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Bitter Snus.

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Hasse SWE

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I don't believe that they use streams to cut the cost. PO Green and some other people here in Sweden found a interesting book dated 1801. It have the first known descriptions of making "snus". In that book can you find alot of different recept and they used stream even in that book.Interesting is also that the people who written that book was Dutch immigrants. I believe that is the absolutely first book in Sweden that is written about oral-snuff. I use some streams in my own snus. But only because I think the snus get better with it (only let say 1 half dl in 1 kg Tobacco powder).
 

Hasse SWE

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Greenmonster714. It's pretty much harder to deal with streams. I take care of the streams when I harvest the leaf. Cut them down in Small pieces to make the process easier. Streams from stalk harvest (and drying) plants take to long time and can pretty often have mold..I have done it from that streams also but nope it's better to decide before how much steam you can be needed.
 

squeezyjohn

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I have been told by the guy who made Götlandssnus recipes way back that snus without using stems is too bitter - he suggested that 30% was a sensible proportion. New premium brands have since come out which use lamina only and these are generally stronger and fuller flavoured - but I think maybe they have to be very careful which leaf they choose in the blends to not make the end result unpalatebale.

With home grown leaf, variety does play a role, but so does the soil, growing season and curing conditions ... it's very hard to predict which leaf will end up bitter. With bought whole leaf - a great deal of leaf which is ideal for smoking can be unsuitable to use for snus. Many cigar leaves are way too bitter & some burley can be too much to make lamina only snus. The addition of stem, appropriately prepared will soften the flavour - but will also soften the strength. Well cured rustica tends to have a mild flavour and is rarely too bitter despite their stronger nicotine and can be used as a blender too. Snus made entirely from rustica is a bit insipid and funky tasting.
 

deluxestogie

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Stems do contain lower levels of nicotine than their lamina. Nicotine is manufactured in the root tissue, is transported through the stems, and is concentrated in the lamina--and also secreted by the trichomes (hair structures) on the upper surface of the lamina. Stems burn well. With considerable effort, I even rolled a cigar entirely of cigar variety stems as filler.

The problem with stems is their mechanical unsuitability for use in cigarettes and cigars, which are wrapped in thin paper or leaf. Big tobacco mostly uses them in cigarettes by flattening them with high-pressure rollers, then shredding. Many cigar rollers frequently keep the lower (tip) portion of stems that are present in froglegged filler leaf. I have sometimes added somewhat thicker segments, buried within the interior of the filler. Stems within a rolled cigar lend it more rigidity, but they're just a mechanical nuisance to deal with. I've tried smoking a pipe bowl filled with nothing but small stem chunks. It smokes well, and burns well, but is troublesome to initially pack, and the little cylinder segments have a tendency to wander into the smoke hole, and plug it.

So, stems are ideal for a preparation like snus, for which the stems are turned to powder. I don't use snus, so I can't comment on their bitterness in snus, but I have never sensed any bitterness in stem from non-bitter leaf.

Bob
 

squeezyjohn

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Just chiming in to say that there is a very big difference between bitterness when smoked and bitterness when chewed. They are diferent things altogether because when you smoke tobacco the leaf never comes in contact with your tongue. You can have a tobacco that smokes mild and sweet that also tastes very bitter when chewed ... and vice versa.
 
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