Newbie snuser, ex smoker, my thoughts so far.

[lxskllr]

Other than GBPF, what's the next easiest to bake? What's the most difficult to bake? (So I'll know which one to save for last, need time to invent new swear words hehehe)

Landstoms is hands down the hardest to bake.

And by hardest to bake, read all but impossible. The best you can hope for is to get it to stick together enough that you can get it in your mouth, and not on your shirt. It'll never be a tightly baked pris. I've been using a syringe for the Landströms, and I'll soon have a shiny new IceTool so I can use my favorite lös snus easily :^)

[Kindrd]

Other than GBPF, what's the next easiest to bake? What's the most difficult to bake? (So I'll know which one to save for last, need time to invent new swear words hehehe)

Ettan is very easy to bake also. Landstoms is hands down the hardest to bake.

[databat]

After a couple of portions I learn the importance of baking it tightly, including the ends to keep it from running. On my blog I rated it 9 of 10 for bake-ability, but that will probably go up to 10 after I try a few other brands. It will most likely become my base line for how I compare others. Other than GBPF, what's the next easiest to bake? What's the most difficult to bake? (So I'll know which one to save for last, need time to invent new swear words hehehe)

[Stargazer]

@Stargazer: Animal shapes eh? I may have to try that just for giggles. Maybe we can turn it into a new Olympic sport!

you'll never know :lol:
but it is e very good beginner baking snus, it will teach you the basic
technices without chausing to many frustrasions.

[databat]

what exactly was the taste like for you?

As you said, like pipe tobacco, only smoother, with no bite to it. It also has a slightly sweet flavor. Almost like licorice, but I'm not quite sure. It's subtle enough to make it taste sweet, but makes pinning down what the flavor is rather difficult. Almost like a game of cat and mouse. The overall flavor tastes just the way it smells.

I didn't taste any salt in it. It didn't seem to have that much of a nicotine kick on my first pris, but I think I baked a small one just to be safe. My next one was a bit larger, and the nicotine kicked in faster than with portion snus. I think that's a big plus with loose, you can bake up however much you want. GBPF is next on my list of loose to try. I'm not sure when I'll get around to it though, as I have 12 tins of various brands and flavors in the fridge/freezer. If I buy more, my wife will start complaining about not having enough room to put food in there hehe. I'm still nagging her about getting a mini fridge/freezer. :P

@Stargazer: Animal shapes eh? I may have to try that just for giggles. Maybe we can turn it into a new Olympic sport!

[darkwing]

Glad to hear you like the Ettan. Those portions are my standards, I go through as many as 10 a day, and I love the long-lasting nicotine hit, the relatively low salt level, and the clean smoky flavour. Not as hard on the gums as RL portions, which I also go through a lot of.

[RealmofOpeth]

I just tried Roda loose today. It baked up easily, and I really enjoyed the taste.

what exactly was the taste like for you?

Once my tin of Roda is gone, I may try a tin of Gotborgs Prima Fint. I've heard good things about it's flavor from others. Does anyone know how well it bakes? Roda felt like tobacco dough. I suppose that's why it bakes up so easily.

Prima Fint is like a replica of Roda Lacket loose. consistensy is exactly the same as far as I've seen. the flavor isn't very different either. While Roda has a more pipe-tobacco-esque taste (in my opinion)...GPF has a sort of slightly sweetish pure tobacco taste with also a lot of salt, in the beginning of the can then slightly less so and a little sweeter as you near the end of the can.

[Zofryer]

but I will continue to experiment with loose. easily.

About 20 minutes ago I ordered a prismaster and a loose starter kit from swedish match, and decided to give northerer a try by ordering every other loose kind they had.

Today I got in my:

Ettan, Tre Ankare, Rape2, Kronan, Lucky Strike, and Roda. All portions.

So far I've tried and absolutely love the Ettan and Tre, with a slight edge to the Ettan. There's just something about that slight smoky taste I really enjoy. I can't wait to try the loose. The Roda smells awesome, and it's going in next.

[Stargazer]

don't be fooled by röda, it's like play dough.
everything else is far more difficult to bake.

you can make animal shapes with it if you whant to.

[databat]

I just tried Roda loose today. It baked up easily, and I really enjoyed the taste. My first hand baked pris and it only took me 30 seconds. (I seriously doubt I'll ever buy a pris master or an ice tool) I just have to keep reminding myself not to fiddle with it the way I do the portions, or I end up looking like a dental experiment gone horribly wrong. :P

My wife really doesn't like me using loose either. She kissed me when I had a pris in, slightly squishing it, and getting some of it in her mouth. :shock: ops: She made me promise her I would never kiss her again if I had it in. Ah well, at least she doesn't mind kissing me with portions hehe. I'll probably just save the loose for when I'm home alone. That way I won't get embarrassed with any more "mush mouth" accidents. :P

So far I still prefer portions due to the stronger flavor profiles, but I will continue to experiment with loose. Once my tin of Roda is gone, I may try a tin of Gotborgs Prima Fint. I've heard good things about it's flavor from others. Does anyone know how well it bakes? Roda felt like tobacco dough. I suppose that's why it bakes up so easily.

