DIY, info and feedback

used a snus can that has a spent portion top. i poked holees in it but think i got to much extract in it. was trying to scentt it not wet it…that failed but man its enjoyment.

Scenting your snuff. Tobacco readily absorbs smells, so scenting your snuff is very easy. I’ve “scented” snuff using essential oils. The easiest way I’ve found is to put a very small drop, (use a ‘miniscule’ amount as these oils are very concentrated!), of an essential oil on a Q-Tip and put that right into the snuff tin for 24hrs. Shake the tin occasionally to spread the scent. Since tobacco readily absorbs aroma, it is easy to ‘scent’ tobacco with anything that has an aroma. Flavoring agents range from floral and fruity, such as apricot, geranium, cinnamon, lemon, vanilla, mint, musk, aniseed, rose, sandalwood, tonquin and violet, to the medicinal, such as camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus. Other perfumes commonly used for dry snuff are bergamot, cloves, lavender, otto of roses, orange flowers and jasmin. Use these to scent your tobacco in the same way as mentioned above, adjusting the amount of scent as required.

OK this was my first attempt at an idea. The tobacco I had was very close to drum and I cannot find my virgina shag for the life of me so the smokey dutch drum style of ryo is very present. The slight fresh cinnamon and clove with a kiss of ginger from my grinder with a bit of awesome coffee grounds (like less than an 1/10 of a teaspoon added a nice robust nose… I added Rooster for the smokey and Honeybee for the sweet and then some pale shag RYO. SHOOK the hell out of it and ground it some more. The non snuffer thought the scent was ok but nothing to brag about. The snus dribble method of the vanilla extract and pure orange was a whim idea and got way more than I expected. I rushed this step but with amazing pleasant results. DEEP burly smoke scent the dutch and vanilla with rooster… almost a wet camp fire smell. the orange is making the cinnamon clove making it fresh and the slight menthol for the opening effect. Granted the extracts have alchohol and is drying nicely being an aromatic, I am going to place some orders of the essental oils. The blander and richer tobacco I would love to experiment with and build from that but is tough getting info where to buy. Would rather use the natural product not an altered one is all. I am not out for a profit but a project and possible info for those of us who enjoy snuffing a great deal that will be facing the hell of the gubernment. let alone a potential for a lost art. I would be willing to send samples to those brave souls and experienced nosed snuff masters willing to try this mad smokey vanilla orange creation. I offered up the same over on the ECF but no one yet is willing to try the beast.

I’m really not big on scented smuffs much, but through tips on threads like this one I’ve just revived both a tin of Toque Toast and Marmalade that was losing its orange (used LorAnn Orange Oil) and a Toque Grapefruit that had lost its grapefruit (using LorAnn Grapefruit Oil). I might like to try to recreate the Toque Xmas Pudding (or something like it) once the tin I have runs out. I’m not planning on scenting up a bunch of stuff, but I do have all these natural oils from when I was going to try to make flavored e-cigarette e-liquids (that never really quite panned out and so these have just sat unused in my fridge) and I’m going to take them all out and have a look and see what I have here. I have the following as LorAnne Oils (they all list only one ingredient and thats the listed flavor’s “oil”): Anise Oil (something seems to have gone strange with this one its solidified in there) Cinnomon OIl Clove OIl Grapefruit Oil Lemon OIl Lime OIl Orange Oil Peppermint Oil Spearmint Oil Then I have LorAnne “flavors” (they have Proplylen Glycol, artifical flavor, & alcohol, some have artificial colorings too) Cherry Creme De Menthe Grape Guava Pina Colada Pineapple Strawberry Tropical Punch Watermelon Wintergreen I also have Imitation Almond Extract Imitation Coconut Extract (wonder if I could re-coconut some FUBAR Grunt with this) Imitation Maple flavor Oranic Vanilla Extract

If the revised PACT is a gutless and spineless as it seems then I might just pick this up as a hobby to enjoy the mixing and creating aspect of it. I cook to unwind and Love sortin gout recipes as they rattle around my skull. I am still interested in the whole aspect and heritage side of snuff, the natural scents and just genius use of flavors.

nice info on this thread. With the Tobaccogeddon, as whistlrr calls it, looming, I think I see some DIY attempts in my future. Dred, I’ll send you a PM on ECF to try some of those homebrews

Does anyone here have any experience with successfully flavoring snuff with wine? It takes more than a wine-soaked Q-Tip, I learned that. It’s very easy to flavor snuff with liquor, but wine is a secret I just can’t seem to uncover. If you’ve had Toque Champagne, you know what I mean. How the hell did Roderick do that?? I’m looking to make a very bold snuff: my bag of Rustica leaves flavored with retsina. (Retsina is Greek wine fermented with pine resin, in case you don’t know.) I’ve read enough here about what to do with the rustica leaves (remove the stems and veins before grinding). My question is this: how the hell do I add the retsina to the ground snuff, and how do I get this snuff to be somewhat moist – about as moist as Toque Champagne is??

a drop or two of the wine right in the snuff works wonders.

