How To Use Snus: A Step By Step Guide For Sweden

How to use snus: lift your upper lip, slide one pouch flat against the gum just off centre, and leave it for roughly 30 minutes to two hours before binning it. You do not chew it and you do not need to spit, because the nicotine is taken up through the lining of your mouth while the pouch simply rests where you put it. This page is 18+ only. It is written for adults who would like the routine explained properly, and it covers the way snus fits into a normal day, whether that day starts on a commuter train into Stockholm or at a kitchen table somewhere in Norrland.

The basic steps take about as long to learn as brewing a pot of coffee, but it is the small details that make a first tin feel comfortable rather than unfamiliar. So, below you will find the steps in order, where the pouch sits, how to read the numbers on the lid, how loose snus is shaped by hand, how to keep a tin fresh, and what to do about a pouch that slips or drips. If you have not picked a tin yet, you can buy snus from us whenever you are ready, and we deliver to Sweden.

Which Snus Does This Guide Mean, Brown Or White?

It means both, because placing a pouch, waiting and taking it out works almost the same way for tobacco snus and for nicotine pouches. In everyday Swedish conversation, brown snus is the tobacco kind, while white snus has become the popular name for nicotine pouches, which contain no tobacco. The two get mixed up because tobacco snus already had a style called white portion, launched in Sweden in 1998, so when a colleague in Gothenburg says white, they could mean either. The wider Snus Guide keeps the two apart, and where did snus come from tells the longer story behind the tobacco kind.

So, wherever this page says snus, it means the routine both products share, and I will point it out wherever the two behave differently. The difference you are most likely to notice is moisture. Moist brown snus is more than half water, so it feels soft and damp from the moment it goes in, while many nicotine pouches arrive noticeably drier. If you are curious about what sits inside each one, what is in snus? ingredients explained covers it, and what types of snus are there lays out every format. For a direct comparison of the two products, read snus vs nicotine pouches.

How Do You Use Snus, Step By Step?

You take one pouch from the tin, tuck it under your upper lip, leave it alone while it works, and remove it once the taste has faded. 1. Open the tin and lift out one pouch with clean, dry fingers, rolling it gently if it has been pressed flat. 2. Raise your upper lip with your free hand and slide the pouch between lip and gum, slightly to one side of your front teeth. 3. Touch it with a fingertip through the lip so that it settles, and then leave it be.

4. Give it the first few minutes while your saliva softens the pouch and the flavour and tingle come through. 5. Carry on with your day, whether that means a meeting in Uppsala or a walk to the bus stop, and keep the pouch in for as long as it feels pleasant. 6. When the flavour has gone and the feeling has tapered off, hook the pouch out with a fingertip and put it in the bin, or in the lid compartment if no bin is nearby. The pouch itself is a small bag of cellulose fibre, rather like a tiny teabag, and how is snus made explains the process behind it.

How long is long enough? A pouch usually stays in for somewhere between 30 and 120 minutes. At the long end, that is roughly the stretch from a morning fika to lunch, and at the short end it is about one coffee break. Give each new pouch a fair half hour before you judge it, since the first tingle can come as a surprise.

Where Exactly Does The Pouch Go, And Which Lip?

The pouch goes under your upper lip, flat against the gum, on whichever side feels more natural to you. That is the traditional Swedish placement, and it is where the lining of the mouth takes up the nicotine while the pouch sits still. Just off centre is a simple starting point, and from there it is a matter of preference, whether you are in a winter queue in Umeå with a scarf pulled up to the chin or at your desk.

Does the side matter? Not really, and many people simply alternate, putting each new pouch on the opposite side to the last one so that neither spot is asked to do all the work. The upper lip is the traditional choice, though some people prefer the lower lip. If a spot does not suit you, try a slightly different position, since a small shift is easy to make and costs nothing.

How Do You Open The Tin And Get Rid Of A Used Pouch?

The tin commonly holds 20 to 24 portions, and many tins have a small compartment on top of the lid for used pouches. Pouch strengths on Swedish shelves run from 3mg to 150mg per pouch, so before you open a tin it is worth looking at the base or the side for the best before date and the strength, because those two details tell you more about the tin than the picture on the front.

Getting rid of a used pouch is simple: lift it out with your fingertips and drop it into a bin. If you are on a commuter train out of Stockholm or waiting at a gate at Arlanda, drop it into the lid compartment and empty it later, which keeps everything tidy and discreet. Please bin used pouches so the pavements stay tidy in places like Helsingborg, and the bin really is where they belong.

