@Volunge. Thank You. I just made a batch(above recipe), of a Nicotainia Rustica and mixed leaf batch. Coarse and a little moist. Accidentally spilled a local India Pale Ale in it, when can exploded.
The batch is drying now. I tried as a dip and was satisfied. I don’t usually dip. I did add 2 drops of cherry flavoring, and 3 drops of Orange to the water.
Same tobacco, same moisture (20%). Both plain (unscented).
Left: non-alkalized, lightly salted (1% sodium chloride) snuff. No changes of colour and aroma in the course of one week. Low nicotine, very slow release, mild burn, no ammonia, moderate drip.
Right: snuff instantaneously turned darker after the addition of sodium carbonate (10% of total weight, dissolved in water). Noticeable emission of ammonia at room temperature in the course of the first hour, pronounced ammonia next day and later on. High nicotine, fast release, sharp burn, strong forward drip. Smell is mildly sourish, similar to rye bread.
A very simple way to scent small amounts of any coarse and moist snuff (10-15 g):
Open a tea bag, replace the tea with a g e n e r o u s amount of natural scenting medium of your choice (ground coffee, spices, dried and crushed herbs, fruits or mushrooms), fold or stapple to close shut, put into the large tin or snus can with snuff, cover the lid and leave for some hours or overnight. Give occasional shake. Use large snuff tin or snus can.
Freshly ground coffee and caraway seeds worked like a charm with my homemade, Taxi Red and NTSU.
OK, I’ve got a mortar and pestle, and have just ordered a pound of non-steamed whole leaf Rustica (and some seeds).I get the basic recipe. My eventual goal is to mimic my favorite snuffs as closely as possible. So, NB Madras I think might not be bad. Next two are White Elephant and L260. If I could get close to those, I’ll be all set. Suggestions? How about a good resource for growing? I’m in Maine, so a short growing season.
@mecompco it’s always great to see a snuffer starting the craft! Perhaps we’ll be sampling your creations some day?
I’d suggest reading up on the gardening threads and posting there. You’ll probably see posts from other members who are experienced tobacco gardeners who could provide specific advice, too. Just a couple of them:
@mecompco … for growing, curing and fermentation questions there is no better source than the Fair Trade Tobacco Forum. It’s the forum for wholeleaftobacco.com who I also strongly support for the best whole leaf out there, IMHO.
If you’re going to want to use menthol (L260), this is what I use and it’s great:
@Cobguy I actually ordered a pound of Rustica leaf from wholeleaftobacco.com as well as some Rustica seeds today. I didn’t notice their forum, will check it out. I’ve now got your recommended menthol in my Amazon cart. I’m thinking a ball mill–the M&P is already getting old. I probably go through a kilo of snuff a year, so will need to think about production. Of course, next will be making my own snus at some point. Projects never end.
Just found this book: THE COMPLETE TECHNOLOGY HAND BOOK OF TOBACCO, ZARDA, KIMAM, GUTKA, PAN MASALA, MOUTH FRESHNER, SUPARI, KHAINI, NICOTINE, CIGARETTE, CIGAR, BEEDI, SAUNF, KATHA/SNUFF, HOOKAH, AND PAN CHATNI WITH MANUFACTURING PROCESSES AND FORMULATIONS (Engineers India Research Institute (2017)
My latest 11 g micro batch of Orient Samsoun coarse:
Ingredients: tobacco 7.5 g, water 3 ml, sodium carbonate 0.4 g, ammonium chloride (salmiak) 0.1 g.
Process:
Aqueous sodium carbonate solution (2 ml water and 0.4 g sodium carbonate) worked into the tobacco flour, left overnight.
Aqueous ammonium chloride solution (0.1 g of salmiak per 1 ml of water) worked into the snuff, left to rest for a couple of hours.
Final sieving on the third day.
Love this recipe, will make more! So glad I purchased some salmiak this summer, it really adds to the nose burn, ammonia content and rounds up the back drip. I’ll replace sodium carbonate with potash next time to explore the difference.
Just found this mass fraction calculator: https://www.fxsolver.com/browse/formulas/Mass+fraction (really handy for quick calculation of ingredient percentage by mass; apparently doesn’t work with decimal fractions, though).
No problem sending a small treat across the pond from my side, @ar47. I’ll PM you next year. For the meantime I run only a week’s worth batches for own needs and have no surplus, but I’m really interested in running 100 g (or larger) batch. I need to upgrade my tools and procure other varieties of leaf for blending.
Very enlightening film about Kendal mills. It answered some of my questions, particularly related to alkalis used in traditional Irish toasts. It’s obviously a lime water there (13:32)! The part about snuff making starts at 9:00.
@volunge that entire video is a treasure! Thanks for finding it. I was drooling over those one pound tins and all of the old packaging. There’s something rather down to earth about the look of those small factories and antique machines. I can only dream of the wonderful smells that linger.