Smokers Corner
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Nasty, Rotten, Cigar Killing Creatures!No, this has nothing to do with the lying political class discussed in the last post. Some parallels can be made with the topic of today, but I’ll let you make those connections.It’s April 21 in northeast Wisconsin and we have an inch of snow on the ground. The threat of a late snow chased me down to Ft. Myers two weeks ago for a brief reprieve. I should have stayed longer. Hindsight is always 20/20. As I was packing to escape the nine months of winter here in Wisconsin, there were only a couple items of necessity: good reading material and good cigars. Everything else I could buy or borrow upon arrival. Let’s see, gone for ten days, two sticks a day, twenty cigars…no, make that 25. The book, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. The book is about a bunch of government parasites known as the “looters” who seek to consume the hard-earned wealth of the “producers”. The “looters” zero in on their prizes and begin to munch away at the bounty of the productive class. I know, a preposterous premise for a novel. Strolling the sunny beaches of Sanibel Island on day one could not have been better. What’s there not to like about 80 degrees and sunny skies, especially when Green Bay is being hit with their eighty-sixth snow storm of the winter! Day two was much of the same with the addition of a few single barrel beverages courtesy of my host. On day three, after a wonderful breakfast of eggs, grits, smoked ham, and fresh picked fruit, I decided to light up early. I opened up my travel humidor and selected my smoke. Something was wrong. I saw a white dot on the side of the cigar I had selected, and inside the wrapper. I thought it moved. I touched it, it slithered away. Huh? Holes in my cigar? How did some worm get into my stash? I understand the worm wanting a free meal at my expense, but where did it come from? Were the rest of my cigars infected with these little “looters”? Off to the computer to do some research. Tobacco Beetles! Pernicious munching critters attacking my investment in leisure time. I spent ten bucks for that cigar and didn’t appreciate the idea of puffing smoldering worm goo. So, what’s the skinny on these intrusive creatures? Seems I am not alone in my experience. I searched the web for “cigar beetles” and got 299,000 results. Typed in “tobacco beetles” and got 1,250,000 results in .25 seconds. Now I was really curious. I’ve been smoking cigars for a decade and never seen one of these bugs. Why now. Cigar Aficionado says a cigar beetle “eats like a pig, breeds like a bunny, lives fast and dies young. It worships tobacco and heat. It's cosmopolitan. It's Lasioderma serricorne, better known as the tobacco beetle, and it loves nothing more than to hatch in your humidor and feast on your cigars.” Apparently a scourge to manufacturers worldwide, these bugs can gobble up a sizable investment in the warehouse or your humidor. So what to do about them? Buy from a reputable source. This cigar was picked up on a recommendation from friend. Brand and store to remain nameless. Tobacconists of care will freeze any at-risk stock entering their store. This kills any eggs that may have found their way onto rolled leaf and puts an instant end to the looters of tobacco leaf. So what about my current stock at home? Same remedy works well. Put the cigars into an airtight zip-lock bag and freeze them for a few days. Then to the fridge for a few days, then back to the humidor. Problem solved, minus the previously munched cigars. Interested in knowing more, do a quick search like I did. There’s a lot out there. And pick up a copy of Atlas Shrugged. It was written in the 1950’s and rings true today. The parallels are ominous. Thursday, April 2, 2009 More Taxes!Now at your local tobacconist:MORE TAXES!!!!! To be more precise there is a new Federal cigar tax being levied on all cigars. Relax, it’s only a 900% increase. 40.29 cents per stick is now what you will need to pay to enjoy your lifestyle. And that’s just the Fed’s confiscation; the states are piling on as well. New tobacco taxes by state can be found here: http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/Tobacco_Tax_bill09.htm Of course, if it’s for a “good” cause, S-CHIP, who could argue? For those of you not privy to this latest expansive government giveaway, S-CHIP is free healthcare for “needy children”. “Children”, by the way now defined by the new administration as up to 30-year-olds still living at home. What, 30, still at home?! Get your ass out of my house and get a job! What’s the cost to “insure” a child through this US Government freebee? A cool $4,600 