True cigar aficionados know that maintaining optimal conditions is crucial for preserving the flavor and aromas of each special stick. The NewAir 840 Count Cigar Humidor makes it easier than ever to store your collection properly, thanks to cutting-edge climate control features that let you set temperature and humidity at the touch of a button. Peek-In Spanish cedar drawers and LED lights add style and function to a cigar cooler that’s roomy enough for even the most avid collector.  

https://glnk.io/7zx0/tonycasas 

Unboxing and Setup

The NCH840 came boxed in a massive carboard box. The humidor itself is completely surrounded by foam panels which were well over an inch thick. The bottom of the box comes off so all you have to do is cut the tape and locking strings to lift up the outer shell off the humidor and expose the foam-paneled machine. My machine arrived flawlessly with no dents, dings, scratches, or defects. Once you remove the foam you simply need to place the humidor where you want it, open the doors, remove the paperwork, keys and tools, and take off any tape used to affix movable pieces and you are good to go. They keys that come with the system are used to lock the humidor on the bottom which will keep all the riff-raff out of your stash.

One small touch that I noticed immediately that I really appreciated was the flat plug update. In my previous versions of NewAir Humidors they all had a standard plug which is a bit bulky and pushes the humidor away from the wall if the outlet is behind the humidor. In the case of the NCH840 the plug was updated to a flat one so no worries there. The shelves come pre-installed so after unpacking the only things you need to do is attach the handle and plug it in. The handle attaches with ease. Simply peel back the rubber seal from the inside of the door, pop in two screws, and you’re good to go. I do want to note something pretty important here. I did quite a bit of research on this humidor and there are quite a few reviews out there that talk about the holes for the screws being too small which causes the door to crack when installing the handle. NewAir openly talked about taking that feedback and updating the door so this no longer happens. In the unit I was sent, the holes are not only pre-drilled, but they are rather large which made installation a breeze with no cracking or any other issues at all. One other note, the door is reversible. Swapping a few screws allows you to move the hinge to the opposite side so that you easily change the direction of opening. From the time I started unpacking to the time I was ready to fill and season the humidor it was about 10 minutes total. Very easy and with a bit of strength (as the humidor is quite heavy at about 87 pounds) you are good to go. 

Seasoning and Filling

Just like with any new humidor, the NewAir NCH840 needs to first be seasoned. Seasoning is easy. While there are different approaches, here is mine. First, I fill a small bowl with distilled water. Note, you always want to use distilled and not tap water since this water has any impurities removed which could damage the wood or even worse, your cigars. I then take a clean microfiber or terrycloth towel and tip it in the water. After that I run the wet towel over each and every inch, nook, and cranny in any exposed Spanish cedar wood to make sure that everything gets covered. You don’t have to soak the wood, but adding enough water that it’s visible to the eye usually does the trick. The drawers in the NewAir NCH840 actually completely remove which really helps this process and make it easy to access all areas of the wood shelving. After doing this I close the humidor and let it sit for 24 hours without opening. Note, at this you don’t need the humidor on, or the humidifier filled, however it will not harm anything if it is. After the 24 hour period I went ahead and filled the humidor’s humidification system’s reservoir with distilled water. So far I don’t have any real quips about the humidor, a big one lies in ease of filling. To fill, you slide out the bottom drawer, remove the water cap, and dump in water. This is easy enough, the issue is knowing when to stop. The reservoir itself is black, and covered so it’s very difficult to see when that starts to get full. I had to pour, then dip my finger in, and repeat until it was full. Not the most inconvenient issue, but also not the most precise. Luckily the humidor will actually display an error code once the water is tapped out so you don’t have to keep checking when it’s time to refill. 

Adjusting the Humidor

This, its very easy, and very straightforward so I won’t spend a lot of time here. Just note, adjusting the NCH840 is cake. The current temperature and humidity is displayed on the top panel at all times. Touching the Mode button allows you to adjust the desired temperature and humidity with ease using the up and down buttons. There is a button for power, one to switch between Fahrenheit and Celsius, and one to toggle the inner lighting on and off. And that’s it really. Elegant and simple. Another nice touch is that like with most newer appliances, the NewAir NCH840 will actually continuously beep to alert you when you left the door open. Just a note on a nice touch.

