First try of snuff

[idbowman]

My order from MrSnuff is still in transit, but a tin of Sam G. Apricot arrived today, courtesy of the good and great DrumsAndBeer. Cracked 'er open and went about my first shot at snuffing.

GOOD TIMES, INDEED! Well, I mean aside from the initial need to sneeze no less that 463 times, which I assume will subside a bit with experience. Nice little tingle up front, then settled in nicely. I like this particular scent/blend/whatever its called in the snuff universe a lot...sweet, light, and pleasant. I will say, though, that I do agree with DBs criticism that it wasn't apricot-y at all. Sweet and fruity, absolutely, but to me its more of a peach/cherry. I guess if I were really searching for "apricot" I'd be disappointed, but I definitely like it for what it is.

Thanks again DB!



Oh - and a quick question for you guys: What's the "shelf life" of a tin once its opened? I know from reading around that there's a brand out there that uses no preservatives (Der Kralinersteinenweissenblatzershriner or something like that), but other than that, what should I expect?

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Ian,

You're welcome, & I am glad that tin found a happy home.

I would suggest buying a couple snuffhouse.org plastic snuff boxes, decanting into them a weeks worth of whichever snuff you choose (I have been doing a flavor of the week thing), and placing the actual OEM tin into a Mason jar for safe keeping. I bought a few of these little plastic boxes on Amazon, they're quite handy.

As an alternative to Mason jars (since I have so many already filled with pipe tobacco) I have been sealing my tins up in vacuumed food saver bags. Kind of a hassle and a bit more laborious, but it beats having more jars stacking up.

Obviously, unlike pipe tobacco snuff seems to degrade with age. Some OEM tins are better than others. I have read that the small WoS slip tins are lousy for long term keeping, as are the small Gawith tap boxes.The 25g F&T tins have screw down lids which are nice, and seem to hold in the flavors better for a lot longer.

Chris

 

[Slide]

Ian,



Obviously, unlike pipe tobacco snuff seems to degrade with age.

Chris

Air is snuff's enemy, not age.

It doesn't necessarily improve with age, like pipe tobacco, except if you get factory fresh snuff. That seems to take a little while to mature into what it is meant to be.

Properly stored snuff will last for decades. That would be stored and rarely opened. ( exceptions to every rule - some Molens snuff should be used faster than that)

I use a 3 tier storage system. Bulks go into a system of 3 size of mason jars. 16 oz - 200 grams, 8 oz - 100 grams and 4 oz - 50 grams. My snuff box is filled from the 4 oz jar. If I bought a 500 gram bulk I would store it in one 16 oz, two 8 oz and two 4 oz jars. After the two 4 oz jars are emptied I transfer the contents of an 8 oz jar to the two 4 oz jars. By basically opening the 4 oz jar only when I fill my snuff box it has no scent degradation over time.

I picked up that system from Ermtony. I think he has been snuffing longer than I have been alive.

 

[Slide]

I should add....IMHO :lol:

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Air is snuff's enemy, not age.

Yes, thank you. That's an important clarification.

Also I have found that snuff stores better in my nose than in the OEM tins.

Scott have you found that the toasts or naturals improve with some age?

 

[Slide]

For the most part I found they stay the same. (To my nose) I have found a some small change with bulk purchases of Toque or Wilson's and one major change. More change with Toque. And the major change for the good was with Toque Lime Toast

I think the reason that there may be more change with a Toque snuff is that Wilson's can anticipate a certain amount of bulk sales may pre-fill some bulk containers. Whereas Toque makes it, fills it in a plastic bag, and ships it to you. That's where my my factory fresh comment comes from.

Very fresh snuff may have an ammonia like scent to it. Some people air the snuff to let the ammonia scent go away. I just jar them up and find with time it does settle down. So maybe they all change to some degree...But it would be minimal with most snuffs.

The biggest change was when I received a 400 gram bulk order of Toque Lime Toast. Roderick does not ship many of his citrus snuffs in bulk. Chemical changes brought about by temperature variations during shipping can cause bag explosions apparently. He did however send me the bulk Lime Toast order. I did order it during the middle of winter.

In any case, when it first arrived it had a cedar scent to my nose. It wasn't bad but it wasn't Lime. As time has gone by it has developed its intended characteristics. And the Lime shines through :lol: