My first humidor experiance (seasoning, hygrometer, salt test, beads, cigars)

[schind]

Now, I know that there are a lot of you newer smokers who have not owned a humidor before and would like to take a step up from buying a few singles at your local B&M and keeping them in a drawer. Buying a humidor is usually one of the first steps down the "slippery slope", and I'll admit that I was a little scared about messing up my humidor.
I just want to share my experience so others can see how another New Gorilla started this wonderful and rewarding hobby (and in some cases, lifestyle). Well, here we go!...

First, a little background on me:
I am a college student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY (very close to Albany). I have smoked a fair number of cigars before, but I would love to smoke more often despite my fairly limited budget right now.

Buying a humidor:
I chose this small (20 ct.) humidor from Cigars International.
http://www.cigarsinternational.com/p...-5VHUM2&cat=10
I knew that it would be a good quality humidor from the many good reviews I have heard from this forum and what I know from other personal experiences with CI. It was $20 and included the standard circular humidifier.

When it came in the mail, I unpacked it and it looked like this:


I had learned how to season a humidor before the package came, so I wiped the inside down with very slightly damp paper towel to remove any dust and put a small bowl of DISTILLED water in the center of the humidor and closed it. I knew that it would take a few days to get up to humidity so I moved on to my hygrometer.

I chose to buy is hygrometer:
http://www.cigarsinternational.com/p...M-HYG10&cat=10





I chose this one because I liked how small it was and I liked the way it attaches to the humidor. There is a magnet on the back of the device and a metal plate with an adhesive back is included so you don't need to rely on Velcro to hold it on there. I also picked it because it is adjustable so if it is slightly off from the factory, you can correct it yourself. It also has a temperature display, which is nice to see all in one place.

Now, the salt test. The general idea is that you can check the accuracy of a hygrometer by combining water and salt in an enclosed environment and the relative humidity (RH) of the air will be 75%. To do this, I got the smallest Tupperware container I could find and a small cup (like the ones for condiments in a cafeteria or fast food place). I filled it about half way with salt and slowly dripped distilled (not necessary, but I had it around) water into it, stirring it with a toothpick, just until the salt was saturated but there was no standing water. I could turn the cup upside down and the mixture would stick to the bottom and nothing would come out.
I placed my hygrometer in the Tupperware with the salt and monitored it for about 16 hours (long enough to get the air stabilized at 75% RH). I noticed that the Hygrometer was averaging at 72% RH (71, then 72, then 73, then 72...). I now knew that it needed to be calibrated 3% up. I turned the knob clockwise 3 clicks and pressed the reset button. I then put it back in the Tupperware for another 16 hours and it read dead on at 75% RH.
Now at 2 days into conditioning the humidor, I placed my calibrated hygrometer into the seasoning humidor and closed the lid again. (it read 60% after a few hours so I knew my humidor was getting to my goal of above 70% RH).

Now, on to the beads. after reading about humidification beads on this site, i realized that they really are the best way to maintain humidity in my humidor. I went to http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/ and bought 1 oz. of the 65% humidification beads (the recommended amount for my sized humidor). I took the humidifier that came with the humidor out and opened it up. I then put the beads into a cut off toe of a set of pantyhose (the lighter the color, the easier it is to see how wet the beads are). I took a spray bottle of distilled water and sprayed the beads until 80% of them were wet/clear. I closed the pantyhose baggie with a twist-tie and placed it into the humidifier.




After 4 days, my humidor is up to 73% RH and I feel that it is properly seasoned so I removed the distilled water and attached the humidifier to the lid with the included Velcro. I also attached my hygrometer. I let it sit for two days, letting it reach equilibrium (65% RH, these beads are extremely accurate!) and spritzing the beads when the got a little dry.

Now it's time to add some cigars!



This is the final product!

Right now, I just have 4 cigars, due to my empty college pockets, but I have faith that as I keep sliding down the slope, this humidor will be filled and I'll be buying a bigger one!

I also recommend keeping track of the cigars you try so here is the excel spreadsheet format that I use:
http://www.david-schindler.com/cigars.xls

Have fun and keep this thread active, I would love to hear your experiences and as always, questions and [SIZE=-1]criticism [/SIZE]are always welcomed!

For those curious, the cigars are:

Fonseca Habanna Seleccion Cadete
Carlos Torano Exodus Silver Corona Grande
Carlos Torano Casa Torano Robusto
Perdomo Reserve Champagne Petite Corona

Happy Smoking!

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[BillyCigars]

Looks great!!

PM me your addy so I can send you a handful of sticks to help get you started.

[Marlboro Cigars]

Nice setup and very generous gesture.

[zmancbr]

Great post and I will say if you haven't ever tried that Perdomo Reserve Champagne Petite Corona, you will enjoy it. One of my favs. Gonna have to break down and get a box or two of the darn things!

[schind]

Originally Posted by BillyCigars

Looks great!!

PM me your addy so I can send you a handful of sticks to help get you started.

That's very generous...Thank you so much!

[rottenzombie]

Very good post bump

[Freight]

Good job with the post, very informative for us newbies.

[krash]

Very nice post. Great pictures. Easy to follow instructions for anyone else setting up a small humidor. You'll enjoy that Torano Siver.

[Albertasmoker]

good post!

[mitro]

Awesome write-up! Thank you so much for posting this!

PM me your address and I'll also contribute to helping fill it up.

[Tim D.]

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Dave,

Great post and pics, and welcome to CS! I have a problem you may be able to help me with. I have way too many cigars in my humidor, and since yours is almost empty, I was wondering of you could store some of them in your humidor. You can even smoke 'em if the mood strikes you!PM me your addy and I'll send them to you.

Tim D.

[schind]

Originally Posted by mitro

Awesome write-up! Thank you so much for posting this!

PM me your address and I'll also contribute to helping fill it up.

Originally Posted by Tim D.

Dave,

Great post and pics, and welcome to CS! I have a problem you may be able to help me with. I have way too many cigars in my humidor, and since yours is almost empty, I was wondering of you could store some of them in your humidor. You can even smoke 'em if the mood strikes you!PM me your addy and I'll send them to you.

Tim D.

You guys are so great!

I have to say, I am into a lot of different hobbies and a lot of different forums and this one is one of the most friendly and informative forums I have come across. Thanks so much for all you Gorillas have to offer!

[Opusfxd]

I agree, very nice post. What the others said, PM my an addy and I don't have much but it's getting bigger all the time (damn that cbid) and I'll try to send something.

College= $87 rent, nobody EVER dirtying dishes, the maid comes when? and of course selling books back for liquor and food.

[mitro]

Something coming your way!

Delivery Confirmation™ Label Number: 0103 8555 7492 3695 2019

[schind]

Originally Posted by mitro

Something coming your way!

Delivery Confirmation™ Label Number: 0103 8555 7492 3695 2019