Nicotine and Caffeine - Revved Up energy dip

I do not chew. I am not a dipper, a chewer, or a gator lip. The closest I have come was years ago in college when I thought buying tobacco products like raspberry snuff, mini-hookas, flavored rolling paper and bongs to smoke Loose leaf tea was awesome. Well, there was that one weekend that involved cans of Skoal, way too much beer, bingo filled Canadian dance clubs and a overly friendly seven foot tall hockey playing bouncer, but I can't remember a whole lot about that one.

And now I am faced with three of the most interesting products I have EVER seen in my multi-year history of trying caffeine stuff. The good folk at Southern Smokeless sent me one of each flavor of Revved Up Energy Dip, a line of caffeinated chewing tobacco.

This is the brainchild of two marines, who saw a market while waiting in line at a base convenience store where they were stationed in Beaufort, S.C. They found so many soldiers buying Red Bull or Monster and Dip. So like Clamato and Bud, they naturally joined the two products together.

The creators of the products were very straight about their market. “We do not look at it as trying to convert people to chew tobacco. What we’re doing is giving our fellow troops … when they’re in combat, they’re doing it anyways because they’re not smoking as much. We’re giving them a better product that will keep them more alert, and may ultimately save their lives. They need this, and they want this.”

Because I am not a dipper, I shared my can with some people I knew who were regular dippers and could give an accurate review of this stuff when compared to regular cans of chaw. While they were dipping away, I went to a professional dipper and tobacco store proprietor at The Tewksbury Company to get some lessons on how to properly dip.

First, you have to pack the can. why? I saw on youtube people keep slapping cans like they were maracas. I guess it is important to pre-pack or the chew might leak out of the canister. Then you take a small pinch ( My regular dippin friend took about 1/5th the can and shoved the Big Hoss right in between his lower lip) , try to pinch it into a pack (real Dip pros don't even need to pack) and shove it between your lip and gum. I guess this stuff is really juicy or I packed too hard, as the juice from the chew ran down my fingers and dripped off, staining a strip of brown all my wrist. I found it not very clumpy or sticky, and did not really want to pack tight. I was told to leave the pinch in for at least half an hour - which turned out to be no problem at all. I was also told that a can usually lasts a person 1-2 days. I just found I wanted to take a drink, eat some food, and be in public, and I was not about to chance any of those things with a big wad in my mouth, as I don't know what would be worse - swallowing some dip, or having it dribble out of my mouth in public.

Packaging:10
Even cooler, the founders are not only brilliant inventors and Badass marines, they are also decent with the artistry too. “We made it with colored pencils,” laughed Matt Doran, one of the originators of the idea. “The artwork on the can is almost, to a tee, the original artwork that Matt and I created,” said his partner Steven Rundel. Of course there is no mention of how much energy ingredients there are in each package - which might or might not be interesting for people who are already pinching nicotine.

Taste:10
The cool thing is that all three flavors were really easy to dip. The original flavor tasted much like coffee or something equally dark and smoky. It was really a good flavor, not at all what I was expecting. I remember dip being this nasty flavored fake mint sourness that you had to work to not keep from escaping out of your lips. For a newbie, this was a great introduction to the world of dip. The Wintergreen was the next one to try, which was very nice - like sprigs of mint filling up my senses, very fresh and a little burning. This was all in preparation for the Blue Mint flavor, which was too strong for my tender virgin lip. This burned enough I started to lick the spot, like a wounded kitty. Of course, every time my tongue hit the wad it I got close to vomiting.

My friend summed up his whole experience with the flavors like this:
"Man! this sh*t is good! I am all revved up! Where can I find more of this - this is some good Sh*t. I gotta get me more of it - I am all revved now! WOOOO!! REEEEVVVVVVEED UP!"

The big drawback, of course, is all the damn spitting. Every 30 seconds I had to spit again, and the whole time it was a deep opaque color. Fortunately, I found a nice 20 ounce black bottle to spit in so no one, including me, had to look at the big glops. It seems this was not because I was just a Newbie. This stuff makes you spit even more than more common brands, according to my chewing buddies. Now of course I examined the spit ( ewww) and the wintergreen makes the spit green - like it could get any more ick. Both the Mint and the Original came out a thick tar-like black.

Buzz:10
So after all this - How much caffeine are you taking in? There is around 160 mg, or the amount in a 16 ounce monster in every can. It also contains a blend of B & C-Vitamins, Ginseng, and Taurine too, so it is like sipping and spitting on an energy drink all day long. There are no added sugars, and the tobacco blend used contains 65% less carcinogens than found in dark fire cured tobaccos - which means something , I guess. For me, I felt the nicotine buzz and the caffeine buzz, which is a really good thing. I dared not drink anything except in between dips, which meant no coffee, energy tabs or drinks during the day either. The buzz was nice and mellow, being absorbed through my lip and gums, and hopefully I did not ingest too much of the stuff.

A gross disgusting addictive habit forming puke inducing habit, yes. But it sure had a nice buzz and tasted great too. If you are not a dipper, you don't wanna start. But, If you are already a dipper, I would stock up on what is bound to be what is going to be making round circles in your back pocket for a long, long time