Tupperdor humidity problems

[thesmallprint]

In the run up to Christmas last year, I was careless with the humidity levels in some of my tupperdors and let the RH levels rise too high, but managed to bring it under control. Afterwards, many of the cigars felt hard, so I left them alone, assuming that they'd settle down when the humidity was reduced.

However, over 6 months later sitting at roughly 65% RH, the cigars still feel extremely hard - many of them are absolutely solid. I have digitial hygrometers in each of the tupperdors, each of which I've checked with the salt test, so I'm sure they're working as they should.

The other problem is that I added new cigars to one of the tupperdors a couple of months ago and it feels like they're going the same way as the rest (i.e. hard, poor draw).

So...would it be wise to try to bring the humidity down further? Or could there be another problem I haven't thought of?

I'm a bit stumped here, as I've never had any issues in controlling the humidity levels with my cigars until now - so any advice would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks in advance!

[SHAMZ84]

Im my experience which isn't that much a hard puro is normally a stick stored to dry or dried out. What humidity are you keeping your sticks?

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[thesmallprint]

I'm keeping them at between 64-66%.

Another reason why I'm suspecting over-humidification is because the some of the cigars are "coning" when being smoked...

[thedame007]

It may be worth dry boxing a cigar for 24-48 hours, if it smokes better then it's likely the sticks are over-humidified. That said, i used to store mine at 69 and found a load of burn issues, i then dropped mine to 65 and after a couple of weeks the issues all went and i have not looked back since, so your humidity levels should work.

What are you using for your humidity - i use boveda packs, and i use 4-5 (wireless) hydrometers in my scuba - however the boveda are reliable enough that i do not have to worry about calibrations too much. If you're not using boveda, perhaps your hydrometers are not right and the humidity may be highier?

Either way, try the dry boxing and see what happens.

[Dylan]

It may be worth dry boxing a cigar for 24-48 hours, if it smokes better then it's likely the sticks are over-humidified. That said, i used to store mine at 69 and found a load of burn issues, i then dropped mine to 65 and after a couple of weeks the issues all went and i have not looked back since, so your humidity levels should work.

What are you using for your humidity - i use boveda packs, and i use 4-5 (wireless) hydrometers in my scuba - however the boveda are reliable enough that i do not have to worry about calibrations too much. If you're not using boveda, perhaps your hydrometers are not right and the humidity may be highier?

Either way, try the dry boxing and see what happens.

I have just taken delivery of Boveda 65 packs today, to try lowering humidity levels in my humidor and see if it improves things.

[thesmallprint]

It may be worth dry boxing a cigar for 24-48 hours, if it smokes better then it's likely the sticks are over-humidified. That said, i used to store mine at 69 and found a load of burn issues, i then dropped mine to 65 and after a couple of weeks the issues all went and i have not looked back since, so your humidity levels should work.

What are you using for your humidity - i use boveda packs, and i use 4-5 (wireless) hydrometers in my scuba - however the boveda are reliable enough that i do not have to worry about calibrations too much. If you're not using boveda, perhaps your hydrometers are not right and the humidity may be highier?

I use Heartfelt beads. And I've got digital hygrometers in each of the tupperdors - they're all giving consistent readings and I checked them using the salt test - so I'd say they aren't the problem.

I did try dry boxing a few cigars a while ago and it didn't seem to make much difference, but I'll give it another shot.

Like you, I had been storing the cigars at about 69% RH, but lowering the humidity doesn't seem to have sorted the problems. If a cigar has been over humidified, can this permanently/irreversibly effect it as I've described?

[thedame007]

I use Heartfelt beads. And I've got digital hygrometers in each of the tupperdors - they're all giving consistent readings and I checked them using the salt test - so I'd say they aren't the problem.

I did try dry boxing a few cigars a while ago and it didn't seem to make much difference, but I'll give it another shot.

Like you, I had been storing the cigars at about 69% RH, but lowering the humidity doesn't seem to have sorted the problems. If a cigar has been over humidified, can this permanently/irreversibly effect it as I've described?

Hmm, that is strange._.Definitely try a 2-3 day dry boxing and see how it smokes. Also, rest assured that the cigars can be sorted out, just requires a diagnosis first, dont worry mate I've been there !

[SHAMZ84]

I use Heartfelt beads. And I've got digital hygrometers in each of the tupperdors - they're all giving consistent readings and I checked them using the salt test - so I'd say they aren't the problem.

I did try dry boxing a few cigars a while ago and it didn't seem to make much difference, but I'll give it another shot.

Like you, I had been storing the cigars at about 69% RH, but lowering the humidity doesn't seem to have sorted the problems. If a cigar has been over humidified, can this permanently/irreversibly effect it as I've described?

I still don't think it's over humidified as you stated

"However, over 6 months later sitting at roughly 65% RH, the cigars still feel extremely hard - many of them are absolutely solid"

If it was to wet it would be springy like a sponge not hard like a rock....silly question but where did you buy these cigars and are they real....im only asking as this happend to my mate last year...and the cigars that were rock solid were the fakes he bought from Cuba.



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[Shaun]

65% cigars will still be springy and not hard at all. It can take a few months for cigars to equalise with the humidity in the humidor so it may need more time, I would test the hygrometer again using a boveda in a bag as something is not right

[akyprianou]

In the run up to Christmas last year, I was careless with the humidity levels in some of my tupperdors and let the RH levels rise too high, but managed to bring it under control. Afterwards, many of the cigars felt hard, so I left them alone, assuming that they'd settle down when the humidity was reduced.


However, over 6 months later sitting at roughly 65% RH, the cigars still feel extremely hard - many of them are absolutely solid. I have digitial hygrometers in each of the tupperdors, each of which I've checked with the salt test, so I'm sure they're working as they should.

The other problem is that I added new cigars to one of the tupperdors a couple of months ago and it feels like they're going the same way as the rest (i.e. hard, poor draw).

So...would it be wise to try to bring the humidity down further? Or could there be another problem I haven't thought of?

I'm a bit stumped here, as I've never had any issues in controlling the humidity levels with my cigars until now - so any advice would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks in advance!

I also use a Scubabox running Boveda packs for all my boxes and it works great (even better then my standard humidors in fact), however storing cigars in a non temperature controlled environment is always going to be a constant war my friend, especially here in the UK where the weather is very inconsistent........ive seen my hydrometers drop to 50F in August where the weather can change so fast no joke!

Dry boxing helps, but my biggest advice would be to store your cigars in the coolest room in your house, this way you get better consistency between the seasons, ive found my cigars to burn a lot better, draw better because there actually burning properly, more flavor etc

cheers