Yeah I endorse him 100% Don sells the best whole leaf in the business. And if you really want to take a trip down the rabbit hole of tobacco obsession stop by http://www.fairtradetobacco.com and get started growing. As to the washing soda dry, it can’t freebase the nicotine in a dry setting, you’ll need to wet your tobacco so it can be driven into the cells and convert the pH. It’s also exceptionally harsh if it touches your mucous membranes and gets activated in the liquid. Part of only adding enough is so that as it raises the pH it is partially neutralized. Good thing you didn’t do too much, you might have caused chemical burning.
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Damn, I thought the question about adding it dry was answered in the affirmative! It’s on me though.
I do plan to keep going down the rabbit hole but growing my own is a long way off. I’ll try a few more pipe blends and get my technique down and zero in on what I like, right now I’m thinking it’s Kentucky dark, burley and perique that suits my tastes in snuff, same as what I like in my pipe. Eventually I’ll try ordering whole leaf and storing it, making my own rope and such. I suspect that’s as far as I’ll go but who knows.
Thanks everyone for continuing to comment on this thread, it’s been a big help. There is so much info that is easy to find regarding all the other various forms of tobacco but snuff doesn’t have nearly the knowledge base by comparison so thanks again for helping out.
As much as I support artisan snuff making, bringing back a lost art (and appreciate even more chefdaniel sharing his wisdom and skill with us) I think there’s also something to be said for spreading the knowledge of how to DIY to get around big government’s taxation.
Yeah I’d added bicarb dry but it was only bicarb, it smoothes out saline solutions and that’s what I was going for not pH. I have to agree with you about Jaap Bes and chef Daniel, it’s awesome how frank and sharing they are with their knowledge. Oh editing in another thought here, Don sells a pound of Virginia dark for something like 14 bucks. Experiment with that instead of something you already know you don’t like.
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