Ettan Alternatives?

[rustic]

Okay, so I love Ettan.. but for some reason, I think it's giving me a sore throat in daily use. I know I have an allergic-ish reaction to maduro cigars, latakia in pipe tobacco, and a few other types of tobacco, so I'm betting that Ettan contains small amounts of whatever pisses my throat off.

So my question is.. what are my other options for pure-tobacco-ish snus? Almost everything other than Ettan seems to have a noticeable flavor of lemon, and while I like that every once in a while, it gets on my nerves.

Lucky Strike Original is probably the most palatable of the alternatives I've tried, but the "toasted" flavor is a bit strong and oily at times. LD Gold is bland-city for me. Probe Whiskey is quite good, but I suspect that it's actually pretty close to the same tobacco as Ettan, just with the grape/smoke/whatever topping replaced with bourbon. I may try it for a few weeks to see if it makes my throat as mad as Ettan does.

Gottlandssnus Yellow is *close* to what I'm looking for, but the flowery-taste in the background drives me nuts after a few portions.

So my question is.. does anyone have any "Go try this.." suggestions? Hell, I'd probably even be open to loose snus at this point.

- Jeff, who notices that there are a million "improvements" of General on the market, but not a single variation of Ettan.

[PseudoSwede]

I'll bite...

One of my favorite "pure tobacco" flavored snus is Goteborgs Prima Fint.

You'll find it to be a much finer cut than Ettan but it packs a nice punch and has lots of flavor. Some people consider it to be a "mild" snus, but I don't subscribe to that school of thought. I find it to be a nice tasting and flavorful snus...with a decenct nick-kick, as well.

It can be baked very easily, too. So, it's not too difficult to make a really nice pris.

Jeff

[Tony]

Try grov, its pretty coarse but a very straight forward tobacco taste.

[Zero]

Try Grov and try Tre Ankare (if it's portions you're after) 8)

[lxskllr]

Another vote for Grov here.

[Harry]

I'm sorry to sound like a broken record, but Granit is a very decent snus.

Grov is good, but much,much coarser than Ettan. I too prefer finely ground snus. RL and PF are terrific, but are flavored, so my go to snus for the tobacco flavor is Granit. It still has that bit of lemon, but all in all tastes pretty true to form.

Phantom is just terrible. Offroad tastes/feels like it's cheap. Granit is the one bargain that swings like a major leaguer.

No, I do not work for F&L.

[Zero]

Coarseness shouldn't matter as he seems to be more interested in portions rather than loose. Also rules out Prima Fint and Röda, since I really consider the portion Roda a "flavoured" snus. Granit would definitely be one to try. I've never had it myself but I think I may have to give it a go on my next order too 8)

That said - Jeff, if you are interested in trying out some loose, dude, the Röda and Prima Fint would be the place to start. I generally find that portions drip much more of that harsh "burning" down your throat than loose, which I don't notice much, if any, such effect from. I think portions are generally just a bit more alkaline to deal with the issue of absorption through the teabag.

[rustic]

Wow, thanks for all the great suggestions.. I'll pick up some Prima Fint, and I had completely forgotten that Tre Ankare existed.. I bought a can of Tre Ankare (large) portions back when I was still using minis, and haven't tried them since I made the switch.

It's about time I tried loose anyway, so I'll toss a few cans of Prima Fint and Tre Ankare on my next order.

I think I have a few tins of Granit White frozen around here somewhere.. I'll give them another whirl. I'll give Grov another whirl as well.

Thanks again for the shove in the right direction, guys.. I appreciate it.

If none of this works, I may try adding flavor to LD Gold.. anyone experimented with adding a quick mist or a few drops of rum/bourbon/whatever to snus?

- Jeff

[Soft Morning, City!]

I generally find that portions drip much more of that harsh "burning" down your throat than loose, which I don't notice much, if any, such effect from. I think portions are generally just a bit more alkaline to deal with the issue of absorption through the teabag.

I've noticed this as well. It's one of the plethora of reasons that I prefer loose. With loose, I get all the taste without that harshness that comes around when the portion inevitably begins to "juice."

Another thing I've noticed, at least in the case of the Nick & Johnny portions, is that the nicotine comes on a lot faster with portions. I used to be able to use enormous prillas of N&J loose without getting that horrible "too much nicotine" feeling. Granted, N&J was definitely stronger than all of the other brands I used, but it was pleasant. With the N&J portions, which are only 1 gram per portion, I'll have one in for less than an hour and feel like I've had too much nicotine. So you're probably right about the increased alkaline in portions.

I don't like this. I like the slow, steady nicotine ride that comes with loose. I like to keep my snus in for great lengths of time and savor it for all it's worth and I find that I just can't do that with portions as easily as I can with loose.