Snuff making 101

A very simple way to scent small amounts of any coarse and moist snuff (10-15 g):

DSC06715

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.

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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. 

Thanks!

Michael

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@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:

https://snuffhouse.com/discussion/10192/the-gardening-thread

http://snuffhouse.com/discussion/7860/growing-my-own-tobacco

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@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:

https://www.amazon.com/MENTHOL-CRYSTALS-Mentha-Arvensis-Grade/dp/B01N3095WW/ref=asc_df_B01N3095WW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343269559135&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10400314231293823040&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030289&hvtargid=pla-786183415644&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=72736834687&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=343269559135&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10400314231293823040&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030289&hvtargid=pla-786183415644

Lastly, the M&P is great for finishing small quantities but a food processor and coffee grinder make quicker work of it for me.  

Welcome aboard and happy snuffing!  :slight_smile:

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@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.

Thanks for the advice!

Michael

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That’s how they grind it in Kashubia (Poland/Eastern Pomerania):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H48q6FWQuA

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Same size in Bavaria:

schmalzlerfest-top

I wish my tools were that big!

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My pleasure, @mecompco.  Have fun!  :slight_smile:

@volunge, great video and I love those old horn snuff containers.  Very cool!

~Darin

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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)

https://www.amazon.in/TECHNOLOGY-CIGARETTE-MANUFACTURING-PROCESSES-FORMULATIONS/dp/9380772947

It would be interesting to browse through.

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Wow!  That looks like one interesting read!!  :slight_smile:

Possible download here: https://www.scribd.com/document/387655339/Complete-Hand-Book-on-Tobacco

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My latest 11 g micro batch of Orient Samsoun coarse:

20191130_230226

Ingredients: tobacco 7.5 g, water 3 ml, sodium carbonate 0.4 g, ammonium chloride (salmiak) 0.1 g.

Process:

  1. Aqueous sodium carbonate solution (2 ml water and 0.4 g sodium carbonate) worked into the tobacco flour, left overnight.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

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Looks great!  :slight_smile:

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@Cobguy, thanks! Making another batch :slight_smile:

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).

Mass fraction: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_fraction_(chemistry)<!–[if gte mso 10]>

/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;}

<![endif]–> 

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@volunge if you were in the US, your PM inbox might have as many messages from me as @Cobguy 's B-)

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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.

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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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=AL2wZfFe4Rg&fbclid=IwAR1RKQfTbnqWAjzdj8D0xsnsrqzEgg3GTZS9\_Q8317QfMPCCn8pZnDnjElI&app=desktop

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Mesh and micron sizes:

Clipboard01
https://www.industrialspec.com/resources/mesh-and-micron-sizes

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@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.

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I was curious about % expression of Juxtaposer’s basic snuff recipe ingredients (posted in the very first post of this thread). Here’s the translation:

tobacco 65.7 %
water 21.7 %
salt 11.6 %
sodium carbonate 1 %

Jux’s formula is deduced from Hannover snuff recipe, kindly provided by Jaap Bes, the head miller of Molens de Kralingse, in Snuffhouse thread “Snuffmiller’s snuff receipe” (http://snuffhouse.com/discussion/6008/snuffmillers-snuff-receipe/p1). Genuine Hannover snuff recipe goes as follows:

"A German recipe for Hannover snuff.

For 500 grams of powdered tobacco, take 10 grams of fine cut yellow sweet clover mix with 40 ml boiling water and let it cool down. Filter and add to the filtrate 50 ml tap water, 10 grams Ammonium chloride and 5 grams Potash. Mix well with the tobacco leave in a warm place to ferment. After convenient fermentation cool down with 50 grams of kitchen salt".

Hannover snuff formula in % (by weight, i. e. ingredients listed by their mass fraction):

tobacco 57.8 %
salt 28.9 %
water 10.3 %
sweet clover 1.2 %
ammonium chloride 1.2 %
potash 0.6 %

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Hi,

do you guys think I can make “Neffa Frikia” with Toque Rustica, sodium carbonate and salt?
and what leaves would I use for a Taxi Redisch DIY?
also here in Brazil snuffs are made from “twist tobacco”, which is very easy to find. anybody experimented with those?

thanks

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