CigarFox

Being one of the wedding attendants does not only require you to dress up and look good at the wedding. However, groomsmen are often unaware of it as much as bridesmaids does. Being a groomsman is a great achievement for most men, and that is the reason why groomsmen gifts are definitely appreciated. After all, a wedding is not only a celebration of the union of two souls, but it is also a celebration of relationships with families and friends. And whatever gifts you may give to your groomsmen, they are always guaranteed to be appreciated, just as you appreciate their support at your wedding.

Though they’re often observed wagging around in the entire wedding preparation, groomsmen literally have several obligations that they should accomplish. A groomsman should be the one to lend support and encouragement during the groom’s desperate times. Being a groomsman, you may have reservations about marriage and to let go a close buddy to wedded bliss is quite difficult to accept. But the fact that you are standing there at your buddy’s wedding, and being very supportive is enough to relieve yourself from heavyhearted sentiment. This should be notice by the groom and greatly appreciated.

To thank your groomsmen, present them the right gifts that they definitely deserved. However, most of us have this notion that finding the right gift for a man can be very tricky sometimes. It may be daunting to shop for three or four groomsmen, but you have several ways to make things more easier than expected. As long as you know your groomsmen well and know exactly what makes them happy, you will not get failed.

Groomsmen gifts can be purchased anywhere, as long as you use your imagination. You can shop in specialty shops and stores for men accessories. You may also consider shopping online. There plethora of online shopping websites that provide ideas for groomsmen gifts.

Most of the groom opt to buy groomsmen gifts that matches for the entire entourage, ranging from outfits to sports gear, car accessories to office accessories, and barwares to cigar collection. Gifts for groomsmen doesn’t have to be the same, in fact giving something identical assure you that nobody is left out and every is treated fairly. Of course, you could always think outside the box. Use your imagination such as deciding to give getaway tickets to their favorite sporting events, or perhaps giving them a year of magazine subscriptions. After all, it’s you celebration and you know your buddies that much.

Popular groomsmen gifts today are personalized items. Personalized gifts for groomsmen can be engraved, embroidered or embossed men’s accessories, depending on the actual item. Personalization ables you to to have your friends’ name or favorite phrase on the gifts. You may consider personalized barwares such as engraved flasks, mugs, corkscrews, wine stopper, shot glasses, bottle openers and others. Another options are personalized cigar humidors, lighters and cigar cutter. And for groomsmen who are outdoor enthusiast, you may give them embroidered cooler chairs, backpacks and duffle bags. Sports bags are great gifts for groomsmen who are sports fanatic.

About the Author:

Jnet is an author for a variety of lifestyle issues and topics. If you’re looking for
engagement gift ideas
, visit the website Mygroomsmengifts.com and choose from their products. Shop for
wedding attendant gifts
online!

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Groomsmen Gifts – Your Shopping Guides

adorini Cigar Zigarren Humidor Instruction Guide

What’s the best way to travel with cigars?

I dont want to bring my humidor, and dont have any “real” cigar travel cases. What’s my best option? 3-day golf trip coming up.

If you have some priceless or important cigars that you absolutely need during the trip, then you can easily jury-rig a temporary humidor. Take a sealable box (tupperware, wood, or metal all work) and place a humidifying agent (I’d recommend either soaked wood, or a piece of rag soaked in warm water) inside of it, along with the cigars. If you use the rag, you may get a touch of mildew on the cigars, but that can just be brushed off, and won’t affect the smoke quality at all.

Your best option though, assuming that you have a fairly standard cigar collection at home, is to just leave them at home. When you get to your hotel, ask the concierge if he can recommend some nice tobacconists in the area – you’re really probably better off just buying a few stogies when you get there than trying to transport them across the country.

Plus, this way, you can see new tobacconists, and maybe get introduced to a brand of cigar that you’re not yet familiar with.

cigar humidors

Building a Humidor, anything I should know?

I already know that Humidors are usually constructed with a Spanish Ceder veneer on the inside or Mahogany veneer.

Build it out of Mahogany and line it with Spanish Cedar (which is a form of mahogany) – but NOT veneer. Use at least 1/4″ thick SC.

