White Portion

Everything you need to know about white portion

There are a variety of different types of snus on the market. Flavor, model, strength, and manufacturing method vary. You can say that there is a variant for every personality, so you can find a favorite snus that suits you perfectly. A very popular variant is white portion snus with tobacco. We will tell you more about why this snus has become so popular here, and what distinguishes white portion from, for example, original portion.

White portion is a type of snus that contains tobacco, packaged in portion bags. Before you place a white portion under your upper lip, the portion bag that encloses the contents is dry and white. This means that you get a long-lasting release of both flavor and nicotine when you place the portion under your lip. Many people find that white portion gives a fresher feeling compared to, for example, original portion, which is brown and moist before use, and which runs more during use.

Loose snus laid the foundation in the early 1800s

To understand the differences between the different types of snus, we go back in history, to the beginning of the 1800s when loose snus became incredibly popular in Sweden. Before this, tobacco was used by grinding down the leaves and inhaling the powder through the nose. This was called snuff. At the turn of the century between the 1700s and 1800s, Swedes went from using snuff to placing a pinch under the lip. In this way, Swedish snus was invented.

Using tobacco by placing it under the lip provided a more comfortable use, but also a more efficient production. Jacob Fredrik Ljunglöf, who became the head of the Swedish company Lundgren-Anderssonska Tobaksfabrik in 1821, was instrumental in developing loose snus into what it is today. Shortly after Ljunglöf took over the business, he enlisted the help of a chemist. Together, they came up with a way to produce a whole batch of loose snus in just one week through pasteurization, instead of a six-month process that was previously used. This only required tobacco, salt, water, and potassium carbonate, also known as potash. They called their product Ettan Snus and it is still around today.

Starts manufacturing in portion bags

The last 200 years, loose snus has looked the same, and until the 1970s, loose snus was also the only option for snus users. The company Swedish Match was the first to launch portion snus. It was a tobacco content similar to loose snus that was packaged in small, soft paper bags, and which was placed directly under the lip. Since the snus was already divided into portions, you could avoid the mess and spillage that came with squeezing loose snus with your fingers. Now, both options were available on the market, loose snus and portion snus. When more types of portions were later launched, such as white portion, this first variant was named original portion.

The innovation white portion

In the 1990s, the next innovation in snus came, namely white portion. Like before, the content was packed in small portion bags, but instead of moistening the bag to get a quick taste and nicotine experience, white portion was kept dry. This requires a little longer to start releasing flavors and nicotine after they are moistened by saliva. But instead, the substances are released at a more even rate and give you a more long-lasting snus experience. White portion does not run as much as an original portion when you have it under your lip.

When an original portion is moistened during manufacturing, the bag is colored brown by the tobacco, and since white portion is not moistened, the bag remains white. Hence the name white portion. However, the content is still brown. White portion should not be confused with what is sometimes called white snus or all white portion. A better name for this is nicotine pouches. Nicotine pouches are completely white and contain no tobacco, only nicotine that has been extracted from tobacco leaves together with a filling of cellulose and flavors. Nicotine pouches came onto the market in the early 2000s.

What does white portion taste like?

Most brands have some type of white portion in their assortment. For example, Ettan Snus, Grov Snus, Catch, Göteborgs Rape, Skruf, XR, White Fox, Odens, General, Lundgrens, Jakobssons, Siberia and many more. Many brands only work with the classic tobacco flavor, and highlight its characteristic tones. Others combine tobacco and nicotine in white portion with mint flavors to give the user a stimulating kick. Some examples that you should try if you like mint are General White Mint Portion with a nicotine level of 8 mg/g, and the stronger Kapten Frostmint White Extra Strong with 15 mg/g.

Some brands are even more adventurous than that, and flavor the tobacco in white portion with things like red berries, herbs, licorice, or cola. You can find licorice in Odens Licorice Extreme White Dry Portion and Catch Licorice White Large, for example. Knox Karaktär Red White has hints of red berries, while Göteborgs Rapé Lingon White tastes like lingonberries. Kapten Melon White Extra Strong has a melon flavor, and Jakobssons Strong Cola Slim White Portion tastes like a cold glass of cola. You see, the selection of white portion is endless and it's just a matter of starting to explore.

White portion in different formats

White portion is available not only in many different flavors, but also in several different formats. We are all different, and therefore there are some who find that large portions bags lie best under the upper lip, while others think that the mini portion format is most comfortable. There is something for everyone, and the sizes that follow below apply to both original portion and white portion.

The largest portion bag is the one that is often called original, normal, or large. This fills well under the lip and often contains between 0.7-1.1 grams of snus. Normal is the most popular size within white portion. The next size, slim, is also a common format. Slim is narrower than normal, but about the same size. Many people find that slim portion is slightly more comfortable under the lip. The contents that fit in slim often range between 0.7-0.9 grams of snus.

Super slim is a format that is even slimmer and more discreet than slim. These portions typically contain around 0.5 grams of snus. The smallest format within white portions is mini. These are suitable for those who don't want it to be visible that they have snus under their lip. A mini portion contains approximately 0.3-0.5 grams of snus. The content may vary between different brands, so read the product description before ordering on SnusMe.com to see the correct information.