The ritual of inhaling finely ground, carefully prepared tobacco powder mixes through the nasal cavity only became common practice in Europe in the 17th century. Sailors and the great explorers would have already encountered similar rituals while discovering the New World and studying indigenous tribes. But only by acquiring the royal seal of approval from a woman, namely queen of France Catherine de Medici, who was delighted to find that taking snuff helped to ease her reoccurring migraines and hence referred to it as 'poudre de la reine' did snuff rise to popularity at European courts before the practice spread across the continent.
Until the second half of the 19th century taking snuff remained a very common ritual, which only vanished when cigarette smoking took over and became the new way of consuming nicotine. Slowly however, people are reconsidering and rediscovering this old tradition and there are still lots of secret, well-kept recipes for preparing 'snuff'. Maybe you also would be intrigued to create your own?
This seed kit contains three snuff tobacco varieties (Nicotiana tabacum):
-
Tobacco Virginia Virginia tobacco has a high sugar content and is often used for lighter tobacco blends.
-
Havana Tobacco The most iconic Cuban cigar tobacco classic.
-
Tobacco 'Badischer Geudertheimer' Old robust Alsatian
tobacco variety, ideal for dark tobacco blends.
The seeds of each variety are packaged in a separate sachet.
Cultivation: Sow as pre-culture indoors at approx. 20°C from
February. Only spread out the seeds thinly on top of the soil, as they need light to germinate and just pat them down carefully. It is important to harden-off your young plants before transplanting them outside after the ‘Frost Saints’ in mid-May. Planting distance: 40cm from each other in rows at a distance of 40-60cm in between. With regular attention to watering and plant care, tobacco plants develop at great speed.
If you intend to harvest your tobacco leafs to create your own snuff tobacco, it is recommended to pinch out the beautiful flower buds regularly, which will raise the quality and nicotine level in the leafs and promote stronger plant growth for more leafs.