You will not find Spanish Cedar at THD but at a specialty lumber shop – most likely online, and it is quite expensive.

Humidors are not airtight – the rule of thumb for a good closure is the dollar bill test. Place a dollar bill on the edge and close the lid. You should be able to just be able to pull the bill out in a smooth motion without any grabbing and it shouldn’t be too removed too loosely.

It’s a humidor, no it’s a server. It’s a Servidor!

Cigar question – storage advice, etc?

Hi, I bought a Cuban Partagas cigar a few days ago. I didn’t smoke it and bought it loose, not in a tube. I want to smoke it at a future date but want it stored properly. I don’t own a humidor, at the moment it’s in an air tight food jar in the dark – can I do any better or will I have to accept a diminished taste?

Get a humidor asap. They are cheap as chips i got one off ebay for like £10. Even a cheap one is better than nothing.

How to make a Tubifier.

Many of you who have just joined the cigar revolution may wonder if you need to purchase a cigar humidor, quietly mumbling to yourself, “I already had to buy a lighter, now this!” While some people do believe that keeping cigars in a plastic bag with a damp towel is sufficient enough to keep them suitable, nine out of ten cigar lovers likely splurge on the humidor. And, of course, nine out of ten dentists would probably agree.

This is because cigars adapt to their surroundings, absorbing their environment like a sponge. If they are kept in an ill-suited environment, they will age to be ill-suited cigars, disappointing both their parents and the person who bought them. On the flip side, however, is the fact that if cigars are placed in a well-suited environment, they will age to become well-suited for even the most seasoned connoisseur.

For those who have yet to purchase a humidor for your cigars to call “home,” you might be confused as to what a humidor is and whether or not you should buy one. They may seem confusing, like there are a lot of types and brands, each one begging for a chance to age your cigar. However, they are really pretty simple; a humidor is what it sounds like: a box or a room that contains constant humidity. Basically, it’s the cigar’s version of Florida.

While many cigar shops have room sized humidors, a walk-in humidity closet where patrons can shop for cigars, when purchasing a humidor for personal use the size doesnÂ’t need to be comparable: you donÂ’t need to turn your spare bedroom into a humidor, replacing your bed set and angering your spouse. A small wooden or glass humidor box will suffice, holding a few dozen cigars, keeping them at the perfect temperature and helping them to grow old gracefully.

Humidors all contain hygrometers, a device used to monitor humidity levels. This helps cigar lovers to keep their humidors around the ideal humidity of 65 to 70 percent. When the humidity in the humidor falls above or below this level, the hygrometer will tell you, as if tapping you on the shoulder with its thermometer. Ideally, itÂ’s best to fill the humidor as much as possible, packing in the cigars to the very top: the more empty space the more likely a drop in humidity. And, more importantly, the more empty space the less cigars in your collection.

Humidors are made with wood that is particularly good for aging cigars; itÂ’s like wrinkle cream for the tobacco world. Constructed with Spanish-cedar, this wood holds in more moisture, sheds its magnetic aroma onto the cigars, and repels tobacco beetles, tiny bugs that eat the tobacco, potentially ruining cigar collections and providing an undeserved luxury to the insect world.

Once a humidor is purchased, it must be prepped prior to use, placing your cigars in too soon will result in a waste of time and a waste of tobacco. To prep the humidor, take a damp cloth or towel and remove any dust by wiping down the interior. Next, place a small bowl of water inside the humidor and allow it to remain there for 12 hours with the lid to the humidor closed. After 12 hours, if the majority of the water has evaporated, fill another bowl of water and keep it inside the humidor for 24 hours. ItÂ’s when the water quits evaporating that your humidor is ready for use. In a nutshell, when your humidor is no longer thirsty, give it your cigars.

Every few days be sure to check your humidor to make sure itÂ’s not in need of a refill. If you live in a particularly hot climate, you may need to check your humidor more frequently, making sure the water hasnÂ’t all evaporated or that your parched dog hasnÂ’t drank from it in an act of thirsty desperation. When filling it, only use distilled water or half distilled water and half Propylene Glycol.

