Loose Snus

[tburlingham]

I am interested in finding as many different flavors of loos as possible. I particularly liked the "Roots, lime and licorice." I really wanted to try ordering the pilsner. I am having trouble finding a place to order order this brand. I tried the offroad and it is okay but the licorice with lime is where it is at. It hit the spot but I was not the owner of the can but offered a dab and tried to order it and no longer can. Someone give me a link I'm Jones'n.

[Xobeloot]

Northerner.com carries the roots line

[tburlingham]

Reply to X....

Yeah, I tried and got the response below. I have posted orderswith them for several weeks and I keep getting responses back from them that the "manufacturer" is currently out.

Any others that carry Roots or does the manufacturer have a direct website that I may call or emial them to see if they are changing their product line name again (i.e.; Kicks to Roots to ?????). Thanks for the quick response.

I am a loose snus guy so if you have any other suggestions. Offroad licorice is good but that hint of lime really did it for me. I am not into fruity flavors most times but that was a really good mixture.

Notherner email response on last order....

"We were notified by our supplier that the Roots Pilsner, Loose and Roots Lime & Licorice, Loose is no longer available. Your order has been cancelled and refunded. The money will be on your account within one week.

Kind regards,
Lena
Northerner.com"

[Xobeloot]

Hmmm. I have no clue then. Northerner was the only place I had ever seen it.

I do find it quite amusing that they are well aware that they cannot get it, yet they leave it on their website.

[tburlingham]

Adding/Adapting snus

Does anyone add elements to their snus? Some will add whiskey etc. any ideas there. I am up for "homemade recipes" as well if the manufacturer has a good flavor, has anyone changed or adapted their favorite brands. My thought is adding a hint of lime to the Offroad licorice...

[eli]

Spicebarn.com has a pretty good selection of alcohol-based flavor extracts, these are natural extracts designed for use in baking, but would be similar to the flavorings used in snus as well.

I'd be interested in experimenting, we'd need to find a very "neutral" snus to use as a base.

You could get anise and either key lime or lime twist extracts for your licorice and lime flavor... I'm interested in the burnt sugar flavoring to make snus with a hint of caramel, I think the key is going pretty light on the flavors...

[tburlingham]

Flavor additives

I will look into it. I am going to attempt something with a hint of lime and one with lemon to start. Great ideas there...if you experiment be sure to let me know how it turns out.

[Xobeloot]

The phantom blue has a nice juniper/herbal flavor. It sometimes even nears lime in taste. That may be a good base for you to add licorice to.

Maybe get a can of phantom blue and a can of offroad licorice and blend the two for a taste trial?

[tburlingham]

Ideas

Excellent idea. I haven't bought the Phantom yet. Is there slightly coarser loose products that you use?

I am going to get some Phantom and more licorice and try it out.

[eli]

May be some time before I can try this out, I may just go to a local baking supply store for some smaller quantities of flavor extracts and give it a try though, I'll have to find an appropriately "Pure tobacco" snus to use as a base, I'm thinking Ettan may be the way to go...

[tburlingham]

Nuetral snus

The I have not tried Ettan... I have had the Goteborgs (both), Kronan and Probe from the basic sampler. I am going to mess with the Goteborgs Rape regarding addition of extracts but I like course over fine tobaccos.

[eli]

I don't want any existing flavors to interfere with the experimentation, Göteborg's Rape has juniper and other herbal falvors (I think it's close to many gin blends in its flavor profile).

[Xobeloot]

Prima Fint could be an excellent starting point to add additional flavor. It is an extremely fine ground snus with a very mellow (yet flavorful) tobacco taste. From my experience, it is simply tobacco without any overpowering added flavorings. Being that the stuff is so fine (and bakes like pla-doh) it may distribute added flavor agents quite easily.

Grov Los has an extremely rich/dark smoked tobacco taste and a very coarse grind. I could see grov taking on an added mocha/chocolate or coffee flavoring quite well. Hell... I wouldnt be surprized if taking a nice rich coffee bean and grinding it into a fine powder and adding it in with the grov tasted great.

Keep us posted on what you come up with.

[eli]

Will do, about time I put that culinary degree to use.

[Kerprodo]

Eli, what type of culinary degree and how long did you use it? Just interested because I have a pastry arts degree, worked as a pastry chef for a few years, owned a bakery for a few years, then sold out and went into restaurant management. Just wondered what you did with your degree, how long you stuck with it, etc. I just basically burned out of the actual production of food, find management much more relaxing (besides the continual WTF with employees!)