per kid. I’m a small business owner and I pay $5,500/year for a family of seven. Must be some program the Feds are offering. But the lawmakers are unconcerned about the cost, because YOU are picking up the tab. Come to think of it, why should I be paying that much for someone else’s kids when I cannot afford to do so for my own? The new administration is into punishing the productive element of society and begrudging us producers a portion of our leisure pursuit. But, Look on the bright side, we have all arrived financially. Yes, it’s true. Congratulations to all of us who are partakers in the dark blue hue of fine cigar smoke. Remember, President Barak Obama emphatically stated that “no one making less than $250,000 a year will pay more taxes if [Barak is] elected!” So, my hat’s off to all of you. I think I’ll go and light up to celebrate my newfound financial freedom. Sarcasm aside, how much taxation is too much taxation? When does the spending stop? Do we really need to be providing healthcare, or anything, to the willfully unproductive? Next thing they will do is tell us what kind of cars we can drive and how much income we are allowed to earn. Those hardest hit by this tax will no doubt be those rolling cigars in Florida and the small business operator trying to make a go of it. The targeting of smokers, at some point, should get old. The problem is we are no longer outraged by the targeting of small minorities. When someone gets steamrolled by government, part of the population now cheers with glee, the other part sits quietly and watches. What happened to individual liberty? Where did American’s belief in limited self government go? When did success become unappealing? When did the symbols of success become so distasteful that ever increasing punitive taxes are encouraged by some and accepted by most? For those of you not asking “Who is John Galt?” you soon will be. Oh, and don’t think this is going to be the last of the cigar tax increases. “But this bill is only a first step. The way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through (S)CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American.” President Barak Obama, February 4, 2009 I’m not thinking this is the “Hope & Change” the masses expected. Barak and his congressional buddies originally wanted a $3.00/cigar tax levied. The 900% tax increase on your cigar is only a down payment on Barak’s commitments. Labels: cigar tax Saturday, February 21, 2009 Winter Care of CigarsEvery year we get questions about our customer’s cigars drying out during the winter months. There are a few causes for this and fortunately the fixes are simple. Ambient humidity levels are much lower, at least in the northern Midwest, during the winter. Cigars kept in your carrying case and even your humidor are apt to experience accelerated drying with the reduction in humidity levels this time of year. Homes with forced air tend to have lower humidity levels than homes with either wood or radiated heat. So what’s the fix apart from smoking crusty cigars or running to Oak Brook Tobacco daily for your favorite stick? Maintaining properly humidified cigars at the proper temperature during the winter months requires a little more attention than other times of the year. I try to check my personal humidor about every five days. I keep my humidor a little closer to the radiator to maintain a temperature as close to 70° as possible. If you are unable to keep the cigars at 70°, it’s not the end of the world. We keep the house at 68° most of the winter and drop it to 60° when we escape south for a hard earned reprieve. Where I am a little flexible with a lower cigar temperature, I am not when it comes to humidity levels. If you find that you are unable to maintain a 70% humidity level even by keeping the humistat full and wide open try one of these options: Get a second humistat. This seems like a simple solution, but often overlooked. If you are like me your humidor is crammed with cigars saved for that “special occasion”. One humistat may not be enough to humidify 150-200 cigars. Before you go and buy another humistat try the following: Wipe out the inside of your humidor with a moist washcloth or paper towel. Remember to use distilled water and not tap water (tap water is likely to contain chlorine and other nastiness that your cigars will not like). You can do this every two or three weeks for excellent results. The wood in your home dries considerably during the winter and your humidor also being made of wood does so as well. This leads us to another potential problem; warping of the humidor lid. Most of the humidors in the America have been made overseas. China, the Philippines, Indonesia are