Derboesekoenig Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 1 hour ago, kuma said: now dys I just buy from FOH. Unless I'm in Europe or Japan and pick up some smokes there I find no reason to freeze any cigars. So nope, never ever. But I will go to Kuba soon (two hours) from states as the 767 / 737 flies. Right now would like to see more creature comforts in country. The use of credit / debit cards are a must for me. I don't like walking around with wads of money on my being. Lol you understand it is a failed state right? Creature comforts? What are you missing? Sure, the wifi can be spotty, but what else is there? I have stayed at some pretty nice Airbnbs there, as I know the hotels could be a subpar depending on where you stay. And as far as the cards go...yeah that's just the way it is. I don't think anyone here feels comfortable carrying that much cash. It is what it is. There is a bank in Florida that issues a credit/debit card that will, however work in Cuba. Should maybe look into it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monterey Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 23 minutes ago, db13 said: I am mad that there is no starbucks there Drinking starbucks coffee in Cuba instead of drinking the local cuban coffee is like going to cuba and smoking swisher sweets 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCgarman Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 I freeze all incoming boxes no exception. Lost some cigars to beetles in the past and it is sad to see your cigars full of holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charltonc Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Freeze everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duxnutz Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Everything. I don’t have a wine fridge setup here in Hawaii yet but given the temps I wouldn’t risk it. Had a few beetles turn up when living back in Sydney (couple seperate instances) which has me vowed never to go through that again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbasCigar Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Can freezing your cigars harm them in any way? It's a bit hard to control the temperature here during summer so I think I'll start freezing aswell. Just to be calm like @CaptainQuinterosaid... because I'm checking them several times/day now haha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torsion Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 12 hours ago, NYgarman said: I freeze all incoming boxes no exception. Lost some cigars to beetles in the past and it is sad to see your cigars full of holes. This - I don't discriminate from where they are purchased from or what type whether CC or NC, all get treated the same. Once you have an outbreak it's not an inconvenience. Two boxes from FoH had severe beetle damage one summer here in NYC and I've never looked back. I don't have a climate/temp controlled humi nor do I run AC 24/7 so the temp fluctuation obviously didn't help. Don't believe that everything that leaves Cuba for export gets expertly frozen no matter who the source is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrightonCorgi Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 I did freeze for a short time about 15-20 years ago. Had a desktop humidor that got too hot and humid... Beetles!!! The cry heard around the world when I saw that. Now that everything stays in its box and humidity is better controlled in my Aristocrat, I haven't freeze any cigars since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aphexafx Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 46 minutes ago, Monterey said: Please site your source on this "fact" Lol. He simply recommended that you consider boxes leaving Cuba, via the commercial HSA distribution channels, to not be 100% free of viable beetle eggs. He's the source of his recommendation. It's based on his own experience. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainQuintero Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 1 hour ago, Monterey said: Please site your source on this "fact" Theses plenty of first hand accounts/posts about it and the process on the forum including pictures inside the freezer "warehouse" from various members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrouchoMarx Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Only ones brought home from Cuba. The rest are just plunked into one of my humis (Arnold, JFK, Winston, or Groucho) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torsion Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 4 minutes ago, Monterey said: Please send me a link or two of these pictures. Links to one or two these posts as well. Near top right side of the page, enter "freezer" into the search field and hit enter. Check results. Sorry buddy - we've all had to do this at some point and pretty sure most don't have immediate references to link to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kuma Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 could care less about starbucks or for that matter coffee in general. I'll make mine a double shot of espresso w / tablespoon of sugar, glass of sparkling water and a good CC (from FOH) with the espresso could not ask for more. Simple and basic is the way to go. later gators! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piligrim Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 I freeze all aged stock I buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 I just made the same poll....sorry. I’ll delete it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCgarman Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 12 hours ago, torsion said: This - I don't discriminate from where they are purchased from or what type whether CC or NC, all get treated the same. Once you have an outbreak it's not an inconvenience. Two boxes from FoH had severe beetle damage one summer here in NYC and I've never looked back. I don't have a climate/temp controlled humi nor do I run AC 24/7 so the temp fluctuation obviously didn't help. Don't believe that everything that leaves Cuba for export gets expertly frozen no matter who the source is. Considering the power grid in Cuba is circa 1950's, I remain very skeptical that all mastercases are frozen adequately to ensure there are no beetle issues. Heard from someone that went there that there are plenty of issues with refrigeration and freezers due to power outages. