To add yet another choice to the range of smokeless tobacco products, I decided to order some Oliver Twist pellets from Northerner along with a snus order.
Unlike snus but like nasal snuff, chewing tobacco is actually legal to buy in this country (UK) presumably because it existed here before the EU restrictions were put in place. Not all of the flavours are easy to find though so I decided to order the bergamot flavour from Northerner because it's one I can't find here.
According to the company's website and other sources, here are some stats about this particular product:
Nicotine: ~5-6mg per pellet
Absorbtion: between 20% and 80% depending on time and whether the user chews each piece or not
TSNA: ~2-3 ppm, about the same as Swedish snus
Time: about 60 minutes per pellet
First off, the tin that the product comes in is very small, much smaller that I expected.
Here is a size comparison relative to a can of Ettan White portions:
The can is made of metal (steel) and is not air tight.
The lid slides off to reveal an inner vacuum packed pouch containing about 30 very small pellets:
Once this inner pouch is opened the pellets can be removed but they're very tightly packed so they should keep fairly fresh and moist.
Here is a size comparison with an Ettan white regular sized portion:
The idea behind these pellets is not that they're put in place like a snus portion or loose snus and then left alone (although you can of course do this). Their mode of use is to place them initially between the cheek and gum and then every so often squeeze the piece between the teeth to release some more flavour/nicotine. Like Stonewalls there is no particular "default" location to put each pellet so I started further back but as time went on I came to prefer the front like snus (but this could just be habit).
They don't have a particularly strong smell but the taste when I first put one in was striking. Very strong and to me very much like real black licorice but I suspect that it's actually strong tobacco that I'm tasting. The overall flavour is not unlike LD Black snus.
Apparently bergamot is the flavouring used in Earl Grey tea (which I didn't know until yesterday) but I've never been reminded of that tea when using bergamot flavoured snus. These do however remind me of the flavour of Earl Grey tea although it's somewhat muted under the strong licorice taste.
The pellets are quite hard initially so they're not exactly comfortable (a bit like Stonewalls in that regard) but they do soften up a little with some time and chewing. Indeed compared to snus, that is one aspect I really quite like - the chewing. Although it's easy to move a snus pouch around that can make them a little slimy so I tend to leave them alone. With these pellets though I feel free to move them around, chew them a little bit, whatever. They're much like how you're supposed to use nicotine gum - chew for a bit and then put it to the side for a while. If I had to choose between the gum and the twists, I know which one I'd pick!
The taste doesn't really diminish much over time and other than softening, they don't change physically at all. After removal, after an hour or so, it looked pretty much the same as it did at the start.
Would I order it again? Probably not the bergamot flavour but I'm keen to try the one called "Arctic" which I think is some kind of fresh mint or maybe the eucalyptus and both of those I can easily source in this country.
Should the time ever come when the importation of snus from Sweden is banned then I would happily switch entirely to this product. I can see me using these alongside snus from now on; they're quite different to snus and I like the different type of flavour/texture.
Unlike snus but like nasal snuff, chewing tobacco is actually legal to buy in this country (UK) presumably because it existed here before the EU restrictions were put in place. Not all of the flavours are easy to find though so I decided to order the bergamot flavour from Northerner because it's one I can't find here.
According to the company's website and other sources, here are some stats about this particular product:
Nicotine: ~5-6mg per pellet
Absorbtion: between 20% and 80% depending on time and whether the user chews each piece or not
TSNA: ~2-3 ppm, about the same as Swedish snus
Time: about 60 minutes per pellet
First off, the tin that the product comes in is very small, much smaller that I expected.
Here is a size comparison relative to a can of Ettan White portions:
The can is made of metal (steel) and is not air tight.
The lid slides off to reveal an inner vacuum packed pouch containing about 30 very small pellets:
Once this inner pouch is opened the pellets can be removed but they're very tightly packed so they should keep fairly fresh and moist.
Here is a size comparison with an Ettan white regular sized portion:
The idea behind these pellets is not that they're put in place like a snus portion or loose snus and then left alone (although you can of course do this). Their mode of use is to place them initially between the cheek and gum and then every so often squeeze the piece between the teeth to release some more flavour/nicotine. Like Stonewalls there is no particular "default" location to put each pellet so I started further back but as time went on I came to prefer the front like snus (but this could just be habit).
They don't have a particularly strong smell but the taste when I first put one in was striking. Very strong and to me very much like real black licorice but I suspect that it's actually strong tobacco that I'm tasting. The overall flavour is not unlike LD Black snus.
Apparently bergamot is the flavouring used in Earl Grey tea (which I didn't know until yesterday) but I've never been reminded of that tea when using bergamot flavoured snus. These do however remind me of the flavour of Earl Grey tea although it's somewhat muted under the strong licorice taste.
The pellets are quite hard initially so they're not exactly comfortable (a bit like Stonewalls in that regard) but they do soften up a little with some time and chewing. Indeed compared to snus, that is one aspect I really quite like - the chewing. Although it's easy to move a snus pouch around that can make them a little slimy so I tend to leave them alone. With these pellets though I feel free to move them around, chew them a little bit, whatever. They're much like how you're supposed to use nicotine gum - chew for a bit and then put it to the side for a while. If I had to choose between the gum and the twists, I know which one I'd pick!
The taste doesn't really diminish much over time and other than softening, they don't change physically at all. After removal, after an hour or so, it looked pretty much the same as it did at the start.
Would I order it again? Probably not the bergamot flavour but I'm keen to try the one called "Arctic" which I think is some kind of fresh mint or maybe the eucalyptus and both of those I can easily source in this country.
Should the time ever come when the importation of snus from Sweden is banned then I would happily switch entirely to this product. I can see me using these alongside snus from now on; they're quite different to snus and I like the different type of flavour/texture.
!!