primary suppliers of humidors to the US. Average humidity levels in manufactured products from these countries are upwards of 12%. When the humidors reach the US they experience a slight shrinking. This shrinking happens a little more in the northern and southwestern states with lower humidity levels and is seasonally reduced even more during the winter months. The lid of your humidor takes the brunt of the moisture change and tends to warp ever so slightly. If you are an ambitious craftsman this warping can be solved by remounting hinges on your humidor. Or, for those of you like me with much less ambition, find a heavy book to set on top of your humidor to solve the warping problem. To find out if your lid is a potential candidate for this encyclopedic fix, press down on one corner of your lid at a time. If there is any warping present you will feel the lid give a little and make contact with the humidor box making a little tapping sound. If you hear any “tap” your lid has a slight warp. Once you find the culprit corner find a large book and set it on top of the lid favoring the warped corner. Problem solved! (This lid warping is a very common problem, especially during mid-winter, so don’t let it bother you. Virtually all humidors, except for the most expensive, experience this slight winter warping.) Please let us know if this article has been helpful to you. We are happy to address any particular questions you may have in our Smoker’s Corner. Drop us a note with that burning question (pun intended!) or better yet stop in and pay us a visit. Labels: cigar, drying out, humidor, winter care Saturday, December 13, 2008 FREE SHIPPING! See how to qualify!
FREE SHIPPING to anywhere in the United States on orders over $150! FREE 2nd DAY AIR to anywhere in the US on orders over $250! FREE NEXT DAY to anywhre in the US on orders over $500!  Labels: cigars free shipping Saturday, December 6, 2008 A Big Debate: The Proper Cutting of Your Cigar We all have our favorite way of snipping the ends of our cigars. Is there really a right way or wrong way? Does one method over another provide better smoking characteristics? Or is it all snobbery and just an upgrade from biting the end off the cigar like western heroes of an age gone by once did? I certainly have my preferred manner of cutting my cigars, but does it really matter? So what are the advantages of one method over another? Some of the most common ways to cut your cigars are: Cigar Scissors – Provides a clean cut and is an excellent method of cutting any cigar of almost any ring gauge. The scissors probably provide the most clean, uniform cut of all the cutting methods. Even the cheap ones seem to be rather well made. This is an excellent all-around cutter if your cigar habits are varied in regard to several shapes and ring gauges. Guillotine Cutters – Most common method of cutting cigars. Many are made cheap and disposable and really dull quite quickly. A quality guillotine will last you years. Ideal for most all cigars, but may have a hole too small for larger ring gauge cigars. If you are fond of large diameter cigars then make sure the cutter is made to accommodate your preferred ring gauges. Cigar Punch – Punches come in two styles, a ring punch and a pin punch. The ring punch (also known as the tube punch) is a tube with one end beveled razor sharp and is pushed into the end of a cigar. Benefits to this method include the formation of a clean uniform hole and limited filler on the tongue during the smoke. The pin punch (or nail punch) is simply solid piece of metal tapering to a point and driven into the end of the cigar to create a simple hole. A drawback to all punching methods is the compression of the filler (less with the ring punch). This may lead to a harder draw. Use of the ring punch may not be desired on smaller ring gauge cigars or torpedo designs. A very loosely filled/wrapped cigar may actually see better smoking characteristics with the punching methods. V-Cutter – The idea behind the V-cutter is to provide more surface area to draw through. Those who like the V-cut swear by this cut. There is probably some merit to using this cut on small ring gauge cigars to increase the air flow through the cigar. One note of caution, if you are going to use this type of cutter get a good one. Cheap V-cutters will damage the end of your cigar. Regardless of the type of cutting method you prefer remember not to cut below the cap of the cigar. The cap is there to prevent the unraveling of the tobacco. If you have never noticed the cap, head to your humidor and pick a cigar. Look closely to the wrapped end and you will see a small tip wrap known as the cap. Labels: cigar cutters method |
