I have been steaming some, getting ready to grind it up to make a plain snuff. What have you all done with yours?
Just bladed and mortar, good to go just like that. I will mix in a little ash for PH adjustment soon. The natural tobacco goodness of the Thouc Lao renders a great smell as is. Must be smoke cured all ready. Smoke is strong in it.
I’ve recently taken up the occasional bowl. Has anyone smoked this?
I agree, Whalen, it has to be smoke cured. It is very nice as is in the nose.
. . . Thuoc Lao is very popular The bush people love to smoke it 
lol - great pic. Vlad’s like, hurry up dude…
Puff-puff-pass Bushy!
It most definitely needs a PH adjustment for use as nasal snuff. Ash sounds like the easiest way to go but I’m a little leary as to it’s carcinogen contribution. I have read that sodium carbonate can be made by heating baking soda at 400’ for a couple hours but it would be unstable and eventually absorb available carbon atoms and revert back to sodium bicarbonate. I do have some aluminum free baking soda, I’ll test it with some vinegar to see if it still fizzes because it’s getting a little old. I’l probably just use a little of that stuff. Anyone else have any suggestions?
I’m probably going to use sodium bicarb. I agree, it does need some PH adjustment.
Chris, must the snuff be moist when you add the sodium bicarb?
I think there has to be some moisture for the bicarb to absorb.
A full ground Red Taxi flat full of fresh ground Thouc lao came out of the humidor crock a little spongy (mold?)… A pinch of netti salt and a pinch of aluminum free baking soda were ground together in a mortar then the flour was added and ground. A very satisfying pinch just now.
I’ve placed my Lao with some water and sodium bicarb. That has been sealed in a glass jar. I’m going to try and break this down and darken it up. I’ll have to pop it open so it can breathe, hopefully this will prevent mold.
When I get some I’ll probably smoke it if its smokable if it’s too harsh then grind it and make some snuff out of it.
I have been enjoying the small amount I ground previously. Yesterday I finally ground up the rest of the package. I saved the larger stem pieces for chew sticks. I really like it as a plain snuff, it has a long-lasting satisfaction level, great tobacco flavor, and easy on the nose. Does the bicarb help, and does it result in any irritation?
I added less than 1% bicarb and it has in my opinion improved the feel in the nose. not irritation just a more enhanced experience. Although if you overdo the bicarb i can imagine there would be. I currently have 40g “aux naturel”. 20g mixed 50/50 with toque whiskey and honey and 20g mixed 50/50 with hedges resting in small airtight glass jars. The aux naturel and hedges blend both had the tiniest bit of bicarb, the whiskey and honey i watered down a bit with thuoc without bicarb as it was already had quite a burn (my newbie nose not knocking toque!) I will be leaving them for a month or 2 before sampling them to allow the aromas to settle in together. Just a guess but i would have thought that the whiskey/thuoc blend should work well together like a good smoky leathery scottish single malt. Time will tell looking forward to sampling the results 
I now have a bone bottle full of grinder lid sweepings, extra fine cream of the grind.
Mixed with pure Perique tobacco. This stuff is amazing!