I am a neophyte when it comes to menthol, primarily because it no longer agrees with me like it did in my younger days, which is also why I’ve only made two menthol snuffs. Is there a ‘freshness’ time frame? This latest batch seems to be significantly stronger than the last bunch I used a few months ago. I used identical percentages for Black Ice and the upcoming Alpine, and the new one just about opened a can of whoop ass on my olfactory system. It is potent! The leaf is still slightly moist in a blue spruce crate, so I am hoping that some time and a little air will help it calm down some. Anyone here that has more experience?
I don’t have any experience using menthol but I do believe it should be used as a LIGHT seasoning like salt, I wouldn’t want to eat a spoon full of salt so why would I want a nose full of menthol.
@chefdaniel: It could depend on the type of menthol you use. In use two types, the commercially available menthol cristals, also used in sauna’s and the medical l-menthol. The cristals contain a lot more cristal water than the l-menthol. Which can account for the difference in “strongness”. Futhermore menthol evaporates direct from cristals to vapor. When stored in an open container this can also leads to a loss in “strongness” Jaap Bes.
@snuffmiller Perfect. Thank you.
I do hope you are keeping your menthol snuffs under lock and key in a different county from your other finely scented creations.
@Mouse Absolutely. They are at a secret location in Macon County, underground surrounded by lead paneling. PS I’m not sure why I’m making menthol snuffs. I’m not a fan.
Menthol dose go stale. I really use to like it (not now) but it dose get a off flavor to it as it ages with tobacco. IMO.
Please don’t stop making your menthol! Ain’t nothing better than a big ole pinch of fire and ice when I get home in the afternoon, and before or during a spring rain.
I’m not going to stop. I’m just trying to figure out the best way to get where I want to be with this genre of snuff. It’s been eons since I had a steady diet of anything menthol or medicated. @Banjo777 Thank you for your kind comments about Fire and Ice.
Is there any reason why one couldn’t use mint herbal extract, powdered mint leaf, or a tea-like infusion of mint into the tobacco?
@cpmcdill I do that all the time. I have a mint patch about 15’ square that is literally carpeted with mint. When it gets about 8" high I clip it and then crush it with sea salt and coarse raw sugar and infuse that into booze for several months. That goes onto the leaf, air dried and milled with other scents. I also do some without salt and make Mojitos and Mint Juleps. Then I fall flat on my face.
turkish governmentbanned all kinds of menthol in tobacco products today.
@chefdaniel Regarding the mint, have you seen Uncle Squinty’s video review for your Limoncello? He and @Kentuckysnuff lay out a theory about your use of mint instead of menthol to open the nose while enhancing the other scents, as opposed to overwhelming them the way menthol can do. I really, really WANT to like menthol. I am unable to do so, however, for two reasons. 1) It leaves my nose raw, and 2) I enjoy the flavor of tobacco. That said, entirely off topic at this point, my friend at work discovered that you can make a pretty good cheap mans licorice snuff by taking a can of Dean Swift Bezoar, flushing the contents down the toilet, letting the can sit open for a day, filling it with Garrett Scotch Plain, and letting it sit for another day. All the licorice with almost none of the menthol.
@Hitsuzen First, I like your friend’s theory; Bezoar does have a significant hit of licorice/anise that is pretty good IMHO. Second; Uncle Squinty and @Kentuckysnuff nailed it. I do use mint, from my herb garden, to open the airways without the side effects of menthol and/or eucalyptus. I don’t use much unless it’s listed as a prominent ingredient. I too like the scent of tobacco and I use only the best I can find, so it would be a damn shame to overwhelm it with all sorts of nonscents, er, nonsense. I’m not a menthol fan myself, although I was in my misspent youth. Hell, I’m just now working on my third menthol snuff. I’m at the bottom of the menthol learning curve and it’s looking pretty steep right now.
, ,@chefdaniel It’s really kind of brilliant, using the fresh mint infusions. I’m not slamming menthol fans either. I just don’t get it. Then again, most of my friends around my age (30) don’t get my love for Wayne Shorter. Fair is fair. It’s a good thing to offer something for everyone. I remember training in a kitchen (which I ultimately lacked the patience for) under Chef Raymond Cruteoux (Philly area) to make soup (the highest food art in his opinion), and him making me eat pickled beets. I hate pickled beets, but he wanted me to understand what people who DO like them would be looking for in a good pickled beet. It was a most philisophical moment 
@Hitsuzen Menthol is a derivative of peppermint, so I figured I go without all that laboratory stuff and go straight to the source…about ten feet from my back door. Depending on the use I infuse all manner of good booze with the mint and let it age. I crush the hell out of it with some coarse raw sugar and sea salt to help break down the fibers and accelerate the extraction…unless it’s for personal consumption, then I leave out the salt
@chefdaniel Well played!
Love the hell out of some menthol, if used correctly and in a good amount. @chefdaniel typically nails it on the head with the proverbial snuff hammer.
If you like menthol try growing some chocolate mint. I have quite a few plants in my garden. Just a couple fresh sprigs stuffed in a full tin or box overnight leaves a very pleasantly strong chocomint aroma.