First time snus user, totally confused...

[ecec]

Hello! I will get the Icetool if it turns out I like snus.
I am a pipe-smoker, trying to use snus because smoking is not allowed in the dorms of the college I am going to.
I bought General Onyx because I reasoned that to try a more expensive brand as my first would show me if I really like snus.
I take the little bag in my hand, and I stick it up under my lip. It kind of burns! But...now what do I do? I really don't taste much - I have one under my lip right now. I kinda of rolled it around, trying to work some flavor out of it before I put it back up again - and some "juice" came out that tasted nice, but I swallowed it down and now my throat is very tingly and I feel slightly ill. :-o uh oh!
what have I done wrong? how can I get good taste without making myself sick?
i am so dumb. :~(

[ecec]

now i am starting to get kind of dizzy. :|
i think i did something wrong. :~(

[bcsiegl]

did something wrong

Well, if i had to draw a parallel between snussing and drinking alcohol. I'd say you started with a fine STRONG vodka or cognac. You're feeling dizzy because you started out with one of the strongest (and highest quality) you can find. This stuff is for the snus veteran, someone who knows their snus and can taste and appreciate the subtle differences. BUT DON'T GIVE UP ON SNUS. Try a mixed roll from buysnus.com or a tryout box from the northerner.com so you can sample all kinds of snus an find your top two or three. I can't tell you what to try as it is a matter of taste. Some people like beer, some dry wines, some sweet liqueurs, some whiskey or cognac or vodka or gin.
Hope this helps
BcS

[ecec]

Am I supposed to swallow the "juice" though? I got really sick. :|

[bcsiegl]

swallow juice?

When i'm at home and for whatever reason a lot of juice comes, i will spit it out. When in public, i have had instances when i had to swallow. I've only been snussing for five months now but i'm already used to it.:mrgreen: Drink a lot of water. I find that helped me when i had too much juice. Just be glad you weren't using some vile fermented oral "snuff" like skoal or cope; you would be worshipping the porcelain god for a while.

[ecec]

Ok, so it's always a bad idea to swallow the juice then!, it should be avoided. I hear it is easier to prevent juice when using loose-snus?

But the only time I really tasted anything was when the juice came out. :| Otherwise the snus was out of contact with my tongue, so I never got a flavor.

[Zero]

:lol: Yeah, you get a lot of nicotine from a snus portion so unless you're a cigarette smoker or a heavy pipe smoker you'll really notice the hit of nicotine! That's what's making you a bit dizzy. Don't take the portion out and squeeze/roll it, though. It's not bad for you to swallow the juice, but it's not the best way to snus, that's for sure. The burning under your lip will go away after a few portions - you get used to it. It's like smoking, the burn goes away after your first few. Just keep the portion under your lip and don't bother too much with it. If you don't poke and fuss around with it it won't drip as much and the nicotine just absorbs nicely through the tissues in your lip. Maybe start out with a sample pack from the northerner to try out the different kinds of snus to see what you like. A mini portion might be better to start with as it's not as strong and won't feel as strange under your lip at first - at least until you get used to it. You'll probably find that snus is quite nice, though. I completely quit smoking after a swedish friend introduced me to the stuff - my first portion of grov white did it, I was completely won over. I don't even think about smoking anymore! What's better, as you say, it's fine in no-smoking places like my office, labs, etc. I can even snus in our cleanroom! Cool!

[bcsiegl]

Juice

Actually i swallow a little bit of juice now and then. It's a great appetite surpressant. And i like the flavor. I use both loose and portion depending on the situation. I have no problem tasting the loose - when i want to (just stick your tongue up there and play with the pris a bit). But when i don't want to taste it i don't. I even forget it's there sometimes. With the portion i tend to place it and leave it for about 10-20 min. then i'll shift it around and even VERY gently chew it and place it back in a different position.

[Zero]

yeah, I mean, you can't help but swallow a bit now and again. I guess I meant more like sucking on a portion like a candy or something :lol: I find if a portion has been in a while, too, that it gets sort of a mucous coating that slows absorption so I also, like you say, will take it out and turn it over or mix it up a bit and then put it back. I guess it's just a matter of taste

[ecec]

I'm a little scared to try again now, haha.
So snus is mostly about nicotine, and not about the taste of it? It sounds like it spends the most time up under your lip, where no tasting is done.

[Zero]

oh, no, the taste is a big part of it - otherwise there wouldn't be a hundred different brands and flavours to choose from. Just that squeezing and sucking the juice out of a portion is too powerful. It would be like smoking a pipe like a cigarette - taking big huge lungfulls...it's just not the right way to enjoy it and you probably would feel a bit ill. Both the flavour and nicotine come out slowly and evenly if you leave it under your lip. General has a nice citrus taste but if you want to try some different flavours test out ones like probe whiskey (a bit sweet), göteborgs rape (a bit spicy), röda lacket (light cherry), Gotlandssnus (the green one is sort of apple), etc. There are also lots of plain varieties for enjoying the pure taste of different tobaccos. I really like Landströms Grov, which is a loose cut, but is a nice, clean tasting snus made with good tobacco and has very low nitrosamine content

[Zero]

Also, if you start to feel a bit dizzy, just don't keep the portion in as long. :wink:

[ecec]

Oh my.
Well this time I didn't swallow too much of the juice - I did swallow a little, as a reaction, but I didn't do it purposefully, as I did last time.
I barely kept it in my mouth for five minutes before I got too dizzy and a little sick. I guess I'm just not used to so much nicotine.
With my pipe tobaccos, I enjoy the heavy English blends, because they depend very much upon the quality of the tobacco to deliver their flavor. I do not enjoy the blends that taste more like candy than good tobacco. I like subtle flavorings, of course - but, for example, the "XQ" snus seem like they would not appeal to me because of the big "focus" on the flavor.
Are there any mini-portions I could start with that are not so candy-like?

Thank you!

[Zero]

General comes in mini and mini white portions, Goteborgs Rape is nice and comes in a mini portion. You might try Knox and Tre Ankare as well. Catch makes mini portions, but they're mostly flavoured ones - fruits or mint or whatever.

[ecec]

Thank you!
Is there anything I can do with my General Onyx to still use them before they go bad? Would mashing them a rounder shape help?, or cutting a small hole and removing some of the snus?