If you are familiar with the UK Snus market, then you will know there are tons of brands to consider. I have used Snus for nearly two decades, and in that time, I have seen many come and go. Many years ago, there were only illegal tobacco-based Snus available. Now, we have a variety of different Snus brands in the form of variant nicotine pouches. In this article, I am going to talk through the many considerations by which I calibrate the best Snus.
Best Snus: A UK Market Explosion of Brands
Honestly, over 2021/22 there seems to be an avalanche of Snus brands that have entered the UK market. The battle for the top spot goes deeper than just which brands you see on the shelves of Sainsbury's or Tesco. It is among us frequent consumers who are loyal to specific brands or flavours that you will see real Snus understanding. The inception of Snus nicotine pouches on our retail shelves has served to add confusion to the market. The bar to entry is still relatively low. The market is young enough for brands to throw products into the melting pot, even if products are sub-optimal.
Consider some of our favourite consumer items. There are so many that enter a market with USPs to capture an audience. Some will be of quality build or flavour. Some will be cheap. Snus is pretty consistent in price regardless of the brand. So, how do you choose the best Snus?
Unfortunately, the difference between these retail stores that stock Snus nicotine pouches and Snusboys is that they have few brands. And, you would be extremely fortunate to find a member of staff who used Snus personally. Well, here I am, a Snus connoisseur and confessed tech nerd. I subconsciously compare everything!
The Driver of Sales: Best Snus Flavour
Flavour is a super important part of brand marketing sales to the consumer. I have been caught up in buying Snus for the flavour profile. I am embarrassed to admit, but sometimes the lure of new flavours, or packaging has done enough to persuade me. To some extent, I think the new versions of "Snus" brought about excitement in people like me. Having previously only had access to brands like Thunder, Siberia & Odens, the diversified market is a dream. And yes, I am talking about the old-school tobacco-based times when your options were different levels of mint! Oh, how times change!
Richness in flavour is something that I look for in Snus nicotine pouches today. If a pot of Snus claims grapes, or apples, then I expect exactly that. The difficulty with flavour is subjective palates. That being said, if I gave marmite to most of the UK on a spoon, most would know what it is! Why should the same not occur in something else that sits in your mouth? If I order a pot of Banana Snus, that is what I want to taste.
Flavour Exusion in the Best Snus
Now, flavour exusion is something I take pretty seriously. Sometimes, stronger palates can slowly kill the flavour of Snus the longer it is loaded. However, some Snus are awful at maintaining flavour for longer than a couple of minutes, if at all. I have found this in so many brands, that I will not go into, we can save that for another article (cough cough Velo, Nordic Spirit, cough)! Through the load period, of course, I expect the taste to fade as the palate adjusts. But, sometimes it just seems to dissipate in the air once a pouch is taken out of the box. Therein lies the question to manufacturers - what is the real focus, of a great consumer product? Or something to throw on a shelf knowing that the market is young and people are yet to adapt?
Snus Strengths & Guide to Understanding Them
You have seen the pots on the shelf. Random mg/g or mg. OK, let's clear this up from the outset. The Mg/g means mg per gram. The mathematical equation stumped me when I first got into this so if I am speaking rhetorically here, bare with me! Now, hardly any Snus pouches contain a gram of nicotine. So, inadvertently, you are unlikely to ever consume the full strength of the mg/g. Hence many brands will publish their strengths in this format. Because the mg/g looks stronger. You should focus on the pouch mg. If you found this helpful you should read my guide to the strongest Snus here
Maths lesson out of the way! Now, there are some composition-based factors which can affect the strength acutely. I am going to give a ruthless example, Kurwa, one of the brand's products claims to have 60mg of strength. Honestly, I have hit Velo's that hit harder than a Kurwa pouch. The whacky and wild flavours were appealing (remember when I said I had been sold before). But, the actual strength I can only make comparable to something around 12mg in Velo extra strong which is more like "Snus for starters." The composition of some pouches is thick-walled and of poor material. I can usually tell when I first gum a Snus how quickly the hit is going to arrive after all these years. I am not impartial to a slow-releasing pouch, in fact, in some cases I prefer them. But, for some reason poor pouch composition always seems to affect the top-end strength conduction.
