Elicit Herbal Chew Review
I’m always on the lookout for another tool in the arsenal of someone looking to quit dipping. Last month, I received 2 inquiries in the span of a couple of hours asking me if I’d tried / heard of Elicit Herbal Chew. Time for another review! Elicit Herbal Chew – elicitherbalchew.com – is the newest player in the smokeless alternative market and one that offers a little something extra (in some cases)… nicotine.
PLEASE NOTE: This review ONLY pertains to the NICOTINE FREE version of these products. I have not, and will not try the versions of this product that contain nicotine.
I would have had this review done quite a bit quicker, but I’ve been dealing with quite a few mouth issues as chronicled here. Elicit Herbal Chew comes in 3 flavors (Wintergreen, Mint & Cinnamon) and in 4 nicotine levels (No Nicotine, Half Strength, Full Strength and Extra Strength) and is available for purchase from their online store.
Initial Impressions
Elicit comes in nice metal tins with a screw top. This is a departure from the normal tins that tobacco is sold in and they’re a little smaller than standard tins, but I liked the heft that the cans gave. All 3 flavors smelled great when opening and they were packed full. Good value there. I was a bit disappointed with how difficult a couple of my cans were to open. This seemed to happen only after I’d opened the can for the first time but it seemed that on subsequent openings of the can it was VERY difficult to get it unscrewed. Not sure if it was my fault for closing it too tightly but something I wanted to point out. Also, they use flat shipping from their online store (which many do) but because of this it makes the cost of a single can VERY expensive. Purchasing multiple cans makes the shipping cost pretty negligible.
As KillTheCan.org supports the cold turkey method of cessation, I can’t say that I’m thrilled with an herbal chew that contains nicotine in any form. That said, I was very happy to see that the label on the cans is very clear if you’re getting a nicotine or non-nicotine version of the product. The full disclaimer on their website goes on to say what should be said:
Nicotine is addictive and habit forming; very toxic by nature and should not come in contact with the skin and if swallowed; danger of serious damage to health by prolonged exposure if swallowed; irritating to eyes and skin; may cause sensitization by skin contact; may cause harm to the unborn child; may cause drowsiness or dizziness; very toxic to aquatic organisms, may cause long-term adverse effects in the aquatic environment; after contact with skin, wash immediately with plenty of water and seek medical advice;
In addition to the nicotine warning, Elicit includes an expiration date on their product which I absolutely appreciate. I do have to give strong props to Elicit as they suggest that people gradually step down from their products that contain nicotine to their non-nicotine version. Whether or not customers do that… well, that’s another discussion for another time.
Wintergreen Herbal Chew – No Nicotine
I’m a former Kodiak Wintergreen guy so I always start with Wintergreen when doing my testing. Nice aroma when opening the tightly packed can. Product is nice and soft and holds together nicely. The cut I’d describe as somewhere between the chunkiness that Hawken offers and the long cut that Skoal or Kodiak Wintergreen provides. Good longevity with nice spitability. Good dark brown spit which is a plus for some folks. Very little float in the back of my mouth as I worked my chew and cleaned up good with a swish or two with a mouthful of water.
Mint Herbal Chew – No Nicotine
If I was a Kodiak Wintergreen guy first, I was a Skoal Mint guy second. Once again, great smell when opening the can and the Mint flavor was VERY moist which I liked. Good longevity and spitability once again with refreshing take on Mint flavoring which I’d put somewhere between Skoal Mint and Kodiak Ice.
Cinnamon Herbal Chew – No Nicotine
I’m not a big flavored chew guy and I’m not a big fan of Cinnamon chews in general so I saved this one for last. That said, I recognize there are some folks that love cinnamon and it’s a big win that Elicit offers it. Once again, good flavor and longevity. If you’re a flavored cinnamon fan you’ll enjoy this flavor.
The Pros
- Good spitability.
- Long lasting flavor.
- Nice texture.
