Copenhagen snus attempt

[squeezyjohn]

I'm trying to copy Copenhagen Original Long-Cut or snuff both of which have similar tastes. I don't think there is any wintergreen in there - but there may be a tiny tiny amount. The flavour profile I get from it is mainly rose geranium (which is sometimes called geranium bourbon - just to throw another spanner in the works - nothing to do with whisky!) - plus the ammonia and smoky tobacco. I'm sure the flavour is a mix of many many carefully blended ingredients which will probably be impossible to truly replicate.

I did try the smooth hickory when it was out there ... it was really nice - but got a bit tiresome after a few uses - there was something unpleasantly artificial about it's taste after a while.

By the way - you can't get any of this stuff over here - you have to import it.

[Thunder_Snus]

I'd agree with you crullers. Black definitely did have a kind of bourbon taste to it.
I liked the snuff because cans seemed to last me longer because i would taste several small pinches compared to one large pinch.

Squeezy is there a certain (current) kind of cope you are trying to copy. Because longcut has a wintergreen taste to it (which i hate) but longcut straight has that "traditional" copenhagen dip flavor to it. I'd say cope snuff is about the same as long cut straight through although its been too long since I was shoveling in 2 cans or either a day.

I'm not sure if it ever made it to England or even to all of the U.S but back when I was a sophomore in highschool so maybe....6 years ago they had new flavors called bourbon and smooth hickory. Bourbon was pretty bad I must admit, it didn't taste anything like black. The smooth hickory was amazing though. It was like long cut straight but with some kind of mesquite flavoring or something. For some reason they cut smooth hickory but kept bourbon for awhile.

[squeezyjohn]

Cope black was incredibly just like smooth hickory (not sure if you guys ever got that across the pond)
Occasionally when I drive to my parents I can find a can of black thats a few years old stuck in the back of some gas station in Kentucky but other than that it has vanished.
I never really tasted whiskey in Copenhagen. Atleast the longcut straight. Its a very hard flavor to describe. It doesn't even taste like any other kind of dip. It's its own unique flavor.

Squeezy how long does it take to make something like this?

You're not wrong there Thunder_Snus ... Copenhagen has a taste that really is unique, delicious and traditional.

The thing is that I've had confirmation from some old boys on another forum that Cope has changed a lot in the last 10-20 years. They're convinced that it had a traditional american made booze in the recipe - but now that's gone. Maybe the cope black - or whisky blend was a way of appeasing their dissenters.

What I do know is that Copenhagen still lists ethyl alcohol as a part of the ingredients - and what they use now is not a concern of mine ... I simply want to copy the flavour. I would presume that an american whisky is the most likely ingredient given where Cope comes from.

Unfortunately I never had the chance of tasting the old Copenhagen formulae. So I will never know if what I'm making is right or wrong.

If you have all the ingredients in place - a snus - like I'm trying to make will take between 1 and 7 days to complete and then a bit of ageing/airing to get the best flavour. From what I can tell - if I was trying to make a straight cope copy then I would need a week or so.

Cheers

Squeezy

[whalen]

Cope black is back. Two bucks a can here.

[crullers]

Cope black was incredibly just like smooth hickory (not sure if you guys ever got that across the pond)
Occasionally when I drive to my parents I can find a can of black thats a few years old stuck in the back of some gas station in Kentucky but other than that it has vanished.
I never really tasted whiskey in Copenhagen. Atleast the longcut straight. Its a very hard flavor to describe. It doesn't even taste like any other kind of dip. It's its own unique flavor.

Squeezy how long does it take to make something like this?

Well they claim it's bourbon flavoured and I got a chance to try some a couple of weeks ago. I definitely got a liquor taste but then again I was drinking at the time. I thought it was pretty good, but not as good as the snuff.

Either way, I think a little splash of J.D. would probably work nicely in the snus.

[Thunder_Snus]

That may give you something closer to Copenhagen Black in flavour. Which would not be a bad thing.

Cope black was incredibly just like smooth hickory (not sure if you guys ever got that across the pond)
Occasionally when I drive to my parents I can find a can of black thats a few years old stuck in the back of some gas station in Kentucky but other than that it has vanished.
I never really tasted whiskey in Copenhagen. Atleast the longcut straight. Its a very hard flavor to describe. It doesn't even taste like any other kind of dip. It's its own unique flavor.

Squeezy how long does it take to make something like this?

[crullers]

Well - I've just bought a bottle of Jack Daniels ... shows I mean business. Wouldn't consider buying an over-priced bottle of this muck for any other reason!

If there's any booze that will be correct for making dip it's got to be american whisky ... no?

That may give you something closer to Copenhagen Black in flavour. Which would not be a bad thing.

[squeezyjohn]

I'm not sure my Co-op has anything more though ... got offered some of the real hard stuff ... but I don't want a run-in with the customs guys at this moment in time!

[whalen]

Yes the fire cured is powerfull, so a mix, I believe you got a decent sample. Jack is not the best choice, cheap (here) old grand dad is a good choice. Bulliet is perfect.

[Skell18]

Well - I've just bought a bottle of Jack Daniels ... shows I mean business. Wouldn't consider buying an over-priced bottle of this muck for any other reason!

If there's any booze that will be correct for making dip it's got to be american whisky ... no?

Jack is a sour mash, just sayin

[squeezyjohn]

Well - I've just bought a bottle of Jack Daniels ... shows I mean business. Wouldn't consider buying an over-priced bottle of this muck for any other reason!

If there's any booze that will be correct for making dip it's got to be american whisky ... no?

[squeezyjohn]

Undoubtedly Whalen! But it's so full-on I don't think it needs to be a high percentage.

[whalen]

You will need the fire cured for starters.

[squeezyjohn]

Well - I'm not looking to make it comercially ... I'm making it for me and for the knowledge it gives ... I hate the texture of dip compared to loose snus. There's no point in just making Copenhagen, because you can buy it!

But an attempt to make a snus that tastes like copenhagen is a challenge because everyone says you can't do it! And I like playing around with flavours and trying to pick apart what the individual aromas in something is fun.

[Snusdog]

I wonder if something like a maple extract (the kind used in cooking) might work while avoiding the sugar aspect.

Its been so long since I had any Copenhagen my only thinking on this is American Tobacco's affinity with molasses in almost anything it makes.

The other thing that I think is that.............. more than flavor....... what people are looking for when they want a Copenhagen substitute is the texture............my bet is that close flavor and spot on texture will be seen as a success more than a dead ringer on the flavor but still having snus texture.

Coming from dip to snus texture was one of the big things I remember having to adjust to