I guess I need to increase the amount of wine, then. The problem I’ve found with adding liquor or wine directly to snuff is that the alcohol tends to dry the snuff out further. I love toasts and scotches, but I don’t want this particular snuff to be bone dry. I suppose that maybe adding a drop or two of distilled water may help keep things moist.

Pour about an inch of wine into the bottom of a large container with a sealable lid. Put the snuff in a small bowl, set inside the larger container and put the lid on. Leave it alone for about 4 days, then take the snuff out, stir it up, and check the aroma. If it’s not strong enough, repeat the process, after letting the snuff dry out if necessary. When the aroma is strong enough, sieve the snuff and transfer to another container. This can take up to a month or so with really delicate scents. If you’re really in a hurry, you can try this old method from South Africa: “Cameron added some details to my personal observations upon the making of snuff. When the native tobacco is rubbed to a powder, he informed me, the native women are fond of adding a little gin, making a paste, and allowing the gin to evaporate. The strength of the resultant snuff may be imagined. He added that when gin is not to be had a more easily obtained liquid is sometimes used.”

I sent out a bit that I had outside of my own use, I cannot wait to hear the feedback. Since having this rather large collection and a bunch that I have even portioned out to a few others it is nice to know that if something does come down the pipeline the ability to grind/mix and enjoy snuff will still be there.

What I would do for a wine scented snuff is add the wine directly to the bone dry base, then slowly bake out the excess moisture in a crock with the tin put in it. I have done this with a bourbon with most excellent results.

@Juxtaposer: Can you please explain in more detail the crock pot method? Which setting did you use (high or low) and for how long? I assume that you left the tin uncovered. Thanks.

Why not just reduce the wine down to a very concentrated amount, then add that to the snuff?

Well, the problem with wine reduction is that it tends to end up as a thick syrup.

The crock pot set on low with the cover on. The tin was racked as to not be touching the crock. It took 24 hours I think, I did wipe the lid dry the several times I checked it. Basically you will be steaming off the moisture so the timing will vary. Cstokes idea would also work. You could do that in a pan then on very low heat add the tobacco then stir till viscosity is eliminated. This would be simpler and yield immediate product, although the results will improve somewhat after letting rest.

Thanks to both cstokes and Juxtaposer. I think I will try both methods. The only way to know what works best is to experiment. I’ll grind the rustica leaves this weekend, do half of the batch using Juxtaposer’s crock pot method. and the other half with the reduction on the stove top. A 100g bag of rustica leaves looks like a lot, but I have no idea how much ground snuff this is going to yield.

A fortified wine such as port, sherry or vermouth might work even better, although you won’t have as much variety of flavor.

Oh the ideas rattling around the skull are almost endless at this point. I have some very thick very spiced mulled wine and extra spices hmmmm… I have a dram of some single malt I think would be mind blowing as a snuff… ATM the only draw back is not having the tobacco, that shall change I plan on getting some whole leaf very shortly. I did locate some of my Tobacco I used in the last batch, also some mulling spices used very lightly and some pure cane non processed sugar. the braun blade grinders do an amazing job the grind is a fine as my American scotches I have. So in a air tight jar with a clean shotglass with some of my very beloved 25 year single malt quarter cask. **Update** After a 48 hour actual scotch soak/airing the mix took a nice peaty aroma to it. Let it mellow a bit and reground it by hand in a mortar and pestle. Since coming down with a hellish cold it has had to sit untouched for a few days… Once I can sniff again I shall see how it is. Umm just received my package of leaf from Roderick… Umm I would suggest going easy with this stuff… unless hemorrhage is sounding like fun.

I did a little experiment using a snus recipe with some old Bruton that I have a lot of. The idea was to effect the Malliard reaction in the tobacco making it darker as well as salting the snuff as the S Gawith rappee’s are. I simplified the recipe so that all parts would be measured by volume. I used ten parts tobacco to one part salt though the result is somewhat salty I have yet to add sodium carbonate. The amount of water was equal parts to the tobacco used. The temperature used was twenty five degrees above the recommend 125’ F but for the sake of experimentation I was fine with that. The results already have me exited and anxious to test a proper batch using choice tobaccos and correct temperatures. The cooked product is moist, black and pleasant smelling after five days. Quite a surprise because the smell while cooking was not very pleasant and the color was only that of wet tobacco. To complete this experiment I will be adding sodium carbonate which is expected to absorb carbon molecules to become sodium bicarbonate. Also for snus some glyserol will be added.Further experimentation will be done with sal ammoniac as a flavoring agent. I feel well on my way to having my own version of a black rappee and very happy to share such a rewarding hobby that tobacco provides with you fellows. Cheers!