Adapting a very old recipe for Köpenhamnsnus

[squeezyjohn]

On another tobacco forum I have been given a very interesting recipe for Köpenhamnsnus which is from the late 1800s. The translation from the Swedish is "Copenhagen Snuff" .... interesting I thought! Not sure quite how similar to modern Cope this could possibly be - especially as it doesn't specifically call for fire cured tobacco, instead just listing Virginia tobacco and Other tobacco!

The recipe reads more like a chemistry experiment with items such as Hjorthornsalt (ammonium carbonate), Salmiak and one of my favourite flavouring agents Tonka bean.

So my trial run is as follows:

100g Virginia Lamina flour
50g Burley lamina flour
12g salt
180ml water
½ a tonka bean grated finely
¼ teaspoon Salmiak
½ teaspoon Ammonium Carbonate
3 teaspoons Lye water (potassium carbonate solution)

As I'm going away to Dublin for the weekend, I figured I'd leave it cooking on a slightly lower temperature than usual of 75ºC for 3 days rather than the 24 hours I usually give it at 85ºC. This is closer to the original recipe calling for 55º for 5 days - I'm aware that longer cooks at lower temps increase TSNA count in snus, but they also create softer, more aromatic tasting snus.

It smells very fragrant at the moment ... I adore tonka bean as a tobacco flavour.

BTW - Tonka beans are apparently illegal to use in food in the USA because they contain high levels of Coumarin, a natural aromatic substance present in many plants - which can cause liver damage in rats at massive concentrations! Despite the fact that the toxicity comes from a metabolite specific to rats and different from the one produced in humans - it has remained illegal since 1950! The tonka bean itself is significantly less toxic to humans than the nutmeg. Just thought I'd clear that up.

Cheers

Squeezy

[Skell18]

Love tonka bean, SG Elmo's reserve and 1792 flake pipe tobaccos are amongst my favourites!

[squeezyjohn]

It's just the most alluring smell in the world ... the coumarin that you can smell from the tonka bean is also the smell of newly mown hay, dried meadowsweet which used to be put in as a flavouring in mead and of course it's the very same thing that makes żubrówka bison grass vodka taste absolutely amazing.

Coumarin is the next Umami ... discuss.

[lxskllr]

I wonder if the name is coincidental, and refers to a style of snus typical of Denmark.

[Burnsey]

From webmd.com, interesting:

Tonka bean is a tree. The fruit and seed are used to make medicine.

Despite serious safety concerns, people take tonka bean as a tonic; to increase sexual desire (as an aphrodisiac); and to treat cramps, nausea, cough, spasms, tuberculosis, wasting due to chronic disease, swelling caused by a blockage in the lymph system (lymphedema), and a parasitic disease called schistosomiasis.

Some people apply tonka bean directly to the affected area for mouth ulcers, earache, and sore throat.

In manufacturing, coumarin, one of the active constituents of tonka bean, is used as a flavoring and fragrance in various products in food, liquor, tobacco, soap, and cosmetics.

In foods, the seeds are used to make a nutty-flavored beverage.


How does it work?

Tonka bean contains ingredients that help improve swelling (inflammation) and water retention.

[Thunder_Snus]

Hey squeezy how did your cope snus attempt go? I thought you were sending me a can.

[Bigblue1]

I wonder if the name is coincidental, and refers to a style of snus typical of Denmark.

If I'm not mistaken the founder of copenhagen, George Weyman, was Swedish

[squeezyjohn]

Hey squeezy how did your cope snus attempt go? I thought you were sending me a can.

Sorry mate - I should have kept you up to date ... It was a disaster, totally unusable and a waste of good tobacco! Trust me - it was not worth sending to anyone!

[lxskllr]

If I'm not mistaken the founder of copenhagen, George Weyman, was Swedish

That got me interested in looking him up, but information is scarce aside from the boilerplate biography that gives a scant outline of his venture into tobacco. "Some guy" online said he was Danish, but I think that was just a guess due to the snuff name. The name Weyman seems to come from old English, but again, information is scarce, and name type sites are generally pretty crappy.

[Bigblue1]

That got me interested in looking him up, but information is scarce aside from the boilerplate biography that gives a scant outline of his venture into tobacco. "Some guy" online said he was Danish, but I think that was just a guess due to the snuff name. The name Weyman seems to come from old English, but again, information is scarce, and name type sites are generally pretty crappy.

