Afraid of the new possibly excruciating "snus ban"

[rscott222]

Let me know when someone has made a good batch and I'd be willing to buy some to try, the Age of Swedish Snus American style is beginnning....

[snupy]

Being in North Carolina, I could only assume that one could find some tobacco from somewhere.

I am in NC. I only bought two species of seed. 6 came from the USDA, while the rest resulted from online trading with others into this.

I have the following tobacco seed varieties on hand presently:

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Turkish varieties:

Bafra
Balikesir
Basma
Black Sea Samsun
Bursa
Celikhan
Izmir-Ozbas
Louisiana Perique
Samsun no. 15
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Maryland Varieties:

Maryland 10
Maryland 40
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Virginia:

Brightleaf
Gold
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Other varieties:

Brown and Williams low nicotine variety (I suspect this is a Virginia, but can't be sure.)
Rose Tobacco
Rustica (used by Native Americans-HIGHEST nicotine of all varieties, from what I understand)
Yellow Orinoco (said to be even sweeter than Virginia)
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I did not plant all of these this year. I presently have the following number of species seedlings, which are almost ready to go into the ground . (I began this late in the season for this area - mid-April):

10 Virginia Gold
2 Bafra
3 Basma
4 Bursa
3 Izmir-Ozbas
2 Brown and Williams low nic

I am interested in creating the following tobacco blends as the base for snus:

100% Virginia (I LOVE this sheee!)

25% Turkish/75% Virginia (I LOVE this sheee too!)

1/2 Turkish &
1/2 Virginia (LOVE this shee in ANY proportion!)

Turkish/Maryland/Brown & Williams low nic blend (not a clue of the proportions having no clue of the taste of either Maryland or BW low nic baccys.)

For flavorings, I have found the pomegranate, but also would like apricot, chocolate, cinnamon, double mint, and even peach extracts. I already have the 'Creme De Cafe' extract from this same company, which is a kahlua flavor, that I use to make my e-liquids for e-smoking. I am thinking a mix of chocolate/kahlua would be interesting, or perhaps chocolate/double mint.

WHY? Screw the FDA, screw PACT, screw tobacco taxes, screw the US government and screw the rabid antis. It won't matter one whit what any of them do, once I know what I am doing in this. Whether they ban importation, allow it but tax it, etc, it won't affect me. I have finally and irrevocably had ENOUGH of the irrational NONSENSE around tobacco.

[snupy]

Seems like harvesting tobacco is too much work for too little results,

Depends. For some species, you cut the plant off at the stalk and hang the whole thing up to dry (Marylands & Burleys). For Virginias, you collect the leaves one by one as they yellow from the bottom up and hang to dry. If you've ever smoked 100% Virginia, you KNOW it is worth it.

and by the looks of it, the tobacco made pr plant is too little, so you'd need to have a big crop to supply for yourself for a year.

Depends. When I was smoking, I consumed 10 lbs per quarter. That's 160 harvested plants per year. With snus, I only use 4 mini portions per day, which means it takes me 5 days to get through one tin of minis, or 10 gms. Using 73 tins of 10 grams of snus in a given year, means I need 730 grams to meet my needs for the year, which is 26 ounces, ar about 7 plants.

On average, expect 4 oz dried leaf per plant, which means 4 plants would provide almost the 500 kg called for in the above recipe, while 5 plants would leave you with enough plus some left over.

[snupy]

put in glycerine and propylene glycol

Is it possible to ditch the PG and use only the VG? Both are humectants, so serve the same purpose.

[carlbarks]

put in glycerine and propylene glycol

Is it possible to ditch the PG and use only the VG? Both are humectants, so serve the same purpose.

Yes, they do serve the same purpose.
If the mix was a little bit too long in the over, and seems to be completely alright, without any lumps - you COULD make it without PG ang VG altogether, even though I would in no way recommend it, or recommend its durability.

[NBSF]

http://www.vikingasnus.se/index_en.html

[snupy]

you COULD make it without PG ang VG altogether,

No, I WANT the humectants in it. It's just that USP VG is EASILY available (Walmart), while PG is a bit more work (special order) and $$$ to procure. (I've also got 12 oz of VG sitting right in front of me!)

[snupy]

The hardest part to get right is the tobacco blend.

I will basically be using the same blends I enjoyed in ryo, although I need to increase the varieties of Virginias and Marylands with respect to seed.

and grind it to the right size.

