Jaggaree is presumably the same as jaggery (unrefined cane sugar). Chapzugar appears to be Swiss green cheese (green because of herbs, not mould). Interesting. Nineteenth Century sweet cheese snuff, anyone?
That recipe is, of course, from the best snuff book ever - “Snuff and snuff boxes” by Hugh McCausland, Batchworth Press, London, 1955. An absolute must have book for anyone seriously interested in the art. McCausland had access to the F and T archives when the firm was still going strong, Smith’s, WoS and a few now long since forgotten. I don’t know of another book where the author had such a wide range of resources to draw from, full of wonderful snippets from the old order books like ‘such and such a date, Arthur Wellesley, 1 pound of this that or the other, supplied in lead canister’ type of thing. Long, long since out of print but probably findable on Amazon or somewhere.
http://www.archive.org/stream/bookofsnuffandsn011626mbp/bookofsnuffandsn011626mbp\_djvu.txt
Snuff and snuff boxes … 30 second google
Woodruff Hannover … It has notes of honey. I can’t wait till the ammonia wears off. I’m curious to see how it matures. As it is there is no noticeable tobacco note. More and more I see similarities comparing pipe tobacco and snuff tobacco in the nuances that tobacco varieties have. For example Burley here plays a neutral and unobtrusive host to the woodruff casing.
Thats the Matoom Curtis one of the same name, not nearly as good and much more dated in style, it does have a large set of photographs of old snuffboxes though, including some early American boxes.
@Juxtaposer, why don’t you write your collected manufacturing experiences down and we can put it on the FAQ? It seems that you have taken home snuff making a lot further than anyone else; would be a valuable resource.
@Snuffster You first!
Ok, Ok, I’ll try to make a straight forward make your own snuff thread starting simple then jamming it with notes, tips and tricks.
@snuffgrinder I’m starting to go over some of my math on this project. I figure that my soda use is at two percent which is around the one to three percent I have seen prescribed around here and also matching some of the German snuff ingredients listings listed here. http://service.ble.de/tabakerzeugnisse/index2.php?detail_id=101363&site_key=153&stichw_suche=lowen&zeilenzahl_zaehler=1
By my calculations you are using soda at one half percent. Is this correct?
Thank you @Juxtaposer for starting the Snuffmaking 101 thread and sharing!
Will someone please check my math work. I have extremely poor math skills and do not want to lead anyone astray with improper values. Especially when it comes to the chemical ingredients being used. Also I have taken some liberties by replacing weights with volumes. My intent is to get a usable recipe within the general guidelines of the original. Any help in this area would be appreciated.
Your math looks OK. But, as I’ve said before, volumetric equivalents are completely useless for snuff making. You have to go by weight. A tsp. of dried tobacco leaf is considerably lighter than an equivalent volume of salt or soda. Admittedly, I don’t always practice what I preach, but I’ve been making snuff for so long that I can just “scratch cook” a batch these days.
Schabziger cheese is the most likely candidate for the elusive Chapzugar.
Thank you @snuffgrinder that is exactly what I needed to hear. Judging by the snuff I have made I am going to edit the amount of soda until I can weigh out the differences to calculate volumes.
You’re the expert. I can only make Abraxas;)
The ‘deleted user’ marker is because snuffgrinder asked me to delete his account; I have kept the content to keep the threads he was on legible.
What a shame. He had a lot of good knowledge, I’m glad at least you’ve kept all his posts intact. I wonder what happened. Though, I guess its none of my business. Farewell @snuffgrinder if you see this. You will be missed.
Question for you, @juxtaposer, what exactly is the reason for the soda and potash? I guess I always thought that most snuff was merely powered tobacco and a flavoring agent, so - how exactly does the whole fermentation part play into things?
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It is an alkalizer that releases more nicotine from the tobacco.
I am saddened by this sudden loss. I certainly drew off his experience all these years. I guess it does get tiring just repeating the same old stuff over and over.
@SnuffinClown I too have some questions regarding the reactions of tobacco to the alkalizers.
Does pre sweated/fermented tobacco react the same way to them?
What are the ranges of times and temperatures can the mix be left at before salting?
Is it actually fermentation or chemical burning or both and to what degree?
I can say that moisture plays an important role in fermentation so for example you could add the soda, ash, and salt with minimal liquid to a tobacco and get a fresh snuff with little (or no fermenting?).
Perhaps some of my questions will help answer yours regarding this fermentation phase that gets induced by these alkalizers. I would still agree their main purpose is to adjust the ph of the snuff.
Quite a shocking and sudden loss…
Unexpected user departure is unexpected.