(If, indeed, snusser is a word!)
Hello, fine people of the forum! My name is Joe, and I'm a 20 year old recent convert to snus currently residing in Bristol, England. I just thought I'd join up to post about my snussy experiences thus far and to partake in the general forum banter!
I decided to take up snus in a continuation of a trend I started a few years ago in which every year, I make an anti-new year's resolution of sorts - that is to say, where everyone else vows to give something up, or do something good for themselves, I do the opposite. Last year I gave up salad (I took it back up again this year, though - do new year resolutions work like that? I hope so!), and this year I decided to get addicted to Nicotine.
I chose snus as my weapon of choice in this task as, to be honest, readily available tobacco products in this country are unappealing at best - Even though I come from a long line of smokers, I've never seen one jot of sense in inhaling foul tasting smoke all day, and I didn't fancy all the health risks associated with it. (I know snus isn't exactly good for you, but neither is anything enjoyable).
So, snus it was - I'd first encountered it at Wacken music festival in Germany last year when I was camped with a load of Swedes and Norwegians. A Norwegian guy I know gave me a (HUGE) pris of the stuff to shove up my lip and, not knowing what I was doing, the thing promptly fell apart and coated the inside of my mouth - not a good start! Anyway, it didn't taste too bad while it lasted and I remembered it when making my resolution for this year and put in an order for one of those Swedish Match variety packs of portion snus (PORTIONS! What a great idea - no more oral swamp-mush for me!).
So, here are my opinions on some of those portion packs -
1) Göteborg Rape tastes like grannies, which is why it really worries me that I actually quite like it.
2) I wasn't really too impressed with the General stuff - I don't know why, but it actually just tasted kind of... wrong.
3) I think that Roda Lacket tastes like Dr. Pepper, especially when snussed while drinking coca cola! Try it! I liked it quite a lot.
4) Ettan portions tasted niiice. While never having been a smoker myself, my father's a staunch roll-up man, and I always loved the smell of his rolling tobaccos - I think this might be why I like the pore tobacco taste of Ettan so much.
I haven't had a chance to try much of the rest yet, but I'll be sure to proffer my opinions when I have.
Anyway, after snussing on these for I while I decided to get over my first snussy experience and order some loose stuff - I went for the Ettan, because I knew more or less where I stood with it, and I read somewhere that it's pretty easy to form a pris with. I received the order about a week ago, and have finally got to the point where I can roll a fairly snusable pinch of the stuff. Here are some of my experiences with that -
My first self-made pris of loose stuff was, like that first mammoth wad of the stuff I'd had at Wacken, a complete disaster - I shoved a sensible amount up there and before I knew it, my gob resembled a peat bog. Not to be deterred, I swilled a load of mouthwash and was ready to try again! I made sure to compress my second attempt a lot more, and it actually worked pretty well - so well, in fact, that I couldn't believe it - and this self-mistrust was to be my undoing! Picture the scene:
"Wait, it's not falling apart!"
"Hmm... this is perhaps a bit too successful..."
*prod prod*
*prod prod*
"No, still holding together..."
*prod prod*
*prod prod*
... MUDSLIDE!!
"Oh, bugger"
Not so good. Luckily, my subsequent tries were more successful, but left my hands filthy! So I put in an order for the magical Icetool, which arrived on Saturday morning, and it's all been plain sailing from there. Good stuff.
So, how am I enjoying my first month of snusdom? Pretty well, actually. At first I took the same approach I take to everything when I first decide to do it - total immersion. No baby-steps, no giving myself a break - I started snussing as if I'd been doing it for years... and this left my feeling not a little bit unwell! Given a second chance, I'd probably be a bit more conservative... but oh well! Now I've settled into it a bit more, I've found that the nicotine certainly helps me concentrate - a valuable asset, as I'm currently studying for a degree in Mathematics!
I've also found loose snus a bit impractical for out-and-aboutness, so I generally use the portions for when I'm in and around lectures and my workplace, but I definitely prefer the loose stuff for when I'm at home, simply because I like the ritual of making a pris. All enjoyable things should be retualised to a degree, I believe, be it making a pot of leaf tea or even just carefully pouring yourself a pint of lovely bottle-conditioned ale.
Anyway, this turned into a bit of a gargantuan post, didn't it?! Thanks a lot to anyone who actually read the lot of this mad rambling - I hope it wasn't too dull for you!
I'll be sure to be around the forums,
Joe.
