Recipe for Ettan snus

[SmokesAhoy]

Cool, I actually have a bcb snuff degassing right now, will be interesting to compare notes on the same product undergoing a very similar process, one cooked one not.

Can still smell the vegetable undertone, and this sucker is gassing way more than I'm used to with aged tobaccos, gives me hope that the hint of veggie is being carried away.

 

[squeezyjohn]

I know what you mean about the vegetable note ... but for me that's the kind of aromatic quality that you get in some orientals too ... it's a fine line between green smelling and nicely aromatic. Snus needs some brightness in it and without extra flavourings the rich, really aged tobaccos can end up a bit too dull in the finished product. I have high hopes for this one ... the BCB seems a much better variety than the Silver River I grew last year which has a really aromatic, almost resinous note to it. The SR is great in a blend to brighten it up - but is a bit too much on it's own - but the BCB seems to be just the right amount of nutty and aromatic with some dark chocolatey tones in there too.

 

[jaysalti]

The lye water is def different. I couldn't find the % on the bottle, and need to look online to see if I can find it. The snus certainly tastes great. I new to adjust my milling process. The texture is a bit too fine for my taste, but the recipe is a winner!

 

[SmokesAhoy]

You can also use arm & hammer super washing soda. You need to mix it with water anyway, and that is lye water.

 

[squeezyjohn]

The lye water I get from our Chinese supermarket is potassium carbonate solution rather than sodium carbonate (washing soda) ... A lot of Swedish recipes call for dry sodium carbonate to be added directly at that stage of the recipe but I always had trouble getting it to mix properly so that it would react.

If you can't get hold of food grade washing soda then you can simply put sodium bicarbonate(baking soda) in a medium oven for half an hour and it will chemically transform in to washing soda!!

 

[jaysalti]

So, the lye water I found is Koon Chun. No real info available on the interwebz. Adding it slowly, I ended at 7 tsp equivalent (based on batch size) to get a similar experience to Ettan from a Vit N perspective. So, if anyone finds Koon Chung, my experience was about 16.6% increase in required lye water. As an aside, went to do some laundry, and noticed my wife had just bought a box of super washing soda...

I will say, after about 5 days, the taste has come together and the moisture/texture has evened out to make a very enjoyable product. Will def be doing this again!

 

[squeezyjohn]

The lye water I use is branded Tung Chun and is from Hong Kong ... The label says it it's 42% Potassium carbonate and 58% water.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

How does Ettan compare to Copenhagen?

 

[squeezyjohn]

It's very very different! Copenhagen is the classic sweet-salt dip with smoky and fermented flavours plus the regular flavourings in a straight dip. Ettan is simply tobacco water and salt that has gone through the snus making process - the tobacco they use is key - it's air-cured and ends up with tastes of chocolate and leather. It is not sweet at all and much more subtle than Copenhagen.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Some surgeons my wife works with do the Copenhagen thing. I thought I might try making this Ettan recipe. If you like Copenhagen, knowing you're trying something locally grown and homemade/organic, do you think you would like it? Some people are so particular about things.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I just wanted to say, the batch with the fire cured has been in a plastic container in the frig now for about a month and the burnt rubber taste is gone, at least below my threshold to taste. I had added a pack of sucralose to it initially to combat that flavor, so it is sweet. I also don't detect any smokey flavors either anymore, perhaps everything has just melded so well I'm not detecting any separate flavors. It's just a sweet dip type flavor. Anise was also added which is also undetectable by itself.

Not sure I will make this again... But I'm just reporting to say enough time mellowed that flavor. It's not quite snus nor dip, not bad, but also not exceptional.

 

[squeezyjohn]

That's good to know - thanks Smokes. It's amazing the transformation you get in the flavour from freshly cooked to aged 3 weeks or so! I find it far too tempting to get in there and try and evaluate the flavours too quickly. Having said that I like a strong snus which uses more alkali - I think maybe the burnt rubber flavour is a result of the smoke particles in the fire cured and the lye water which can dissipate like the ammonia smell with regular tobacco.

 

[jaysalti]

I need to make some bigger batches... mine aren't lasting three weeks.

I added dark air to this most recent batch, and split it between nasal snuff and snus. I used the standard amount I lye water and am glad I did. Adding dark air def upped the nic a fair amount. Current batch is going for a long nap in the crock. Just interested in tasting the difference.

Finally got my cut consistent. Currently coming out similar to Odens or just a bit finer than Cope LC.

 

[squeezyjohn]

That's good news jaysalti!

I'm currently loving the batch I made with 100% home grown Bolivian Criollo Black - it was a 100g tobacco flour recipe with no added flavourings apart from salt and I added just 2 drops of pure bergamot oil and mixed once it was finished. It's had 3 weeks of age after cooking and it's a real close General clone - absolutely delicious and packs a punch and the best thing is that this one is just HOME-GROWN!!! Woohoo!

 

[jaysalti]

I've been using Khalua and cocoa powder. It's not strong in flavor, but somewhere between prima fint and Ettan. The cocoa is there, but tobacco flavor is certainly forefront. I may start messing with some oils here soon. I have clove, cinnamon, an mandarin. Plan to get chocolate, bergamot, and coffee essential oils soon to use in snuff and snus. Also plan to try a few of the Cope recipes I've seen around.

This whole experiment/experience has been very fun and rewarding! Many thanks!

 

[squeezyjohn]

Just bear in mind how strong these oils can be - pure bergamot oil is quite weak in comparison to some of the others and just 2 drops flavours a whole 100g batch. I haven't worked out how to use cinnamon and ginger oil properly yet ... one drop makes a flavour so strong that it is not pleasant! Dilution in a carrier like vodka is probably the only way forward.

 

[jaysalti]

Great info! Both cinnamon and clove are quite strong, so I may cut it with everclear or the Khalua.

 

[Matty]

Definitely cut the oil with everclear. Cinnamon oil can be irritating and clove oil (an old dentistry drug) is locally anesthetic. Since the alcohol evaporates away you could dilute the oil 1 in 50. Another thought comes to mind, if the alcohol is added before the tobacco is fermented, cooked or other, the desired transformation might not be achieved due to the alcohol killing off any enzymes and such.

 

[squeezyjohn]

Yeah - it's always better to add most flavourings after the cooking process.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

In that light I tried adding a condiment amount of dark fire to my snus and it was very good.

I made a sauce of about 1:10 molasses to water mix poured the liquid over some stripped dark fire in a zip lock bag, allowed it to absorb and tightly compressed it into a roll that was pressed under heavy weight for a month then taken out and rolled into a clean rag made from an old t shirt and allowed it to dry for another month. It was intended to be for something else but today I shred some of it real small and mixed it with about 10 times it's amount of snus. It's damn good.

Fermented dark fired is another magic condiment. The fine shreds mostly disappeared into the snus powder too. Just an idea for further flavoring options.