Kurwa Light (Nicotine Pouches) - Review. 31 January 2021.

Today, I'm going to be doing reviews of 9 products from Kurwa.  And yes, I usually steer clear of their products, but these are some new ones called Kurwa Light and they have, yes, a regular nicotine strength of 8mg/pouch.  If you've never heard of Kurwa, it's a product made in the EU, currently in Hungary but moving to Germany soon.  Their website says "Made in EU - Quality – Kurwa snus is produced in the EU which means the highest quality standards.”  They also have a neat little description on their website I'll share, because the wording is pretty wild:  “Kurwa is a real game-changer of the snus society. And we are definitely not joking because how could we. Kurwa is just that good, better than all other snus stuff around. Maybe it’s because of the great variety of our flavours exploding in your mouth like small tasty bombs. Perhaps it’s because of the tobacco-free technologies we use. Or people just like flashy colorful boxes with small pouches inside. Either way, you’ll never know until you try.”  So, if you are all ready to have small tasty bombs explode in your mouth, let's talk about Kurwa!

Can Contents:  16.8g, 25 portions, 0.672g portions

Nicotine Strength:  8mg/pouch = 11.90mg/g (1.19%)

Common Attributes

There are quite a few things about this product that are similar, so I'm going to cover those real quick so I don't have to repeat myself in the reviews.

Can Design - I'm iffy on the designs.  I'm a farmer, so I like the chickens.  But, the color scheme/design does seem like it could be interpreted as targeting minors, even if that isn't their intention.

Portions - All of the portions are smaller in size, but pretty moist and comfortable under the lip.  They all have menthol in them, so every one comes with a cooling presence in the lip.

Nicotine Strength - All of these feel to be at the regular strength level, so I give them props for that.  Finally, a Kurwa that doesn't knock my head off.

Flavor Longevity - All of these tend to last about 30-40 minutes, on average.

Now, let's get into the reviews!

Kurwa Light: Wild Strawberry

Flavor Description:  “You might think that you know strawberry taste very well. But not this time, cause our strawberry is wild. We mean, REALLY wild. Taste Kurwa Wild Strawberry before it tastes you!”

Review:  This one has a pretty present aroma of menthol, along with a lightly sweet presence of strawberry.  In the flavor, there is a mild, lightly sweet taste of strawberry with a pretty present tone of menthol in the background.

Kurwa Light: Purple Grape

Flavor Description:  “Everyone loves grapes for they are literally globes full of natural liquid sugar with fruity flavour and floral aroma. We love them too so we made Kurwa Purple grape!”

Review:  In the aroma, I pick up a pretty present aroma of grape, along with a hint of menthol.  In the flavor, it's a nice, mild taste of grape, along with a light sweetness, and tones of menthol.

Kurwa Light: Melon

Flavor Description:  “It tastes like sunlight, it smells like a sea breeze, it is actually the pure essence of the best summer you’ve ever had – in a small box of Kurwa Melon.”

Review:  In the aroma, there isn't much melon, it's very, very faint.  There's also present tones of menthol.  In the flavor profile, I pick up a mild taste of melon which reminds me of cantaloupe, but it's very light.  There's also a light sweetness, and a present taste of menthol.

Kurwa Light: Mango

Flavor Description:  “Gives you that unique fruity yet creamy taste mangos are famous for.  With light evergreen and floral flairs.”

Review:  In the aroma, I smell mostly portion material and menthol, but not very much mango.  The flavor profile is very mild, but comes through as mostly menthol with a very, very light tropical flavor in the background.

Kurwa Light: Forest Fruit Ice Cream

Flavor Description:  “We couldn’t decide what we want to make more – forest fruit flavour or ice cream flavour. But in the end why not both? So we made them and mixed them!

Review:  In the aroma, it's mostly menthol, with hints of black currant, cranberry, and tones of sweetness.  The flavor is mostly menthol, but there's a lightly sweet, fruity taste as well.  It seems like a mix of blackberry, black currant, and cranberry.

Kurwa Light: Eucalyptus Mint

Flavor Description:  “Then come a little bit of pine aroma, light bitterness and herbal scent - all the things we love Kurwa Eucalyptus-mint for!”

Review:  The aroma of this one is a very present smell of menthol and eulcayptus, much like a couch drop.  The flavor is a pretty present mixing of menthol and eulcayptus, along with light tones of sweetness.

Kurwa Light: Bubble Gum

Flavor Description:  “The real combination of flavors in original Bubble Gum is a mystery, but it’s definitely a fruits mix. Most recognizable scents are banana, strawberry and cherry - and you’ll find them all in Kurwa Bubble Gum!”

Review:  This one has a pretty present pink bubble gum smell, along with a hint of menthol.  In the flavor, the pink bubble gum taste is pretty mild, along with a presence of menthol.  It's lightly sweet, but not overly sweet.

Kurwa Light: Blueberry

Flavor Description:  “It’s tart yet sweet and juicy, like the real blueberry. But it doesn’t paint your mouth and everything around in blue. Which is a great plus of Kurwa Blueberry.”

Review:  First, you'll notice these portions are brown.  Not sure why, but they seem the same in all other aspects as the white ones, just a different color.  The aroma has a present smell of menthol, along with a lightly sweet blueberry taste.  In the flavor, the blueberry is mild, lightly sweet, and comes with tones of menthol.

Kurwa Light: Black Tea

Flavor Description:  “If you tried classic black tea once, you’ll never forget this taste - rich, tannic, with a noble bitterness and astringency. The taste for a true gentleman to appreciate! Same feeling goes for Kurwa Black Tea.”

Review:  Of all the ones I tried, this one was probably my favorite.  In the aroma, I notice a tea-like presence, along with a grassy/herbal hint, and a lightly sweet tone of menthol.  In the flavor, it has a tea-like quality and a lightly green herbal taste.  I also pick up, you guessed it, mild tones of menthol in the flavor.

Rating and Final Thoughts

For my personal rating, I'll go over each category, then rank them.  In terms of can design, I used to rank these a 5 but upon closer reflection I've realized it's a little lower, because it could be interpreted as going after minors.  The portions could be more full; they seem a little small.  In the aromas and the flavors, there is way too much menthol.  It takes away from the taste.  If they took out the menthol, these would have rated much higher.  The strength was great, glad to try these at regular strength.  And the flavor longevity was pretty standard, so no complaints really there.

You can see my ratings below in their entirety, but the ones that came out on top for me were Black Tea, Purple Grape, and Forest Fruit Ice Cream.  Of the 9 I tried, these were the ones that had flavors I enjoyed the most.  I think if Kurwa had a more mature design, bigger portions, and took out the menthol, these would be top notch products.  I could see them ranking in the upper 3's to low 4's with those minor adjustments.