The Cons
- Some versions contain nicotine.
- High shipping on single cans. (flat rate)
Overall
When I first heard of Elicit I have to admit that I cringed a bit. As you know, I’m VERY anti-nicotine so any product that contains it immediately has a strike against it in my book. That said, I know there are some people out there who are looking for a “starter product” when it comes to quitting. I’d warn anyone who’s getting these to truly understand which version of the product they’re getting and I’d urge them to go with the nicotine free product. I can’t speak to the versions of Elicit that contain nicotine, but the nicotine free products are formidable smokeless alternatives. All flavors offer long lasting chews which produce a great amount of spit in a nice dark brown color. All products are nice and soft and hold together relatively well in your mouth. Flat rate shipping may make getting a single can to try a little bit cost prohibitive, but if you’re looking for multiple cans this is a nice affordable chew and offers some different flavor profiles from other alternatives out there. It’s clear to me that the creators really do understand what dippers are looking for in an alternative product.
Special thanks to Mike from Elicit Herbal Chew for providing me samples to try and review.
You can purchase Elicit Herbal Chew from their website at elicitherbalchew.com or visit them on Facebook. All flavors are available in single, 5 packs or 10 packs. Tell em KillTheCan.org sent you!
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Hellp again Chewie!
Sadly, I have seen the exact issue you described above. People do not seem to know the difference between less harmful and harmless. Nicotine itself is not harmless-neither is tobacco; though both are not even in the same league as the chemicals in the tobacco itself.
I believe the harm reduction campaign is looking from the purely analytical/medical perspective. Cold turkey is obviously the best, but if you can only get 10% of the population to do so, you’re still going to have millions of people with medical issues. If you can get…say 70% (I think they have reached this level in Sweeden) to switch to something far less harmless, you’ve greately reduced the health problems as a whole.
My issue with the campaign is ignorance. When word of Swedish snus hit the market, the American tobacco companies jumped on the bandwagon with their own snus. Since people do not do their research, they don’t realize Camel or Skoal snus is not the same as true Swedish snus-consequently, they are continuing to pump their bodies full of God knows what chemicals the American companies lace their products with.
Whenever a friend of mine who smokes or dips asks me about snus, I tell them only get stuff that has ingredients on the package-stuff that is really from Sweeden. When I first switched, the snus directly from Sweeden didn’t even have a warning label.
Let me know what you think about the Triumph. My plan is to use the full strength Elicit for a while, then the half strength, then try the nicotine free when the time is right.
Hello,
I have tried both elicit full strength and swedish snus wintergreen. Elicit full strength was great. I started because I could not stay awake, I would fall asleep every day especially after meals and would zone out while people were talking to me and fall asleep. I would love a world where I never started nicotine but once you have it’s impossible for someone like me with an addictive behavior to quit. I also have suffered severe depression when I quit cold turkey, my work ethic suffered and my skills to communicate were zilch. If a person can quit great but nicotine has helped me in quality of life. I personally am thankful for harm reduction methods. But if you have not started dipping please don’t it’s very addictive.
I think the harm reduction campaign is a valid one; a good one at that. I can understand why abstaining from nicotine completely is the preferred choice, but discouraging harm reduction is also a mistake in my opinion. If someone is trying to loose 20 pounds, would you tell them that loosing 10 is unacceptable? (a more appropriate metaphor would be loosing 19 pounds). Furthermore, you have to include that those 19 pounds would always stay off. There is a fundamental flaw is speaking against harm reduction.
My mom switched from cigarettes to e cigarettes. Every symptom associated with smoking has disappeared. Obviously, e cigarettes are not completely safe, but she would not have quit otherwise. I switched from American snuff to Swedish snus: I no longer have sores in my mouth; my gums are far more healthy; my teeth are not stained, and my blood pressure went down to near normal. Yes, it would be better if the nicotine would be completely gone, but that would be difficult considering; when I did quit, my bi polar went insane for the next 10 months.