Any suggestions?

[snupy]

1kg of finely grounded tobacco makes about 2.5kg of snus.

Good GOD! That is 5.5 POUNDS of snus! That would last me almost 3.5 years!

1. Pour the grounded tobacco powder in a container and blend the salt dissolved in water in the mix. Blend and pour the snus blend in a platic container and set your oven to 95 degrees celcius (205 F) for 24 hours.

Does this mean the tobacco/salt mixture should be in a plastic container, while in the oven at 205F for 24 hours? I was thinking of using a covered glass baking dish, to hold the steam.

2. After 24 hours, pour the snus blend back into the first container and blend in the sodium carbonate dissolved in water. Blend and thereafter pour it back in the plastic container and put it in the oven for 12 hours.

Ok, what kind of plastic container survives an oven without melting? Or does the low temperature prevent melting?

3. After a total of 36 hours, leave the snus to "swell" (you know, like when you bake bread with yeast).

You leave it sitting out in the open, or do you cover it?

After this, put the snus blend back in the first container, and put in glycerine and propylene glycol and blend in again (if you want additional flavors, put them in now).

I will have to cut these quantities down. However, at this point above, that is when I would need to divide whatever amount I decide to make, into maybe 6-7 smaller bacthes, leaving one tobacco only and the rest with different flavorings.

carlbarks, have you made your own snus before? Which tobacco species did you use or which would you recommend? And a thousand thank-yous for this useful information!

[justintempler]

The hardest part to get right is the tobacco blend.

I will basically be using the same blends I enjoyed in ryo, although I need to increase the varieties of Virginias and Marylands with respect to seed.

and grind it to the right size.

Any suggestions?

You and I can take the exact same seeds and when grown under different conditions, climate, soil, and fertilizer the end result will be different. I don't know the first thing about chosing the right tobacco varieties but I know there is a difference between what you would use for RYO vs snuff.

Somewhere in one of Swedish Match's webpages they talk about grinding tobacco into 3 grain sizes and then using them in different proportions between recipes.

As far as finding the right size, the way I would do it......
Save up some of your favorite snus, dry it out and sieve it thru a set of Tyler mesh screens , then you will have some idea.

[snupy]

You and I can take the exact same seeds and when grown under different conditions, climate, soil, and fertilizer the end result will be different.

True dat. And I know NO Virginia I grow will taste like Windsail Light by D & R. Nor will any Turkish I grow taste like Ramback. I think D & R was getting the RIGHT strains, grown in the RIGHT locations.

I don't know the first thing about chosing the right tobacco varieties but I know there is a difference between what you would use for RYO vs snuff.

To start I will have to go with it. Surely, Virginia will retain it's virginianess, even in snus, as Turkish would as well. I will find out before the year is out.

I did find this though:

TA28 SMALL STALK BLACK MAMMOTH....it provides a great wrapper tobacco or a premium snuff tobacco when ripe. A good tobacco for beginners learning to roll their own cigars or for first time snuff makers. (From Seedman)

This website lists several varieties for snuff, including Virginia Gold, Black Sea Samsun, Dark Viriginia and the above mentioned black mammoth. Or do the sellers just say that to get us to buy?

As far as finding the right size, the way I would do it......
Save up some of your favorite snus, dry it out and sieve it thru a set of Tyler mesh screens , then you will have some idea.

The only thing that would help in the grinding, that I could think of, would be to let the leaves dry out as much as possible. The leaf crumbles to dust in those circumstances. It would be easier to grind then, whereas it would be impossible if the leaf where humidified. I just don't know what device could grind it quickly.

[justintempler]

The only thing that would help in the grinding, that I could think of, would be to let the leaves dry out as much as possible. The leaf crumbles to dust in those circumstances. It would be easier to grind then, whereas it would be impossible if the leaf where humidified. I just don't know what device could grind it quickly.

They use a meat grinder/flour grinder. Here's an example


http://www.primafint.se/forum_default.asp
http://translate.google.com/?hl=en&sl=sv&tl=en#

Put those together and you get this:
http://translate.google.com/translat...istory_state0=

[justintempler]

and this is new if you haven't seen it yet..

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ROXLOABF1yo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed>

[HK11]

Looks cool.

[snupy]

They use a meat grinder/flour grinder. Here's an example

Thanks so much for the info. I bet I could find something like that around here used, for very little money.