Quality of Temperature and Humidity Control

With a humidor this size, it’s pretty hard to keep it under control in terms of temperature and humidity however the NCH840 does a pretty good job of that, especially in the temperature department. I set my humidor to the 64 degrees and 68% humidity. Using a combination of calibrated Boveda butler and Xikar hygrometers I measured the humidor’s performance over 5 days. First, no matter where the sensor was placed in the humidor I received a solid temperature reading between 63 and 65 degrees. This is impressive especially considering my ambient temperatures varied from 62 to 75 degrees in the house during that time. The humidity was a bit more inconsistent, but still gets a pass in my book. First, the humidity from the top of the humidor to the bottom varied by about 4%. When the sensor was placed at the top of the humidor I would get on average 64% – 65% while the bottom drawer would get between 68% – 70%. To me, this is normal. Humid air is heavier so the damper air would always be at the bottom until the fans kick on and circulated and this is the case here. I’d see many times throughout the day when the numbers would come close to even before returning. I live in a super dry climate so anything that can keep my cigars in that range is a win for me. I do want to note two small things. First, I tested with an empty humidor. Once I loaded it I noticed the variation was only about 3%. Second, the humidor as a whole is pretty loud when it kicks on. I don’t mind that at all, and most humidors like this are. But it’s worth mentioning.

Storage

This is where this particular really shines. This thing can hold so many cigars. It’s huge. Not only is it wider than previous models, but also deeper and taller. That being said, the unit as a whole didn’t get much bigger. In the case of the NewAir NCH840 they really fine-tuned the density of the walls in order to gain extra space. The drawers are nicely crafted, and pretty good looking. I mean, the entire humidor as a whole is a huge step up in elegance compared to previous models. The rolling slide system used to mount the drawers is great and allows for quick and easy access to all your favorite smokes. I love that the drawers actually roll all the way out so you can even grab the ones you hide in the back pretty easily.

The drawers slide function has a good amount of friction which locks them in place so they aren’t sliding around as you are searching for that perfect smoke. From what I gather,  you can actually add two to three extra drawers to this humidor to expand single cigar storage space if needed. The drawers aren’t just crammed in there either. There is plenty of space on all sides as well as slats in the bottom of each drawer to allow proper humidity to cycle through the humidor.  I reached out to NewAir to see what the cost and ease of obtaining extra drawers would be, but haven’t heard back yet. I’ll update this if/when I do. I really like all the added lighting the NewAir NCH840 added. My humidor is in a darker room and this allows me to see everything contained in it at all times. With a push of the button the lights dim and turn off and on. 

Final Thoughts

Honestly, I really dig the NewAir NCH840. First, the built in humidification is beautiful. It works, and while it’s not as polished as I hope, it works well. You just need to make sure you consider the variation in humidity when storing your cigars. The temperature is solid. This was a bit of a sore spot in other NewAir machines I reviewed and the NCH840 has it dialed in. The storage space is incredible. I also want to touch on the options here. The bottom drawer is huge and perfect for storing boxed cigars and tins of pipe tobacco while the drawers are wide and deep allowing for a great amount of loose cigars to be stored on each. The price point, at about $1,900, while pretty steep is warranted with the quality that you receive with this humidor. All in all, I am happy. My cigars are happy. Keep in mind, You can view more information about the product here and use code “TONYCASAS” for a 10% discount off your purchase!

The post NewAir 840 Count Electric Cigar Humidor (NCH840BK00) Review appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The NewAir CC-300H is the latest release in NewAir’s cigar humidor collection. Based off the popular CC-300 this 400 count humidor adds a new heating element. Now not only will the humidor cool your cigars if the temperate needs to drop to reach your desired setting, but the new OptiTemp system will also raise the temperature in the winter months as needed. While we don’t have too much of a winter here in the desert this is especially useful for someone like Jeremy who is buried in the snow for 11 months out of the year.

Along with a heating and cooling element the CC-300H features a digital temperature setting, blue LED interior light, customizable Spanish cedar shelves and drawers and a locking mechanism to keep your cigars out of the hands of the haters.

While you can purchase NewAir humidors at many outlets, the best option is make your purchase directly through them. Why? Well, outside of direct customer support and super fast shipping (described below) you can visit this url: https://glnk.io/4j4/tonycasas and using the coupon code CASAS100 you will receive $100 off your CC-300H purchase. They have quite a few different options and sizes just in case the CC-300H isn’t right for you.

Shipping/Packaging:

First of all, the shipping time on this package was incredible. I can’t speak for everyone due to their geographical location but this arrived 2 days after my order was received. I live in West Texas and the company shipped from California so I understand that it isn’t the farthest trip, but I am still impressed with just how quickly this bad boy got here. The NewAir CC-300H is also packaged incredibly. The humidor comes in a very large, oversized cardboard box with an easily removed, yet secure lid. Inside the humidor is packaged with inched and inches of foam on each side, but only on the top and bottom portions. This not only limits the amount of waste but also the amount of stuff I have to clean up after I unbox it. Another big plus is that the packing is such high quality that I can easily re-use all of it’s components. Inside I fine the humidor wrapped in plastic. The doors have been taped shut to ensure nothing shifts around during shipping. Outside of the humidor itself I find a startup brochure as well as they keys from the locking component. All in all it took me about 2 minutes to unpack and left me with very minimal cleanup.

