Seasoning a humidor is the salt & pepper of your cigar storage
Why, and how to season a humidor.
The humidor is the tabernacle of your cigar temple. The inner sanctuary of smoking delights and your tobacco leaf dreams.
Besides decorative grandesse, ornating your mancave or living room in a most luxurious way, displaying and properly organizing the precious contents, humidors first and foremost have a most important functional component: to maintain the perfect storing and aging / maturing surroundings for your cigars. The temperature but even more crucially the humidity levels should be consistent and, depending on your personal preferences and what source you ask, at a sweet spot of around 69%. Thus, the question ‘How to season a humidor?’ arises.
To keep your cigars roughly around these parameters, seasoning a humidor is vitally important for your smoking experience and the performance of the cigar while you’re puffing.
Keeping in mind that on average 300 steps of century old tradition, craftsmanship and dedication go into every single roll of tobacco leaf, that your daily smoke might take up to five or six years in development, growth, maturation, and some of them way longer than that. The least one can do is to pay respect to such an amazing product. Providing the very best storing conditions is one of the essential elements of that very respect and seasoning a humidor should not be underestimated.
First things first: humidors come in myriads of shapes, sizes, and designs. From a super simple fresh pack or an inexpensive, small tabletop, all the way to the walk-in room, holding thousands of precious sticks, the sky is merely the limit. Most humidors have some wooden elements, be it on the outside or–where it actually matters–on the inside. Various forms of cedar will be used because of their texture, softness, and overall capability to retain moisture. However, various types of wood could be used for the inside lining, as long as they don’t impart unwanted odors, perfumed scents, or lacquer.
What they all have in common is their own finnicky microclimates and ecosystems–these are the conditions you need to take good care of. Seasoning a humidor is key. So, start with investing in a quality set up–no matter how big or small. (Let me guarantee you that the first realization you’ll come to experience on your cigar journey is: the humidor is always, let me repeat: ALWAYS!!! too small. Better start big right away.)
The humidifier options are just as diverse and manifold as the humidors themselves. Whether you go for a crystal-based option, sponge or distilled water solution with a dispenser and micro-computer attached, the goal is always the same. The results shall hopefully be the same too–a perfectly controlled humidor environment. Humidification packs offer a one-stop-shop solution that is very easy to handle and quite convenient. Whether you choose Boveda packs, Humi-Smart, or similar products, you just place the bags (in relation to the amount of cigars) inside, and replace them when they’re dried out. The control card tells you to or the hygrometer shows a downward trend.
We’ll talk about different humidors and humidification solutions in a separate post, so for now let’s focus on maintenance and setting up your piece of beauty.
What seasoning a humidor means?
Seasoning a humidor means bringing the inside of it to an ideal humidity level, setting an equilibrium and ideal ecosystem within the storage unit before inserting your cigars.
Why seasoning a humidor make sense?
Seasoning a humidor keeps your cigars at a perfect humidity level: not too dry (cigars could become brittle) and not too wet (growth of mold).
It creates a balanced microclimate and humidity equilibrium in a closed system.
Seasoning a humidor prevents the wood from pulling moisture out of your cigars.
What you will need?
Humidification device
Hygrometer
(optional: Propylene Glycol Solution)
Distilled Water
A new, clean and unused kitchen sponge
A glass dish or stainless-steel bowl
A clean towel
How to season a humidor?
How to season a humidor, after purchasing and proudly installing it in your beloved cigar corner at home? Passionado beware, passionado take care! Don’t just throw all your expensive Opus X masterpieces in there to go bone dry. Patience! Seasoning a humidor is a process!
Start by calibrating your hygrometer. Even though it is not essential for proper storage of your cigars, it is important for monitoring the right conditions in order to maintain or adjust accordingly. The calibration can be done separately. There’s plenty of pre-packed kits and devices for purchase. A hygrometer is basically a digital or analogue gauge which measures the surrounding humidity level. Many humidors will have one built in, some won’t. I tend to prefer analog models for their reliability and durability. Certain digital devices seem to develop a life of their own after a bit.
First, you need a clean plastic cap. Fill it with a teaspoon of salt, then add a few drops of water. Just enough to moisten and saturate the salt (you don’t want to dissolve the it entirely.)
Insert the cap with the salt in a sealable Ziplock bag, together with your hygrometer. Leave the bag tightly zipped and sealed for roughly eight hours.
The hygrometer should read 75% by then. If not, adjust the needle or the digital reading accordingly. Analog devices with a needle usually have a screw on the back, which can be easily adjusted using a screwdriver. Digital versions can simply be tweaked by pressing various buttons.
When you insert the hygrometer now, it shall display the exact humidity level. Leave it in there for several hours before reading the levels and recalibrate it once a year. You see, seasoning a humidor is not that trivial.
Give the humidor’s inside a smell first and check for paint or glue residue and unpleasant odors.
Start caressing it gently by giving it a thorough wipe-down using a sponge or paper towel soaked with distilled water. Wipe the inside and evenly coat the wooden interior with moisture. The sponge shouldn’t be dripping wet, just enough so that no excess water will be pushed out when squeezing.
Now it’s time to get your humidification tool up to speed. Fill it with distilled water or a propylene glycol solution (50:50 with distilled water). The device should be soaked and saturated, but not dripping.
Insert the cigar humidifier, together with all wooden trays, dividers, or inlays. Seasoning a humidor properly also requires that they should be seasoned before introducing your cigars.
Additionally, the extra sponge should be soaked in distilled water and thoroughly squeezed out a couple of times (as a matter of fact, no bubbles should appear when doing this). Soak and squeeze it one last time before putting the sponge into a bowl, and place it inside together with the humidifier, hygrometer, and all other wooden elements. Leave the humidor sealed for a few days. For a second opinion on the wipe-down method and the bowl of water method you can check out this great article from Charles-Philippe.
The process should take up to a week and can be regularly monitored with your pre-calibrated hygrometer. The longer you are seasoning a humidor with accurately measured and managed humidity levels, the more stable the environment will be.
During this period the sponge releases extra moisture, which will be absorbed by the cedar walls or linings. Thus, at the beginning, your hygrometer will read somewhere in the mid to high 80s. That’s perfectly fine.
Now take out the bowl with the sponge and let the humidity settle down at roughly around 69-72%.
Your cigars are ready to enter the promised land. Give them a few more days to acclimatize. Your hygrometer should now read approximately 69%.
Alternatively, you can purchase humidity packs from Boveda with 84% humidity. Seasoning a humidor should be a process of about two weeks.
Voila, there is your perfectly seasoned humidor and your delicious cigars are ready to rock, roll, and being savored. What would the best steak be without a proper seasoning, a few sprinkles of pepper, and of course, a pinch of salt…
Until next time, with my very best spirits, and light em up!
Reinhard
Sensory expert, cigar passionado, and host of the Light ‘em Up Lounge
