I assume the pigment used in White Elephant is titanium dioxide, used throughout the food and cosmetics industry for whitening purposes (e.g. in toothpaste, mozzarella, sunscreen or vitamin tablets). Titanium dioxide is also a conveniently odourless powder and so perfectly suited for this type of adulteration. It’s not usually considered harmful when eaten or applied to the skin, but it is regarded as potentially damaging and carcinogenic when inhaled, with finer particles (as might be found in this very snuff) being the most dangerous since they can lodge deep in the lungs.
I’ve learnt not to criticise individual snuffs because it’s all so subjective anyway, but an exception in this case is justified. Until the manufacturer assures us that the pigment isn’t titanium dioxide or anything else harmful, I’d say this adulterated snuff has no place in anyone’s nose.
I’ve grown older variants of current Indian tobacco strains that when milled are very light in color. Furthermore there are processes for bleaching tobacco that have been in use for decades. I would think it the first option, sun cured which can also slightly bleach the tobacco leaf that is responsible for the color of the product, perhaps with a small percentage of lime which is pure white that is responsible for the strength of white tobaccos. Furthermore the more you do to age and cure a leaf the more it browns and the lower the nicotine level becomes, so as mark of strength all these things would point to a white product being nothing more than a minimally aged leaf perhaps with some lime added to freebase the nicotine on the fly on contact with moisture in the nose. Occam’s razor would suggest it is the simpler more direct approach outlined above and not some adulterant as listed, but I also have no way of knowing for sure.
Yes, I wouldn’t assume that there is necessarily any pigment at all, let alone a carcinogenic one, and least of all with no evidence. I’ve seen cigars about the color of Dholakia White, and I’m pretty sure they haven’t been dipped in carcinogenic coloring agents, either.
Tried the infamous White Elephant today for the first time, nice nicotine kick but not as strong as I expected/feared. I think it’s going to be one of my favorites, both by itself and in mixtures. By itself, the challenge for me is not taking it straight to the back of the throat because it is so fine and dusty … I didn’t sneeze like some people, nor did I turn red in the face like some of the first-time users in the YouTube videos, but I did cough each time I tried it. That’s not a problem when I mix it with other coarser, more moist snuffs … goes very well with Wow Coconut Toffee, I must say.
One thing I particularly liked about the WE packaging is the plastic seal inside of the tin … I just tore off part of the plastic seal instead of all of it … that way, I can get into it without getting it all over the place.
‘‘One thing I particularly liked about the WE packaging is the plastic seal inside of the tin … I just tore off part of the plastic seal instead of all of it … that way, I can get into it without getting it all over the place.’’ @nostalgicnose …and specially useful if the tin has some inclination to drop accidentally #:-S
WE isn’t hard to take at all using the process I saw described on YouTube, wherein you take a deep breath to where your lungs are nearly full to maximum capacity, then sniff. I’ve had zero issues since adopting that technique, but YMMV. Regardless, WE is a favorite.
Just take enough snuff and one day you’ll notice whites are easy to take. Happened with me, one day just noticed it’s no harder to take than anything else, dunno what changed, think maybe all the scotch, toast and madras made the next step happen automatically, because I do remember having to do tricks like the full breath or dropping your Adams apple, but, yeah, it’s no big deal now. Less than one year snuffing too.
I have just received this today hence I will reserve my comments after experiencing this more. I think this is more of the proverbial “acquired taste” kind of snuff, and I don’t want to be judgmental about it so soon due to its smell alone. Is there any clue as to what this is made of exactly? I read somewhere about it is made of some root as well (cant find that thread now).
I am a big WE user. I mix it with other snuffs to reduce the dustiness. But lately I have been experimenting with making my own snuff using rustica leaves I bought from Leaf Only. I used a food dehydrator to dry the leaves, a rock tumbler to grind them, and a mesh coffee filter to sift the powder. I add washing soda and salt. My first batch turned out to be very good. High nic hit due to the high nic content of the rustica and elevated pH from the soda. I figure the cost is less than one fourth of WE delivered to me in Atlanta.
I collect the rejects from sifting which pretty much consists of stems, then regrind with a food processor and tumble again until they pass the coffee filter. The flour made from the rejects is noticeably lighter in color than the first pass accepts. It looks a lot like WE.
From this, I suspect WE is made almost entirely from stems, and probably from rustica.
By the way, on my last order from Leaf Only I ordered some rustica seeds and plan on raising some this year. I’ll post some more later on my snuffmaking and tobacco “farming”. Wish me luck.
I second @newbiesnuffer, pinching works best. I press the pinch really hard, blow off any residues and inhale with numerous short, sharp whiffs while gradually and slowly releasing my fingers. The most important part is pursing the nose (shrinking nose walls without fingers), which minimizes throat hit during insnufflation.
@volunge thats seems to be some serious work taming that elephant
i have not tried this one yet but the 6photo cheeta which could be similar extremely hard to sniff and to survive afterwards
