American Snus

[eli]

Hi, new snus-er here. Yup I started with the camel ones, here in Portland they're readily available and a friend of mine told me about them, I started mainly as a way to stop smoking, but am getting some (albiet limited) enjoyment from the camel product.

Like everything I tend to do, I dabble, research, then dive. I placed an order for northern's portion mix today and can't wait for it to arrive (I've now been completely off cigarettes for a week, hooray). From the variety I get there I hope to find a brand or two I like that I can use as my first foray into loose snus as well. I was very glad to find this community and I've been browsing posts for the past couple days.

A local source for swedish snus would be wonderful but I think I can order in significant quantities to make ordering online not too much of a hassle, and I can always use the camels in a pinch... my biggest gripe is the coaxing one has to do to get even a modicum of flavor from the things.

[chainsnuser]

Welcome to the forum, eli!

Swedish Match has a store locator. The shops are still very few and the assortment is extremely small:
http://www.swedishsnus.com/US/storelocator.asp

The situation in Germany is even worse, snus is banned for sale here, but it is allowed to order online from Sweden. It's actually fun to order online from a broad assortment. I know from long-time-snusers, that when snus still was free for sale here, only 3 brands of loose snus were available, because snus was (and still is) a niche-product in Germany. The online-vendors are absolutley reliable, no sleazy drug-dealers or the like, more like old-fashioned merchants, who do everything to keep their customers satisfied.

Cheers!

[eli]

Thanks for the welcome.

As i said, I just decided to order online, and use the camel snus (which are readily available in my area) until my order arrives (hopefully next week!). I've been surfing northerner and buysnus.com and both have great prices and impressive selections. I'm hoping that the 20 varieties in my sampler box gives me a good idea of what I'll like and what I won't. Sure it's a bit expensive for a heap of product, but when you consider how much money I'm now NOT spending on cigarettes (they're around $5 US/pack here, and I was going through a pack or more a day) it's a small investment. A tin of the camel snus usually lasts me three-four days, and that's with pretty much chainsnusing them (have to to get the nicotine I need, these things are weaksauce).

As much as I see folks being down on the American products, if it were not for the camel snus being test marketed in my area I'd probably still be ignorant, but like when I started smoking, i started with Marlboro lights and as I became more educated moved onto roll-your-own blends, nat shermans, dunhills, and a heap of imported brands.

I've now not had a cigarette for a week and am a new but enthusiastic snuser itching to explore more.... but that's a topic for another thread.

[CWC]

General Wintergreen

I made it down to a tobacco shop that was listed on the Swedish Match web site today. They had a few General varieties in stock all were being sold for $3.75 a can. I am no where close to running out of snus, but I bought a can of original portions and the wintergreen portions that I have not seen for sale on line.
The originals were just that I did not notice a difference in what I bought today and what I have received from BuySnus.com. The wintergreen is obviously an attempt at giving Americans something they are used to. They are white portions, but the "wintergreen" substance was on the pouches so in reality they were moister than the Knox regular portions. When I opened the tin it smelled like a Skoal variety, that is not bad rather pleasant. When I put a portion in my mouth the "wintergreen" flavoring had a burning sensation I did not like I actually had to move it around for a while to get used to it. There is defiantly a taste that resembles American snuff, and they made me a little light headed. Over all it is not on my top ten list, although I would probably buy it before OffRoad. Still if there are any American snusers out there that used to be dippers, this may be the snus for you.
One other thing I did notice was the ingredients (possibly since this is the first time they have been in English) From what I have received the ingredients in all of the snus I have received from Sweden has been almost always the same with minor variations. It is possible the wording on the wintergreen was just a made a little different than the typical ingredients label but I don't know, (both were made in Sweden and distributed by a company in New Jersey) below are the ingredients from both the General Original and the General Wintergreen I got today:

General Original: Water, Tobacco, Humectants(E 1520), Taste Enhancer(table salt), Acidity Regulator (E 500),Flavor Substances Inc., Smoke Food Flavor

General Winter Green: Water, Tobacco, Sodium Chloride, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Carbonate, Natural and Artificial Flavors

[qpzil]

I actually just tried the Camel Frost today for the first time. I like sweet things, so I'm not too put off by the aspertame flavor. Plus, it goes away after a few minutes.

BUT, this is my first snus I love it so far, and have already put in an order for General Onyx Portion, Göteborg's Rapé No. 2 Portion, and Mocco Pomegranate White Mini Portion. I'm excited to try actual Swedish snus!

Glad to be here . :P

[Harry]

Great post CWC.

