Snus Portion Sizes, Strength levels, IR Confused

**olderthandirt** · 10-17-2009, 07:48 PM

So ya'll got me curious enough to consider trying the snus again. A little over a year ago I tried some Skoal Bandits, I think it was Menthol, whatever. Came out of my mouth within 5 minutes, nastiest stuff!

So I'm reading through this forum and watching TB's videos, (TB your video presence is so entertaining you could go professional!), looking at the various sites and I am officially confused!

I gather snus portions come in "standard" sizes.
Original
White
Strong

Or mebbe it's more like
Mini
Large
Maxi

I probably needn't go further for you seasoned snus users to get the idea. Would one of you be able to spell out just how the portions are packaged. Portion Size, Portion Strength, Portion Type....

**Dredbull** · 10-17-2009, 08:15 PM

Getsnus.com has a great set of guides.

Skoal bandits are chew/dip in a packet and processed very differently than snus.
Depending where you are in Oregon I know several places that are tossing out trial cans of camel..
The frost is minty kinda of like sweet toothpaste, not awesome but gets the job done.
Mellow is like a camel flavor it isnt bad but on the very sweet side.
Spice is the most putrid stuff.
Mind you the camel junk is not the most top grade out there but it is a git r dun option.

I am waiting on an order from getsnus and almost as excited for it as my juice order.

**olderthandirt** · 10-17-2009, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by Dredbull

Getsnus.com has a great set of guides.

Skoal bandits are chew/dip in a packet and processed very differently than snus.
Depending where you are in Oregon I know several places that are tossing out trial cans of camel..
The frost is minty kinda of like sweet toothpaste, not awesome but gets the job done.
Mellow is like a camel flavor it isnt bad but on the very sweet side.
Spice is the most putrid stuff.
Mind you the camel junk is not the most top grade out there but it is a git r dun option.

I am waiting on an order from getsnus and almost as excited for it as my juice order.

Getsnus is one of the several sites I've looked at, the only size guide I'm finding makes mention of mini, large and loose. Not doing loose

Over to the LH side of the getsnus page there are portion sizes listed as mini, large and maxi. Under the Large heading a further breakdown of Original, White and Strong is found.

Would appear from what I've found here and on other sites, original and white and black are references to the type of pouch material as well as perhaps the moisture content? of the snus? If that's even close to correct, then what is a Large Strong Portion? AARRRGGHHH!

I've the feeling I'm missing something obvious... I'm thinking I'll give the Discreets a shot for my introduction to snus but in the mean time I'm still not understanding the 'language" of snus.

I'm in Salem Dredbull, where abouts is this "valley of happy" that you look upon?

**Dredbull** · 10-17-2009, 09:18 PM

Located outside of Portland, in the outlying metro area.

Hey since you are in salem could you wander over and slap Kroger for banning the sale of ecigs in oregon?

As far as portion and sizes I am sure I will learn with my selections. There was another site I looked into that I think had some videos Northerner or something like that.

**Stubby** · 10-17-2009, 09:38 PM

It's one of those things that just takes a bit of time to understand the terminology.

Size - There are three sizes; mini, standard and large. You want to go with the minis or standard size. The minis are smaller and more discreet (not as much of a bump in your lip) but in general are not as strong (with a few exceptions)

White or Original - The whites are dryer, hence have a whiter color. The originals have more moister. Originals will come on faster in flavor and nicotine but don't last as long. The whites come on slower but the flavor last longer. The whites are also a bit more muted in flavor (as usual with snus there are exceptions). Many people like the slower niccotine and flavor hit of whites, others prefer the faster flavor hit of originals. It's a personal choice.

Blacks are just a variation. It's actually a white with a black colored bag.

There is different strengths of snus, anywhere from 3 mg to 17 mg of nicotine per pouch. That's just a matter of figuring out how much nicotine you need.

Snus is nothing like dip or chew. Very different manufacturing process, and far less toxins then chew.

Hope this is some help

**olderthandirt** · 10-17-2009, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by Dredbull

Located outside of Portland, in the outlying metro area.

