How to season a humidor and set up a tupperdor

Why a humidor needs seasoning

Spanish cedar lining holds a lot of water. In a new or long-unused humidor it is at room humidity, often 30–50 %, and it will reach balance with whatever is inside. Put cigars in too soon and the wood dries them. Seasoning brings the wood to about 70 % first, so that it then helps hold the humidity steady.

Seasoning a wooden humidor

1. Empty it and check the seal. Close the lid on a strip of paper: it should hold the paper firmly all round. A gap means the humidor will keep losing moisture.
2. Put moisture inside. The easiest way is a seasoning pack (two-way humidity packs at 84 %, sold for this purpose) or a small bowl of distilled water. Add your humidifier, charged with distilled water or propylene glycol solution.
3. Do not wipe or soak the wood. A damp cloth on the cedar is an old method, but too much water warps the wood and lifts the veneer. If you wipe at all, use a barely damp cloth with distilled water, once.
4. Close it and wait. Leave it for one to two weeks, without opening it more than once a day to look.
5. Watch the hygrometer. When it holds around 70 % for two or three days in a row, remove the seasoning pack or the bowl.
6. Switch to everyday humidity. Put in your regular two-way packs (62–72 %), let it settle for a day, then add the cigars.

How many humidity packs do you need?

The common rule of thumb for two-way humidity packs is about one 60 g pack for every 25 cigars of capacity, or one large 320 g pack per 100–125 cigars. A humidor that is only partly full still needs packs for its whole volume, since the wood and air also take up moisture. The humidor calculator works it out for your box.

Setting up a tupperdor

A tupperdor is an airtight food container used as a humidor. Plastic and glass absorb no water, so it needs no seasoning and holds humidity more steadily than most wooden boxes. It is the cheapest way to store cigars well, and many collectors keep most of their stock in one.

1. Choose a container with a gasket lid, in food-grade plastic or glass, odour-free. Wash and dry it well.
2. Optionally add cedar. A few strips of Spanish cedar or the cedar sheets from cigar boxes add aroma and some buffering. Cedar that came dry needs a few days in the closed box with a pack before cigars go in.
3. Add two-way packs at the level you want, by the same rule of about one 60 g pack per 25 cigars.
4. Add the cigars directly, in their boxes or in the cellophane.
5. Open it once a week or so. The short exchange of air is enough; there is no need to “burp” it daily.

For bigger collections the same idea works with a picnic cooler (a coolerdor): insulated, airtight and roomy enough for whole boxes.

When the humidity will not hold

Keep track without guessing

Once it is running, a humidor needs a look once a week: the hygrometer, the packs and the cigars themselves. aficio keeps the inventory: which cigars you have, how many of each and when you bought them, and which one suits your taste tonight, so the box does not turn into a pile of cigars you no longer remember buying.