Apparently Rosinski and Bernard are closing due to the change in regulations which will take effect next year in the EU. I’m not sure about other small manufacturers like Pfælzer, but it sounds like Pöschl might be the only European manufacturer which will survive. I find this depressing, because I don’t much care for most English snuffs (or Indian) and I can’t figure out how to get Draupadi snuffs to ship here. There’s SWS, sure, but those are expensive.
I could just make my own, given that tobacco would be easy enough to get. Might even try growing some for eistabak, but that’s another story.
I know for a fact that Rosinski’s recipe (many of them) are based on historical snuffs from erstwhile Prussia, but I am very curious where I might find such recipes.
There are a few videos on YouTube which show snuffmaking in Kashubia as well, but I don’t speak the language and there’s no recipe as such.
I’m also wondering about snuff recipes from southern Europe, seeing how there’s a post about Italian snuffs and references to snuff making in Spain.
Check out this thread: Old snuff recipes - #8 by volunge
This is one of the books: 'Verbesserte Rauch- und Schnupftabak- und Cigarren-Fabrikation' - Viewer | MDZ. By the end of the week I’ll drop a link to the pdf file with more reader-friendly Dutch version with similar (if not exactly the same) recipes, as well as a link to another German book with additional prescriptions. Weinstein is cream of tartar, for more potent snuff it can be substituted with same amount of potassium carbonate in those prescriptions which don’t call for the addition potassium carbonate or soda. Salmiak is ammonium chloride.
Kashubian / Rosinski snuffs are the most natural. Basically, you grind the cured leaf to your liking, sift it and, if preferred, scent the resulting flour with tinctures or decoctions. Fermented leaf can be used. As mentioned before in some other thread, the only alkalizer Rene uses is calcium carbonate (finelly powdered seashells). I’m not sure if it’s present in all of his snuffs, but all his snuffs are similar in terms of pH - neutral, which means that the amount of said alkalizer is miniscule, probably not more than a couple % of total mass.
Also, read the descriptions of Old Mill and OSP snuffs.
Where did you hear that Rosinski would close?
I order directly from Rene’s website, and correspond with him every so often. He mentioned that they would have to close in May 2024, which is also the case with Bernard.
This is not coincidental:
"Tobacco products must be traceable, have traceability labels and security features as stated by law. Now the rules applies to cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco. From 20 May 2024, all tobacco products will be covered, but there are transitional rules. The Public Health Authority supervises that the rules are followed.
Transitional rules
Other tobacco products than cigarettes and rolling tobacco, manufactured in the Union or imported to the Union before 20 May 2024 may be sold without unique identifiers, so called traceability labels, and security features until 20 May 2026."
The above should clarify what’s going on. It’s a directive from the EU on tobacco products, but I got that from the website of the Swedish health ministry.
I am curious what would determine whether to use a tincture or a decoction though? I would be a little worried about a decoction going sour when mixed with tobacco flour for fermentation. In a tincture, I wouldn’t imagine the fragrance changing significantly in the same way.
Let’s say I wanted to add something like lavender to a snuff: whether it is added as an essential oil, a tincture, a decoction, or just sprinkling lavender buds in the tobacco would all give some degree of lavender fragrance. However, both the specific qualities and the intensity would vary, presumably.
There was a video with a guy pounding snuff and adding something from a small liquor bottle, looked like there were various flavourings in it, but I am not sure if it was oil (as in for a schmalzler) or a tincture (in fruit brandy, probably).
I know Rosinski snuffs mostly use menthol in favour of mint leaves (Brusseler being the obvious exception), but I am leaning more towards actual mint.
@yakshini Here’s a link to the Dutch book, snuff recipes are in chapter XII. https://top25snuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/de-tabaks-en-sigaren-fabrikant.pdf
For tinctures, use at least 70% food (USP) grade ethanol. If you can get hold of 95% (190 U.S. proof) Everclear, use it. You can extract way more aromatic substances with high proof ethanol and it evaporates really fast. Do air the ethanol out before taking snuff, it can be done by leaving scented snuff in an open bowl for a half an hour or so, stiring it up few times.
Some fragrant compounds, like those present in the Baltic amber (succinite, traditionally used in Kashubia for scenting snuff), are not water soluble and can only be extracted with ethanol (pouring it over the finely crushed amber and leaving a bottle for a week or two; only small part of solids dissolve and resulting tincture should be carefully decanted, using a pipette or in some other way).
Ethanol can be used for thinning essential oils and dissolving menthol, camphor and fragrant resins. Such way of scenting / medicating ensures fast and more even scent absorption and is superior to the addition of undiluted essential oil(-s) or pure solid / waxy / sticky compounds.
Thank you, have been looking through this book and all of the information here is very helpful. 