Setup:

The first thing I did after unboxing was I took out all the cedar drawers and washed down the inside of the humidor with light soap and water to remove any foreign objects as well as the new plastic smell, which was surprisingly pretty mild. After a thorough cleaning I left the humidor to dry over night with the door open. After drying I plugged in the humidor for the first time and let the temperature acclimate.

Next comes the seasoning. There is nothing more refreshing than the smell of fresh spanish cedar. First things first. Let’s customize the shelves. The CC-300H comes with 3 cedar trays and 2 rather large cedar drawers. While I toyed around with the layout a bit, I found that having the drawers on the bottom and trays at the top worked best for me. One observation here is that each of the shelves and trays action have openings in the bottom of them allowing humidity to flow freely between drawers. My other winedor has closed drawers which restricts airflow causing me to have to monitor each drawer more closely.

The manual instructs you not to allow any water or moisture to come in contact with the cedar. This is the first time I have ever heard/read that during a humidor setup. Since I have seasoned many humidors with great success I decided to forgo this rule and broke out the towels and distilled water wiping each and every surface of the cedar down with a good amount of pressure. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, by doing so you are removing all the saw dust and wood particles from the wood which would otherwise end up on your cigars. The amount of sawdust that came off these drawers was actually impressive as it dyed my light-green rag a reddish-brown. Secondly, this allows the wood to open its pores and ingest the water providing humidity to the air. Otherwise the wood would just soak up all the humidity in the air and take much longer to level off. After seasoning I added 3 Boveda Butlers to the humidor. One on the top shelve, one in the middle, and one at the bottom. The CC-300H also comes with a small clear container which you can use to add beads, sponge, or simple distilled water to humidify the air. I went with distilled water for this experiment. I usually use beads or even an electric humidifier but I decided to use the included components for an honest review. One thing to note here is that there is not electrical outlet in the humidor. If you decide to use an electric humidifier you will need to find a battery operated one or rely on a slim ribbon cable running through the door which I personally hate as it can easily allow moisture to creep out of the humidor. I set my temperature on the humidor to 68 degrees, closed up shop and let the humidor sit while I monitor it’s performance from my phone.

The seasoning period only lasted about 48 hours. The humidity started at 76%, and leveled off to about 69% after 24 hours. After 48 the top hygrometer read 67% while both the middle and bottle ready 69%. Reviewing the history in the Boveda app I could see that those numbers only fluctuated by about 1% over the last 12 hours so I figured it was go time and popped my cigars in the humidor. Suprisingly this humidor holds humidity extremely well. I opened the humidor about once per day and seldom did the average humidity drop below 68%. Even when it did, it was only for about an hour or two before climbing back up. An additional note here is on the temperature gauge. All three of my Boveda Butlers read 70 degrees while the temperature gauge on the humidor read 68.

Maintenance:

After more than a week of use I have to say, I am very impressed with the performance of the CC-300H. First of all the humidity is more consistent than any cigar humidor I have ever owned. I live in the desert. It’s dry as hell, all the time. Yesterday was 107 degrees. This also means my A/C in my home runs just about all day which also really dries out the air surrounding the humidor yet, this beast only fluctuated between 67% and 68% the entire time I have used it. That immediately overcomes my largest hurdle with owning cigars in my geographical area. I also haven’t yet had to worry about that wonky little cup of distilled water. The humidor holds humidity so well that it does its job. At least for now. During the colder months I’d imagine a 2-way system would work much better as the humidity inside the humidor is bound to rise as the dry air goes away. Unfortunately that doesn’t go without it’s quirks. One being that temperature gauge. While the humidor itself does an excellent job at keeping the temperature consistently at 68 degrees the temperature gauge varies anywhere between 1 to 3 degrees off at times. Not a deal breaker, but given the attention on how well this humidor handles temperature its worth mentioning. All in all the maintenance required to keep my cigars optimal is minimal to none. Which is exactly what you want in a humidor.

Overall Thoughts:

Overall I am deeply impressed with the NewAir CC-300H. First of all the shipping and setup were an absolutely breeze. Secondly the quality and aesthetics of the humidor are incredible. The big selling point here is how brilliantly the humidor maintains humidity in pretty much some of the worst conditions you can ask for. As far as the temperature goes it does very well during the summer which is expected but I am very curious to see what heating the internal compartment does to the humidity during those colder winter months. That being said there are a few gripes I have with the humidor, albeit very minor gripes but they are worth mentioning. First of all the main selling point on the CC-300H is the OptiTemp system. While it does a fantastic job keeping the temperature where needed, the temperature gauge varying a much as it does is concerning. Easy fix there though, just make sure whatever digital hygrometer system you use also contains a temperature gauge and you’re set. Secondly, I wish the LED light did more. It’s nice to have but its so small and since its located above the top shelf it really only allows light to extend to the second shelf. And lastly what would really make this an exceptional humidor is the addition of a sealed electric port allowing me to use an electric humidor within the system.

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