Types of snus: loose, portion, white and all-white
Every snus format explained side by side, from loose tobacco to white dry portions, and why all-white is a nicotine pouch rather than snus.
Quick answer: Snus comes in five formats: loose, original portion, white portion, white dry portion and all-white. The first four contain tobacco and differ mainly in moisture, which controls how fast the nicotine releases and how much the portion drips. All-white is tobacco-free, so it is a nicotine pouch and the only one of the five that can be sold in the UK.
The format matters as much as the brand. Two tins from the same maker at the same nicotine per gram will feel completely different if one is an original portion and the other a white dry. This page lays out each type, then puts them in one table. If you need the basics first, start with what snus is, and for the whole subject see our snus hub.
Loose snus
Loose snus is ground, moist tobacco sold without a bag, usually in a 42g to 45g tin. It is the oldest format and the one Swedish traditionalists still buy. You shape a pinch into a small roll (a prilla) with your fingers or a tool called a prismaster, then tuck it under your top lip.
Loose gives the fullest tobacco flavour and the fastest nicotine release, because nothing stands between the tobacco and the gum. It is also the messiest: the prilla can break up, it drips more than any portion, and it needs practice to shape well.
Original portion
Original portion snus is the same moist tobacco sealed in a small, brown-tinted fibre bag. Swedish Match introduced the format in 1973 and it quickly became the mainstream. The bag is moistened in production, so flavour and nicotine arrive quickly, within a minute or two, and there is a fair amount of drip (the brown liquid that collects as the portion sits).
Original portions typically weigh around 1g in the large size, with slim versions near 0.7g. Nicotine is usually 8mg per gram for a regular line, so a 1g original portion holds about 8mg of nicotine in total.
White portion
White portion snus uses the same tobacco in a bag that is not moistened on the outside. The bag stays white and dry to the touch. Because the tobacco has to draw moisture from your mouth before it releases, white portions start slower, run longer and drip far less. They also tend to stain teeth less than original portions, since less liquid leaks out.
White portions arrived in the late 1990s and now account for a large share of the Swedish market. Most people who want a discreet, low-mess tobacco snus end up here. Flavour is slightly muted compared with original.
White dry portion
White dry takes the same idea further. The bag is dry and the tobacco inside carries less water too, which pushes the start later and the release longer still. Drip is close to zero. Many extra strong snus lines, Siberia among them, use the white dry format, because a dry portion lets the maker pack a very high nicotine per gram without the product becoming unpleasantly wet. Our Swedish snus brands page goes through which lines use which format.
All-white
All-white is where the language goes wrong. The term describes a portion that stays completely white, before and after use, because there is no tobacco in it. The nicotine is carried on plant fibre instead. That product is a nicotine pouch. ZYN, VELO, Nordic Spirit and the rest of the brands on our nicotine pouches hub are all-white products.
Some makers used all-white as a marketing label for their first tobacco-free lines, and in Sweden the term still appears on tins. In the UK it just means pouch. The practical point is the one that matters here: all-white is not caught by the UK oral tobacco ban and is legal to sell to adults aged 18 and over. The other four formats are tobacco and cannot be sold. We cover the naming confusion in full on white snus vs nicotine pouches.
Every type compared
| Type | Tobacco | Moisture | Drip | Onset | Duration | Sold in the UK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loose | Yes | High | High | Fastest, 1 to 2 minutes | 20 to 40 minutes | No |
| Original portion | Yes | High | Medium to high | Fast, 1 to 3 minutes | 20 to 45 minutes | No |
| White portion | Yes | Medium | Low | Slower, 3 to 5 minutes | 30 to 60 minutes | No |
| White dry portion | Yes | Low | Very low | Slowest, 5 minutes or more | 45 to 60 minutes or longer | No |
| All-white (nicotine pouch) | No | Low to medium | Very low | 2 to 5 minutes | 20 to 45 minutes | Yes, 18 and over |
Onset and duration figures are typical ranges, not promises. A strong portion feels like it starts faster simply because there is more nicotine in it.
Sizes: mini, slim and large
Across every portion type you will also see three sizes.
- Mini, about 0.5g. Small, discreet, shorter lasting. Usually lower total nicotine per portion.
- Slim, about 0.7g. Narrower and longer than a large, sits flatter under the lip. The default size for most modern lines, and the size most nicotine pouches copy.
- Large or original, about 1g. The traditional shape. More flavour, more nicotine per portion, more visible.
Because snus is labelled per gram, the size changes the dose even when the label number does not. A 0.5g mini at 8mg per gram carries half the nicotine of a 1g large at the same strength. Nicotine pouches in the UK are labelled per pouch, which avoids that trap but creates another, explained in our guide to mg per pouch vs mg per gram.
Which type suits which user
If you used tobacco snus abroad and want the closest legal match in the UK, map your old format to a pouch format. Original portion users usually prefer moist or original-format pouches in the strong band. White and white dry users tend to like dry slim pouches, which behave almost identically. Our page on dry vs moist nicotine pouches explains how the pouch formats differ.
Whatever you pick, start one strength band lower than you think you need. A 1g Swedish original at 8mg per gram is not the same experience as a 0.7g dry pouch labelled 10mg; the pouch tends to hit harder and faster.
Frequently asked questions
Is white snus tobacco-free?
Not necessarily. In Sweden, white snus (white portion or white dry) is tobacco in a dry white bag. In the UK, people use the words to mean tobacco-free pouches. Look for the words tobacco-free on the tin. If it does not say so, assume it contains tobacco.
Which type of snus drips the least?
White dry portions drip the least, followed by white portions. Original portions and loose snus drip the most. All-white nicotine pouches sit at the dry end as well, which is one reason they suit people who want a discreet product.
Which type of snus is strongest?
Strength depends on the line, not the format, but the strongest snus on the market tends to come in white dry portions because the dry format handles very high nicotine per gram better. Siberia at 43mg per gram is the usual example.
Can I buy any of these in the UK?
Only the all-white type, because it is a tobacco-free nicotine pouch. Loose, original, white and white dry snus all contain tobacco and cannot legally be sold in the UK. See our page on snus and UK law for the detail.