squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Hi there,
I'm a snus user as my regular tobacco intake - the most convenient kind for me to use is not the loose tobacco type, but rather the portion snus (pouches of tobacco in teabag type material that can be disposed of easily and discreetly.)
Making loose tobacco snus at home is a relatively easy affair - but I have found that even with commercially available heat-sealing pouches, the act of filling and sealing them by hand is incredibly time-consuming and messy. So I have been experimenting with a way to get a similar snus experience without all the complicated process. So I went down the chewing tobacco road instead ... for me the problem with chewing tobacco is that it needs a fairly big cheek-full in order to get the same hit as a snus in the lip and interferes with the rest of my life ... so I set about trying to make a twist chew that was extra-strong, flavoured similar to snus, and could be cut to a similar size and texture to snus in the upper lip.
I've been experimenting with Rustica for several years and I think this year I have definitely succeeded in perfecting the product (whatever it's called?? - I'm just calling it rustica twist chew for now)
HERE'S THE PROCESS
The variety of N.Rustica that has been the most successful is N.Rustica (Mahorka Stalingradskaia) supplied by Jessica from GRIN - this variety is of good strength and has large leaves ideal for making twists from - it also has thinner, less rubbery leaves than most rusticas which makes for a better texture in the mouth ... it also has a nice mild tobacco flavour without needing a lot of ageing.
The leaves are simply air-cured until brown ... I found that with all rusticas that a week or so of pile curing (stacking the leaves and leaving to sweat - re-stacking every few days to prevent decomposition) helped massively in getting them to cure brown rather than slightly green.
Once cured, I take the stems out and prepare to start twisting. First I make a sauce to get the snus flavour in to the tobacco:
Sauce
approx 500ml spring water
8 crushed liquorice roots
50 crushed allspice berries
5 tsps sea salt
4 tsps salmiak (food-grade ammonium chloride)
The liquorice roots and allspice berries were added to the water in a saucepan and brought to the boil then simmered until the mixture was dark brown and slightly reduced to 400ml. It was sieved and then the salt and salmiak were dissolved in it - this was left to cool down. The liquorice is important as it adds a sweetness which will not damage your teeth in the way that sugar would - the allspice berries were for a slightly spicy aroma but other flavouring herbs and spices could be used.
The twist is then formed by laying out about 4 medium sized de-stemmed leaf halves in a row overlapping half-way to the next leaf with the straight edge facing you. The leaves are then sprayed lightly with the sauce mixture using a plant-sprayer. The twist is then formed by starting at the left hand side and rolling at 45º to the straight edge away from you and towards the right. Keeping the twist as tightly rolled as you can - this feels like rolling a really strange tight cigar! You can choose a nice big leaf to use as a wrapper for the whole thing if you want it to look neat or you can just have it as it is. The aim is to make a twist with a diameter of about ⅜" and certainly no wider than ½". At the end - continue to twist both ends in opposite directions so that it starts to loop around itself to form a miniature classic twist shape ... like this
Finish off with a piece of wire or string to hold it together. The final stage is to spray the outside with the sauce again and hang the twists up to dry off. The finished twists will be approximately 4" long when doubled up.
To use - simply cut off a small piece (about ¼" long is great for me) like in the picture below and place in your upper lip with the cross-section part touching your gums and as soon as it begins to rehydrate you get a great satisfying hit in just the way you do with snus with all the salty-sweet flavours along with a nice smooth tobacco taste.
One of these little twists will give you about 35 pieces. They last for hours and can be refreshed easily by giving them a little bite (but not a full on chew otherwise they can disintegrate!) - when you dispose of them they are in one piece rather than having a mouth full of mud. They cause almost no brown colour of the saliva and need no spitting provided you don't keep messing with them. As soon as they are dry they can be stored somewhere at room temperature and regular humidity in a box or similar. If you want to add extra flavours to them then they can be stored in a sealed jar with aromatic things such as coffee beans, vanilla pods or spices and they will absorb the aroma.
If you're a snus user or a chew user and grow your own ... I would definitely recommend having a go at this!
