flavor intensity- portions vs loose?

[Kris]

I'm new to snus- just a few months, and usually just two portions or pinches during workdays. I'm a non-smoker, but I used to enjoy American dip occasionally in the past. So my use of snus is purely for flavor enjoyment and a little nic kick. I've tried General white and regular portions (original flavor, or whatever) and regular loose. I've found that I get much more flavor from using the portions, whereas when I use loose, the flavor really stays in my upper lip and I only really taste it if I put my tongue to it. Am I doing something wrong? Any tips? I much prefer the mouthfeel of using loose, and I don't like the wet paper taste that the portions develop after awhile. But the tobacco flavor from the portions is great. How do I get that same robust flavor from using loose? Thanks.

[squeezyjohn]

You're doing it right - and what you're describing is a common thing. When portions are flavoured - a lot of the flavour ends up on the portion material and so you get a big hit of taste when you put them in which fades after a while. With loose - most of the taste is buried deep within the tobacco so if you have baked it pretty hard then you won't get as much taste initially ... but the flavour will last for longer.

One way of getting more taste with loose is to bake with much less pressure, the ultimate way to get loose flavour is to take a hillbilly pinch (simply pinch some snus between thumb and forefinger - or thumb and first 2 fingers for a larger pinch - and shove it up there! You can tidy up with your tongue) ... that method gives the biggest flavour hit and the biggest nicotine hit also because the particles are much looser.

[Kris]

Thanks. I have been baking the pinches pretty hard to limit the mess. I'll experiment a little.