One day I will grow Rustica this big!

[squeezyjohn]

I've been growing tobacco this year for making snus and twist out of again ... but over on the tobacco growing forum I visit, there's a man in Sweden who has grown the most amazing leaves I've ever seen ... 5½ snus cans wide!



This is Rustica tobacco - a very strong type, and typically it's a lot smaller than normal tobacco.

Just goes to show what you can do if you show the tobacco plant what it is going to become when it grows up

[whalen]

Yea baby! Grow grow grow.....♐

[Ansel]

*likes*

[lxskllr]

Rustica doesn't strike me as being very useful, unless you want maximum nicotine. If you took away the nicotine, would it positively contribute to the flavor?

[squeezyjohn]

As a snus ingredient - I'd agree .... but my experience with the twist chew I've made from that stuff is that you can make a relatively small snus sized chew that you can upper lip without processing that tastes nice AND gives a snus-like impact nicotine wise. I get the impression that the Rustica chew gives even more MAOIs or other alkaloids than any snus type product and ultimately it's even better for removing smoking cravings than snus.

That's why I'm for it. I only have personal experience to go on - rather than big scientific research.

[squeezyjohn]

Also the rustica flavour itself is identifiable in commercial brands - to me it is a stronger part of the Skruf Stark flavour than any of the rose oil which is supposed to go in to it ... and it is clearly present in GN tobacco's Extreme range.

[tommybegley]

Danm, that looks good! What size leaf do you normally get out of your plants?

[Snusdog]

He must have some of PP's blue worms working that ground

[squeezyjohn]

Nothing like that with my Rusticas - but I grow them a bit closer together than that and don't fertilise as much as the ones in the photos! Probably 3 cans of snus wide!

But the normal tobacco I can grow some varieties with leaves that are absolutely massive ... much bigger than the pictures above!

Cheers

Squeezy

PS - this is how much one of the patches has grown in the last two weeks - Variety Silver River:

Before June 30th:


Today: July 14th

[whalen]

Plant them directly over the septic field! Hey plants look nice!

[crullers]

My rustica look like over sized bay leaves, nothing like that. Toque sells a pure rustica snuff which has a distinct flavour and is not at all unpleasant. My hope is that some rustica as part of a mix of tobaccos will give a good nicotine level, allowing me to cut back some on sodium carbonate.

[squeezyjohn]

I'd say that my rusticas are bigger than bay leaves! About 6½ inches wide and up to 9 inches long at their biggest. This is plenty big enough to make twist chew out of. However if you aren't pinching out the side-shoots, crullers, then your plant will give you lots of little leaves instead of single big leaves ... for grinding in to flour so you can make snus that's OK though ... you will probably have to cure the whole plant instead of individual leaves though as stringing up such little leaves will be a lot of work for very little tobacco!

[Toque Snuff]

We use Rustica in our ToqueUSA Whiskey & Honey and it really packs a punch. Crullers is right but if you buy our pure Rustica be very careful it is so strong.

[squeezyjohn]

A quick update to this thread is that I managed to grow leaves almost as big as the ones shown in the pictures this year! It depends on the variety you grow as well as the conditions .. and if you can get seeds for Mahorka Stalingradskaia, a Russian strain of rustica that was once used in some particularly nasty Russian cigarettes - that's the one to make a good chew from. I've just started twisting up this year's harvest after soaking in a sauce made from water, liquorice extract, salt, salmiak, glycerin and bergamot oil ... they should dry out as slightly pliable due to the glycerin and have a taste similar to snus. From a few experiments you only need a tiny piece to give you a buzz equivalent to an original portion. It's great stuff!