I'm a snus user as my regular tobacco intake - the most convenient kind for me to use is not the loose tobacco type, but rather the portion snus (pouches of tobacco in teabag type material that can be disposed of easily and discreetly.)
Making loose tobacco snus at home is a relatively easy affair - but I have found that even with commercially available heat-sealing pouches, the act of filling and sealing them by hand is incredibly time-consuming and messy. So I have been experimenting with a way to get a similar snus experience without all the complicated process. So I went down the chewing tobacco road instead ... for me the problem with chewing tobacco is that it needs a fairly big cheek-full in order to get the same hit as a snus in the lip and interferes with the rest of my life ... so I set about trying to make a twist chew that was extra-strong, flavoured similar to snus, and could be cut to a similar size and texture to snus in the upper lip.
I've been experimenting with Rustica for several years and I think this year I have definitely succeeded in perfecting the product (whatever it's called?? - I'm just calling it rustica twist chew for now)
HERE'S THE PROCESS
The variety of N.Rustica that has been the most successful is N.Rustica (Mahorka Stalingradskaia) supplied by Jessica from GRIN - this variety is of good strength and has large leaves ideal for making twists from - it also has thinner, less rubbery leaves than most rusticas which makes for a better texture in the mouth ... it also has a nice mild tobacco flavour without needing a lot of ageing.
The leaves are simply air-cured until brown ... I found that with all rusticas that a week or so of pile curing (stacking the leaves and leaving to sweat - re-stacking every few days to prevent decomposition) helped massively in getting them to cure brown rather than slightly green.
Once cured, I take the stems out and prepare to start twisting. First I make a sauce to get the snus flavour in to the tobacco:
Sauce
approx 500ml spring water
8 crushed liquorice roots
50 crushed allspice berries
5 tsps sea salt
4 tsps salmiak (food-grade ammonium chloride)
The liquorice roots and allspice berries were added to the water in a saucepan and brought to the boil then simmered until the mixture was dark brown and slightly reduced to 400ml. It was sieved and then the salt and salmiak were dissolved in it - this was left to cool down. The liquorice is important as it adds a sweetness which will not damage your teeth in the way that sugar would - the allspice berries were for a slightly spicy aroma but other flavouring herbs and spices could be used.
The twist is then formed by laying out about 4 medium sized de-stemmed leaf halves in a row overlapping half-way to the next leaf with the straight edge facing you. The leaves are then sprayed lightly with the sauce mixture using a plant-sprayer. The twist is then formed by starting at the left hand side and rolling at 45º to the straight edge away from you and towards the right. Keeping the twist as tightly rolled as you can - this feels like rolling a really strange tight cigar! You can choose a nice big leaf to use as a wrapper for the whole thing if you want it to look neat or you can just have it as it is. The aim is to make a twist with a diameter of about ⅜" and certainly no wider than ½". At the end - continue to twist both ends in opposite directions so that it starts to loop around itself to form a miniature classic twist shape ... like this
Finish off with a piece of wire or string to hold it together. The final stage is to spray the outside with the sauce again and hang the twists up to dry off. The finished twists will be approximately 4" long when doubled up.
To use - simply cut off a small piece (about ¼" long is great for me) like in the picture below and place in your upper lip with the cross-section part touching your gums and as soon as it begins to rehydrate you get a great satisfying hit in just the way you do with snus with all the salty-sweet flavours along with a nice smooth tobacco taste.
One of these little twists will give you about 35 pieces. They last for hours and can be refreshed easily by giving them a little bite (but not a full on chew otherwise they can disintegrate!) - when you dispose of them they are in one piece rather than having a mouth full of mud. They cause almost no brown colour of the saliva and need no spitting provided you don't keep messing with them. As soon as they are dry they can be stored somewhere at room temperature and regular humidity in a box or similar. If you want to add extra flavours to them then they can be stored in a sealed jar with aromatic things such as coffee beans, vanilla pods or spices and they will absorb the aroma.
If you're a snus user or a chew user and grow your own ... I would definitely recommend having a go at this!
) and was still sated. The true test will be when the beast starts to wake up again tonight. I'll let it get angry and see how it satisfies.
