General Silver portion snus, a strong review of a mild snus brand!

Welcome fellow Snustopians!

It’s been a pretty stressful week here in Snustopia and I’ve been using mostly Extra Stark snus to try and cope with everything that’s been going on! Why do I bring this up, you may ask? It’s because of all the Extra Stark snus I’ve used throughout the day that led me to try General Silver portion snus. “Hey Snus Guy, why would high Nicotine snus make you try General Silver?” Good question! Let’s begin our trip thru General Silver portion snus and you’ll understand why and possibly a few other things you may not know about General snus overall!

General Silver portion snus is another snus made by the fine folks at Swedish Match AB and is a regular type portion snus. As you all remember, regular portions go thru the additional step in the manufacturing process which adds a bit more moisture to the portion material and initial flavor to the snus itself. The portion material is the same material that is used in all General snus brands and is comfortable in the lip. The first unique thing about General Silver is the fact that that the portions are a bit less moist that it’s other regular type siblings. The difference in moisture levels is minute so it has no effect in flavor or comfort but, I just felt it should be known. I’ve had a portion in for over 2 ½ hours with no discomfort but, the portion did begin to slide at that time mark so, I recommend a 2 hour max!

The portions have about 1 gram of snus each and there are 24 portions in each can. The cans are made of black plastic and have the compartment for used portions in the lid. You may notice something different about the lid though. Actually, there’s something new about most of the lids in the General line!

If you’re anything like me, I just can’t bring myself to throw away my empty cans! Call it OCD or being a Pack Rat but, no matter what it is, I just can’t bring myself to do it. In this case I’m glad I do keep them! If you look at the lid for the used portion compartment, you’ll see the change. In the past, all General cans had the General logo embossed in the lid. Recently, Swedish Match changed the embossing on all cans, with Onyx being the exception, to labels. While there are some Snustopians that may not like the change, I personally like it! The embossed lids, while they do give the can a bit of elegance, can be hard to see and read since the embossing is the same color as the lid. The new labels make the can stand out more and are easier to read! “Ok Professor Snus Can! Less can review, more snus review already!” Right! Back to the snus!

Since we’re still at the part of the review that deals with the portions themselves, let’s discuss the Nicotine content. As I said above, I’d been using strong snus throughout the day for the better part of the past 3 weeks to help me cope with the chaos going on here. At night, I wanted to back off the strong snus so, I reached for my General Original can and accidently grabbed the Silver. What made me check the can was that after the second portion, I really didn’t have that jittery feeling I have when I use a General Original portion after using all those Extra Stark portions throughout the day! The reason is because General Silver portion snus has 6 mg of Nicotine per portion! I know, long way around the subject but, it’ll make more sense at the end of the review!

“But Snus Guy, how could two portions that have the same amount of snus have different Nicotine contents?” Great question! The reason for this is that General Silver actually has less tobacco than say General Original. You see, the Nicotine is in the tobacco. I know everyone knows that but, in order to make a regular type portion that has less Nicotine; you need to use less tobacco. You just can’t take the Nicotine out of the tobacco like you can take the caffeine out of coffee. To maintain the same size and weight, you have to add a filler of some sort. In Swedish snus, the filler needs to be food grade in order to maintain the strict Swedish food inspections that snus must pass.

In General Silver, the filler is vegetable fiber. Now, don’t get worried that there is grated Artichoke or pulverized potatoes in it or that they are trying to pull something! In fact, most Nicotine free snus like Onico or Elixyr Free use vegetable fibers like Sugar Beet or Carrot fibers as fillers. It’s pretty common and it doesn’t change the flavor in any way. I’m on my 3rd can and I wouldn’t know it unless I read about it so, trust me, I wouldn’t steer my fellow Snustopians wrong! Now, let’s go on to the flavor!

Swedish Match describes the flavor of General Silver as “A slightly peppery snus with hints of citrus zest and balanced tobacco notes.” I taste something different. Let’s begin with the scent of the snus right out of the can. General Silver is another snus brand which does not have a strong, ammonia type of smell. Actually, the scent I get out of the can is very similar to General Original portion which is an earthy tobacco scent. The taste, on the other hand, is almost the opposite of what Swedish Match describes.

The flavors I get are predominate tobacco taste with subtle hints of pepper and citrus. Actually, the citrus is almost nonexistent. The Tobacco, pepper and salt take center stage with General Silver. The only similar flavor I can compare it to would be a peanut shell! “Peanut shell, Snus Guy? Nobody eats peanut shells!” Actually, some folks do and prior to my allergy, I was one of them. I used to eat peanuts, shell and all! That’s the flavor of General Silver. An earthy tobacco taste with salt and a little pepper flavor. The flavor does last a good bit of time but can go bitter after 2 ½ hours so, I still recommend a 2 hour max. Ok, what drinks go well with it? Let’s take a look!

Like I said in the beginning, I used General Silver as an end of day snus since I was using Extra Sterk snus during the day so, I decided to first give General Silver a try with some decaffeinated drinks. First up was coffee. Decaf coffee went really well with Silver. The coffee helped to bring out the tobacco flavors while the snus took some of the bitterness out of the coffee. Decaf iced tea went well too and actually brought out a bit of the citrus flavor. Not much but a bit. Believe it or not, Monster Energy went really well with Silver. The two flavors complimented each other but the best thing was the low Nicotine content in the snus didn’t really give me that nervous feeling I would normally get with a snus that has a higher Nicotine content. The drink I recommend though is Decaf or caffeinated coffee. So now, let’s go to the overall recommendations!

My overall recommendation for General Silver portion snus Snustopians is this; Since General Silver is a lower Nicotine content snus in a regular sized portion, Snustopians looking for a true Swedish snus to begin with would do well in trying a can of Silver. Its lower Nicotine content will allow you to ease into Swedish snus. Snustopians that are like me, using Extra Sterk snus throughout the day and looking for a weaker snus to relax with at night that still has a true tobacco flavor, will like General Silver as well. On the other hand, Snustopians that like the kick of the standard 8 to 12 mg of Nicotine in a snus or, fans of the Extra Stark/Sterk/Strong snus brands will probably find General Silver much too weak but, I’ll leave that decision up to you!

Currently, General Silver is only available in Sweden thru online snus shops. I say this because most General snus is beginning to become available in tobacco shops in the US but General Silver remains like General Onyx and only available online. Snustopia’s favorite snus shop, The Northerner, carries General Silver for about $3.71 a can and if this is your first time purchasing from them, just click on the banner to the right and get 10% off your first order! I encourage all new Snustopians to give General Silver and The Northerner a try! Just tell them That Snus Guy sent you!

Well Snustopians, I hope you enjoyed our tour of General Silver portion snus by Swedish Match AB and found it fun and informative. I look forward to reading and answering all your questions and comments and will answer them as soon as I can!

Until our next review, as always,

Happy Snusing!

That Snus Guy