STORING YOUR CIGARS

Cigars are sensitive little creatures that need to be stored between 65-70% relative humidity and 16-20deg.C. Higher humidity/temperature leads to wet cigars which don't burn well and even fungal problems (goodbye cigars). Lower hum/temp leads to cigars drying out so that they burn too hot, lose their essential oils and become harsh tasting, and even disintegrate, eventually.

You can buy a humidor for long term storage (specially made wooden box lined with spanish cedar wood which retains humidity) or for temporary purposes like ours just get any old tupperware or ice cream box (provided it DOESN'T smell of anything, including last night's curry or yesterday's icecream, or else your cigars will pick up the flavour - yurk).

So basically:

• Get a plastic container, not too big (ie not more than 1L or so or you'll need more beads).
  
• Place the little bag of beads inside, a sheet of cedar, and the cigars.*
• Don't close the lid - place it on top as if to close it; or alternatively close it and put a few pin prick holes in it; this will enable a tiny bit of moisture to escape**
• Put the tupperware OUT OF THE SUN somewhere where the temperature is relatively stable around 15-20deg.C. ***

Voila - temporary cigar storage is ready.

* The sheet of cedar is to make the box smell a little of aromatic cedar in which cigars are stored.
** The problem with tupperware is that it's airtight - unlike wooden humidors which "breathe" - and so the humidity will always be too high unless there's a minuscule outlet for moisture to escape.
*** Cigars cook and are ruined quite quickly, and cold sucks the moisture and their flavour out of them

NOTE ON CARING FOR HUMIDIFYING BEADS

These beads are special humidifying silica gel beads that keep humidity at 65%R.H - ideal smoking (as opposed to long term storage 70%) humidity. They will do the trick as long as they are semi-transparent i.e. moisture charged.

Eventually, when they lose their moisture - you will be able to see this quite clearly as they become completely white and opaque like white plastic - then it will be time to re-charge them.

Unfortunately they need Distilled water - not mineral or tap water*- and it can't be poured on them or they will crack - it has to be sprayed on them in a mist or absorbed through the air. You can either buy some distilled water at supermarket and spray it on with (hard to find - i found this brand of bottled water called "PureDew" which is effectively distilled water); or put the beads somewhere high up in the bathroom, close the window and have a shower - the mist is distilled water and if you leave the beads in the room for say half an hour they should be recharged (ie they've absorbed some moisture and turned semi-transparent again).
[*Non-distilled water has minerals in it which block the micro-pores on the beads]