Hey since you are in salem could you wander over and slap Kroger for banning the sale of ecigs in oregon?

As far as portion and sizes I am sure I will learn with my selections. There was another site I looked into that I think had some videos Northerner or something like that.

Arrrrggghh, Kroger! The thought has crossed my mind for sure!

Originally Posted by Stubby

It's one of those things that just takes a bit of time to understand the terminology.

Size - There are three sizes; mini, standard and large. You want to go with the minis or standard size. The minis are smaller and more discreet (not as much of a bump in your lip) but in general are not as strong (with a few exceptions)

White or Original - The whites are dryer, hence have a whiter color. The originals have more moister. Originals will come on faster in flavor and nicotine but don't last as long. The whites come on slower but the flavor last longer. The whites are also a bit more muted in flavor (as usual with snus there are exceptions). Many people like the slower niccotine and flavor hit of whites, others prefer the faster flavor hit of originals. It's a personal choice.

Blacks are just a variation. It's actually a white with a black colored bag.

There is different strengths of snus, anywhere from 3 mg to 17 mg of nicotine per pouch. That's just a matter of figuring out how much nicotine you need.

Snus is nothing like dip or chew. Very different manufacturing process, and far less toxins then chew.

Hope this is some help

Huge thanks Stubby. Those are the aspects that had me going. I had an idea as to what was what, but all the sites I had looked at so far only had bits and pieces of information instead of the whole picture.

Now I can actually make an informed purchase, thanks again all!

**olderthandirt** · 10-17-2009, 10:18 PM

A fellow vaper, pointed me to the "Other Smoking Alternatives" subforum of the rowdy neighbors next door

There are 3 threads posted by Kitabz there that serve as the PERFECT primer for those of us new to snus. Snus for snubies, parts 1, 2 and 3. Took care of all that had me confused. Thank you Kitabz!!!

My muse in this instance sent me the info in a PM. And of course the URL of the forum whose name shall not be uttered is still being filtered and replaced with asterisks.

Hello? This is really getting tired. Yeah yeah yeah, this is SJ's house his rules if I don't like it I can always leave blah blah blah. Doesn't change the fact that this silly feud mentality is REALLY getting old!

Just sayin'

And with that I'm off snus shopping

**Kitabz** · 10-17-2009, 10:58 PM

Originally Posted by olderthandirt

I probably needn't go further for you seasoned snus users to get the idea. Would one of you be able to spell out just how the portions are packaged. Portion Size, Portion Strength, Portion Type....

Repost/excerpted from a post I made on another forum...

Portioned snus is tricky to explain because there are several subtypes and further categorisations within those. This is further complicated by multiple uses of the word “portion”. The word “portion” is used to describe all portions in general, also one of the sizes, also one of the strengths and also one of the styles/finishes so this can be somewhat confusing to start with.

Sizes
The easiest way to describe the choices available is to first divide portions into three main categories according to size:

Mini – these contain around 0.5g of snus – the second most popular size
Portion – these contain around 1g of snus – the most popular size
Maxi – these contain around 1.7g of snus – this third most popular size

Cigarette analogy: 1) original/short size, 2) king size and 3) superking size (these are UK descriptions)

Nicotine Strengths
Nicotine strength can be added to the above as follows and describes the nicotine content per gram except for purified portions. Because purified portions have no water content at all, they weigh considerably less; their nicotine content is described in absolute terms (per portion) rather than per gram.

Purified only – 6mg per portion
Portion or unstated – around 8mg per gram
This strength is available in all sizes and is the default; if it is not stated, this is what it will be
Strong – around 11-13mg per gram (also know by the Swedish “Stark” or “Sterk”)
This strength is only available in mini and portion sizes (not maxi)
Extra strong – around 15-17mg per gram (also known by the Swedish/Norwegian “Ekstra Stark/Sterk”)
This strength is only available in portion size (neither mini nor maxi)

Cigarette analogy: 1) eclipse, 2) light, 3) regular, 4) high strength

The thing to bear in mind with the strengths is that, aside from the purified portions which are a special case, the descriptions above are relative to the portion size in terms of overall nicotine delivered. A regular portion will have 8mg of nicotine (because it weights one gram) but a strong mini will also have around the same or slightly less because it weighs half as much but has nearly twice the strength of tobacco. Similarly a strong one gram portion will deliver around the same nicotine as a maxi portion because the higher strength nicotine in the strong one gram portion is equalised by the maxi’s larger size.

