Swedish Snus News & Reviews – Offroad Coffee Vanilla, Probe Whiskey.Nick & Johnny, Göteborgs Rapé, Offroad Strong Cranberry, & more…

In my article, “Camel and Marlboro: When it comes to Snus, you LOSE“, I described my discovery and love of Swedish Snus. I had tried the General-brand by Swedish Match and loved both the portion pack and the white portion. I figured I was all set: it was just a question of finding the best price and service.

While Google-surfing around in my quest, I came across a small Swedish snus forum that for some reason was closed to new posts but available for reading of the old posts “now that some posts had been removed”. Very mysterious. While poking around the forum and reading the various posts, I learned two things new. According to a number of the posters, after a while of using your favorite snus, you get bored with it and need to change for awhile. Then when you come back to your favorite, it will seem fresh and exciting again. And most importantly, watch who you buy from.

Looks like I not only needed to shop price and reputation, but do a taste-test as well for alternatives: Until someone can prove me wrong, TJE Best Place to Buy Snus is from our Swedish counterparts at the Snus Store we’ve had established for you at SnusCENTRAL.com. There are 10% discount codes on SnusCENTRAL.org which first time customers can use at the SnusCENTRAL Snus Store.

I needed snus discount coupons back then because I do research, I do research. Between what I bought and what they gave me for free, I received over 20 different cans of snus! Like I said, when I do research, I do research.

I picked the Swiss postal service as my shipping method, not without a little trepidation.

Apparently, the Swedish use the Swiss postal service. Choosing UPS would have cost me almost triple the shipping and I had read some bad stories (don’t know if they’re true today) on that strange forum how a few years ago UPS orders always got snagged in Customs.

I hope you’re sitting down (it would be strange if you weren’t, actually): from when I placed the order until when it arrived at my house took only four days!!! I can’t get a letter from Texas to New Jersey in four days!

I didn’t want to overwhelm you with 20+ different snus reviews so I’m breaking this up into two or three articles. This is the first, and I encountered some real surprises. Just remember, taste is subjective. If I speak poorly of a particular brand and you really want to try it, go ahead…it may turn out to be your favorite. Conversely, you might not like one of my favorites. This is just my opinion and my taste.

I started with what I knew: Swedish Match. General portion and white portion remain my favorites among the “tobacco taste” snus’s. I compared them to Grov white portion (another Swedish Match brand) and Ettan portion. Don’t get me wrong, they all tasted great, but the General snus’s had a peppery aftertaste that I really like. The other two were a tad milder and tasted more of straight tobacco.

If you’ve ever smoked cigarettes, you know what it’s like in the morning when you need that extra cigarette or two to get you going. In the snus world, this is called a stark, sterk or strong portion. It contains 30-40% more nicotine than regular snus. I usually do 2-4 portions of stark and then switch to regular.

I’ve tried three different Stark snuses so far: Nick and Johnny portion (another Swedish Match brand), skruf stark portion, and Offroad Cranberry strong portion.

The Offroad Cranberry was at first horrifying, but strangely, about half way through the can (I don’t throw out anything) I came to, if not really like it, at least be able to tolerate it….and almost kind of like it. I found myself starting off with a portion or two of one of the others and then finishing my Stark allotment with the Offroad.

Nick and Johnny and Skruf were very similar and I expected to like Nick and Johnny the best as I seem to like the Swedish Match taste. Instead, the skruf came out on top for me. It was very flavorful and ended strong, where the Nick and Johnny seemed to end a little flat.

Next I tried the flavored snus’s. They come in a variety of different flavors from mocha-vanilla to whiskey. It was here that I found my absolute favorite snus and the absolute worst snus I ever tried to date.

Göteborg’s Rapé white portion is the most amazing tasting snus I’d ever tried. It’s described as having a “mild tobacco taste with certain sweetness and an element of fresh herbs and juniper berry.”

This description just doesn’t do it justice! It explodes with the wonderful fruit and tobacco flavor and is an absolute delight! In fact, before starting this article, I put in another order and purchased a roll (ten cans) of the Goteborg’s Rape white (among other tasty treats). I only ordered one can initially, went through it quickly, and missed it. It’s great as an after-dinner snus when you want something a little sweet.

Probe Whiskey portion is another great after-dinner snus. The whiskey taste is not overpowering and it’s very pleasant and slightly sweet.

My biggest disappointments to date are the Offroad flavored snus’s. Now in fairness to Offroad, they are a second-tier brand priced about a third less than the other snuses I’ve been comparing.

They were formerly know as Bacco, redesigned with new flavors and renamed Offroad. They have a lot of different flavors and I was initially very excited about them….until I tasted them.

With the exception of the Cranberry which I have come to have a slight affection for but would not buy again, the others tasted more of paper than fruit. The peach, which sort of, kind of, tastes like peach-flavored paper is tolerable until you get towards the end and then it’s all paper taste.

The Coffee Vanilla portion is the one can even I may not be able to choke down. The coffee vanilla taste is completely overwhelmed by the flavor of paper. I even tried putting two portions in my mouth at the same time and I could ALMOST taste the flavor over the paper. There was virtually no tobacco taste to any of the Offroad flavored snuses I tried. I have a can of Offroad Stark I haven’t opened yet and am afraid to. More on that in a future review.

One can I’m really excited about opening is the General Onyx. It’s supposed to be the best snus General makes and is touted as being for special occasions. It comes in a fancy can and I can’t wait to try it. I’m saving it for my birthday which is on January 7th (gifts welcome).

I have about 10 cans to yet taste out of my original order, two thirds of those being “second-tier” brands. Sometimes you can find some wonderful surprises in the second-tier…….and other times you discover Offroad. You really don’t know until you try.

Including the roll of Goteborg’s Rape white, I simply reordered some of my favorites from above with two exceptions: two cans of Goteborg’s Rape #2 portion (different fruits; have to try it) and skruf has a strong Cranberry which I’ll be replacing the Offroad strong Cranberry with.

I’m also getting a “mystery can” as a free gift for my order so I have that to look forward to as well.

Swedish Snus: great taste, nicotine, high-nicotine if you like, discreet, cheaper than cigarettes, 98% less harmful than cigarettes, (according to Dr. Brad Radu; you’ll find his studies and a link to his website in our “The Facts” section). From a taste standpoint, in the league of a fine cigar with none of the inconveniences of smoking or chewing. You got to love it!

Sincerely,

Larry Waters
The Snus Guru