This is a very simple recipe of Peterburgian snuff, which was made in Poland (Union factory, Warsaw) in the second half of the 19th century. It was the most popular snuff among those produced by Union.
"Add 15% of wood ash, 10% of potash, 7% of salt, 2% of fragrant meleot herb to the dust of the very best mahorka; after mixing and sieving it properly, add drops of fragrant bergamot oil, then package it up".
Meleot - Melilotus officinalis (yellow sweet clover), mahorka - Nicotiana rustica.
Though most old Russian varieties of rustica didn't bear mindblowing amounts of nicotine, it was (and still is) considerably stronger than regular tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum).
Strangely, water is not mentioned in this recipe. If anyone would like to recreate this snuff, I recommend using water instead of ash, which contains mostly potash after all, whereas the originally indicated amount of potash (10%) alone is more than sufficient for freebasing the nicotine. Potash can be substituted with 8 % of sodium carbonate (anhydrous) for the same effect. Sweet clover contains coumarin, so it can be substituted with tonka beans, adding them to taste into the finished snuff.
A very interesting article about snuff taking in Russia there with a reference to another, more sophisticated old recipe of stove-fermented Rose snuff, which I will hopefully translate and post in this thread someday.
P. S. 10% of potash or sodium carbonate with 15-20% moisture makes a strong snuff even with ordinary tobacco. Expect ammonia party! :)
Comments
highest quality nasal rustica snuff. Fine dust-like grind, mentholated. Nicotine
content 1.8%, moisture content 25%. Contains (in % by weight) potash 1.5,
ammonia 15, mint oil (containing 50% menthol) 0.5 to increase the strength and
create a cooling sensation. Packed in 50 g paper packages with inner parchment paper
and foil lining."
Source: http://www.mintorgmuseum.ru/vocabulary/445/
NB! No ammonia concentration indicated for this Goldfish.
Reproducers,
be careful! I would advice using 10% ammonia water. Consider adding 10 parts of water to achieve the 25% moisture, too.
@volunge, I just did the same thing with slaked lime. I could have sworn I'd read that up to 10% by weight was ok to use. It was WAY too much ammonia! However, after a couple of weeks in the jar, I dumped it out into a large bowl and set it outdoors in the breeze. About two hours later, I could actually sniff the bowl without it "knocking me out". LOL
Verbesserte Rauch- und Schnupftabak- und Cigarren-Fabrikation. Leuchs, Johann Carl (Nurnberg, 1846).
http://www.top25snuff.com/forum/41-produkcja-tabaki/137-przepisy-tabaczne.html
Just one of the recipes, originally posted there by top25snuff.com member Calculator:
"The following recipe is a great instruction for producing Scotch snuff:
16 pounds of potassium carbonate,
5 pounds of ammonium chloride,
4 pounds of salt,
100 pounds of smalls and stalks
Dissolve the first three ingredients in approx. 20 pounds of warm water, then pour onto the stems (finely cut) and smalls. The whole mixture must stand for 10-14 days until it is warm enough. Before it is ground, set it aside to dry. If it is to be scented, the essence of bergamot or lemon or Tonka beans will give it the right aroma."
Rough expression in % (mass fractions of Scotch snuff components):
Water 14 %
Potash 11 %
Ammonium chloride (salmiak) 3 %
Salt 3 %
https://snuffhouse.com/discussion/12209/what-is-your-favorite-rappee-snuff (@rostanf's post); the function of logwood, used with iron sulphate in the last formula, is to dye the snuff black.
Best Parisian Rappee
Tobacco bill:
50 parts aromatic Domingo leaves
30 parts aromatic East Indian leaves
20 parts flour of thick Havana leaves
For carottes, use 20 parts Havana leaves instead of flour.
Powdered cream of tartar ("wine stone") - 8 parts (can be substituted with 8 parts potash)
Mix the cream of tartar (or potash) with wine and water and work
this sauce into tobacco.
Dunkirk's Fine St. Omer Rappee calls for 50 parts thick Domingo lamina, 30 parts aromatic Virginia lamina, 20 parts Carolina, mixed with the following sauce: 8-9 g cream of tartar (or potash), 8-9 g Burgundy wine (or any other similar wine), 15 g crystalline sodium carbonate* (see above), 25-30 g water. Mix the cream of tartar (or potash) with wine and water and work this sauce into 100 g tobacco flour. When "fermentation" is over, mix the snuff with finely ground carbonate, using sieve.
https://i.postimg.cc/QC7FdTWk/ENFIYE-Turkish-Snuff-made-by-TEKEL.jpg
This interesting information about Turkish snuff comes from Facebook Nasal Snuff Takers group wall, originally posted by a group member Yunus.
"Enfiye had been the snuff produced by Tekel, the Turkish tobacco monopoly. Medium-grind and medium-moist, it was strong in nicotine, fragrant and naturally sweet.
Tobacco base (demi-gros):
Instructions:
(1) Of the listed, only Gurs (also spelled Xurs or Gurs) is still grown in its namesake valley. Nevertheless, Bahce's heirloom Celikhan is also extant.
The preface and footnotes are by Yunus.
Here's a formula for Russian Snuff.
Source: http://www.tabakanbau.de/de/poolinfo.php?id=8374 .
Russian Snuff (Russischer Schnupftabak)
Tobacco: 60% Nicotiana rustica, 20% Oriental (sun-cured), 20% Dark air-cured.
Ingredients for 1 kg tobacco flour:
Salt 30 g
Soda 20 g
Peppermint leaves 55 g
Caraway oil 0.7 g
Marjoram oil 0.15 g
Water 280 ml
Formula in %:
Tobacco 72%
Water 20%
Peppermint 4%
Salt 2%
Soda 1.5%
Caraway oil 0.05%
Marjoram oil 0.01%
This snuff probably was similar to Russischer Augentabak (Russian Eye Snuff), made by Bernard. At least flavour-wise; not sure, if Bernard used rustica tobacco for their Russian snuff, but it also had a peppermint flavour. A review of Bernard Russischer Augentabak: http://www.smokeless-forum.de/3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1907
Image source: https://picclick.de/Alte-Schnupftabak-Dose-Gebr-Bernard-Regensburg-Russischer-392056765287.html