Pour a coffee, light one up, and let's talk about the little packet in your humidor.
How the hell do Boveda packs work?
Ever lit a cigar that cracked down the side, burned hot and harsh, or tunneled halfway through? It usually isn't the cigar's fault. It's the humidity.
Cigars are basically little sponges. Tobacco is grown, fermented, and rolled in humid tropical places, and it's meant to stay that way. A cigar is always trading moisture with the air around it. In dry air, it gets brittle and smokes hot and bitter. Too wet, and it burns unevenly, won't stay lit, and can grow mold. Most smokers aim for somewhere in the high 60s to low 70s percent humidity.
That's where Boveda comes in. Inside each pack is a mix of natural salts and purified water, sealed behind a membrane that only lets water vapor through. That salt mix naturally wants to hold one exact humidity level. When the air in your case gets too dry, the pack releases moisture. When it gets too damp, the pack soaks moisture up. It works both ways, automatically, with no refilling and no guessing.
How to tell when it's done. A fresh pack is soft and squishy. As it releases moisture into your cigars, it gets stiffer. When it's hard all the way through, swap it out. Go by feel and by the hygrometer in your insert, not by the calendar. If you notice that your humidor is having trouble staying between 65 and 72% humidity, it might be time to freshen up your Boveda packs.
Quick tip: Keep your case out of direct sun and off the dash. Heat is the other half of the battle. A cigar that sits in a hot vehicle can hatch tobacco beetles, tiny bugs that chew pinholes right through your stash.
Don't have any? We carry 8g Boveda packs sized to fit every Raborn Offroad humidor insert, and we recommend 1 pack for every 5-10 cigars. If you already have some packs that are close to the end of their usefulness, try adding a couple drops of distilled water to the outside and letting it soak in. The trick only works a few times before the fibrous outer membrane comes apart, but it can save you some real cash, especially if you live in a dry environment where they don't last as long.
See you on the next Sunup Smoke Break,
Hestn Raborn
Raborn Offroad | High Quality Good Times