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Understanding Humidity

There are two important values to consider when storing our cigars. One of them, and more importantly, is humidity, and the second is temperature - both inside and outside of the humidor. In the past weeks, I have received a few questions from different followers, differently but based on the same logic. In general, the common point of the questions is what should be the humidity and temperature inside the humidor, even if the air remains the same, does the humidity of the air change and what kind of environment is it correct to store the humidor? I think it will be right to share the information I have shared with them based on my own knowledge, in order to be useful to everyone.

First of all, what we measure:

There are two things we measure; one is relative (relative humidity), the other is air temperature. While air temperature is the simpler term, relative humidity can get more complicated at times. Those who study physics or chemistry will remember that the meaning of the term relative humidity is the amount of moisture that the air can carry at a given temperature, how much it carries as a percentage. Based on this, we can easily say that our hygrometer gives us this rate as a percentage, depending on the temperature. The sensitive point here is the humidity at a certain temperature.

So how is the relationship between temperature and humidity and how is it useful to balance this duo? The simplest rule of thumb is that the higher the temperature, the more moisture it can hold. So, for example, a 20C degree air can hold about 17g of water vapor. However, 0C degree air can only hold about 5 grams of water vapor. Based on these numerical examples, while the hygrometer measures 75% at a temperature of 0C, the moisture content in the air will be 3.5gr, while the humidity of the air at 20C will be about 13gr while the hygrometer shows 75%. So we will be feeling more moisture in hot weather.

So what does that say about the place and conditions in which our humidor should be stopped? First of all, the humidity and temperature of our humidor - especially if it is a refrigerator-like humidors with adjustable temperature (such as Liebherr ZKES453) - should not be too different from the internal temperature and humidity of the humidor. Why is that? Because, if the cover of a humidor fixed to an internal temperature of about 18C is opened in an environment with a room temperature of 25C, the ingress of hot air with high humidity outside will cause trouble. The humidity, which cannot be kept by the hot air with high humidity when it enters the refrigerator and cools down, will fall on the inner walls of the refrigerator and of course on our cigars. We can easily understand this from the water droplets on the inner walls of the refrigerator walls. This causes the humidity of cigars to change for a short time, which is not preferred.

At this point, one of the questions at the beginning of the article, where is the right to keep the humidor, is the answer to the question, it is necessary not to keep a chilled humidor in a warm environment where you are not sure that the humidity is low (40% and below). Secondly, even more accurately, the less the difference between the humidor and the outside temperature, the healthier the environment for our humidor will be.

Apart from that, the other question at the beginning of the article comes to mind again; Then at what humidity and temperature is it right to store cigars?

Some preferences come into play here, but still considering the equations above. In one of my old articles, I mentioned that the cigars we want to age should be stored at a temperature of about 18 degrees Celsius and relatively low humidity (around 68%) if possible. The reason for this is the same as if the leaf is kept in rooms at about 16C in order to prevent the moisture from going away quickly after winding; The ability of the water in the leaf to retain and develop the aromas in the leaf without quickly mixing with the air. Low humidity is a precaution against mold. Likewise, it will be possible to store cigars that will be consumed in a shorter time and stored at high temperatures (around 20 ° C), with a slightly higher humidity (70-71%).

Apart from the information I have provided above, I would also like to hear from you about your storage conditions and experiences according to your experience and preferences. I hope I could help.

Enjoyable smoking ...

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