During the 18th century, a highly sought after snuff was made at Masulipatnam on the Coromandel coast of South East India and shipped to Fribourg and Treyer in claret bottles. I enclose a description from a periodical of that period:
"It is made of the best tobacco produced in the district ; the mode of preparing it is as follows: The leaves are cut into halves and the stem entirely removed. One half is dried in the sun and pounded into a coarse powder and the second half is boiled twice in salt water, and the juice extracted is used again in the place of salt water with a fresh supply of tobacco. When the juice becomes rather thick and gummy, it is poured into a big pot and left to cool. The tobacco powder is now put into large chatties and the juice, with which a little arrack has been mixed, is poured over the powder, and the preparation is allowed to stand for about a week. The snuff is then taken out and put into English wine bottles and it is ready for exportation."
In essence, every gram of milled snuff is sauced with a concentrate made from 2 kg of Sumatra leaf boiled in water salted with Maldon Sea Salt to which a very small amount of Indian Arack has been added.
NB: As with any natural tobacco product, artisan nasal snuff can be susceptible to mould if it is not stored correctly. All of our snuffs are heat treated before packing to ensure an indefinite shelf-life whilst in the original, unopened containers. Our snuffs are traditionally made without chemical preservatives and we recommend that once opened the snuffs should be kept in the tightly closed brand container and stored in a refrigerator. Only decant using a clean, dry implement.