Big Tobacco is trying to take over the e-cig market!

Lorillard, which produces Newport cigarettes, purchased the e-cigarette - BLU - brand last year. Philip Morris USA's parent company (Altria Group Inc.) which produces Marlboro cigarettes introduced its own e-cigarette brand - MARKTEN, following Reynolds American's (makers of Camel cigarettes) debut of its own e-cig - VUSE.

If you are like me, you decided to try electronic cigarettes as a last ditch effort to quit smoking tobacco cigarettes. I have no love for the big tobacco companies and find it impossible to understand how their addictive products which will eventually kill you are not illegal. I have no desire to give these death merchants any more of my money.

Blu has already launched a major marketing campaign including TV commercials and multi page magazine ads. The others will be doing the same soon enough. Don't be fooled! These companies do not care about your health or happiness.

RELATED NEWS: E-Cig Ban Shows It's Really a War on Tobacco Companies (via The Motley Fool)

The Vapor Chef - E-liquid

I got my first order of e-liquids from the Vapor Chef in the mail yesterday. Easy online ordering and super fast shipment. I ordered 3 flavors: Some 'Mores, Slartibartfast and Unicorn Poop. They threw in a tester of Deep Thought and a plastic army man.

I ordered these in a 30/70 mix. The high VG content makes the liquid very thick and produces huge clouds of vapor. Out of the box the flavors were not that great but after letting them to sit for a week and shaking the hell out of the bottles I could realize the Chef's vision. Here's my reviews:

Slartibartfast is described as a cherry cavendish tobacco.  A complex tobacco, notes of oak and cherry with a slight hint of vanilla. I feel like this is a pretty accurate description. All the mentioned flavor notes are accounted for though I think it could use a bit stronger tobacco flavor. It does have a richness to it that seems typical of the Vapor Chef flavors I have tried but there is really nothing special here for me. I would give it an average rating and doubt I would re-order this flavor.

Unicorn Poop is described as blueberry cupcakes with white chocolate frosting and a raspberry on top! When I first tried this flavor all I got was sweet. Kind of like white cupcake icing with maybe a hint of some kind of berry. After letting the liquid steep for a week or two and shaking the hell out of the bottle I am really noticing the blueberry cupcake flavor and its pretty nice! I have also mixed with a standard tobacco flavor to cut the sweetness and that is a pretty good combo. I would recommend this flavor is you like rich sweet vapor.

Some 'Mores is described as Toasted marshmallow, chocolate and Graham crackers. The description is pretty accurate except I don't really get any chocolate flavor. The toasted marshmallow really stands out. That being said, I really enjoy this flavor. I ordered it on a whim and it actually turns out to be my favorite of the bunch. Great in the morning with coffee or after dinner for a taste of something sweet. If you are into marshmallow you will dig this flavor. A little more chocolate flavoring and this could be one of my all time favorites.

Bonus Flavor: Deep Thought. Described as Sassafras pipe tobacco.  This is a very deep flavor.  Vanilla, sassafras, deep rich pipe tobacco, a little spice. To me it tasted like pipe tobacco and black licorice. I am not a fan of black licorice so I did not spend much time with this flavor. I do appreciate the free tester though! Thanks chef

WTF am I inhaling?

Hi! My name is Rob but you can call me Edmundo. I have been experimenting with vaporizing nicotine (puffing e-cigs) on and off for about a year or two. Just recently while shopping for e-liquid on the information super highway, I was prompted to select my ratio of propylene glycol (PG) to vegetable glycerin (VG). For no other reason than vegetables seemed more healthy than propylene, I went with a 30/70 mixture. That is 30% PG mixed with 70% VG. After placing the order I started to wonder, what exactly is this stuff I am inhaling like Pookie in New Jack City?

According to the internets - Inhalation of the propylene glycol vapors appears to present no significant hazard in ordinary applications. However, limited human experience indicates that inhalation of propylene glycol mists could be irritating to some individuals. You can read all the scientific stuff HERE.

Vegetable glycerin is also known as vegetable glycerol. It is a carbohydrate that is usually derived from plant oils. It is used as a sweetener and as an ingredient in a number of cosmetic products. Vegetable glycerin is also used in place of alcohol to extract botanicals. Vegetable glycerin typically produces more vapor production then propylene glycol, but has reduced throat hit. It is also slightly more viscous (thicker) and slightly sweeter then propylene glycol. - See more HERE.

These are mixed with nicotine and flavoring and that makes what we refer to as e-liquid or e-juice. I think someone needs to give this stuff a better name. Any words that start with "e-" rub me the wrong way for some reason.

While doing extensive reasearch on the world wide web I stumbled upon this article which made perfect sense to me -
How E-Cigarette Alarmists Endanger Smokers' Lives, or Why Eli Lake Should Not Switch Back to Marlboros

Hope this helps. I feel like I know a bit more than I did yesterday.

BTW, I just recently ordered 3 new flavors from someone called The Vapor Chef. Thats a pretty bold claim, these juices better be tasty. I will post my opinions in the near future. Peace Out.