wetter than an otter's pocket

Just yesterday I got to complaining how my sotweed cylinders keep multiplying out of control. I suspect that when I close the box there must be monkey business going on. So today, naturally, I went looking for a cigar store I had never heard of. One which Paul Stulac had mentioned as being here in Dull-Aware and about to carry his cigars. Yeah. Right. Turns out its cigs, paraphernalia, and lottery tickets. But on the way back, I spotted a cigar store I had never noticed before. So, naturally, I dropped in. Get where I'm going with this? What do you do when you have too many cigars? You go buy more for no good reason. But I digress. Let me re-focus. Ahem.

Off to the side of the main cigarette cartons, paraphernalia, and lottery tickets in this second store, they have a small walk in humidor with a creditable selection. I very nearly pulled the trigger on a mazo of 25 Perdomo Fresco Maduros. Lucky I spotted a single in the bin below, because I have zero clue where I'd stash another 25. As I bend down to fetch that single, my rear pockets get blasted by a roar of vapor from a horrifying humidifying machine. I crab walk down the aisle and almost pull the trigger on a mazo of San Lo. Lucky I spotted a single in the bin below because you know I got no room. As I bend down to fetch this single I get blasted in the keister by a second such machine. I look round the second aisle, there's another blaster. I look up, there's another blaster. Four master blasters in a space smaller than the office I am writing this from, a space only large enough for two short aisles. And this is in Dull-Aware, where the humidibbiditty does not skimp on a good day in Summer. I'm telling you, I think they surplussed these machines from an NFL pre-season sidelines, cause they were misting a mile a minute. Industrial wetter downers. This place was even thicker than the John Hay factory store in Intercourse. Air wetter than an otter's pocket. I believe I spotted some lightning where thunderclouds were forming near the display of cutters, so I dodged out of there in a funk.

It appears to me that one day long ago some well meaning cigar geek in parched Phoenix Arizona wrote a casual remark how cigars need to be humidified, and ever since then certain perfunctory readers from Dewey Beach to Atlanta and round about to Nawlins all remain firmly convinced that when it comes to cigars, the wetter the better.

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Comments

Gray4lines

I've noticed this in a few places! (Especially those who carry more than just cigars, like the first store you mentioned). But even some guys who "know better" seem to run pretty humid conditions I their walk-ins. Maybe its to compensate for the door being opened and closed all day? Or maybe the open door actually triggers the machine to run more than it needs.

I'm not making excuses though, it only takes a quick check from anyone in the store to see if it's too humid. Most well maintained humis I've been in don't really "feel" that humid when you walk in.. yeah you can tell, but its not like a rainforest or anything even close.

on another note, I believe I've also been the victim of a humidor which had the "wrong" kind if cedar lining it. You know, the kind that keeps moths from eating your clothes... it burned my eyes just like naphthalene too.

Lee.mcglynn

Yeah I'll agree some store keepers don't really know or care! I've been to a few places that were so wet I'd say 40% of the stock the wrappers have exploded!! Unfortunately for mr Webmost they were in Delaware lol

webmost

Stopped by Otter's Pocket today to pick up a Perdomo Fresco Maduro. Checked RH on one of their hygrometers sitting inside a glass case. It read 88%.

Think I'll dry this stick out before lighting.

Toombes

webmost:
Stopped by Otter's Pocket today to pick up a Perdomo Fresco Maduro. Checked RH on one of their hygrometers sitting inside a glass case. It read 88%.

Think I'll dry this stick out before lighting.

Preheat oven to 450.
Place stick on ungreased pan. Place on center rack.
Bake for 7 1/2 days, turning stick over half way through cooking for even baking.
88%!?! That's insane!

taythegibs

Maybe they wanted to time travel and didnt realize it was 88mph not % humidity?

kaspera79

webmost:
Stopped by Otter's Pocket today to pick up a Perdomo Fresco Maduro. Checked RH on one of their hygrometers sitting inside a glass case. It read 88%.

Think I'll dry this stick out before lighting.

Dude... Why the F. do you keep going to this place. You are not getting a quality product there. Why should you have to make the cigar smoke-able ?