Best Strengths for Beginners
If this was 2012 this would have been a very different article. However, in a market that has so much competition, things are changing constantly. I recommend starting with something around the 20mg level. Cuba White is a fantastic line of Snus at 16mg. "Well, you just said 20mg" you say? Remember I mentioned that composition plays a factor in how strong a Snus is? The Cuba brand is one of the best composite brands that I have tried. The pouches are quick to release nicotine into the system and the flavour is immense in each of their lines. At 16mg, the release speed and potential are congruent with that of a 20mg pouch.
Best Snus for Daily Smokers
Interestingly I quit smoking in 2009 after smoking for nearly eight years. I managed to stop the death sticks after a combination of using Snus and smoking at the same time. Slowly but surely, my consumption of cigarettes began to decrease. My usage of Snus increased. I am no scientist, and I know there have been multiple studies on the effects of Snus, but it helped me. I remember mornings unable to breathe because of the combination of asthma and tar.
So, a typical cigarette contains around 8mg of nicotine. The problem with cigarettes is the toxins taken into the system to release the nicotine. If you are smoking ten cigarettes a day, like I was, it was 30mg or so of Snus pouches that helped to alleviate the cravings. Over the day, the effects of lower strengths were still noticeable, but not nearly as much as I needed to quell the cravings.
Best Snus for Vapers & E-Cigarettes
Ironically, I tried using disposable vapes during my quest to quit smoking, and that resulted in my smoking more. Yes, there are some correlations between vapes being similar to smoking in some regards. I can see that in the social elements and perhaps the routine physiology between hand and mouth. For me, it was down to the need for nicotine. Maybe, to some extent, I was a pure smoker like one of the old schools that needed a cigarette or I would explode.
For those that are vaping at 3mg - 8mg then a brand that sits between 12mg - 18mg should suit fine. For those at the higher levels of nicotine liquid, you should consider 30mg plus.
It is difficult because different vaping contraptions have different levels of pushing the nicotine into your stream. I guess for the people that have the huge contraptions like a chimney in your pocket you would need to get a pouch that hits at over 50mg.
The Mr Burns: Tingle, Tingle Little Pouch
I am going to come right out with it: If you are unsure whether the fabled Snus burn is real, yes it is! Different pouch compositions, different brands, different gums. There are too many factors to list without getting too technical, but yes, sometimes Snus can burn. That being said, the word burn sounds a little strong. It is not like your mouth will feel like Satan is doing a tap dance! It's just enough to let you know that something a little alien is in your mouth. And, I am sure some of you put a lot worse in your mouth (wink), so don't worry too much.
I am not a manufacturer of Snus, but I know a bit. In my experience, some of the better composite pouches tend to burn a little more. My educated guess is that the ingredients are less protected by outside walls as they are thinner. The result of this is a quicker releasing nicotine hit, stronger flavour, but increased burn.
My Best Snus for Flavour
Without a shadow of a doubt, the Supreme Super Melon is the best Snus in the world. You may read this and think that I am overstating. When you put this pouch in your gum, the senses are overwhelmed. I knew it was a great-tasting Snus when I started to try and lick the pouch subconsciously in my gum. It has a rich flavour, and consistent flavour and has perpetuated way past the amount of time I could take. Oh, it is 100mg so is not a pouch for beginners! But, it is worth building up to this strength just to be able to try this pouch!
Supreme came back with vengeance in 2023 with rebranded products that have shaken the market. Now, without fail, there are lots of Supreme in my monthly orders.
My Best Snus for Strength
As I mentioned earlier, Cuba is exceptional in delivering quick-hitting nicotine. The 150mg Pinacolada is blazingly fast and ridiculously flavourful. It is like a party in the Caribbean with a smack in the face, if you like that type of thing! The 150mg strength is a lot to contend with, especially for infrequent users of Snus. 150mg is tough for anyone to contend with. But, at the right times, this is an incredible Snus.
In Conclusion
Snus has been testing the boundaries of consumer demand for a few years now. The settling of brands into their respective audiences is starting to form the UK hierarchy of the best Snus in the UK. For me, Supreme is an incredible brand that offers richness in flavour, craftsmanship in pouch composition, and strength in abundance. I would go as far as to say Supreme is one of the first brands to consider the user experience before the revenue. With pouches made to suit a vast array of palates and even the most demanding of desired strengths, I see the bustle for market share beginning to reform again.