Suggested Varieties for Swedish Snus

[dubhelix]

I'm putting together my seed order for my first tobacco patch here in Central Virginia. My intent is to produce my own snus. I'm looking for some suggestions for 4-6 varieties that would be appropriate for my use, preferably available from Sustainable Seed. For those familiar with snus, I will be trying to make some thing dark and strong, like Skruf Stark Los, Grov Los, or General Extra Stark Los. Those brands claim to use a blend of 20 or so varieties, but I think 4-6 is more manageable to start with. It's my first tobacco grow, so overall yield is less critical than ease of growing and air-curing. After reading other threads, I have come up with One Sucker, Black Mammoth, Yellow Orinoco, and perhaps a variety of Rustica as potential candidates. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

 

[jojjas]

They are exellent choises for snus making , specially Black Mammoth i think
Maybe add an burley variety for som strenght and virginia for swetness and you are well suited for snus making raw material

 

[Hasse SWE]

In the past was often used black mammoth, madole and the perique can help you?I myself use: small stalk black mammoth, bolivian black, tennesse redleaf. Certainly has many more varieties in but perique and small stalk black mammoth, I think would be something for you

 

[dubhelix]

I ordered:
Small Stalk Black Mammoth
Shirey
Yellow Oronoko
Izmir Ozbis
Aztec Rustica

I looked for Perique, but is was not offered by SustainableSeed. I will take a look at the offerings at New Hope Seed and add those varieties.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Knucklehead]

Perique is available from http://northwoodseeds.com/
The business is owned by Skychaser, one of our members.

 

[POGreen]

How much is a box of snus in Virginia ?
Here it's somethin' like 7-7.50

 

[dubhelix]

POGreen, one could order snus from schweden-snus (dot com) or buysnus (dot com) for better pricing, particularly when they run specials, like 10 for price of 7, or by a roll get 5 cans free. Shipping to the US is fast, but expensive. Not many good snus brands available locally, mostly General Portions.

Knucklehead, thanks for the tip. I see he also has the Bolivian Black Criollo. Based on it's description it sounds like a really good addition to my patch.

Hasse SWE, is the Perique used is snus air cured, or fermented like traditional Perique?

 

[Aaron]

Perique is available from http://northwoodseeds.com/
The business is owned by Skychaser, one of our members.

I'm not seeing Perique in his list.

 

[Knucklehead]

I'm not seeing Perique in his list.

I don't either. I could have sworn it was there. Doh!

 

[Hasse SWE]

Dubhelix:
The computer I have most recipes on has crashed, but I have read that it was on the ships they invented the method to make perique tobacco. I have no memory of perique grown in Sweden but there are some varieties that I have not found so that any of them could be periuqe

PO-GREEN was not both air and ready with perique prepared in this recipe you sent me?

 

[POGreen]

You mean the 1801-recipe Hasse ?
I looked it through and couldn't find anything that mentions Perique in it.
Perique is the rarest and more precious tobacco in the entire world. Early French settlers learned the secrets of Perique cultivation from the native peoples, and while their descendents have continued the tradition for centuries, very little Perique tobacco exists today.
A farmer named Pierre Chenet is credited with first turning this local tobacco into what is now known as Perique in 1824 through the technique of pressure-fermentation .

 

[Hasse SWE]

Yes this recipe I meant, thanks for your info PO ...Then I get to see if I can find them late, may be as well that there are home on paper ... Thousand thanks

 

[Hasse SWE]

Prescriptions must be on the computer, but I can share the link and a Clipboard whit tobacco's:

http://pipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_Tobaccos#History_of_Perique.

History of Perique The process by which this tobacco is produced predates Columbus. The Choctaw Indians of (what would later be) Louisiana would make it by pressing it into hollow logs with a long pole, and securing it with weights. After the Acadians (Cajuns) settled the areain the mid-1700's, the Choctaws taught this process to a French colonist by the name of Pierre Chenet. The finished product was referred to as Perique, a Cajun variation on the word "prick". This referred either to the phallic shape of the carottes (the tight bundles of market-ready Perique), or Chenet himself, as it was his nickname! Where is Perique Grown? The only place in the world Perique can be grown is in a small section of Louisiana called St. James Parish. Inside St. James Parish, the best location for growing (and the only place it's grown now) is a very small area called Grande Pointe Ridge, which can be found in the town of Paulina. This is due to both the climate, and the unusual soil of the area, which is referred to as "Magnolia" soil. Nourished by the swamps that surround Grande Pointe, Magnolia is a dark and highly fertile alluvial soil. The actual strain of tobacco can vary, although tobacco that isn't native to the soils of Louisiana doesn't yield a good product. Supposedly the most common strain used with Perique is something called "red burley". St. James Perique is extremely rare, so the tobacco is produced elsewhere to meet demands, though without the same results. Kentucky Green River Burley is most commonly used to make Perique. This particular version is the Perique that most pipe smokers are familiar wit

 

[deluxestogie]

Perique as a variety is in the FTT seed bank, and has been grown by a number of members. My photos suggest strongly that it is a Virginia-derived (i.e. Orinoco type) plant. FmGrowit's Perique appears to be a burley-derived plant. Who knows? Most of the Internet material on the mystique of Perique are knee-deep in manure, and mostly marketing myth generated by the tiny enclave of Perique marketeers in Louisiana's St. James Parish, where it was traditionally produced.

More to the issue, Perique as a varietal vs. Perique as a curing method (pressure-curing) are not the same. You can pressure-cure any variety, and end up with similar results, differing mostly in their nicotine content, while the general character of Perique-cured tobacco remains consistent (high pH, pungent, fruity and earthy). When you see "Perique" in a recipe, you'll need to determine if it refers to the curing-method (most likely) or the variety (less likely).

Bob