Cigarista Cigar Shop

Cigarista, the 'C' Spot at the Beach We Have a Huge Selection of Premium Cigars and Accessories at Very Reasonable Prices. CALL US, WE SHIP!

• View Cigar Products

• Proper Cigar Storage

• Humidor Break In

(727) 393-6700
18131 Gulf Blvd., Suite AA, Redington Shores, Florida (Map)
Email: info@cigarista.com

Monday through Friday 10 A.M. to 7 P.M.
Saturday 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.
Sundays Closed

Cigars For Soldiers

Your HELP is needed. We now have a list of over 250 soldiers wanting cigars. It's a great thing you can do to give them a touch of home and let them know you're thinking about them.

Note that soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan can contact us to be put on the list to receive cigars from our donations.

Cigarista
Contact: Mike Smith
18131 Gulf Blvd Suite AA, Redington Shores Florida (Map)
(727) 393-6700 | Web Site

Cigarista Redington Shores FL Location Map

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Proper Cigar Storage

Proper cigar storage essentially means keeping them at the right temperature and the right humidity.

70 degrees and 70% humidity is ideal, shooting for 65-75% for a good range. A bit cooler is okay but not a lot hotter. You don't want lots of changes, particularly abrupt ones.

If they are in an environment with much lower humidity, they will start to dry out. Eventually, the wrapper will split and make the cigar worthless. They also tend to burn much hotter and quicker when too dry. Often, if caught before the wrapper is damaged, they may be re-hydrated by putting them back in a good environment for a while.

If they are in an environment with humidity too high, (80 is too high - 76-80 is risky), they will eventually begin growing mold on them and that destroys them. If you have cigars like this, get them away from your other cigars as the mold will attempt to infect them as well. Don't mistake a dusting of white for mold. This is part of the aging process and can be brushed off the cigar with no harm. Some believe this makes a cigar better for the experience.

How you provide that environment is up to you. A cigar store may have humidified display cases, a walk-in humidor or they may humidify the entire store so cigars can be kept and displayed anywhere in the store. Individual enthusiasts typically use humidors in some form of box that seals to some degree and has some means of releasing moisture into the box. The box may be wood, plastic, metal or whatever. Shapes vary from coffin to White House and many places in between. Often a hygrometer is included inside or through the box wall so the humidity may be read. This can be done with a relatively cheap, small box or a large piece of exotic wood furniture, and anywhere in between. Canning jars and sealable plastic ware have been used with widely varying results. It all comes down to the temperature and humidity. The cigars don't care where home is as much as how it meets the minimum requirements. Pretty isn't one of those but a little beauty never hurts.

For lots on the whole subject, this is the best we've found: http://www.humidor-guide.com

Humidor Break In

When you get a new humidor, it will likely be dry. Most decent ones are made of, or lined with, Spanish cedar. Spanish cedar smells good and is excellent at holding moisture. It doesn't have bad smells to impart to the cigars like some other materials.

The key to a good humidor start is to get the box holding 70% humidity WITHOUT the cigars inside first.

Using a sponge or cloth that's damp but not sopping wet or dripping, wipe the inside of the box moistening the Spanish cedar. If you get it too wet, like soaking, it may damage the wood and that's a bad thing. After you have it dampened well, you need a source of moisture inside so fill the humidifier or put a wet sponge on top of something like plastic or a tray so the water cannot get on the wood. Again, if it does, you'll likely damage the wood. You want lots of moisture without direct contact.

It may take a day or two or even more to get the humidor moistened enough to hold 70% humidity. Be patient because adding cigars before it's ready will only make it worse and risk harming the cigars as well. Keep the water source replenished checking maybe once a day. The hygrometer will tell you when it's holding 70% or more. Then and only then do you add the cigars.

Note that hygrometers used in humidors are notoriously inaccurate and often need to be calibrated before they are used. These can be analog, which are usually round and have a dial with a pointer, or digital. Some inexpensive digital units are available now that monitor temperature and humidity for less than $15. That's not many ruined cigars. They are generally accurate within 5% from the factory, so they claim.

Lighter Care

We have a fairly large line of Colibri lighters and will be carrying other brands soon. Colibri has a one year guarantee where they will fix lighters returned to their factory. 95% of the lighters returned to them fail for only two reasons: 1) dirt and 2) contaminated fuel.

They clean the gunk off mainly by blowing it off with a can of compressed air and refueling it with the RIGHT fuel. Contaminated fuel gums it up. If you want your lighter to last a while, use at least triple filtered butane. Colibri makes one that we carry. We also carry Vector which claims to filter more than four times. Colibri says they're better because they boil the containers before they fill them. Either one will likely do. We don't sell the cheap stuff because we want you happy with what we provide.

Just keep it clean...

Analog Hygrometer Calibration

There are two methods we know for doing this.

Into a zip lock bag, put the hygrometer along with a teaspoon or more of ordinary table salt. Add water to the salt until it's damp but not dripping with no water escaping from it. You might want to put this salt and water in a separate container, like a bottle cap, inside the bag. You do NOT want to have the hygrometer touching the salt or you could damage it.

Seal the bag.

Leave it for ten hours or more but not long enough for the salt to get dry.

The humidity will be 75%.

Take a small screwdriver and adjust the pointer through the hole in the back of the hygrometer until it reads 75% and you're done.

Note: Not all hygrometers are adjustable. In some cases, if it's close and not adjustable, you simply note how much it's off (say 5% high) and adjust your readings accordingly.

This is the best way because it calibrates the device in the range where you want to use it.

You can also wrap the hygrometer in a very damp rag for an hour or two and it should read about 95%. If it doesn't, adjust the dial until it does.

Cigar Products as of 10/25/2007