Lasabar

kaspera79:
webmost:
Stopped by Otter's Pocket today to pick up a Perdomo Fresco Maduro. Checked RH on one of their hygrometers sitting inside a glass case. It read 88%.

Think I'll dry this stick out before lighting.

Dude... Why the F. do you keep going to this place. You are not getting a quality product there. Why should you have to make the cigar smoke-able ?

Agreed... You don't date a fat chick and try to make her skinny.... You date a skinny chick and she tends to get fatter as time goes on.

webmost

kaspera79:
webmost:
Stopped by Otter's Pocket today to pick up a Perdomo Fresco Maduro. Checked RH on one of their hygrometers sitting inside a glass case. It read 88%.

Think I'll dry this stick out before lighting.

Dude... Why the F. do you keep going to this place. You are not getting a quality product there. Why should you have to make the cigar smoke-able ?

1) Because they are close to the office. I can swing by there, pick up a drippy stick, drop by the best sub shop in creation on the way back (Capriotti's), and be back here in twenty.

2) They have stuff which my fave B&M doesn't. Dropped by my fave just last night, on the way to the Y. Asked about the Perdomo Fresco. They used to carry it, but don't now.

3) By the time I drop by my fave B&M, I wind up late for my handball match.

Four wall handball, guys. You gotta try it. Baddest game in town.
_____________________________

On the other hand, when I dropped by my fave, the geek advised me to pick up a few things they have on clearance. He never steers me wrong. So i grabbed a La Aurora Barrel Aged, a Cusano Habano, and a Cubao Maduro to try. All robustos, each only four bucks on clearance. Really looking forward to the barrel thing. Aged in a rum bartrel. Looks yummy.

I can't get that advice at Otter's Pocket, where obviously nobody knows a cigar from a lottery ticket.

Gray4lines

Maybe you could ask for the owner and tell him/her that maybe they might want to adjust the humidifiers... I don't know exactly how they run this place, but if they have any intelligence whatsoever they should at least litlen to your advice.

just something like asking who runs the place or when they'd be in, and then say "hey, now this is just my opinion, but I smoke plenty of cigars and I believe you may want to turn that hing down a notch" maybe mentioning possibly ruining his inventory would work too. All just friendly tips..

or maybe its not even worth asking about... I probably would if it was a place I planned on visiting somewhat often... who knows, maybe they just never knew

webmost

Yepper. Did that. He wasn't in. One of those "gotta catch him" guys.

Gray4lines

webmost:
Yepper. Did that. He wasn't in. One of those "gotta catch him" guys.

yeeeah, I gotcha. Maybe one day.

webmost

Besides --- don't know any other cigar store with such a cool nickname.

Trident

maybe its named that way because its so wet in there

webmost

Trident:
maybe its named that way because its so wet in there

uh ... yeah ... cause I named it that

Trident

nice work, you should suggest they name the store that and give you royalties in cigars prior to them being put in their humi.

Gray4lines

webmost:
Trident:
maybe its named that way because its so wet in there
uh ... yeah ... cause I named it that

lol!! ... call it whale's wazoo. Those are pretty moist, I imagine.

jthanatos

Gray4lines:
webmost:
Trident:
maybe its named that way because its so wet in there
uh ... yeah ... cause I named it that

lol!! ... call it whale's wazoo. Those are pretty moist, I imagine.

But would you smoke it?

jgibv

Stopped at one of my B&Ms today at lunch searching for some Supershots ... (which they didn't have in stock yet, lame!) .... but I figured since I drove all the way over there I might as well look around and see if anything catches my eye, can't leave empty handed ya know?

And plus, I always get a kick out of this shop because, well, it's friggin huge!!! They have 2 walk-ins that cover about 4 rooms, along with a couple other wall-sized humidors. But I'll focus on their main walk-in humidor (where this story takes place, and plus that's my favorite humi because it has all the delicious singles out on display)...but it's probably 40x15ish sq ft.

