Snus for arabs

[gax1985]

Hello !


I thought I should post this , due to my love of snus and all things tobacco. When I smoked , my ultimate favourite cigarettes were Marlboro Reds and Camel filters. My prayers were answered for the first one thankfully. As for the Camel snus , I was not a fan for the Swedish twist of adding bergemot to it. Why you may ask ? I love the Turkish tobacco that is used in Camel cigarettes , and I found it to be missing. Also , on my last trip to Syria , I smoked a brand called "Al Hamra" , which was heaven. They made it with Syrian tobacco , which uses the Latakia (Im almost certain it is 100% latakia). Since pipe smokers (not sure how much) love their latakia , why not use it for snus? I know the current economic sanctions on Syria might make it difficult , but Cyprusian latakia might fit the bill. Also , for those who smoked in the past , and tried the Camel exotics line , wouldnt you love to see Izmir as snus ?

Thanks for listening

[AtreyuKun]

I'd try it. I'd probably love it.
Gotta admit though, I love my bergemot!

[gax1985]

No me I dont like everything tasting like a cross between grapefruit and lemon

[Darwin]

As a pipe smoker I can attest that pure latakia would be a terrifically strong and aggressive proposition which is why it's almost always used as part of a blend. It could well be much too bitter for use in snus unless it is only a small part of the mix. Also burning latakia is not the same as actually tasting it. This is likely one reason why veteran tobacco chewers are not stuffing their cheeks with random blends of pipe tobacco. They are in large part meant, and only meant, to be smoked. Seriously acclimated middle-eastern smokers, like Syrians, might be able to tolerate the straight stuff but I suspect not many westerners could.

[gax1985]

You are right. It might be too much , maybe latakia and virginia or some orientals/turkish mixed in ? Some Cavedish ( spelling) perhaps ?

[squeezyjohn]

Latakia tobacco is not really a variety of tobacco plant but a method of curing aromatic oriental tobaccos over smoke which wouldn't make it ideal as a chewing tobacco.

Having said that - I have tried chewing pipe tobacco that has a strong latakia component and it's really very bitter indeed!

[gax1985]

Its true , fire curing does the trick ( with Oak ). It would make a spicy snus !

[Ansel]

Because it's smoke-cured there would be way too many TSNAs for smokeless tobacco wouldn't there?

[gax1985]

Yeah you are probably right ... Forgot about that , would turkish/oriental tobacco work ? I found a site where you can order Tombak ( iranian tobacco ) and I was considering making my own snus as an experiment !

[sgreger1]

While we're talking about fine middle eastern smokes, has anyone here ever had the pleasure of smoking (I forget the spelling) these things called "Bidis"? It's like a hookah in a cigarette man delicious.

[Roo]

Bidis? Yeah people used to beat off to those in high school. All the headshops sold 'em. It's Indian too, nothing to do with Arab traditions.

[gax1985]

Tried them , didnt like them much to be honest