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Smokeless Tobacco


TimmyBoston
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I wanted to start a thread about smokeless tobacco; snuff, dip, plugs, chew, whatever you want to call it. I chew Copenhagen Black, Cope Straight, Kodiak, and Cope Long cut, the snuff is too messy for me, I'm not talented enough to keep in one place while I'm drinking. And don't forget Copenhagen Black is bourbon flavored.

I love the fresh tobacco taste while I enjoy fine whiskey and sometimes while I'm not. I wondered if anyone harbored a spot of affection for the little ground up leaves. I actually pour a small amount of whiskey into the tin to help flavor the tobacco. I'd love anyone to chime in with their comments.

Tim

If I should move this thread, I will, I don't know if it belongs here, but I thought since it was a tobacco thread this is as good a spot as any. But what do I know?:grin:

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All the farm boys where I grew up chewed Skoal, but the men chewed Copenhagen. The wintergreen in Skoal burns my mouth too much and causes what we used to call a "totalled out lip". Most of those good old boys walked around with what looked like half a can in their bottom lip and pretty much made a mess wherever they went with little regard to anyone else's sensibilities. And it sure didn't make a good impression on most of the ladies.

Copenhagen helped me kick a two pack a day smoking habit back in 1982 and I still enjoy it. I have learned however, to be discreet with my little habit. I worked here for four years before anyone caught on that I pretty much had a dip in the whole shift because with only a tiny bit I don't do what most people object to: spit. I use the snuff because the long cut just feels heavy to me. I like the texture of the snuff better.

Unfortunately this stuff is as addicting as cigarettes and I get very antsy when I run out. I brush my teeth and gums religiously and so far my dentist hasn't even asked me about the habit I'm sure he would object to strenuously so I must be doing it right. I've tried the Copenhagen Black and found it not my cup of tea. And adding any liquid, even to an old dried up can makes it too mushy for me. So I'll stick to drinking my bourbon from a glass and let my cud fend for itself.

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Tim,

It's funny that you mention chawin' tabacky. Yesterday my visiting son and D-I-L, my wife and I attended "The World's Oldest Rodeo" in nearby Prescott, AZ. A major sponsor is US Smokeless Tobacco, a company I'd never heard of. Every mention of the video display that presented the standings and replays included the words "Smokeless Tobacco". By the end of the day I found myself growing curious as to whether I would enjoy it. (I didn't back in the dark days before February 28, 1983 when I smoked almost constantly.)

A Google search moments ago on "rodeo smokeless tobacco" revealed that this particular sponsorship is widespread and is drawing criticism from the usual quarters, just as cigarette company sponsorship has done for the last 50 years.

I am of two minds in this matter. I'm confident that no form of comsumption of tobacco is without peril and that some are downright dangerous. However, I've never believed that such concerns could account for the intensity of opposition.

Upon reading many of the condemnations of tobacco, H. L. Mencken's definition of a puritan as a person who is worried that someone, somewhere, someplace is having fun comes to mind. Accordingly, if I knew the precise moment when I am to die, I would arrange to have a smoke a few minutes before, preferably a cigarette imprinted in gold with a dollar sign [find "cigarette" at link].

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

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I'm not trying to convert anyone to chew, but virtue or vice it is something I enjoy, same a I enjoy and good cigar and I wanted to post about it. Oh well.

Dane, I usually use a barrel proof like Stagg or Laphroaig Cask strength and I only add a few drops into the can, because if you're right if you add much you do end up with mush.

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Tim,

Your "Oh well" suggests to me that I gave offense with my comments. If so, I apologize. I intended only to display my ambivalence in regard to tobacco, smokeless or otherwise.

In no way do I fit Mencken's definition of a puritan -- at least not in regard to tobacco.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

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The wintergreen in Skoal burns my mouth too much and causes what we used to call a "totalled out lip".