Finish or Style
For some of the above there are further subdivisions to describe the finish or style:

Purified – these contain purified tobacco plus cellulose filler and are completely dry. This style releases the nicotine relatively quickly but also lasts for the least amount of time. Because they are made from purified nicotine, there is no tobacco flavour at all. Any flavours that this style of portion may have are added during manufacture (and there is one brand which is completely flavourless by design).
This type only comes in the mini size, indeed it is thinner than a mini but around the same width and length.
Portion or regular – these have been lightly sprayed with tobacco liquid. The causes the nicotine to be released more quickly but has the side effect that they can be a little "drippy". Although spitting is not technically required with snus, some portion snus in this category can cause quite a bit of saliva to be produced.
This type comes in all sizes and strengths.
White – these have not been sprayed with tobacco liquid and are mostly dry to the touch however they are still around 50% water (inside the pouch), similar to previous item, it is just that the teabag material has not been additionally sprayed. This type comes in both the mini and the regular size but not the maxi. White portions have a less noticeable taste to start with and take longer to "kick in" than regular portions. However, the flavour and nicotine tend to last for longer.
This type comes in all strengths except extra strong (to date).

Cigarette analogy: 1) eclipse, 2) unfiltered, 3) filtered

You can see from the above where the multiple use of the word “portion” becomes confusing:

Q. Was it a mini? A. No, it’s was a portion.
Q. Was it an extra strong? A. No, it was a portion.
Q. Was it a white? A. No, it was a portion.

In the beginning there was only one type of portion. The minis and maxis were added later, the different strengths were also added later and then the non-sprayed (whites) and purified portions were added later so all of the additional choices have new names whereas the original variety does not, it’s just a portion and this covers size, strength and style.

Colour
Finally, there is colour which describes the colour of the teabag material. Originally there was just one type of material which, before spraying with tobacco liquid was white in colour. The sprayed portions naturally become a light brown colour after treatment. The portions that are not sprayed remain white in colour hence the name “white”. The ones that are sprayed are of course just called “portion” and not “browns”.

So far, so good.

But, to further complicate matters, some manufacturers decided to release teabag material in a black colour so there is now the paradoxical situation where a so-called “white” portion is actually black in colour. This would be straightforward if it could be said that all “blacks” are actually “whites” but sadly this is not the case. There is at least one portion (sprayed) which comes in a black colour (LD Black by Gallagher) so it is best to think of colours as a distinct (and largely irrelevant) category to the finish/style one detailed above. It is said that the black material is softer than the original white material so it’s best to mention why there is a distinction at all (other than aesthetics or marketing).

By this point most people have given up trying to understand everything and have gone back to smoking

Here is a table showing the various permutations (I’ve included “n/a” gaps where there are currently no products in the marketplace but where some could be in the future).

Size______Strength__Style_____Colour__Example brand
Purified__Purified__Purified__White___Oomph Citrus & Menthol
Mini______Portion___Portion___Brown___Granit Mini Portion
Mini______Portion___White_____White___General Mini White
Mini______Strong____Portion___Brown___Taboca Strong Mini
Mini______Strong____White_____White___n/a
Portion___Portion___Portion___Brown___Ettan Portion
Portion___Portion___Portion___Black___LD Black
Portion___Strong____Portion___Brown___Nick (& Johnny) Strong
Portion___Strong____Portion___Black___n/a
Portion___Strong____White_____White___Skruf Stark White
Portion___Strong____White_____Black___General Onyx
Portion___Extra_____Portion___Brown___Odens Extra Stark Kanel
Portion___Extra_____White_____White___n/a
Maxi______Portion___Portion___Brown___Granit Maxi portion