What Do The Words And Numbers On The Tin Mean?

The number on a tin is the nicotine strength. It is printed either per gram (mg/g) or per pouch (mg), so check which one you are looking at before you compare two tins. To turn a per gram figure into a per pouch figure, multiply it by the pouch weight in grams. The Exclusive tin from Pablo snus, for example, is 50mg/g with a 0.60g pouch, which works out at 30mg per pouch. We sort pouches into four bands: Light starts at 1mg and tops out at 8mg, Medium covers 8mg up to 16mg, Strong runs up to 25mg, and Extreme begins at 25mg, so that example sits in Extreme.

The other words on the lid describe the format and the feel. Mini, normal and maxi are pouch sizes, with mini the smallest and most discreet, while slim usually means a narrower pouch that lies closer to the gum. Original portion and white portion tell you whether the pouch was moistened before packing, and words such as strong or extra strong show where that tin sits in its maker's range. A smaller pouch and a lower number make a gentle place to start, and choosing a strength and flavour goes into that properly.

What Happens In The First Few Minutes With A Pouch In?

In the first few minutes you will usually feel a tingle or a gentle warmth under the lip, and then the taste and the nicotine settle into a steady level. That opening tingle is the pouch coming to life as saliva reaches it, and it tends to be more noticeable with mint or ice flavours than with fruit or coffee at the same number. After that comes a plateau that lasts a good while, followed by a slow taper as the flavour fades, and the taper is your signal that the pouch has done its job.

Why does the same strength feel different from one tin to the next? Pouch composition plays a part. A moist original portion gives its taste readily, while a white portion, which is not moistened in production, feels drier and releases more slowly. Flavour matters too, and it could be argued that perceived strength counts for more with a newcomer than the printed figure does, since a cooling mint can feel a step stronger than a soft berry with the same mg. So, I would judge a tin over several pouches rather than on the first one alone.

If you would like a milder feel, choose a lower strength or a smaller size next time. For a fuller description of the whole experience, read what snus is like to use.

Can You Talk, Drink Or Swallow With Snus In?

Yes, you can talk, drink and swallow as normal with a pouch in, and you do not need to spit at all. Swallowing your saliva is perfectly normal, which is a big part of why the habit fits so easily into an office in Västerås or a train between Lund and Malmö without anyone noticing. Talking needs no practice once the pouch lies flat, although your first tin may feel a little unfamiliar, rather like a new pair of winter boots that take a day or two before you stop thinking about them.

Drinking is no trouble either, so a pouch can stay in through a whole fika with coffee and a cinnamon bun. It could be argued that coffee and snus are the most Swedish pairing there is, and I would not argue back. Eating is the one moment I would pause for, because chewing pushes the pouch around and mixes it with your food. So, I would take it out before a proper meal and put a fresh one in afterwards, which also gives the new pouch a clean start.

How Do You Use Loose Snus Compared With A Portion?

A portion is ready to use straight from the tin, while loose snus comes as a moist powder that you form by hand into a small, firm pellet before tucking it under the lip. Swedes have several names for that pellet, and the method is the same whatever you call it. Take a pinch, press it between your thumb and fingers into a neat shape that holds together, then lift your lip and press it against the gum. Some people use a small portioning device instead, and in the 1960s a disposable plastic syringe with the tip cut off was sold for exactly this job.

Between the two portion styles, the difference is mostly in the feel. Original portion, introduced in 1973, is moistened during manufacturing, so it is brown and soft, gives its taste readily and can drip a little more. White portion is not moistened, so it feels drier, with a milder taste and a slower release. Despite the name, white describes the style rather than the colour, and some white portions are actually black. Nicotine pouches feel closer to white portion than to original, which is one more reason the two words get muddled so often.

Which Small Habits Make The Biggest Difference?

Use one pouch at a time, keep it still and keep brown snus cold. Brown snus is not cured, so it loses its freshness faster than cured tobacco, which is why many people keep their tins in the fridge door beside the filmjölk and the fresh yeast for the short term. Spare tins go in the freezer if you want them to keep for a year or more.

Small problems have small fixes. If a pouch keeps slipping, try a mini or slim size, or place it a little higher and further back. If it feels too warm in one spot, move it to the other side rather than taking it out. If there is more drip than you like, a white portion or a nicotine pouch is usually drier than an original portion, and a glass of water nearby helps if your mouth feels dry. That being said, the best fix is often patience, so for your next pouch, place it just off centre under your upper lip and give it a full half hour before you decide anything.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Snus
• Wikipedia (Swedish): Snus