I’ve read about sodium bicarbonate used in snuff making to promote bio-availability and/or absorption of nicotine, but I’m not finding details of the process of adding it to snuff. Would it be best to mix sodium bicarbonate with water and have the tobacco absorb it? Or is adding as a dry ingredient suggested.
That would be my question as well but I’ve some experience now. I found that even you add a small amount sodium powder into very dry snuff, e.g., HDT, there’ll be a remarkable raise of nic hit and burning. only my 2 cents.
Found the burning on my first test (mixed dry). 1 teaspoon of bicarb with about an ounce of tobacco. Added water to the mix and reblended it. The burn went way down but the nic hit was still good. I’m thinking the bicarb dust directly in the nose doesn’t make for a fun time.
Bicarb can be added either way. .5 to 1 gram per ounce of tobacco is sufficient. Measuring the soda by weight is the only sensible way to do it.
@snuffgrinder what is the mechanism? How does it increase nic uptake? Does salt have the same type of effect?
say I fill a little smash box (like 5 grams) with a dry scotch and want to try adding some sodium bicarbonate (can we just start calling it baking soda yet?) to see what its effects are like. Are we talking like an almost immeasurable amount here, like just a tiny pile on the edge of a pipe tool spoon? I’m curious about this but I’d like some guidance (not like I’m about to throw a big teaspoon in a tiny smash box or anything… just better safe than sorry!) edit: i’m impatient… I tried this about 30 seconds after posting this question. I added the tiniest little bit I could manage to about 1.5-2g of WE Garrett Scotch and took an average pinch after mixing well. Didn’t put the baking soda in water or anything like you guys mentioned, just added it straight. Really, just a tiny tiny little bit (I emphasize this so nobody does anything potentially stupid). Definitely noticed a much stronger nicotine hit. Came on faster than usual and actually gave me that heavy limb feeling that a big nic hit gives… haven’t had a satisfying nicotine experience like this since I had a tub of Skruf Xtra Sterk. It’s still lingering too which rarely happens with snuff since I’m used to the nicotine of dip. It did not affect the flavor at all. second edit: see this thread from snuson that has a bit of info: http://www.snuson.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-10029.html and also I found a web site that claims nicotine lozenges contain sodium bicarbonate. third edit: good info here: http://books.google.com/books?id=nwwMUU6CwKAC&pg=PA446&lpg=PA446&dq=nicotine+alkalinity&source=bl&ots=tYogYotCCj&sig=JG44nwIinAi5fO19OFiWuk0p\_kk&hl=en&ei=4-\_ETfTsBsTr0QGrqbmsCA&sa=X&oi=book\_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=nicotine%20alkalinity&f=false
The short unscientific answer is that soda or other mild alkali reacts with nicotine to produce the so-called freebase form of nicotine. It also slightly raises the PH of mucous membranes in the nose which also facilitates nicotine uptake.
@Pike Mopers Did you notice anything in terms of stronger burn?
@xapken maybe slightly… wasn’t enough difference for me to even think to take note of that. although, I did sniff this one with a lot of caution instead of just grabbing my usual big pinch and inhaling all nonchalantly so that reduced the burn. I ended up adding more of the original snuff to the mix since it was a real dizzying nic hit… hard to believe that such a tiny amount of baking soda can unleash so much potential for nicotine. I really just put my pipe tool spoon in the box of baking soda and tried to get as little as possible. I’m assuming that this effectiveness varies person to person since that tends to be the case with this sort of thing.
One of the random variables going into this is the manufacturer may have already adjusted ph. I found this from a post here on snuffhouse. http://tinyurl.com/xapkenunprotonated Page 65 and 66 shows some dry snuffs with ph in a chart. The number to look at is % unprotonated. One manufacturer “US Tobacco” has some pretty high numbers. To my surprise Rooster is rather low. I’m thinking that bumping ph on a low ph brand could make it much stronger. I’m not sure about bumping ph on a brand that’s already been bumped up.
Wonder what will happen if I sniff some pure baking powder and then chase it with a pinch of snuff?
I saw a thread about 50-50 snuff and baking powder. Large amounts of pain.
Most snuffs have been ph adjusted to facilitate rapid and a more complete uptake of nicotine. They have a ph of between 5.5 and 7. Some of the ammonia laden snuffs are far higher and kick hard. But once you get above about 6, you start having rapid and pronounced burning effects. Adding Baking soda to snuff will increase the uptake, a little, but the misery factor is Steep. Only the tiny amount that actually binds to, or lands with the snuff is doing anything at all, the rest is just going to sting and burn like hell. The time to add ph adjustments is in the tobacco itself, ie, added to the snuff as a water based solution, then dried. I hate to see some people subject themselves to the pain of playing around with this stuff, I did for quite a while, in order to see what Rustica had to offer, and yes it works a little, but not worth burning the linings of your nose and sinus up. I never found a level of increased pleasure worth the pain. There is a ph level, far less than the 9 max of soda, where that is all there is. Remember, if you chase the nicotine Dragon, he will run and hide from you!
Revisiting the Scotch/Baking Soda mix I made from last night this morning. Got a little lazy with the pinch and it flew up high in my nose and I can safely say that the burn is increased by a little bit. Nicotine is much less overwhelming since I added more snuff to the original mix I did. Overall very nice but I think I just spoiled WE Garrett Scotch cause I wont want to snuff it without the extra kick!
you can use slacked lime to do the same thing, but I find it burns less. It is sold in many grocery stores as pickling lime. Look in the canning section. This is the ingredient most people have used to up the ph in tobacco in the past and currently.
You could also just consider taking a second hit of snuff, that seems to work well for me!
I am so tempted to add some baking soda to my D. White.
I just added some to my F&T HDT and WOW what a boost. The smell isnt affected, but a large pinch feels like a lip full of dip. This is like the first time I got a good pinch of D. White.
Oh jeez… c’mon guys quit trying to make a hard drug outta snuff lol! I never thought I’d see the day where people are trying to freebase tobacco!!!
I think this thread just saved my life. Maybe Ill be able to quit smoking now!