Humidors are essential to a good cigar collection. Not only do they keep cigars fresh and preserved, but they keep them enhanced with the essence they are meant to showcase. Having a cigar collection and not a humidor can be compared to owning a classic car, and keeping it outside the garage where any element of weather can attack. Most true connoisseurs, and novices who hope to become connoisseurs, advocate the use of a humidor. If you donÂ’t use one, your cigars may spoil or, if they donÂ’t, you will only come close to true luxury. Close, but no cigar.

Jennifer Jordan is an editor and staff writer for http://www.whatsknottolove.com. At home in a design firm in Denver, Colorado, she writes articles specific to the finer things in life.

Episode 3 – Your Questions, My Answers (Full)

Tobacco beetles can not only eat your cigars down to dust, they can cost you a pretty penny. While not a new pest for cigar lovers, it is the leading insect that threatens stored tobacco. These critters do not discriminate. They will attack tobacco at any stage of manufacturing, up to retail and travel to your humidor.

Though it is the most common, the tobacco beetle is not the only predator that preys on tobacco. Several other insects such as the tobacco moth, the tobacco worm and at least 12 other species of insects feed on the plant. Many of these insects were trapped either in tobacco factories, warehouses or found on cigars left in room temperature inside homes.

The tobacco beetle, which is larger than the cigarette beetle, is mainly a tropical species. It is identical to the cigarette beetle except that it is larger and is black instead of brown. The tobacco beetle attacks cured tobacco in much the same way as the cigarette beetle. The tobacco moth is sometimes a serious pest of flue-cured tobacco on the farm, farmers say. Infestation may begin even in the curing barn and continue until the tobacco is marketed. Most damage occurs in the pack-house, where the tobacco is bulked before being graded. Infestation may develop from moths flying from commercial storages or farms nearby, or it may be already established on the farm and carried over from year to year in scrap tobacco, peas or beans, stock feeds or other host foods. Tobacco dealers and manufacturers constantly practice insect-control measures and maintains damage-free on insect infestations.

Having a humidor is not a guarantee as friend from Davie found out. Despite stashing away his stogies in his safe haven, he returned and found his Cubans with holes like a strainer. That’s because the illegal cigars were not properly cured and the insects were not destroyed before the cigars were put away, allowing them to multiply. “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” he said. He lost hundreds of dollars on the coveted cigars “ For a while I thought someone had opened the humidor or I thought someone had sold me a dud.” But a friend explained to him that Cuban cigars are the most prone to developing beetles because they don’t fumigate their tobacco. The don’t take the same preventive measures as the other countries do. But if you do have Cuban Cigars beware!

Below are steps to eradicate tobacco bugs in your humidor and how to prevent them from returning.:

1. First, double bag all the cigars that were in the humidor with the contaminated cigars, even those which don’t have holes. They probably have eggs and larvae. You can also use tupperware containers. One inside the other (Because of the extra moisture produced by the freezing, the extra bag or container will act as a deterrent for the moisture the freezing might produce). In a regular frost free freezer the temperature should be 10 F. to 15 F. above Zero. If in a deep freezer the temperature should be -10 F. Keep the cigars in the regular freezer for 30 days and in the deep freezer for 15 days.

2. While the cigars are in the freezer, clean your humidor with a vacuum. Leave it empty and open for at least a week. The bugs will die without its food source, the tobacco.

3. When it is time to remove the cigars from the freezer, transfer them to the refrigerator for 24 hours. Then let your cigars reach room temperature as they sit outside for another day. Return your cigars to your humidor and humidify them again. Be patient, don’t try to speed up this process.

4. When ever you come across Cuban cigars freeze them immediately, following the steps above. Better safe than sorry.

Long ashes everyone.

About the Author:

Jim Bennington has been caring for the cigar and pipe smoker for 30 years in Boca Raton Florida. For More information go to www.bocabenningtons.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Tobacco Beetle & Your Cigars

CITYGUIDE – Restaurant Kornhauskeller Bern Schweiz Restauran

Cigars were brought along during our first road trip through the American West. Our travel buddies were cigar smokers who, inspired by Clint Eastwood in “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” brought cigarillos along during our sojourn across the Mohave Desert. At night we camped out, and the cigars were companion accessories to the setting of cold nights out around the fire with the endless sky lit by a melee of diamond stars and surrounded by crisp, dry air delicately scented by the aroma of premium cigar smoke.

