If you’ve not tried making your own yet, and are baffled how to go about it, here’s a basic recipe. It should produce a rich snuff with a nice, light nicotine hit. There are lots of other ‘home-brewers’ about the site and all will have their own pet methods and views - this is just one. Ingredients ************ 100g of base tobacco. (Raw rustica foliage or compressed would be the best, but you can also experiment with other kinds and get reasonable results, or bulk up your rustica with commercial tobacco.) Rum (or liquor of choice) Espresso coffee powder. Sodium Bicarbonate Method ******** Make sure the tobacco is bone dry so that it breaks down easily. Reduce this to the mill that you like; you can use a coffee grinder/food processor with sufficiently fine cutting capacity or mortar and pestle, and then sieve it. Take the stuff that didn’t go through the sieve and reduce further by using the mortar and pestle. When you have the basic powder, make up a sauce of rum with the espresso disolved directly into it - the relative amounts are down to personal taste but the overall volume of sauce should be just enough to make the snuff lightly moist. Add 2 teaspoons of sodium bicarb to the sauce. Bicarb helps with the nicotine uptake and some people use a great deal of it in home blends, I go for smaller amounts because a lot of it can ruin a snuff. You now have raw, unmatured snuff. If the snuff at this stage is too moist just leave it at room temperature in an open container until the excess has evaporated (just aim for the moisture level that you enjoy). You then need to let the snuff season for a minimum of 3 weeks. When I make this snuff for my own use I just use an old cookie jar with a screw top lid and I give it a good shake up and airing every now and then. When it’s ready, fill up your snuff box and enjoy a pinch of unique snuff. You can afford to be flexible with the tobacco element; before the internet (and easily purchased raw tobacco) I used pretty much anything I could get. I have made entire batches with old cigars and hand rolling tobacco and had good results. But, raw tobacco is best. As this is just for home use and you won’t be selling it, you can also add some commercial snuff either to flavour or boost the nicotine safely. Royal George or Toque Quit spring to mind, but start with small amounts - you can always add an ingredient but taking it out if you don’t like it is rather tricky. Of course, for a really unique snuff you don’t want to be adding commercial tobacco to it - but it works if you have to. Cigar leaf is a very nice additive if you have any. There are various ways to flavour snuff; this method is arguably the easiest and quickest. The flavourings, obviously, could be changed if you don’t like (or can’t use) alcohol or coffee. This is just a home recipe that I like and have made dozens of times - I don’t claim it’s the best and I’m posting this really just to illustrate that making your own snuff is a lot of fun and easier than you might think. I think the best things about our hobby are the history, beautiful snuff boxes, the great snuffs that our industry friends make and the fact that you can take snuff with a clear conscience wherever you like - and making your own compliments those things very nicely.
Thanks 
Hmmm…you’ve got me thinking…I have a jar of my homegrown tobacco from last season that I need to experiment with! I am so going to try your above method but with some Jamesons and strong coffee. Can’t wait! Thanks for the idea!
Mint Julep Snuff Sauce: Soak 1 or 2 tsp. of dried mint in a half pint (250 ml) of Bourbon for at least a week. Add 1/8 tsp of bicarb & 1/16 tsp of finely powdered table salt to a cupful (250ml) of ground tobacco and mix well. Dampen snuff to desired moisture content with the sauce & set aside in a sealed container to mature for at least 2 weeks. Use whatever type of mint you prefer. The salt acts as a flavor enhancer and fixative.
And, as mentioned by snuffgrinder on another thread, make sure the utensils are extremely clean before use to reduce the threat of mould. I used to make my own beer and I adopt the same principles of cleanliness and never had a mouldy batch.
isn’t mold what makes it good?
@bob - no, you’re thinking of cheese…
@snuffster That sounds really tasty. I need to get back into making some snuff. I’ve never tried adding bicarb, have a few that may benefit from it. Will Arm and Hammer work? Cheers
I would do something really easy like soaking some whole coffee beans in a bit of rum for a few hours and the putting them into a container with some Tom Buck. Leave out the rum bit and that’s how I make my coffee snuff.
@sprangalang I’ll take the liberty of answering for snuffster. Any brand of pure baking soda will work. Baking powder is the thing to avoid.
Thanks snuffgrinder - been away a couple of days.
Thanks Snuffgrinder! I tried a very small amount of arm and hammer with some Thuoc Lao - my my, what a difference. Time to grind again! Just quit the rollies AGAIN about a week ago. Feeling much better, and I could really feel the difference with a bit of bicarb. In fact all my snuffs seem stronger and better. I’m going to make another batch of snuff, using the remaining Amer Spirit, gotta get rid of that pouch that is staring at me, and burn the papers! Rum and coffee, or maybe brandy and coffee - I may just grind up a bean or two, toss that in - with a dash of bicarb.