lxskllr

It's Time To Grow Up America

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by
lxskllr
, 01-19-2011 at 04:59 PM (1187 Views)
With all the changes in the tobacco world, the one that's really been bothering me(other than an overstepping government) is the Americanization of snus. The American brands are a complete joke, and the Swedes are starting to follow suit. Bold artificial flavor, and cloying sweetness has been the modus operandi so far. Here's a list of the traditional, as well as newer Swedish snus flavors made for the Swedish market...

Tobacco and smoke
Bergamot
Mint
Licorice
Tart berry
Juniper

There's other subtle flavorings, and girl snus tends to have a bit more of it, along with a light sweetness, but for the most part, the flavorings have been complex, and sophisticated.

In contrast, lets look at the traditional, and newer American dip flavors...

Copenhagen We're doing well so far...
Wintergreen Meh, but at least it's adult oriented
Straight Tobacco and sugar
Apple
Berry
Mint
Vanilla
Cherry
Citrus
Peach

It looks like a stop at the candy counter, with Jelly Belly flavors. All have overbearing flavor, and all are sweet, with the notable exception of Copenhagen snuff.

Americans have Four Loko taste in a single malt world. It's time to for us to grow up, and join the rest of the developed world. If you can figure out everything that's going on with a food item within the first few seconds of putting it in your mouth, it probably doesn't have enough going for it to be worth the bother.

In closing, I just ask you to ask yourself this question before buying any product, but especially tobacco products. Would Humphrey Bogart use this? In the case of Skoal Berry, the answer is "of course not". Bogart would be using Copenhagen if he were out of snus, but his preferred product would be Ettan. Lets leave the kid stuff for the kids :^)

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Comments

  1. chadizzy1's Avatar
    Amen!
  2. sgreger1's Avatar
    When making my selection of what snus to purchase, I often think to myself, "what would jesus think of all this, which would he chose?"

    See, I want to know which brand of snus carries the maximum amount of sin before I purchase it, I need to make sure I am not missing out on that rich beelzebub flavor.

    First, I think that maybe something like Skoal Berry blend would be the perfect fit, since it is sweet and fruity and therefore must be directly marketing to kids. Giving tobacco to children is one of the worst things a god fearing human could ever do (or so i'm told), so this seemed at the top of my list for a second.

    Then I started to think, "No, that would be too easy. That's what the homie Big J WANTS me to pick!"


    I immediately select skruf. Why? Because the government banned it, therefore it must be the worst one, right? I mean the government wouldn't make some arbitrary decision to stop a certain flavor of snus because the ****ing bergemot or something didn't pass the sniff test down at the FDA, right?


    Either way, I agree Lx. Before you buy something gay, ask yourself; "How hard would my father beat me if he caught me using this flavor?"
  3. Monkey's Avatar
    Excellent post. Reading it reminded me of something I have heard from every foreign chef I have worked for. "Put a little sugar in it. Americans wont like it otherwise." It was a very general statement but it is amazing how many people I have cooked for where this fits. Very few people go for the unsweetened version of things....and this covers all aspects of food so I am not surprised sweet flavors dominate the American market. People are worried about hfcs but they should worry about the amount of sugar they consume over time as opposed to what kind. Even the snus marketed to Americans from Sweden are slightly sweet to pander to the average American palate.

    Rant off.
  4. Darwin's Avatar
    Perhaps General's campaign to market to young urban professionals wasn't as foolish as it first sounded. In big cities there is an immense variety of regional and national cuisines available whose taste profiles are quite, 'scuse the expression, un-American, and very popular, so the theory might be that dese dem and dose guys' palates would be better disposed to appreciate the "traditional" taste of General. Wild guess of course but when General aims product specifically at the broader overall U.S. market it's minty and sweet. Include General in a focus group of typical U.S. smokers and they'll pick the candified stuff every time. "Bergamot? Whazzat? Tastes sour as hell. Me likey that sweet mint stuff."
  5. AtreyuKun's Avatar
    To me, if there is no bergamot, tobacco, smoke, or juniper, it ain't snus.
  6. Anthony85's Avatar
    Dip isn't snus. That's the problem: you're trying to make it into something it's not. Sure, dip has simple flavors; it isn't meant to be the height of sophistication for elite pseudo-Euro snobs. It's a simple product for simple people, and there's nothing wrong with that.

    If everyone were like everyone else for the sake of uniformity, this would be a boring world indeed!