Your analogy between a .357 and 9mm is complete BS-sorry for the bluntness. A more appropriate analogy would be a .357 and a BB. You claim that smokeless tobacco (at least American) has 3000 chemicals? I don’t dispute that. Swedish snus has 0 (aside from nicotine). How is that; in ANY way, a bad thing? Snus offers nicotine without the mass of chemicals otherwise involved. Elicit Herbal Chew offers a person nicotine, without the chemicals, and without the super slight tobacco risk and extra salt. It’s completely irresponsible to ignore the benefits of harm reduction.
That being said, I respect this site. Nicotine is an evil drug, and I would love to ban it from the world. This site offers help to people trying to quit-which I commend to the highest degree. I plan on switching from snus to the Elicit or Triumph with nicotine. Eventually, I plan on switching to non nicotine products. I will NOT; however, feel like I failed by keeping thousands of chemicals out of my system-even if I’m still addicted to nicotine; no more than someone who looses 40 pounds instead of 45 should feel bad.
I appreciate the comment Thomas. Frankly, the weight analogy is probably the best argument I’ve ever seen for harm reduction.
My biggest issue with the “typical” harm reduction folk (not necessarily lumping you in with that crowd) is that they completely ignore the health risks associated with the product(s) they are promoting.
For me (and I’d say the vast majority of folks at KTC) I’m for the cold turkey 100% abstinence approach because I feel very strongly that NOT being addicted to a substance (nicotine) is better than being addicted to one.
I actually just sampled the non-nicotine versions of Triumph over the weekend. I’ll be adding my reviews over the next couple of days. When you try Elicit / Triumph I’d love to hear your thoughts and will post them here. Looking forward to hearing from you.
I tried this product at half dose while coming off if the can snd the pack. I was tapering down from a patch and gum stagger.
I did not get a rush to speak of. The texture was ok. I loved the cans. I was a straight user and cinnamon was a nice taste. What I use now is smokey mountain snd jakes mint chew.
I have tried all of the alternatives and they are helpful. I agree that NRT is a dangerous way to go. It worked for me for a while. Now exercise, herbal chew, and serious self discipline work better than any drugs or NRT.
I will say one thing though. If you use a dip replacement make sure that you have plenty on stock and travel with it. You do not want to be caught with a craving, travel stress, and no plan.
I am a perfect example of why NRT does not work and how this is an addiction that is treatable, but not curable, like many other addictions. Yes, this is anecdotal, but I will provide an honest reply in that I have never known anyone who has used NRT successfully. They have all gone back to nicotine ingestion sourced from tobacco.
I stopped dipping on the NRT patch some years ago. Just floatin’ along on my daily, ritualistic nicotine rushes in diminishing doses over the prescribed time frame. No other changes or admissions or practices or healthy habits. No support. No acknowledgement of my addiction, just a tool to stop a habit. I never admitted addiction.
When something significant didn’t go to plan in life, I reached out for exactly that which I had sought solace in for years. The nicotine in tobacco form. Fast forward a few more years of use, and it was NRT gum. That was FAR WORSE. Instead of one hit per day in the morning of putting a patch on, feeling that burn, I got to dose myself AS MUCH AND AS MANY TIMES AS I WANTED. Frequently.
It actually made my addiction to nicotine significantly worse.
See, that’s the thing about addicts, left to our own devices, we will push the envelope of ingestion of our drug as far and fast as our environment (setting, financial situation, societal acceptance) will allow us. “So, you mean I can chew NRT gum in business and social settings, and I can use tobacco when alone? WOW! I’d only be using harmful tobacco 8 of the 16 waking hours in a day.”
Meanwhile, I had by my count, almost tripled my nicotine ingestion.
Lest we forget, as defined, nicotine itself is a toxin. So, even if I eliminated the tobacco-delivered nicotine from my life, I would still be ingesting super high levels of a proven, powerful toxin with a laundry list of its own negative side effects, even without the presence of ‘less-harmful’ delivery methods.