[RealmofOpeth]

Just from the 5,000 different opinions on roda, I'm getting the impression that snus is an extremely subjective and personal experience to each person.

Yeah, that's the case regardless.. but also likely the case is that you're as confused about Roda as I was.
Roda Lacket apparently flavors it's portions format rather differently than the loose.
I thought they were the same, like other brands normally are.

Which is why I was expecting certain flavors of the loose, that people were apparently just talking about the portions.

The loose is very very subtle, has sort of a more 'pure' and doughy taste to it. The portions are fruity, with the loose taste in the background, but still predominantly like dried fruit.
Then I figured out that's why they design the cans differently. The red can (loose) is plain red, the portions comes in an abstract art can.

Of course people are going to have their personal experience ideas about what they taste like, like some saying Roda portions is nothing but salt (which is closer to the description of Roda loose i think)....but more often than not, your chances are going to be as I described above.


Also as far as Probe, I totally agree their portions are really bad. But when you get around to loose, make sure to pick it up. Unless you have no liking for whisky flavor/sweet taste, it is really a good snus. I wasn't expecting much given the shitty portions, so it was nice to see the loose wasn't screwed up.

[databat]

I have a tin of Nicotine and Johnny en route. Hopefully it will be waiting on me in the mail box when I get home. I've heard so many good things about it. It does have more vitamine N than Skruf Stark. If it tastes anything like Skruf Stark, I'm sure I'll love it. I'm at work right now and out of Skruf Stark. *twitch* Must... not... kill... co-workers... arghhh... :P

It took me about a week to get adjusted to the salt content. I'm glad I stuck with it though. Snus is sooo much better. I still have a half-used tin of Camel Frost in the fridge. By now I'm sure it's at the sawdust phase. :P Ever since I got my Swedish Snus, I havn't looked back. I'll keep the tin though. They do look nice.

[Zofryer]

if you want a high quality 'candy' brand of mini portions, try Mocca. ..............
I'm surprised you haven't mentioned the intense burn under your lip/on the gums...............
Secondly was that I had a hard time not spitting, even though it's marketed as spit-free.
........The only lip chapping problem I have is when i leave my mouth open to breath in and out the aroma of the snus.

I ordered all the mocca and catch(dry) flavors to try them out. Because I had been using dip as a cigarette alternative first, the burn didn't really bother me at all. With the white portions there's more because of how dry they are, so I just dip em in my omnipresent glass of iced tea before popping them in. And for some reason, I've had no issue with spitting. I'm thinking that's because I was already used to swallowing the juice from the skoal peach. I'm actually enjoying the juice I'm getting from the nick and johnny. No stomach problems at all. The chapped lip problem went away strangely enough. I'm thinking it was just an initial salt sensitivity thing. Just from the 5,000 different opinions on roda, I'm getting the impression that snus is an extremely subjective and personal experience to each person.

The interesting thing is, I'm liking the swedish style snus a lot more now after a week or so with it. I'm almost completely in love with the Onyx. I accidentally popped a goteborg's rape in and loved it. I can't decide if I like it or the Skruf Tranbar more. The only thing that didn't change is that the nick and johnny is still my absolute favorite. I've stopped using camel snus completely. I still think probe is disgusting though. It's like I'm just ignoring the salt content now because I'm used to it, so I'm free to taste the snus. The skruf stark is great, but it just seems like an almost as good N&J substitute. I'll be ordering rolls of the tranbar, rape, onyx, and N&J. I can't wait for the other stuff to get here. I'm still going to have to find a mini portion for work, but at home I'll be sticking to the regular portions. After a while, I'll get a prismaster and experiment with loose snus.

[theoldsearock]

It is funny how my tastes changed when I quit Copenhagen Snuff and went with Snus. I figured that I would like the "pure tobacco" tastes. Why? Because I never cared for the wintergreen/peach/berry flavored snuff.

So after snus'ing for 8 months or so, I've figured out that I like something with a little flavor, a little salt.... and I don't even think of ordering Ettan or any of the pure tobacco tasting snus because I find them boring. And that's a PERSONAL thing - no more, no less.

Welcome to the hunt! You'll have fun and with time you'll figure out what you like and what you don't like. Happy Motoring.


8)

[The Cook]

Hi Zofryer - welcome to the forum! I'm glad to hear you're quiting the cigs. Snus can make smoking redundant...

Your first impressions of the salt and flavours of snus are probably common to many new snussers. Stick with it, you'll grow to love it. Good idea to select a variety of snus brands, you're bound to find something you really like.