I have ready access to a tobacconist with the General variety. The wintergreen were my first snus experience.

Other than that little tidbit, I think CWC does a great job summarizing the available products at the "swedish match stores"

They also carry Catch peppermint, which I find sugary and like a little breathmint.

[surfingelectrode]

They also carry Catch peppermint, which I find sugary and like a little breathmint.

Yeah, my local store hasn't had my usual General Regular portion for a few weeks, and, for some reason, I can't stand the White Portion, so I've been making due on the General Wintergreen and Catch, both of which are very very good.

[eli]

Alright, still waiting for my Swedish order to arrive, and a few things are starting to bug me about the Camel snus...

The Original is actually not that bad, it's got a hit of salt (my tastebuds are finally coming back from years of smoking...) mild tobacco, pepper, sweetness and a hint of citrus.. not an unpleasant experience. I actually get a bit of a "nicotine" sensation.

Spice.. ok, I don't know what's in this stuff but it burns my lip[ like none of the other varieties, I've got to shove portions in my left lip because I went exclusively right one day using nothing but this stuff. The taste isn't unpleasant, but the tobacco flavor is completely missing, clove, cinnamon and a hit of cardamom are the dominants here. As an ex-smoker who actually enjoys the flavor of tobacco it leaves me wanting. Any nicotine feeling is very mild. I could enjoy the spice flavor on it's own if it were not so harsh on the inside of my upper lip, I could see popping one in on occasion.

Frost - Sickeningly sweet, all mint, no nicotine feeling... a total waste of my time... might as well pop a tic-tac.

I'm sure once I start my Swedish shipments coming in I'll only use any of the above in a pinch. I just know myself, I tend to prefer the "real deals" Hendrick's Gin, Single Malt Scotch, Cuban cigars (oh to be back in Europe!), Heady Bordeaux, Smelly Cheeses, well... you get the idea...

[surfingelectrode]

I'm going up to Orlando this weekend, so I'm going to pick up some cans of Camel to try, as well as Grand Prix if it's out yet.

Apparently, Camel is going to be lowering the amount of portions down to 16 and lowering the price a little bit as well. Very lame. It seems that Lorillard is the only company actually getting this right.

[bondzai]

I bought all three flavors of the Camel in Winston Salem. I like the Camel Snus. At first I thought it was too sweet. But now I like it. I had been comparing it to Swedish Snus. Its a lot sweeter than the Swedish, but its pretty good. I realize thats also why I like Skoal and Oliver Twists. I like sweet stuff.

[Premium Parrots]

I bought all three flavors of the Camel in Winston Salem.

lol, Camel, Winston, Salem. We talking snus or cigs here or what?

[surfingelectrode]

I just got back from Orlando, and I picked up 2 cans of Frost, and one of each Spice and Original.

I don't taste any of the artificial sweetener that you all are talking about, I think the stuff is really good. The Frost taste just like the cigarette brand, which in turn tastes like a piece of minty gum, and the Spice tastes like a piece of cinnamon gum. I don't really care for the Original, but it's nice to have.

I think Camel did a pretty good job of localizing snus, and I'd buy it again if it were cheaper.

[Subtilo]

the Spice tastes like a piece of cinnamon gum.

Thats interesting ... I'm a sucker for cinnamon gum. Too bad cinnamon isn't as popular (or widely used) here as it is in the states. :cry:

[kinesthetic]

Triumph Original was the first snus I tried. I wasn't intending to quit smoking at the time or looking for smokeless but I had heard of Swedish snus before from reading about tabacco companies financial info. So when I was offered a free sample I decided to try it. I imediately liked the taste and was even more thrilled at the prospect of a relatively painless way to say goodbye to smokes.
Triumph Original has nice tobacco flavor and is sweet but not too sweet imo. No salty/bitter taste. I have tried about a half a dozen swedish brands and prefer the natural taste. I like to alternate between a portion of Grov, Ettan, or Gotland yellow with Triumph for its sweetness and mildness.
The Triumph mint is tasty as well and keep some around for the occasional minty sweet flavor.

[Scott64a]

I picked up a tin of Camel Original snus last night, and it's more like tea than tobacco. I suppose for mini portions, thy're not bad, but I can't wait for my Skruf to show up.

Just a side note: I had a coupon for $1.60 off a can of Cope, either long cut straight, whiskey, or whatever it is, so I went with straight.

YUCK!
It tastes like Grizzly, is loose and messy, and while I was playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein, I sneezed this awful dip everywere.
A steady stream of profanity followed, and then I just laughed.
What a shitty product.