So I get to lookin around for a couple minutes, then all of the sudden it feels and looks like I'm wandering through the tropical rainforest!!! WHOA WTF is happening??
Well I glance around and notice an R2-D2 sized box in the corner, with a 4 inch PVC pipe sticking out the top with a 90 degree elbow so the opening was pointing straight into the room....I can only assume it's name was "fog humidifier 9000." Because it was making this walk-in more foggy than the scenes from the 2007 film adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist!!!
Seriously, WHOA!! The local disco would be jealous of this thing !!! Must've had a hemi engine in it or something the way it was spewing out water vapor....idk.

Now keep in mind this is a pretty good sized walk-in but this thing seemed like overkill, seriously. So I thought "what are you people doing, you're gonna ruin the smokes!!"
So I picked up a couple sticks from the shelf,,, well they didn't feel soggy and there were no signs of mold, so I went ahead and bought them ---- going to leave them out in the sun for a few days to dry out though (I jest)!!!!
This B&M has always been tops in my book, killer selection, good prices, and relatively close....but after seeing the "Fogger 9000" at work, IDK, going to have to see how these few smoke before I take a trip back.

So I guess what I'm gettin at is that Davis' shop isn't the only one that believes in the "more humidity = better" theory.

webmost

Apparently, it's a franchise.

macs-smokes

Off topic here... but my wife will pee herself when I use that phrase one day... I always keep her on her toes, but wetter than an otters pocket is new to me. Love it

jgibv

webmost:
Apparently, it's a franchise.

Haha .... I hope not. Other 2 B&Ms close by haven't implemented a "fogger 9000" yet, and hopefully they keep it that way.

But on the plus side ... if my RH ever rapidly drops, I'll just stop in and grab a couple singles from that shop --- toss them in the humi and I'm sure the RH will be back up in no time.
Who needs those stinkin Boveda packets?? They're for schmucks --- just get a couple sponges ... err I mean singles ... from the fogger 9000 and you'll be good to go!!! haha

webmost

macs-smokes:
Off topic here... but my wife will pee herself when I use that phrase one day... I always keep her on her toes, but wetter than an otters pocket is new to me. Love it

Hey, be careful That phrase was originally coined, IIRC, to describe something furry, wet, playful, and smelling like fish.

macs-smokes

Being the smart-ass I am... she would just pee her pants just a wee bit and say Oh MY GOD... I can't take you anywhere... Some peoples children. and then on with life... But seriously if the B&M's humi being that wet, couldn't it bring mold to the precious stash? That would be my concern.

Martel

I had the opposite happen today. Went in a shop I'd never been in before. The first word in its name is humidor, so I thought it would be worth a look. Nah. It was a liquor store with your usual selection of cigs and machine mades behind the counter. Did have some nice pipes on display and some pipe tobacco. But the humidor was a single display cabinet with a hygrometer reading under 50 filled with $9 Nubs and such right next to a bunch of Drew Estate infused stuff in the same display.

twistedstem

taythegibs:
Maybe they wanted to time travel and didnt realize it was 88mph not % humidity?

maybe they didnt have the required power to properly humidify 1.21 jigawatts is hard to mantain.

phobicsquirrel

For a second I had a completely different idea on this thread by seeing its title, then I was okay, I'm not in the non-cigar thread and diamonddog didn't make the thread.

phobicsquirrel

twistedstem:
taythegibs:
Maybe they wanted to time travel and didnt realize it was 88mph not % humidity?
maybe they didnt have the required power to properly humidify 1.21 jigawatts is hard to mantain.

lol

phobicsquirrel

webmost:
macs-smokes:
Off topic here... but my wife will pee herself when I use that phrase one day... I always keep her on her toes, but wetter than an otters pocket is new to me. Love it
Hey, be careful That phrase was originally coined, IIRC, to describe something furry, wet, playful, and smelling like fish.

btw funniest damn thing I've heard in weeks!

webmost

There's one word you dunt wunt to say to a woman even in funt, cause if you do you gunt to hunt a new place to punt, runt. Pull that stunt you'll bear the brunt.

Just punt, and call it an otter's pocket. The rest of us will know what you munt.

Oh, to taste my youth once more,
When frolicking kelpies swam ashore
All taut skin, and rippling abs,
And otters' pockets worth the crabs.