What's the best way to store my pipe tobacco?

Like cigars, any airtight container will work just fine. However, pipe tobacco and cigars should not be kept at the same humidity. At Bailey's Cigar Room, we sell loose pipe tobacco by the ounce and put it in a ziplock bag. While the bags are good for short term storage, Mason jars are a better long term storage method. You can use a permanent marker or label to write the name of each blend on the lids. Just keep them somewhere dark, dry, and with consistent temperature.

Be careful not to over humidify your pipe tobacco. If it gets dry, you can re-humidify pipe tobacco.

Relative Humidity - RH

In case you are new to premium tobacco terminology, RH or rh stands for relative humidity. This is not the same as humidity. Eva-Dry is a company specializing in dehumidification, they explain the difference this way:

The Humidity Ratio is how much ‘air’ is in the air versus the amount of water. Relative Humidity on the other hand, takes the humidity ratio, and includes the air temperature, and the maximum amount of water the air can hold, and displays it as a percentage. This later figure is what we see meteorologists quote on the news, or displayed on your local weather app.

Optimal RH

Optimal RH for cigars is 70%, but pipe tobacco should be stored with a much lower RH. The consensus seems to be about 55%. Each of these is optimal, which means something close will work just fine. Boveda packs work well for cigars but may be too much for pipe tobacco. Boveda does make 32%RH and 49%RH packs that might work with pipe tobacco.

"One of the pipe tobacco reps I know says they package their pipe tobacco at 20-22% moisture. Use of a Boveda 62% pack would be sufficient to hold that level of moisture for storage." – Nate Beck, Boveda Inc.

You can ReHydrate Pipe Tobacco

If you store your pipe tobacco properly, it shouldn't dry out. However, time passes, problems do arise, and things happen. Good thing that the rehydration process really isn't that complicated! There's plenty out there about what to do if your pipe tobacco gets dry! The folks at Windy City Cigars provide a nice summary, even a bit about Quinn's favorite method (use food).

Whatever your adventures with pipe tobacco may be, remember why you are smoking your pipe! This usually involves relaxation, or contemplation, an escape, or something of the sort - don't over complicate things!

Leave a comment about your favorite method for rehydating pipe tobacco or give us a good story.