The American West has a great tradition of cigar consumption in the old saloons and on cattle drives. From the turn of the 19th century when cattle and railroad barons played poker and spun deals in St. Louis and San Francisco, to the turn of the 20th century when industrial giants like Henry Ford, J.P. Getty and Andrew Carnegie found themselves influencing the century that would see two world wars. The cigar was a companion in smoke-filled rooms and at secret poker tables. There was always a cigar-smoking gambler or two on stage coaches heading west, and after that aboard club cars on transcontinental trains from New York to Chicago to California. Cigars do indeed have a travel history in the American West.

“Cigar store Indians,” originally designed as plaques and statues representing Native Americans, became the symbol of tobacco and tobacco advertising during the early 19th and 20th centuries. These statues and plaques were most often used in stores, hotels and outside restaurants and bars to signal (often illiterate customers) the availability of tobacco, or that smoking was permitted inside the establishment. The complete, life-sized figures of “American Indians” were generally used by tobacco-shop owners, with smaller plaques used in general stores.

Images of Native Americans became connected with the sale of tobacco after American Indians introduced the plant to the Europeans who explored and settled in the Americas. Cigar store Indian statues first appeared in Europe, once tobacco was available there. The wooden carvings were based on images created by artists who matched descriptions, rather than first-hand viewings of actual Native Americans. The figures, which most often ended up looking like Europeans in Native American dress, were clothed in fringed buckskins, were draped in blankets and wore feathered headdresses. They did not actually resemble the members of any particular tribe. The sculptors carved chiefs, braves, princesses and maidens, sometimes with papooses. Most of the figures grasped tobacco or cigars in their hands or displayed leaves on their clothing. There were several artists in the United States who specialized in carving ship figureheads, architectural details and portrait busts, then turned to creating figures of American Indians full-time as demand increased. Names of note in this genre of carving are John Cromwell, Thomas Brooks, the Skillin family, and Samuel Robb, who operated studios in Northeastern cities and put out product catalogues.

Modern times have called for the image of the cigar store Indian to all but disappear, but the Native American will always be remembered as the source of our fine tobacco. When the occasion calls for a fine cigar, enjoy one–especially if you’re under western skies.

About the Author:

For access to the best Fine Cigars and Cigar accessories available check out the great deals available only on the authors website – http://www.davidoffmadison.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Western Travel, Cigars and Native American Images

Avoid Taco Night in Here

Okay. So you’ve gone out and bought a couple cigars and decided that you wanted take up the popular pastime of cigar smoking. After all, this pastime has increased in popularity in recent years, spawning magazines and books and smoking bars. It’s a fine, affluent, and cultured hobby to be a part of it. So what kind of accessories do you need, in addition to your cigars, in order to have an authentic cigar smoking experience?

You’ll want to get yourself a humidor. They come at a variety of styles and types but you should get one that is made of Spanish cedar, or at least contains Spanish cedar in it. Spanish cedar is often used to help keep cigars fresh for indefinite periods of time. And, a humidor kept at 70% will keep your cigars in an ideal state of humidity so that they’ll be ready to smoke when you are. You can overcome problems in your humidor’s humidity by making sure that it is full of cigars, since a nearly empty humidor will throw off the humidity.

Before you can light up your cigar, you’ll need to clip off the end. This will expose the inside leaves of the cigar which are the ones that impart the most flavor as you draw in the cigar smoke. While many people use any sharp object handy, like a pocket knife, you can really enjoy this cigar smoking experience before you even light up by getting yourself a little guillotine clipper. Usually they have three holes, two for your fingers and one in the middle for the cigar. You put the cigar in the middle one and pinch your fingers and a little blade snaps the cap off of the end of the cigar.