I don't know if this is true, but it's what I've heard on many, many occasions, that Skoal has a product in it similar to fiberglass that places small cuts in your lips to allow the nicotine to get into your bloodstream quicker, but also shreds your lips and gums. I know from my own experience when I have chewed Skoal it looks like someone ran the inside of my cheek over a grater, far worse than any other product. Also Dane, I wish I could chew the snuff, I personally like the taste, I just don't have the skill to keep it in one place.

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I used to like chewing tobacco. I enjoyed Skoal, which is technically a snuff (but they don't want their customers to know it, so they came up with the term "smokeless tobacco), but what I really loved were the full-fledged loose leaf chewing tobaccos in the pouches. My favorites that I can remember were Red Man and Levi Garrett. I am sure I tried several others.

It gave a powerful (very powerful) nicotine rush. Sort of like comparing whiskey to beer, it was a much more immediate experience than cigarettes.

On the advice of my dentist, I had to give it up in the late 70's or early 80's. While it is actually good for your teeth (it is alkaline, therefore it neutralizes the acids that cause tooth decay), I was getting little bumpy sores on the insides of my cheeks. He seemed certain that, in my particular case, it could lead to cancer fairly quickly. So, I stopped chewing and never went back.

Tim

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Many moons ago I enjoyed Copenhagen. Many moons before that when on the farm as a young teenager, Redman was in most farmers bibs and so when I got a chew that was generally what it was.

My first (and last) carve of a plug came on the street in Midland, Texas at age 20 from a gentleman that looked to be about mid 80's. Who by the way after I took the plug and said "Thanks", spat at my foot and said "damn yankee".

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I dipped in middle school through part of high school, used to get straight Copenhagen, Cherry Skoal, and Wintergreen Skoal. Could never decide which I liked better, the Copenhagen or the Cherry Skoal. I stopped dipping because my gums started to crack and would bleed every time I brushed my teeth; shortly after stopping so did the bleeding and cracking. Every now and then I pick up a can and it lasts me a long time because I just do it on rare occasions. The can I have now I know I’ve had for over a year (I’d throw it out but it feels just as moist as the day I bought it and it tastes just the same, I’m really surprised).

I still want to try the ones in the pouches (Redman, etc…) and the plug kind (Actually, I’d like to try all of the different kinds but those are the ones I want to try the most). In fact I was in a tobacco shop today and almost bought a pouch of Redman (Passed it up for a pack of Ecstacy cigarettes, they aren’t very good.) Do you just chew on these kinds almost like you would gum or do you do it the same as with snuff? Speaking of snuff again, has anyone ever snorted snuff? Supposedly you can and people do, I’m not sure if there are certain kinds made special for this method of use though.

I could definitely go for some dip right now… :)

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I've seen small tins of snuff for snorting, but can't remember the brand name. Never appealed to me as I sneeze enough already.

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Gothbat, with the pouch tobaccos, you make a wad that you put between your side teeth and your cheek. You chew it from the side, if that makes any sense. You have to be outside in a non-urban place, because a lot of saliva is generated. To be honest, there aren't many places like that, anymore.

One powdered snuff brand I remember is Bruton's. I remember old ladies using it back in the late 50's. I wonder if there is still enough of a market that they still sell any of it?

Tim

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Gothbat, with the pouch tobaccos, you make a wad that you put between your side teeth and your cheek. You chew it from the side, if that makes any sense.

Gotcha, thanks for the info. Thats actually what i used to do with my dip when I first started using it, eventualy I caught on and started putting it the front but I would always nibble on a little piece of it. So anyway I went and picked up some Redman to give it a try, it's not bad. Like all tobacco products I've tried it was relaxing. I was a bit disapointed that it didn't give me that burn that you get from dip but otherwise it was good. The taste wasn't bad, a bit sweet actually.

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Sweetness and mess are the two drawbacks on pouch tobaccos for me. I tried them both in my experimental phase and the sweetness was too much for me. That and having to constantly wipe my chin off....

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Speaking of snuff again, has anyone ever snorted snuff? Supposedly you can and people do, I’m not sure if there are certain kinds made special for this method of use though.

