Hi everyone. Like many I suppose, my snuff collection is relegated to one small desk drawer. It keeps my wife less irritated and me with the snuff. Happy wife, happy life. I understand a certain amount of effort is required to maintain anything, but the less I fuss over the snuff, the better I fly under the radar and grow my collection. I’ve gravitated toward toasts and SP and less toward florals and fruits, though some will always be on hand for variety. QUESTION: what are the best types/brands for longevity with minimal maintenance? Ive found that some of the Toques lose flavour faster than others.Scotches obviously will survive a nuclear war. What else comes in a good container that I wont need to decant,fuss over,worry about spoiling soon?
F&T HDT is dry and comes in a great 50gr container, never an issue yet with them.
Also Samuel Gawith 25 gr tins are good but I electrical tape them if I’m not gonna use them for more than a day, as they’re not completely air tight after the vacuum seal is breached.
My 2 cents 
@jmahes thx for the input.im going to be placing an order soon and F&T seems to be highly regarded for quality and packaging. Ii only hav experience with wos,mcchrystals,toque…which are quite good, but seems like mcchrystals lids pop off, wos seems like always had some amt of rust on it, and toque is good, but i had to be careful not to overtighten and the tins deform rather easy. I guess theres some tradeoff with packaging and quality. Ill give f&T a whirl.the SG tins, are they the same gauge as say a toque or little thicker?
sorry, one more thing, Im also interested in trying Sparrow and White Elephant. Im not sure why, but the fine dry snuffs are actually easier for me to take.would these also hav a good shelf life? I dont mind paying a bit more for a product that will hold up over time. i apologize if theres a thread about it already.the ones i read were more a flavour review.
I have an ~ 5 year old open box of Dholakia White that ha shown no ill effects. They’ll be fine. Also, although you’re right that scents will slowly fade over time, I’ve had great success with most Wilson’s of Sharrow snuffs surviving long periods.
What you really want to avoid are schmalzlers. They go bad over time. Avoid the German page and you should be fine with most anything. Heck, I’ve even got some really old Dholakia Black that has survived the ravages of time.
Addendum: Time is also generally unkind to South African snuffs IME.
Sparrow has good longevity. The 50g comes in plastic containers with a screw lid. I’m at the bottom of one I’ve had for about a year and it’s held up fine.
Thanks for help,guys! Looks like f&t hdt,sparrow,and White Elef will hold up nice for quite some time. Maybe i can use the fact that i dont hav access to our refrigerator as justification for consuming it faster!
Anything that is complete when dry should last.
@Chicago_CA, the Samuel Gawith tins are pretty heavy gauge. I think heavier than Toque but the don’t screw on, just interference fit
You can rehydrate old snuff with the addition of orange rind, lemon rind, or a slice of apple. I have some snuffs I rarely use, and they inevitably dry out, but using the above techniques I can get them back in relatively good shape. Also, keeping them in the fridge is good for freshness and retaining moisture.
@Zanaspus With respect to schmalzers and South African snuffs, would I be mistaken in assuming that decanting these into airtight glass jars upon receipt and placing them in cool storage would prevent them from going bad or losing potency, respectively?
@Tobe Probably would keep. I use a minimalist approach to snuff storage, so I can’t speak from experience.
@Tobe, I have decanted Schmalzlers into glass. and after about 14 months, they’re still great. Although,@basement_shaman has posted that schmalzlers only have a few years shelf life anyways.
“Honey, I’m going to need a second refrigerator to store my schmalzlers.” I think I’ll use the schmalzlers I have and reorder as needed as long as I am able. I’ve asked this elsewhere, but would Sternecker’s Ungefettett have a longer lifespan than the oiled schmalzlers? I jar anything 25g or larger, and sometimes smaller containers of something I know will be an occasional snuff. I use 4 or 8oz mason jars and brown glass Boston rounds, 1, 2, and 4oz. Everything is keeping well, but it’s been only a year or so. @Chicago_CA I think that you are fortunate in favoring toasts and SPs, as my intuition tells me they’ll keep the best with the least fuss.
Ungefettett should last ~ indefinitely as there’s no fat to go bad.
My 10 lbs of snuff takes up an entire shelf in the fridge which only cause problems when we have guests since we then tend to have more groceries. I’m probably lucky that my wife supports my snuffing. Looked at small fridges but need them to be at chest height so I don’t break my back retrieving them constantly. Working on that since we don’t a have a garage.
Thanks, @Zanaspus
thank you. I appreciate the i input!
I should clarify my position that South African snuffs don’t last. It’s not that they go bad per se, but rather, they lose their fresh strong ammonia scent, which may be a turn off to some, but it’s absolutely vital to their enjoyment in my opinion.