other and I'm pretty certain I've seen a graph that shows the relationship. However, that's probably far more scientific than our needs require. I also believe that the 75% humidity from the salt/water mix only applies at a certain temperature which happens to be around room temp.

I'd say hit calibrate and you should be fine. I'd be curious to hear what the reading was before you hit the button.

Some site I was looking at the other day suggested wrapping the hygrometer in a wet cloth and in about 10 minutes it should say 95%, and if not, adjust it.

I've heard of that too but I don't think it's the ideal trick. I think hygrometers react rather instantly so in 10 minutes it will say it's super wet, 95%! I don't think that necessarily indicates that it functions properly over the long haul, as in steady state readings in a given environment.

That's why I believe in a calibration that's somewhat scientifically accurate, ie, 75% salt and water solution in small enclosed environment. And keeping it there for at least 24 hours because that allows it time to adjust and function properly or bug out. Either way, it gives a better idea of what you're actually trying to use it for.

And if the wet cloth is too wet and water gets in to your hygrometer, you can pretty much assume any reading will be skewed for at least a while.

My hygrometer read 80% for the first 20 hours or so, now it's reading 79% (after a further 7 hours). I did take the battery out, and put it back in just before it went into the zip-lock bag though - that resets the hygrometer to factory settings, and the instructions say you're supposed to do it everytime you re-calibrate.

Not too far off but it means as humidity moves it could be off by ~7% or so.

Now the hygrometer is back in the coolidor it reads 67% - Looks like all that was needed was a recalibration. The crystals seem to be doing their job after all!

lol

i am at a wedding tomorrow afternoon.. the menfolk will be found in the cigar room of the 16th century great foster hunting lodge in egham, before the off.. i love fucking tradition and shit, despite my self enforced smoking/drinking ban before tour of flanders,

a cigar with a single malt whisky is in order esp wearing a morning suit lol
al x

My Humidor is playing up too - its a pretty cheap one and the seal isnt great.

Thinking of getting an Adorini Genova - anyone got any opinions? I use Xikar crystals for humidification, so more concerned about the quality of the box itself

http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/adorini-genova-cigar-humidor-cigar-capacity-p-7451.html

My Humidor is playing up too - its a pretty cheap one and the seal isnt great.

Thinking of getting an Adorini Genova - anyone got any opinions? I use Xikar crystals for humidification, so more concerned about the quality of the box itself

http://www.cgarsltd.co.uk/adorini-genova-cigar-humidor-cigar-capacity-p-7451.html

Not sure re: this make / brand, but I would only consider getting a 150 capacity humidor if you plan to age cigars (out of their original boxes).

If you're a low volume smoker, you could then you can spend a similar / lesser amount on a better quality smaller desktop unit.

It looks like a decent wooden humidor, but I still don't reckon you'd get particularly decent results. Also, I've been told that 150 capicty won't hold anywhere near that many cigars. It might hold 150 Partagas shorts, but that's about it.
Would you be buying it from Cigars Ltd. or have you found it cheaper elsewhere? For the money that C.Ltd are selling it for, you could easily get something like my coolidor. Full price for my set up (including beads etc.) was about £200, and it could probably be done for slightly less than that...

No not getting it from them, found it for about 170 - i need to stick about 100 cigars in there of all shapes and sizes - as tempted as i am by a coolidor, i want a traditional one as it takes pride of place on my desk! I am aging quite a few of mine at the mo too.