From my reading, years ago, primarily in Europe Snuff was used in the nasal passages, but is was not snorted, as for lack of better example, cocaine, is today. The very finely ground tobacco would be placed up one nostral but not all the way up into the sinus where the juice would slowly bleed into the mucus membrane and release aroma and nicotine.

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Like Gothbat, I've wanted to try "real" chewing tobacco. And I have even less of an idea than Goth did on how to do it. Its still pretty murky.

Another thing, does anybody have any recommendations on brands to pick up?

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Like Gothbat, I've wanted to try "real" chewing tobacco. And I have even less of an idea than Goth did on how to do it. Its still pretty murky.

Another thing, does anybody have any recommendations on brands to pick up?

Well, I have already given a couple: Redman and Levi Garrett. A couple of others I can think of are Beech Nut and Taylor's. The Beech Nut is pretty much the standard brand, kind of like the Jim Beam of chewing tobacco. Red Man is maybe a step above that, while Levi Garrett and Taylor's have a more premium image. Since I haven't chewed in 20 years or more, those are about all I remember. There may also be newer brands that I have never seen or noticed.

Tim

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Here are some more I found.

Jackson's Apple Jack - I used to hear this advertised on baseball game radio broadcasts and I always wanted to try it, but I never saw it in a store.

Chattanooga Chew - I had heard of this one, but again, I never saw it.

Granger Select - same comment

Mail Pouch - same, again

The one I called Taylor's is actually Taylor's Pride

Work Horse - same comment, again

Here is a decent link: http://www.genuinetobacco.com/leaftobacco.asp

Tim

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  • 2 weeks later...

There are three brands which I chew:

Beechnut and Mail Pouch for chewing tobacco.

Days 'O' Work for plug or CHEWING tobacco.

After a few minutes of thought, I have a buddy from southern Indiana. His dad farms about 35 acres of tobacco. Whenever he goes home to visit his family, he brings back of few bags of some real fresh tobacco. I won't ever be able to beat that taste.

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Your post promted me to recall something from my youth, when I helped my dad in our little grocery story.

Chewing tobacco was sometimes referred to as "scrap" on invoices. (In those days the man who ran the tobacco route that serviced our store would scribble invoices by hand.) I now wonder whether it was left over after the heart of the leaf was taken for some other purpose.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

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Dave-

That indeed may very well be how things were back then. Looking at my Days 'O' Work brick, it proudly claims "no end cuts". This leads me to believe that at one time, that plug was end cuts.

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Dave-

I found the answer to your question. Plug was the premium part of the tobacco leaf which was pressed together and sweetened with most likely molasses. The pressed sheet was cut into bricks, packaged, and sold. The leftover from this process was called "scrap", and sold as looseleaf. That is what chewing tobacco actually is.

...and now you know the rest of the story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco about 3/4 down the page

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I have to say, I picked up a pouch of RedMan Golden Blend, I am a big fan of Copenhagen and I really enjoy snuff, but I was really disappointed. It burned like hell and was in general, unpleasant. I liked the actual chewing. But I was totally unprepared for the amount of juice produced. I will try it again, because as I recall about ten years ago my earliest experiences with snuff were so bad, I layed off for about three years yet I still grew to be quite fond of it. So I'll give it another go, but my preliminary report is sorrily enough: Yuck! I hope it changes. Also anyone know anything about Redman Golden Blend vs other commonly available brands.

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Golden Blend is a new one on me. But I don't pay any attention to any of the tobaccos in my peripheral vision. Copenhagen is the focus for me, I'm content with it. It does irk me that I have to ask for Copenhagen SNUFF when I walk into a convenience store or I end up with long cut.

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Now I want to try the Golden Blend some day, the pouch of just plain old RedMan I picked up had no burn at all for me. I probably won't though. I guess I have a sensitive mouth or something because I've dipped/chewed maybe 15 times, randomly, since this thread started and after doing it most times my gums part of my cheeks would be raw after I brush my teeth. A few times the cigarette I smoke when I get to work in the morning was actually burning the inside of my mouth when I exhaled. I'd better stay away. :/ I will try a plug someday though! :)

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