The next thing you’ll need is a good lighter. Cigar connoisseurs recommend that you don’t use a regular lighter or a match, since the sulfur from the match or the fluid from the lighter will add an unpleasant taste to your cigar. A butane lighter is one popular way to light your cigar without the after effects of bad flavor.

While not necessary, a smoking jacket was a traditional garment used by men to keep smoke from getting on their clothes. They are typically three-quarter-length coats of a very rich material and deep in color, with cuffs. While they may not be readily available in stores anymore, you may find them in secondhand clothing shops or you can get a tailor to make one for you. It is a fun way to add a level of authenticity in class to your cigar smoking experience.

Jeff Lakie is the founder of Cigar Information [http://www.cigar-box-purses.info] a website providing information on Cigars

My Humidor

As the 1990s dawned, few industries seemed deader than cigar sales and manufacture.

From its height in the 1850s – when Cuba alone exported 356.6 million cigars – the cigar had fallen into virtual moribundity. Its market had been conquered by cheap, ubiquitous cigarettes. Its image was tarnished in the United States by, among other things, the persistent (and not entirely unfounded) popular association between cigar smoking and the “fat cats” of the Gilded Age – a picture wedged into its place in the popular consciousness by the work of crusading editorial cartoonists.

By the late 1980s, the industry was flatlining, with an aging customer base and few new customers drifting in: the classic example of a product reaching what marketing experts call “old age.” That’s not to say “senility.”

But in 1992 something changed. (Not a bad year for it – with voters decisively rejecting Ronald Reagan’s vice president at the polls and heavy metal yielding to Nirvana, it was a year for change.) The number of imported cigars wafted gently upward during the fourth quarter of the year, yielding a four-percent increase over 1991. The following year, imports rose by ten percent.

The industry was elated. But no one was prepared for what came next – 12 percent growth in 1994, 33 percent growth in 1995, 36 percent first-quarter growth for 1996, shops unable to keep product on the shelves, backorders of 55 million units in 1996, retailers buying shopping-carts full of cigars from distributors and paying retail price just to keep their stores stocked. Women, for the first time, began smoking cigars in large numbers, and prices rose at a fast clip – the $2 premium cigar more or less disappeared over a three-year period. Cigar bars proliferated.

Cigar-friendly restaurants, well, came into existence.

What happened? One observer, Norman Sharp of the Cigar Association of America, told the New York Times in 1996 that the new prevalence of cigar bars goes back to a single Boston restaurant. “It started in the ’80s, when the Ritz-Carlton in Boston hosted a cigar dinner.”

In the same story, Sharp also gave credit to what he called “political correctness,” the all-purpose rhetorical villain of the 1990s. “People are saying they’re tired of being told what to do – or in this case, being told not to use tobacco – and turned to cigar smoking as a way of flipping the bird at well, somebody.

Other observers give some credit to Cigar Aficionado, launched in 1992, a quarterly glossy publication that improved cigars status in society. In Cigar Aficionado, alongside cigar reviews and industry news, you can also read up on new luxury goods, while enjoying interviews with prominent cigar smokers from Jack Nicholson to Whoopi Goldberg. As Runner’s World did for the nascent jogging movement of the 1970s, Cigar Aficionado transformed thousands of isolated cigar lovers into an interest group, simply by addressing them as one.

For another explanation, consider the growth in coffee consumption during the 1990s – the years when Starbucks conquered America. The new prominence of this old, almost stodgy beverage (not unlike the cigar in its public image) could be, and was, traced to the explosion in average working hours during the decade, when a centuries-long trend toward shorter working weeks ground, in the US though not in Europe, to a halt. Bedroom communities grew, while deep social ties grew frayed. American white-collar workers desperately needed something, some small pleasure or indulgence to take the sting out of their epic workweeks. Why not cigars?

Cigar Fox provides the finest cigars that include brands like Cohiba, Montecristo, Gurkha, Macanudo, Rocky Patel, Romeo, Drew Estate, and many more. Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters. For more information, please visit http://www.cigarfox.com.

About the Author:

CigarFox
provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1000 different brands! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Cigar Boom: What It Was (And Is)

Chelsea Humidor by Tampa Humidor