Is there any way to grind up a pipe tobacco into snuff? I have a tin of Petersons De Luxe Mixture that smells incredible in the tin but in the pipe it just loses a lot of the taste and I was wondering if I could turn some of it into snuff?
There are experts here on the forum that will give more informed answers. Some mixtures are better suited for snuff than others. That said, the short answer is: dry it, crush it, snuff it. One level up: Dry it in an oven (less than 200F degrees so the nic doesnt break down) until it easily crumbles into dust. Then grind it using spice grinder or similar. Now snuff. 2nd level up: Use a coffee grinder, prefferably a burr grinder. Filter the powder through stretched pantyhose to get the finest particles. Finally, you can grind and then moisten with a high PH solution. Dry and regrind. But you want to start with something that wont give you a gooey mess.
Grinding pipe tobacco was one of my few endeavors into snuff making. In my case, the tobacco was an assorted mix of different blends. I can’t say what types of tobacco were involved but it was certainly more than one. The mix I used was rather old so I was able to dry it naturally by just letting it sit out for a week or two. I used a mortar and pestle and gradually ground about 20g or so over the following week in between letting it sit and dry. After a few dozen grinding sessions I sifted out the remaining mix and was left with a fine enough grind to suit me. The resulting snuff was not bad. I mixed some Hedges into a portion of it and tried a mentholated version as well. It would do in a bind if the snuff apocalypse were to hit or if you really dig pipe tobacco flavors. Anyway, as a lazy minimalist that was my experience using the least amount of effort. I’ve seen lots of talk about it here in the past and I believe toying with it has inspired some members to progress into more advanced snuff making. Good luck and enjoy your experiment.
Wow! All I have to say is this turned out awesome!! I used the Petersons De Luxe Mixture, put some in a skillet lined with aluminum foil and baked it at 170 degrees in a convection oven for about 10 minutes. Took it out, and ground it in a pepper grinder - turned right into a perfect snuff! This is really good stuff.
Like a fine to medium grind and average moisture not too dry. Very easy to take. The aroma stays in my nose for almost 30 minutes or it could just be the smell in the house from the baking
yup…roast, grind, snuff. Hard to believe its regulated, isnt it?
@gsnuff lol yes I’ll be trying my hand at other types soon I’ll let you all know how it goes
Also try sieving and rehydrating.
Flavor extracts for baking like vanilla and fruit flavors can do wonders. Add after drying but before grinding, then the grinding process distributes it evenly. It doesn’t take much. Keep sealed or the flavor evaporates out. @Gsnuff great summary!
@xapen - Tnx, but its a summary of what I’ve learnt from you guys here. I have a tiny (7g) batch of rustica + 0.7g S.carbonate solution in the fridge. Can’t wait to dry and test!
Gsnuff- Take it out of the fridge and let is sit at room temp would be my advice! Then just let it age.
@Whalen - Thanks! age while still moist? or after drying? I think my next (big) batch will be a slower process… let it sit a few weeks… age, ferment, freebase 
This baby’s goin in my nose tonight!
I had made snuff out of some maple pipe tobacco. It was like a schmalzler but dry.
I ground a small batch of Frog Morton. it was really good.
If you made it real moist, let it dry. I usually moisten it with some water, soda ash, let that sit for a couple of days, or weeks, or months, then I toast at 160 degrees in the oven for several hours, then rehydrate, you could use a slice of lemon or apple for a little flavor when rehydrating. Rustica will have a kick and drip. Sounds like you used bicarb, just dry and grind, it will be a rough tasting but impressive nicotine snuff. It seems that aging in a semi moist bulk form is where the real flavor complexity develops. My Spanish Folly has aged in a airtight glass jar for over a year. Thouc Lao needed almost nothing but a spritz of calcined water and a grinding, the underlying tobacco was just right and needed no further aging. My 500 gram Extreme snuff batch has been aging in Spanish brandy, whiskey and honey for over two months now, no rush. It has almost no soda ash added. The secret to a great snuff is using a wonderfully aged leaf to start with, then you are just tweeking it. A raw leaf will take time and aging, along with some heat. Just imagine what wonders occur in the middle of 500 pounds of properly cured tobacco while under pressure in a cask. The center of that cask is what you would want for snuff! Now imagine placing that cask in the salty air in the sweltering hold of a ship for over a month. That’s what a great snuff started with once upon a time. There is an inherent advantage to buying large amounts of tobacco to start with, half the work happens on the way to the delivery. I would just love to have a handful of that musky tobacco to work with.
Wow everyone here really knows what they’re talking about. A little daunting considering how easy my experiment turned out. It’s pretty good but the aroma does stay in my nose way too long - like a couple hours! That’s not really my thing either. I’ll try and upload some pics of it soon. Besides, I still need an avatar!
@Gsnuff One issue with aging damp is mold. C&D (a pipe tobacco manufacturer in USA) uses a chemical Calcium Propionate as a mold inhibitor in their products. There’s also a certain type of beetle that loves tobacco and high humidity. I’ve only ever heard of it infesting big walk-in humidors.
Im with you @Jrabevill … I made 7g of rustica! Came out pretty mellow. I think my grind is coarse (compared to D.white). Next batch will be 50g… be SURE not to exceed 200F and give it some time to sit and become all it can be.
200 F is way hot! 160 and lots of time 2-3 hours will reward you better.
I just set mine at 170 and only had to bake it for about 10 minutes to get it nice and dry, but still a little moisture left. Turned out perfect