At some point in life, you may receive a box of cigars as an unexpected gift for a wedding, birthday, Christmas, or any other occasion. You may want to smoke your cigars someday, but the challenge is that a cigar quickly dries out.
So waiting for a few days to smoke them may not be feasible if you do not have a humidor to store them in. Keeping your cigars humidified is essential if you want to maintain their freshness. Besides keeping them humidified, there are certain cigars that are staples for cigar lovers. For instance, Partagas, Cohiba or Romeo and Julliette are must-haves and should be present in your collection. If you like the smell and taste of nuts, cocoa and spice, you should also add H Upmann cigars as they are the perfect blend of those flavours.
However, there are different steps that you can take to keep your cigars fresh without using an expensive humidor. Read on to learn the necessary things that you need to do to protect your cigars.
5 Simple Things You Need To Do To Protect Your Cigars
Use Tupperware Container
A Tupperware container or glass jar can keep your cigars fresh over a long period. You need to wet a sponge with distilled water then place it inside a container with your cigars. Place the lid and tighten it. The sponge will keep the humidity, but make sure it is not a very big sponge.
A big sponge can over-humidify your cigars, so you must carefully choose a Tupperware container with the right size. If your cigars become too damp, it might be challenging to revive them. You can also use humidity pouches if you are unsure of the results you are likely to get from using a sponge.
Wooden Locker
There are different types of wooden storage facilities that are designed to keep your cigars fresh over a long time. With the right Cigar Lockers, you can keep your cigars fresh while protecting them against environmental damage. A cigar locker protects your cigars against factors like heat, over-humidity, and direct sunlight. You can also use a cigar locker to store your collection of cigars.
These lockers have a controlled environment that helps preserve about 85% – 90% freshness and the original taste of the cigar. On top of that, cigar lockers are beautifully designed and they come in different sizes.
Utilize a Ziploc Bag
If you want to keep a few cigarettes fresh, a plastic Ziploc bag is the easiest way. This type of plastic bag can retain the freshness of your cigars for the short term. However, if you want to keep the cigars for a longer period, a humidity source is required. Cigars want continuous humidity to stay fresh for weeks or even months. Therefore, you must look for a humidity pouch that you can place inside the Ziploc sleeve to keep your cigars fresh.
A humidity pouch is designed to release moisture through its porous skin, and it self-regulates. All you need to do is to keep the sleeve zipped to prevent the humidity from escaping. On top of that, you must store your cigars at cool room temperature and avoid exposure to cold or hot climates for an extended period. You can choose different sizes of Ziploc bags depending on the number of cigars that you want to keep.
Small Cooler
A standard cooler is another viable option that you can consider if you want to keep your cigars fresh for a few months. This is a very simple but effective method to protect your cigars. All you need to do is to place the cigars inside your cooler and it will retain the humidity over a specific period. Depending on the number of cigars that you want to keep, a cooler can do a perfect job and it does not require constant monitoring.
Restore Dry Cigars
If your cigars have dried out, you can revive them by putting them into a humidor and constantly increase the humidity inside. The entire process needs to be slow, and this can take up to six months. However, the moisture and flavor may not be 100% original after reviving your cigars. Damp cigars can be moldy whereas dry cigars often burn fast and unevenly.
When you receive a gift of unexpected cigars on one of your special occasions, you may want to smoke them at a later date or start a collection of cigars. Without a humidor, cigars quickly dry out, and you may not be able to smoke them, so consider smoking them fresh. Cigars should retain about 70% of humidity to taste good.
There are different methods that you can utilise to retain the freshness of your cigars for later use. You can store the cigars in a locker, cooler, or airtight Tupperware. A Ziploc bag can also play a crucial role in retaining the freshness of your cigars. In following the tips stated above, you would get to enjoy your cigars for longer than you expected.