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magus Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 16 hours ago, AbasCigar said: Can freezing your cigars harm them in any way? I would say no. To convince myself that it does not (paranoid type) I took a box of some Padron 2000's (cheap and they're very consistent which is what I wanted for this test) and froze some and not others. After letting them rest a bit in the humidor I couldn't tell the difference. I do one week at -10 to -20 F after triple bagging with ziplock bags and sucking the air out. One of these days I want to test again to see how bad I can abuse them (e.g. freeze w/o any protection) before I can notice a difference. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbasCigar Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 3 hours ago, Magus said: I would say no. To convince myself that it does not (paranoid type) I took a box of some Padron 2000's (cheap and they're very consistent which is what I wanted for this test) and froze some and not others. After letting them rest a bit in the humidor I couldn't tell the difference. I do one week at -10 to -20 F after triple bagging with ziplock bags and sucking the air out. One of these days I want to test again to see how bad I can abuse them (e.g. freeze w/o any protection) before I can notice a difference. Thanks! I tried searching on the forum on how the whole procedure should be. Some say put in fridge before and after and some say don't. Some say remove the ziplock and keep it in room temp for 24h after the freezer etc.... is there any right way to do it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainQuintero Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 1 hour ago, AbasCigar said: Thanks! I tried searching on the forum on how the whole procedure should be. Some say put in fridge before and after and some say don't. Some say remove the ziplock and keep it in room temp for 24h after the freezer etc.... is there any right way to do it? I can only say what I do, and I haven't had any issues yet. Take cigars out of box/cab and double bag in ziplock bags. Wrap a layer of newspaper loosely around and straight into the freezer for 3/4 days. After that, two days in the fridge then a day on the side in normal temp area. Then back in the box and into the humidor. Nowadays I don't take the cigars out of the box, seemed a bit excessive. Just double bag the box/cabinet and into the freezer as above. 4 days then fridge 2, on the side 1, back into humidor. If unsure I always take it slow for any/all of the steps, especially the 'defrosting' to prevent wrapper damage. But doing the above I've never experienced any problems. It might depend on your local temperature/humidity etc to how slow you do the steps 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbasCigar Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 Thank 50 minutes ago, CaptainQuintero said: I can only say what I do, and I haven't had any issues yet. Take cigars out of box/cab and double bag in ziplock bags. Wrap a layer of newspaper loosely around and straight into the freezer for 3/4 days. After that, two days in the fridge then a day on the side in normal temp area. Then back in the box and into the humidor. Nowadays I don't take the cigars out of the box, seemed a bit excessive. Just double bag the box/cabinet and into the freezer as above. 4 days then fridge 2, on the side 1, back into humidor. If unsure I always take it slow for any/all of the steps, especially the 'defrosting' to prevent wrapper damage. But doing the above I've never experienced any problems. It might depend on your local temperature/humidity etc to how slow you do the steps Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCgarman Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 4 hours ago, AbasCigar said: Thanks! I tried searching on the forum on how the whole procedure should be. Some say put in fridge before and after and some say don't. Some say remove the ziplock and keep it in room temp for 24h after the freezer etc.... is there any right way to do it? Everyone has their own method. When I receive a new box it goes into a large ziploc freezer bag and all the air gets sucked out. Then into my chest freezer for 48 hours. Then take out of freezer, take box out of ziploc and let sit at room temperature for maybe 30 minutes. Then directly into cabinet humidor. No beetle issues regardless of room temperature where my humidor sits. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aphexafx Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 5 hours ago, AbasCigar said: is there any right way to do it? I have a FoodSaver, so I seal whole boxes or pairs of boxes. Straight into freezer for 1 week. Out onto counter for a couple days. Unseal, into humidor. Placing the boxes in a sealed environment (Ziplock, FoodSaver, saran wrap, taped foil, etc.) is probably the most important part. This reduces the free air volume, which reduces the amount of free water vapor that is likely to condense onto the cigars and boxes when they are removed from the freezer. Cigars are tough. Everyone's method is simply what works for them and I doubt very much you will ever see damage. The methods above are just as correct as mine. I've been doing this for a long time and I've yet to damage a single stick. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earthson Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 I freeze each and every box and bundle regardless of source. Especially considering some boxes won't be opened after receipt for 3-5 years, it lends itself a certain piece of mind and does not seem to affect performance. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AbasCigar Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Thanks for your helpful answers everyone:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monterey Posted February 27, 2019 Share Posted February 27, 2019 Some odd ways. For sure you don't need to take the cigars out of the box. You risk accidental damage. Vacuum seal doesn't hurt, but it could if you accidentally crush your box. The easiest and safest way is to put your box in a freezer bag, then another. Put it in the fridge for 24 hours, then the freezer for 3 days, back to the fridge for 24 hours and then some time on the counter. The fridge part is important because it will reduce the chance of a wrapper cracking. Subjecting a cigar from 70 degrees to 0 is a lot. Wrapper can crack. The fridge helps slowly bring the temp down. The below link is a great guide, plus it helps let you know how long it should stay in the freezer based on how cold your freezer goes. If you don't see any beetles, then you only need to pay attention to the top 2 temp guides. You will see that if your freezer goes down to 23 degrees, you will need to leave it in the freezer for 4 days. https://www.reddit.com/r/cigars/comments/2yqjta/my_guide_on_how_to_freeze_cigars_ubigmacneil_style/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.e2a46b57b5880109ddf171d1b6f9daea.png)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now