Creation!

Hopefully, you have read the last 2 posts and have formed some questions or, at the very least, opinions about Swedish Snus. In the last post, I had said that we would go into the different types of Swedish Snus and about SnusOn.com. As promised, this is exactly what we will be doing in this chapter.

I named this chaper "Creation!" because it was at this stage of my research that I created a love for Swedish snus and basically ended a 27 year habit. The creation of that love began with the finding of SnusOn.com.

Now, you must understand something before we continue. I have only been using Swedish Snus for a little over 2 months now and, even though it's a relatively short amount of time, I feel like one of snus' largest supporters and, one of the few to dedicate an entire blog around it. As I said in the beginning, I'm taking a trip thru snus and taking you along with me. So, if your ready and, still willing to go forward, let's get going!!

Please remember, the reviews I give here are based on what I taste in the snus. When you try it, you may or may not taste the same things because everyone's taste is different. This is what makes snus and the snus experience special and makes me love it even more. I am in no way an expert on the subject but, thru research and experience, I know enough to be dangerous.

You may be saying to yourself, "just what makes snus so special or different from snuff or "dip"? In my opinion, it's a few things. The first being the way Swedish Snus is processed. By processed I mean cured. Curing is what makes the tobacco useable and flavorful. While I'm not an expert on the processes of either, I will try to give you the short version on what my research has found. "Dip" is "Fire" Cured which is what gives it it's smokey flavor and dark color. What this also does is create chemicals calles TSNA's or, Nitrosamides. Nitrosamides are the cancer causing chemicals in tobacco. While they are much lower in "dip" than in cigarettes, they are even lower in Swedish snus. Swedish snus is cured by steaming which results in even lower amounts of Nitrosamides because the temperatures are lower during the curing process. Again, I'm not an expert but, do a search on TSNA's+snus+dip and you'll see that snus IS lower in TSNA's due to it's curing process.

The second reason is that, in Sweden, snus is considered a "Food Product" because it is placed in the mouth. This means that it must pass inspection by the Swedish equivalent of the US FDA. This means that the product would be purer than american "dip" since the government must give it's approval before it can be consumed. American "dip" or chewing tobacco does not go thru the FDA. (For more on the inspection and approval process, please visit www. gothiatek.com)

The last reason, for me atleast, is variety. while there are many different "dip" manufactorers, there are only a few flavors. The staples being, original, wintergreen, and Full. Skoal does make fruit flavors like cherry, green apple and others but, these are the staples for most "dip" producers. Also, there are only a few major companies that make it. RJR Tobacco, US Tobacco, and Swedish Match (yes, the same Swedish Match that makes Snus). While Swedish Snus DOES have it's giants in the business like Swedish Match, BAT and ....well...that's it. The majority of the other producers are relatively small companies. The biggest snus producer is, by far, Swedish Match. They produce many of the most popular brands like General, Röda Lacket, Ettan, Catch, Grövsnus, Göteborg's Rape and others. They also produce the american snus brand Triumph along with Red Man, TimberWolf and Longhorn brand "Dips". Even though Swedish Match is a huge company, thier quality of snus is very high. It's the reason they have the market share in Sweden.

While I'll never bad mouth American Dip (because I do on occasion use Red Man Moist) I just feel Swedish Snus is better for you, health wise, and I enjoy the taste more. Did I also mention that Snus is "Spitless"? This means that you can enjoy snus without the need for a spit cup. This makes it more stealthy. I use it at work and no one is the wiser. ; )

Now, your saying, "OK, OK! enough of the health babble!! Give us the reviews!!! Ok. Before we go to the different brands and flavors, I need you, the reader, to do a little homework assignment. To get a better understanding on how many brands and flavors there are to choose from. I need you to visit either www.BuySnus.com or www.northerner.com . They are the best online snus shops online with the largest selections of Swedish Snus. You're going to need to see what each looks like while we do the explainations. There will be extra credit for anyone that orders from BuySnus using the link on the left of this page! To get a better feel of what we will be sharing, please visit www.snuson.com . This forum, like I said, is the best knowledge base for snus. The members, of which I'm one (AirWoodstock) are the best and will answer any question you put out there regarding snus. This is due tomorrow. I have to charge up my camera to take pictures of the flavors I'll be reviewing.