Hello, fine people of the forum! My name is Joe, and I'm a 20 year old recent convert to snus currently residing in Bristol, England. I just thought I'd join up to post about my snussy experiences thus far and to partake in the general forum banter!
I decided to take up snus in a continuation of a trend I started a few years ago in which every year, I make an anti-new year's resolution of sorts - that is to say, where everyone else vows to give something up, or do something good for themselves, I do the opposite. Last year I gave up salad (I took it back up again this year, though - do new year resolutions work like that? I hope so!), and this year I decided to get addicted to Nicotine.
I chose snus as my weapon of choice in this task as, to be honest, readily available tobacco products in this country are unappealing at best - Even though I come from a long line of smokers, I've never seen one jot of sense in inhaling foul tasting smoke all day, and I didn't fancy all the health risks associated with it. (I know snus isn't exactly good for you, but neither is anything enjoyable).
So, snus it was - I'd first encountered it at Wacken music festival in Germany last year when I was camped with a load of Swedes and Norwegians. A Norwegian guy I know gave me a (HUGE) pris of the stuff to shove up my lip and, not knowing what I was doing, the thing promptly fell apart and coated the inside of my mouth - not a good start! Anyway, it didn't taste too bad while it lasted and I remembered it when making my resolution for this year and put in an order for one of those Swedish Match variety packs of portion snus (PORTIONS! What a great idea - no more oral swamp-mush for me!).
So, here are my opinions on some of those portion packs -
1) Göteborg Rape tastes like grannies, which is why it really worries me that I actually quite like it.
2) I wasn't really too impressed with the General stuff - I don't know why, but it actually just tasted kind of... wrong.
3) I think that Roda Lacket tastes like Dr. Pepper, especially when snussed while drinking coca cola! Try it! I liked it quite a lot.
4) Ettan portions tasted niiice. While never having been a smoker myself, my father's a staunch roll-up man, and I always loved the smell of his rolling tobaccos - I think this might be why I like the pore tobacco taste of Ettan so much.
I haven't had a chance to try much of the rest yet, but I'll be sure to proffer my opinions when I have.
Anyway, after snussing on these for I while I decided to get over my first snussy experience and order some loose stuff - I went for the Ettan, because I knew more or less where I stood with it, and I read somewhere that it's pretty easy to form a pris with. I received the order about a week ago, and have finally got to the point where I can roll a fairly snusable pinch of the stuff. Here are some of my experiences with that -
My first self-made pris of loose stuff was, like that first mammoth wad of the stuff I'd had at Wacken, a complete disaster - I shoved a sensible amount up there and before I knew it, my gob resembled a peat bog. Not to be deterred, I swilled a load of mouthwash and was ready to try again! I made sure to compress my second attempt a lot more, and it actually worked pretty well - so well, in fact, that I couldn't believe it - and this self-mistrust was to be my undoing! Picture the scene:
"Wait, it's not falling apart!"
"Hmm... this is perhaps a bit too successful..."
*prod prod*
*prod prod*
"No, still holding together..."
*prod prod*
*prod prod*
... MUDSLIDE!!
"Oh, bugger"
Not so good. Luckily, my subsequent tries were more successful, but left my hands filthy! So I put in an order for the magical Icetool, which arrived on Saturday morning, and it's all been plain sailing from there. Good stuff.
So, how am I enjoying my first month of snusdom? Pretty well, actually. At first I took the same approach I take to everything when I first decide to do it - total immersion. No baby-steps, no giving myself a break - I started snussing as if I'd been doing it for years... and this left my feeling not a little bit unwell! Given a second chance, I'd probably be a bit more conservative... but oh well! Now I've settled into it a bit more, I've found that the nicotine certainly helps me concentrate - a valuable asset, as I'm currently studying for a degree in Mathematics!
I've also found loose snus a bit impractical for out-and-aboutness, so I generally use the portions for when I'm in and around lectures and my workplace, but I definitely prefer the loose stuff for when I'm at home, simply because I like the ritual of making a pris. All enjoyable things should be retualised to a degree, I believe, be it making a pot of leaf tea or even just carefully pouring yourself a pint of lovely bottle-conditioned ale.
Anyway, this turned into a bit of a gargantuan post, didn't it?! Thanks a lot to anyone who actually read the lot of this mad rambling - I hope it wasn't too dull for you!
I'll be sure to be around the forums,
Joe.
Comment