You see, cold turkey at KTC isn’t cold turkey as most people know it. The program that we advocate and practice is treating the use of tobacco as an addiction. Our cold turkey is not alone. There are thousands of active members upon whom we can call for commiserating, smacking some sense back into us, talking us off the edge when we approach it. (On more than one occasion, I have made someone turn around on a midnight walk or drive to a convenience store.)
So, I guess that’s my simple defense of cold turkey. On the other side of the argument:
“…(veggie glycol and glycerin, nicotine). None of which or overly alarming…”
or better yet:
“In July 2013 the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that ‘consumers should be strongly advised not to use’ electronic cigarettes until a reputable national regulatory body has found them safe and effective.
It said: ‘The safety of ENDS has not been scientifically demonstrated [and] the potential risks they pose for the health of users remain undetermined.
‘Furthermore, scientific testing indicates that the products vary widely in the amount of nicotine and other chemicals they deliver and there is no way for consumers to find out what is actually delivered by the product they have purchased.'”
Safe to say the jury’s out on the harm reduction assessment?
Just curious…why are you so opposed to nicotine-laced alternatives? It’s the same as nicotine patches/gum, only more effective since the user, in theory, gets to retain the habit. Only the new habit (e-cigs included) contain far fewer harmful chemicals and carcinogens. In fact, the ecig liquid contains just a handful of ingredients (water, veggie glycol and glycerin, nicotine). None of which or overly alarming.
Over the past 5+ decades, we’ve seen how difficult and ineffective the “cold turkey” strategy is. It carries a very high rate of relapse. With alternatives, you retain the option to quit while reducing the harm. I can’t even fathom why anyone would oppose that.
And I can’t stand “the children” argument. Nicotine alternatives require the customer to be 18 or older, just like tobacco. It’s not any more difficult or easy to obtain than tobacco. It actually helps young people. If a teen is foolish enough to pursue a nicotine product (a decision he/she will likely make regardless of the availability of alternatives), at least the alt. product will not obliterate his/her health. And the “road to tobacco” counter argument to that is foolish. The arrow points the other way.
Just food for thought. Not intending to offend anyone or bash their thoughts.
I appreciate the question Steve. I’ll try an answer is succinctly.
I’m opposed to nicotine-lace alternative for one reason – they contain nicotine. I am/was addicted to nicotine. Therefore, if I was going to quit, I needed to get rid of that thing I was addicted to… nicotine.
The fact that these products, “contain far fewer harmful chemicals and carcinogens” (which I don’t necessarily agree with but won’t bother debating right now) is irrelevant. I was addicted to a substance and I got rid of it. Period.
As for how difficult cold turkey is… I don’t dispute that and never will. It’s hell.
As for relapse rates… I don’t dispute that either. However we’ve developed a plan at KillTheCan.org that when followed virtually eliminates relapse. Is it easy? Absolutely not. Is it successful? Absolutely.
My argument against “harm reduction” has always been this: I’d rather not be addicted to something than be addicted. I’ve also used the analogy: If someone shoots me in the head with a 9mm vs shooting me in the head with a 357 Magnum, the harm has been “reduced”… the outcome unfortunately is the same.
As for “the children” argument, I’m not quite sure what you’re saying, but I THINK I agree with you there as well. Children will get alternative products just as easily as they’ll get tobacco. I’m happy to discuss further.
I ordered ten cans of elicit mint and quote frankly I wish I didn’t. It is horrible opened the first one and it smelled like wet tree leaves tried it anyways and it has a nasty taste. I mixed it with skoal extra mint to over come the nasty taste and it wasn’t as bad. After I mix these ten cans I will never order from elicit again. I’m better off pulling sea weed out of the river and throwing it in my mouth. I rate it at 1 for effort other then that it’s a waste of money.