I'm pretty sure I had at one time found some relatively hard info on that fact but cannot for the life of me find it. Pretty sure I posted it on on snuffhouse back in the day but I'll be damned if I'll go find it there.

[chainsnuser]

Coumarin is the next Umami ... discuss.

The taste of woodruff also is essentially that of pure coumarin. Woodruff is a popular taste in Germany. It's often used in jelly products and sodas. Just google for "Waldmeister Sprudel" or "Götterspeise".

On the topic of Köpenhamn Snus I think that it could possibly be helpful to use smoke-cured and fermented tobacco instead of air-cured varieties. At least the modern American Copenhagen Snuff definitely owes its mellow taste and mild spicyness to the kind of tobacco that's used. I would imagine that the recipe tries to mask the more pungent and sour undertones which also come naturally with these curing methods. The recipe maybe gives some kind of "flavour-overkill" when used for air-cured tobacco. Just a guess!

Cheers!

[squeezyjohn]

I didn't know that woodruff was used in Germany ... it has some historical uses in England too - but we tended to use meadowsweet more which mixes the coumarin taste with a mild wintergreen taste.

I think you're spot on about the tobacco types. Fermented tobacco and fired tobacco give the right flavours for modern Copenhagen - and were probably the types used in this recipe too.

Every time I have attempted to use the high temperature cook and addition of alkali to fire-cured tobacco types I've had some pretty bad results - I'm not sure what causes this because supposedly a lot of Swedish Match snus was made from them before the recipe changes - but mine always end up tasting very acrid and burnt. In addition - I try to use mainly air-cured tobacco because even with my home-made stuff I'm attempting to keep the TSNA count as low as possible even if I can't quantify it.

[crullers]

Hey squeezy I was hoping that your Copenhagen snus would turn out well. If anybody can replicate the taste of Copenhagen with air cured tobacco I bet there would be a lot more dip converts but it sounds like quite a challenge. I'm ordering some tobacco seed this weekend and will be trying to come up with some good home made snus and snuff in the future.

You mentioned in another thread that you bake your snus with a sous vide cooker. I looked around and they seem a bit expensive. If anybody else is looking into making their own snus and on a budget like myself I found instructions for making one: http://www.instructables.com/id/Sous...-less-than-40/

[squeezyjohn]

You mentioned in another thread that you bake your snus with a sous vide cooker. I looked around and they seem a bit expensive. If anybody else is looking into making their own snus and on a budget like myself I found instructions for making one: http://www.instructables.com/id/Sous...-less-than-40/

Yes they are a complete rip off! Massively expensive. Which is why I rigged up my own cobbled together version using exactly that instructables page you linked to! Great minds think alike!

Good luck with growing your own ... I'm sure yours will grow absolutely fine ... however, getting it to air-cure properly is the real challenge that I have faced - make sure you are prepared come harvest time!

[Skell18]

The taste of woodruff also is essentially that of pure coumarin. Woodruff is a popular taste in Germany. It's often used in jelly products and sodas. Just google for "Waldmeister Sprudel" or "Götterspeise".

On the topic of Köpenhamn Snus I think that it could possibly be helpful to use smoke-cured and fermented tobacco instead of air-cured varieties. At least the modern American Copenhagen Snuff definitely owes its mellow taste and mild spicyness to the kind of tobacco that's used. I would imagine that the recipe tries to mask the more pungent and sour undertones which also come naturally with these curing methods. The recipe maybe gives some kind of "flavour-overkill" when used for air-cured tobacco. Just a guess!

Cheers!

I didn't know that woodruff was used in Germany ... it has some historical uses in England too - but we tended to use meadowsweet more which mixes the coumarin taste with a mild wintergreen taste.

I think you're spot on about the tobacco types. Fermented tobacco and fired tobacco give the right flavours for modern Copenhagen - and were probably the types used in this recipe too.

Every time I have attempted to use the high temperature cook and addition of alkali to fire-cured tobacco types I've had some pretty bad results - I'm not sure what causes this because supposedly a lot of Swedish Match snus was made from them before the recipe changes - but mine always end up tasting very acrid and burnt. In addition - I try to use mainly air-cured tobacco because even with my home-made stuff I'm attempting to keep the TSNA count as low as possible even if I can't quantify it.

I f,ucking love woodruff!!! Berliner kindl waldmeister beer FTW!!! If you soak the herb itself into some chap cava or prossecco it makes it very pleasant.