My last post made mention of drink paring, and I think it warrants further exploration. There is something special about enjoying your snus with a beverage... and hot/caffeinated beverages are by far my favorite. Which should be no surprise, caffeine and nicotine are an amazing combination. Don't worry, I'll get around to cold drinks and alcoholic beverages later... So let's start with tea, anything that isn't overly flavored (see my favorites list) will go amazingly well with green tea... the polyphenols in green tea are known to be extremely effective at combating bad breath, and also serve as an excellent palate cleanser... The astringent qualities help to "waken" or "open" taste buds in my opinion the heat aids in the flavor release of snus. Combine all this with the cancer fighting/antioxidant properties of green tea, and I simply cannot think of a better tasting/healthier, calorie free way to accentuate your favorite snus. That said, you may want to steer clear of Japanese green tea varieties... as they tend to be VERY green, and a bit spinachy--which can overpower your snus. A Chinese style (lightly oxidized) green is much milder... recently I've been working on loose leaf Gunpowder Green. A few other great alternatives would be white tea, or spring bud oolong (a favorite with Lab Series). Jasmine green tea is exceptional with anything that has slightly sweet or floral notes (Roda Lacket, Scruf). Darker teas such as Assam Black, Black Pearl, Ceylon pair well with Ettan, Grov and General (and if you enjoy bergamont, I bet Earl Grey would go well with these too). I think that's enough about tea... now let's talk coffee. I highly recommend beans with an acid character... Kenya AA, Ethiopian Sidamo or Yirgacheffe would be my top picks. These really pop with the citrus and pepper notes of any snus... and I couldn't imagine the day my coworkers would be in for if I missed my morning pairing *grins*. Now if you're not a coffee/tea snob... you're probably thinking, err... where do I find this stuff? Sadly, I buy both locally. Tea I get from asian groceries... I think it's worthy of mention that I avoid Chinese and middle eastern origin in favor of Japan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, or Thailand (for quality/contamination/parasite reasons)... I know this may sound contradictory based on my green tea recommendation, but it's not... I was referring to style, not origin. I realize the coffee comes from regions that could be of concern too, but the roasting acts as an acceptable kill step in my eyes. If you look hard enough, there will be a specialty coffee shop in every major city... look for one that carries quality/fair trade/single origin beans (hint Starbucks and grocery chains aren't going to have what you're looking for).... hope this is helpful! Happy Snusing!
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