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Humidification: more art than science?

Los Angeles, January 10 – We get letters:

“I have set up my adjustable humidity indicator twice using table salt/water in a baggie. I set it for 75%. It has been reading 80% now for three weeks. The cigars are soft/spongy to the touch. I have 50 cigars in a humidor that holds 75.

“My question is how do I reduce the humidity? I have been opening the lid for 20 minutes reducing the humidity. Thanks.”

Aaarrgh.

Salt water? Baggie? Cigars? Sounds more like a recipe for salt-water taffy than for continued humidification of tobacco. But it gives us a chance to talk about quality ways to store cigars without breaking the bank, especially for small humidors.

First, a few principles:

The black-letter rule for cigars is to keep them at 68-70 degrees F and at 70-72% relative humidity. Don’t forget it.

• Remember that it’s humidity and temperature that must be controlled. Don’t concentrate on one and forget the other: it’s a sure-fire path to disaster.

So many smokers focus on humidity that temperature is often forgotten. This can be an egregious mistake if the temperature reaches around 80 degrees F or above, when the hated tobacco beetle hatches inside the leaf and starts chewing its way out to the surface, ruining your cigar along the way. Entire boxes of cigars have been turned to dust this way. This is one reason why we recommended keeping cigars in cellophane, rather than nude, especially in locales with a hot climate like here in Los Angeles.

• Good humidity control requires maintaining an even level, rather than wide fluctuations in humidity which even out. Remember that as the humidity level rises, there will be additional water added to your cigars. This is why our friend’s cigars feel spongy. They have too much water.

The better humidity control solutions maintain humidity at a 70% level and even remove humidity from the air when it gets too high. There is an inexpensive product for this on the market which we like a lot and will discuss below.

• The easiest solutions are the best. Like the television infomercial slogan for Ron Popeil’s Showtime Oven, the best solution is to “set it and forget it.”

Again, there are good, modestly-priced solutions for this available. The best solutions allow you to keep your humidor closed and let the cigars rest.

Now, where can we got for help. There are lots of choices.

• The most popular are block humidifiers using some form of florists’ clay or surgical foam. Two of the popular makers are Credo of France and Paradigm (pictured), located here in the U.S. Credos must be energized using a solution of propylene glycol, which can be acquired inexpensively from any smokeshop. The Paradigms use distilled water.

Both Credo and Paradigm are excellent and do their jobs well. However, many users have problems with these items because they don’t take the time to refill them properly. It’s essential to let the excess “juice” drain out of the clay so that it doesn’t run all over the cigars! Once that’s done, you can put them into your humidor and they should be good for 1-2 months. Neither comes with a humidity gauge, so you have to check the cigars about once a week to be sure they are firm to the touch and not spongy.

Most smokeshops sell one or both lines and they’re not expensive, running from about $30 to $100, depending on size. Paradigms come in three sizes, the Credo line in five.

These are just two popular brands in a large pool of humidification devices. There are many other, well-respected brands such as Diamond Crown, Western Humidor, Cigar Oasis and others.

• More elegant and often as effective are humidification tubes, relatively new on the scene. Credo introduced “The Tube” in the late 1990s as a solution for travel humidors, but bigger and more effective devices are here to keep even 50 cigars happy.

Most impressive is the six-inch-long “Cigar Keeper Humidification Tube” which uses distilled water and simply sits in a humidor or even a cigar box like an extra stick. It’s self-contained and the water activates the interior crystals which maintain the humidification activity. It’ll set you back a grand total of $12.50 at Holt’s Cigar Company, not to mention many local cigar merchants.

For smaller amounts of cigars – a box, or a small humidor of 25 or less – there are similar, even less expensive products like ClimaGuard and DryMistat. Fill them with water and the interior crystals go to work just like the CigarKeeper! They cost $7.95 apiece and are offered by Holts, Famous Smoke Shop and your local retailer!

• Our vote for the best system of all – the ultimate in “set it and forget it” – is the Humidipak. Created by two former General Mills scientists in 1996, the Humidipak creates a two-way humidity control inside of a sealed packet with microscopic perforations to either let humidity out if needed, or to lower humidity by collecting it from the surrounding air.

Using a Humidipak is simplicity itself. Take the packet and put it in your humidor. Close the humidor. That’s it!

The Humidipak product has been so widely accepted that both the Arturo Fuente and Carlos Torano factories use them for maintaining humidity inside boxes of their own brands so that customers will receive their cigars in perfect condition. There are three sizes:

> Small (4 1/2 by 10 1/4 inches), for 5-10 cigars, at $4.95 retail;

> Medium (8 1/2 by 10 inches), for 15-20 cigars, at $7.95 retail, and

> Large (12 by 16 inches), for 50-60+ cigars, at $14.95 retail.

Each of the bags is good for 5-6 months (really!). And there’s no worry about whether the bag is performing. If the interior is still liquid (you can tell my squeezing it gently), it’s fine. If it’s hardened into crystals, throw it away and get a new one.

There you have it. Take your choice, but return that salt water in the ocean and open that humidor and give your cigars a chance to breathe. Then get yourself one of our solutions . . . set it . . . and forget it!
~ Rich Perelman

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