Zen and the Art of Icetool Maintenance

The Icetool is a wonderful, useful tool.   Keeps your hands clean, forms a perfect little prilla of snus and delivers it precisely.  But after a few uses, it becomes sticky, difficult to work.   Never fear, you don't need oils or replacements for the O-ring.  

Here's what the inside looks like after a few uses...  Some crumbs at the end, but those aren't your problem, it's the streaks of stuff on the interior that are causing your issues..   A pipe cleaner, doubled over and dipped in your favorite libation (I use Woodford Reserve Bourbon) will clean that out really quickly.

Here's the pipe cleaner after cleaning out the Icetool.

I used a bit of vodka so the color wouldn't hide the gunk coming off the Icetool.  After cleaning that guy out and a quick similar cleaning of the O-ring, the Icetool works just as good as new!   I don't use oils or wax on the O-ring, as this will encourage stuff to collect on it.   Just give the Icetool a quick cleaning as needed! 

NYHET! Skruf Xtra Stark Lös (and portions)

opened the mailbox today with a SPECIAL SURPRISE from our friends at skruf!

happy to see the lös in there, since i got the icetool, i've been almost exclusively lös..    I'm a little scared tho, at 19mg per gram, I'm definitely doing a 1 click of the 3ml icetool to start out with.    I've not had skruf lös so I'm looking forward to this.

Nice... the vitamin N punch from a little 1 clicker wasn't as scary as I thought, in fact, it's pretty nice..   The flavor is better in the lös than the portion to my tastes.   The vitamin N content means I'll probably wait on this until after a good meal, but it also means it'll go a little farther for my tastes.  A quick check on Northerner shows this available now, while other outlets are taking pre-orders for March delivery.

If you like it strong, you gottta try skruf Xtra Stark!

Göteborg's Prima Fint

mmm... classic snus.   restrained flavor..  loads of salt in this one.  a very mild snus overall, makes a tight pris in the icetool (I might've overpacked this one as I was coming from Roda Lacket)

from http://www.goteborgsprimafint.com/

Göteborgs Prima Fint was launched in 1919 and is only available as loose snus. It is a mild snus with a pure and slightly sweet tobacco flavour.

So it's a classic!   A prime snus the way snus was meant to be enjoyed.   Easy going, a regular use type snus when you don't want to be bothered with odd/weird flavors or feel like you've stuck some candy in your mouth.

Economies of Lös

I'm still working on the first two cans of Lös i've opened..    I've also been through more tins of portions (Oden's OP is great stuff).

The economies of lös cannot be ignored here folks.   A 45g tin of lös goes MUCH farther with my (average?) usage than portions do, for about the same cost I get much more use.   $40 on an icetool will pay for itself in a hurry at this rate.   I put back a roll of Roda Lacket for levelling out the dips in my stock, but at this rate with lös going much farther than portions, a roll will do nicely for a good long time!

Folks, you must try an icetool if you're going to give lös a fair shake, you owe it to yourself and your pocketbook.

Taboca Lös

Two clicks on the Icetool of Taboca Lös in, and it's good..   The fig is all but unidentifiable in the flavor profile, but the overall flavor is nice, mild tobacco and bergamot/citrus also restrained to give a really easy going snus experience.  Taboca is one snus you don't mind sniffing, the bergamot-citrus really stands out at you in the aroma and on your breath.

I like the way this one packs too, tight little pris that stays put for a good long 90+ min prilla without a hint of slide.  The tin is pretty sweet too, I like the metal case, the 35g is a bit of a downside, but I'll give up the 20% less snus for a case like this overall, saves me from springing for that icetool tin (although i probably will buy that thing sooner or later).  All in all, this is a great snus in lös, and a really great choice for lös in general!

Roda Lacket Lös

Shipment from Northerner just came in, HOO-RAH.

I'm trying a pris of Roda Lacket currently.   Much tighter, nicer pris than i get from General Lös, I can see how being a regular lös user might happen now.  60-90 min with minimal drip, no mudslide and good flavor.

This is GOOD STUFF!  I'm digging on the muted flavorings, all across the board.  Tad bit of licorice, tad bit of fruit... tobacco flavor is there too, and not too heavily salted.   Absolutely love this stuff, I think a roll of it might just be in order.  The pris stays put, no slide, largely due to the Icetool's help I believe.  60-90 minutes is NO ISSUE with this either, I'm backing it up with a coke zero, and enjoying the heck out of my post-lunch snus.

On the note of the Icetool, previously I'd pack the Icetool, pop the pris out and try to insert it.   This resulted in crumbs, and broken pris.   I've started using the Icetool to insert it directly underneath my upper lip, and this is a much improved process for getting things done.

Hope your snussing is as good as mine today!

First Lös Pris!

Ok, got my icetool and a can of General Lös.

Pris was a bit bigger than i thought it would be.   I don't think I packed it quite tightly enough either, it cracked into two pieces on the way in, so I shoved it up into my lip and tucked the pris in with my tongue.   Now I have what feels like a standard sized portion up in there..  Flavor is a bit more evident, Vitamin N rush was a bit more evident up front.   I'm drinking a chai tea with this so that's balancing nicely.

I'm anxious to see what other flavors and brands are like, General is "ok" but rather run-of-the-mill for my tastes, I could see a regular several-pris a day user doing something like General Lös, but I view these as more of a 1-2 a day kinda thing, if that.  I'm particularly interested in the Roda Lacket and some of the licorice snus that I see, doing the impatient dance waiting on my order from Northerner to get here, I have a nice sampling on the way.

Update after the jump -

ICETOOL - Stainless Steel

THE ICETOOL IS HERE!

Oh my long awaited icetool from Northerner has arrived! I couldn't be more excited, but like a kid at christmas when "batteries not included" I find myself WITHOUT a can of snus to try it on! Time to make a trip down to the local for some General Lös! (Yes, I did order some lös, it's just in a different shipment!)


It's a 3mm tool, and my initial thoughts are "That's a helluva pris!" but since it's the small size, we'll have to wait and see.   The action is smooth, and I can't wait to try it out!