The Vape 48 Week 5: POET Electronic Nector’s Randy Freer

POET Electronic Nectar is one of my favorite e-liquid companies in the world, so I was thrilled that CEO Randy Freer was kind enough to stop by Vape Star Los Angeles for The Vape 48. The company makes several complex e-liquid blends that I absolutely adore and Randy is one of the nicest people I’ve met in the vaping business (or any business, really). More importantly for you guys and dolls, Randy is quite smart and interesting. To kick off this episode of The Vape 48, he gave an update on what’s happening with POET and talked about his involvement with the Njoy Artist Collection.

Many enthusiast vapers think of Njoy as a mainstream e-cigarette company that sells basic “cigalike” products. The Artist Collection is a series of e-liquids geared towards enthusiast vapers and made by some of the top juice creators in the world. As a fan of POET, I’m jazzed that Randy is involved with the Artist Collection and it was fun hearing him talk about the project.

On the hardware side, Randy brought a pair of small 18350 tube mods and a pair of box mods to chat about. He’s been thrilled with the stealth-vaping combo of the Monake Vape Calvert mod and the Praxis Vapors Derringer atomizer. The Damascus steel Element Mods 18350 prototype he brought was absolutely gorgeous. On the box mod front, Randy has been enjoying the Vapor Shark rDNA and the Sigelei 100. My hardware pick was the original Youde Tech Goblin, one of the best rebuildable tank atomizers I’ve tried as far as vapor production goes. Since the time this interview was filmed (February 2015), Youde has updated the Goblin and addressed the capacity shortcoming I mentioned in the video below. If you’re a cloud chaser that wants some capacity, the Youde Goblin is a compelling choice.

On the juice side, Randy brought four e-liquids from Proper Vape. He was enamored by the complexity of these juices and how they used tobacco as a complementary flavor. I brought Vader from Cyber Liquids (a delicious cookie dough juice) and Don Pedro from Bizarre Juice Supply (a wonderful dessert and tobacco blend).

Check out my chat with POET Electronic Nectar CEO Randy Freer for an update on his excellent company and to learn more about all the products mentioned above.

The Vape 48 Week 4: The Force Vapors Eric Trotter

The Force Vapors CEO Eric Trotter and I chatted back in February for this episode of The Vape 48, filmed at Vape Star Los Angeles. Eric has a number of cool things going on with this company, many of which I’ll get to see next week at The Vape Summit III in Las Vegas. On the juice side, he’ll have two new flavors that will debut at The Vape Summit. The Force Vapors is partnering with Cloud Kicker Society for some excellent t-shirts. Last year, The Force Vapors had some awesome box mods that Star Wars fans loved; I sorta kinda expect an updated version next week…that may or may not appeal to fans of Jedi masters…but that’s just conjecture.

On the juice side, Eric brought SBP by Turncoat Industries. He doesn’t vape a lot of juices that he doesn’t make himself, so I was intrigued by this southern bread pudding e-liquid (and also because it’s southern bread pudding!). My juice picks were a pair of complex and layered e-liquids from Tasty Cloud Vape Co — Stay Gold and Skyline. The former is a mix of apple, caramel, vanilla, and tobacco, while the latter blends pineapple, cake, coconut, and hazelnut. I liked Skyline, but loved Stay Gold.

Wrapping things up with hardware, Eric brought the Vicious Ant VariAnt Ti Slim. A sleek, beautiful, and versatile box mod from the Philippines, it’s been one of Eric’s favorite vaping devices for the last few months. I brought a box mod that’s not nearly as cool, but quite versatile and very affordable — the Sigelei 150. In a very short time, the Sigelei 150 has become one of my favorite “beater” mods.

Check out my full chat with The Force Vapors Eric Trotter below for more details on everything mentioned above. He’s a cool guy that makes some great juice!

The Vape 48 Week 3: Craft Vapery’s Joshua Krane

Here’s a very long and very cool conversation I had with Craft Vapery president Joshua Krane. The chat was filmed at Vape Star LA in late January, but due to several videogame consulting projects and a personal issue that had me out of the country, I didn’t get a chance to edit it until now. I apologize to Craft Vapery and Josh for the delay, but most of all I apologize to you loyal RPadholics because Josh had a lot of excellent things to say in this conversation.

In addition to giving an update on Craft Vapery, Josh spoke about an issue that’s very personal for him — the difference between vapers and people that vape. For numerous reasons, he wants people and companies to make the distinction. You need to watch the video for the full story on that particular topic. Josh and I also spoke about some of the things the vaping business needs to do in order to grow up and becoming more legitimate. Some of the those issues parallel what we experienced in the videogame business (Josh and I are both G4tv alumni). As expected, Josh was an outstanding guest that had loads of interesting things to say.

On the hardware side, Josh brought the Monake Vape Calvert mod and the Praxis Vapors Derringer RDA, while I spoke about the Kanger Subtank. Josh brought a number of e-liquids to talk about  — I was particularly grateful to learn about the excellent Njoy Artist Collection. My juice choices were two bottles from Evaper8’s Straight Drippin’ line.

One of the issues that I brought up was being disappointed with vaping coverage on my favorite tech sites. I mentioned The Verge as a tech site that I love, but could be doing better coverage on vaping. Between the time the video was filmed and the time I posted it, The Verge’s coverage has gotten better, but it’s still not great; the site has covered more areas of vaping and in some cases has done a very good job, but some of its stories had poor reporting and there’s a segment of the market that The Verge continues to ignore.

As I mentioned, the video below is long, but please watch when you have the time. Craft Vapery is the best e-liquid subscription service in the business and its president had fantastic things to say in this episode of The Vape 48.

The Vape 48 Week 2: Vape Maps Alex Pessah

Vape Maps co-founder Alex Pessah joins me for the second episode of The Vape 48 on RPadTV. One of the best mobile apps for vapers, Vape Maps has several new features coming. The Android and iOS apps will be getting updated visuals and functionality, and new features are coming to the website too. Alex covers it all in the opening segment.

Moving to the hardware side, Alex brought the fascinating PrimusZ box mod. This Bluetooth-enable box mod allows users to track and share vaping stats, adding a nerdy and social aspect to the hobby. Alex also brought a Continue reading “The Vape 48 Week 2: Vape Maps Alex Pessah”

The Vape 48 Week 1: Vaping Utopia’s Kavish Mehta

Welcome to the first episode of The Vape 48 on RPadTV! My goal is to film 48 episodes of the show in 2015. Each one will feature a guest from the vaping business. In addition to getting an update on the guest’s company, we’ll talk about the vaping hardware and e-liquids we’ve been enjoying lately. And yes, I totally lifted the name from DC Comics’ “The New 52.”

Week one of The Vape 48 stars Vaping Utopia owner Kavish Mehta. He talks the three new e-liquids he recently launched: Beez Cream, Eden, and Zion. His hardware choices include Mad Industries’ Penny Mod and Hobo Customs’ Hobo Atomizer. Kavish’s juice picks include e-liquids from Sol Sauce and Ripe Vapes.

As for me, I’ve been digging Psywar Fabrications’ Onslaught Atomizer (thanks Vaping Ape!) and Jiu Jit Juice’s Mata Leao.

Vape 48 s1e1