Ideal Tobacco Humidity

bvak123

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Jan 19, 2010, 8:44:35 PM1/19/10

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Is there an ideal tobacco humidity? I have an old cigar humidor with
a humidistat. Cigars were to be kept at about 70% humidity. Is this
the same for pipe tobacco? Would it be wise to keep my pipe tobacco
in the humidor?

apipeguy

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Jan 19, 2010, 8:49:33 PM1/19/10

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Put your tobacco in an airtight container and Do Not add humidity.
Take tobacco out as you smoke it and let it air dry. Tobacco needs to
be drier than you think.

Jim Beard

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Jan 19, 2010, 9:27:27 PM1/19/10

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Some cigar smokers contend that 65% relative humidity is better
than 70%, and a few go for 60%.

My personal preference for pipe tobacco is in the vicinity of
60-65 percent relative humidity.

YMMV.

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.

Hunter

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Jan 19, 2010, 9:47:51 PM1/19/10

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I've tried humidifying pipe tobacco like my cigars (50:50 PG & water
solution, etc) and it is MUCH too moist. My experience is that most
pipe tobacco other than maybe an old pouch from the drugstore is going
to be too moist. Many tobaccos, especially heavy virginia based, smoke
and taste better when they are very much on the dry side.

I agree about the 'gars as well, when I was smoking them regular I
would take my weekly stash and put it in an un-humidified humidor the
week before and generally they were just right when I got to them.

Robert

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Jan 19, 2010, 11:08:29 PM1/19/10

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Agreed, I personally like my tobacco on the dry side, but until I'm
ready to use it it stays in the tin or canned in mason jars.

Crown Achievement in a Petersons

Robert

shakenbake

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Jan 19, 2010, 11:22:46 PM1/19/10

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Rattray had a similar belief on humidification of his pipe tobaccos
(except for sealing the container). Here is his booklet.

http://www.fumeursdepipe.net/telecha/rattraysbooklet.pdf

But, remember that old blends would probably not be the same as modern
blends.

schnorrer

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Jan 20, 2010, 5:12:40 PM1/20/10

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For me- 50-60% R.H. works.

But your phrase "keep my pipe tobacco" opens up a world of scholarly
discussion. Just Google pipe tobacco storage, aging, etc., or search
this group. A quick read on the subject is at
http://www.pipesandcigars.com/agpito.html

My take on the discussions is that if you want to "age" tobacco to
improve flavor, keep the unopened tin in a reasonably cool place, or
open the tin and dump the tobacco into a glass jar that you seal in
some way (see link, etc). Anearobic or aerobic action takes place,
improving the tobacco over time.
If you are talking about keeping an open tin or two that you will
smoke within the month, don't worry about it. Just keep it out of
sunlight or a hot car and it will be fine to smoke- pipe tobacco is
packed pretty moist. Note- some pipemen deliberately put an open tin
on the dashboard of the car to dry it out or to "stove" it. I keep a
pouchful in my briefcase and it is fine over the entire month.
If you are talking about keeping several open tins, or bulk tobacco
that you don't plan to officially "age", but don't want to dry out
before you get to it, I find a cigar humidifier works fine. I have
two bags of virginia and a few tins open in mine right now. I like
the convenience of keeping the tobacco in the original tin that I can
grab whenever I want. Again, 50-60% RH is good for me. You can tell
what works for you by pinching and smoking the tobacco at various
RHs. Unlike a cigar which needs the proper humidity to maintain
structure, pipe tobacco is more forgiving of RH changes.