Hi all, I just received my first order of 6 photo snuffs to give them a try. I’ve only tried the Kailash so far. But, I noticed when I decanted the full 8 gram tub into an old 5 gram Wilsons tin that it only filled it to about 2/3rds. I realise that it is quite a moist snuff but wouldn’t have expected that sort of descepency. ?
I would assume as you stated that a moist snuff would weigh more than a dry snuff, and that 1ml / 1 gram of water would be denser than 1 gram of powdered tobacco. So with a moist snuff of the same grind as a dry snuff would therefore take up less space than that of a drier snuff with less moisture. Even if Paraffin was used to grease the snuff there isn’t a huge difference between Paraffin and water density (Paraffin being 0.9 g/cm^3 to water being 1 g/cm^3.
There is also the chance that the snuff dried out in transport or in storage from what it was when it was packed, I hear that India is a very humid climate and that plane transport isn’t terribly great with tobacco (more so in drying and wrecking cigars), so this could be another factor in play.
Either way if you can get your hands on a pair of scales, or even create your own makeshift tipping scale you’ll be sure to find out your answer. Even so that is my theory.
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I agree with Aamon, the weight of snuff should not be correlated with volume, as it depends on the moisture content, and how densely it is packed. This is one thing that can be frustrating with pipe tobacco, as irrespective of what the weight says on the packet, you are paying for that much product, but not that much tobacco, as a percentage of the product is added liquids. Some snuff manufacturers traditionally do not mention weights at all, only as approximate figures. You get a small tin, medium tin, or large tin, and the weight will vary according to the moisture content within it. How many times have you had a Wilson’s tin which wasn’t filled to the brim, irrespective of whether it was a toast or a moist snuff? Don’t focus too closely on weights would be my advice. The Indian snuff I’ve had were denser than dry or English moist snuffs, but they are still inexpensive, particularly when bought in the larger container sizes.
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Thanks guys, I sort of figured it was the moisture that was the difference. And as you have pointed out, Indian snuff is so inexpensive it really doesn’t matter.
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