Maine Tobacco and Vape Shop in Bangor

[Btsmokincat]

So there is a Maine tobacco shop and vaping Supplies on Broadway Street in Bangor. Has anyone ever been there?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maine-Tobacco-Shop-Vaping-supplies/161187553900025

I called them today to ask their hours (8 to 6 Mon - Sat and 8 to 5 on Sun *I think). I told them I would be up on Monday morning and that I was traveling from Waterville. They told me that they are opening a store in Waterville in December!! Right on Main St in walking distance from my home! I'll report back on Monday my impressions!

Cheers!

 

[Btsmokincat]

Awesome shop! They had two glass cases with an array of vaping gear. All good quality stuff for example: Kanger EVOD and E-Smart kits, Itaste 134, SMOK VMAX, MVP2 and a SMOK E-Pipe. I think the only thing that was really overpriced was the EVOD kit for $60 (considering I got mine online at Vapedojo for $35). The MVP2 was $65, E-Pipe $45, Itaste 134 $135 and VMax $56. I could get all these things cheaper online but I'd rather buy from a local shop even if it's a few dollars more.

The best thing was a large wall display of about 50+ flavors of e-juice and they also let you sample their flavors! I bought Fresh Mint, Strawberry Lemonade, Strawberry, Blue Craze, Berry Craze and Sweet Tart from there own line of juice called Kick ... Vapors and a bottle of Blueberry from Velvet Vapors. The Kick ... juice is three 10ml bottles for $15 and $7.50 for 10ml of Velvet Vapors. They all smell wicked good and the few I've tried so far are absolutely delicious!

If you're ever up in Bangor (or in Waterville starting in December) they are well worth a visit!

 

[SonicTraveller]

Definitely gonna have to give them a visit at some point. It'd be nice to buy some made in maine juice.

 

[CMancini]

hey BT, thanks for doin the research on them for the rest of us . I've been interested in them, but they are far from me, so I never got interested enough to visit lol. I live in Westbrook, so I didn't want to travel that far just to investigate. Now that I know they got a thumbs up though, I might just make the trip. They sound like they have good products and a good variety at a decent price.

if you get around to it, try some juice from Downeast Vapes too, and lemme know bout them lol.

 

[Harlen]

Yep but know that there juice is 80%Pg good flavor but if you have a reaction to Pg this will bring it out big time
They also have bottles of Velvet Vapeors yesterday I got 10ml of pineapple at 18mg good vaper but has a big sop flavor
Called them and they tolled me they will call me right back ,still no call.
So I have a 10ml bottle of nasty vape juice .
Good luck I will not be shopping there any more

 

[thedescolada]

Here's my two cents about Maine Tobacco and Vaping Supplies. The Kickass line of juice is pretty mediocre. I talked to the owner and he said he just finds recipes online and uses those. While there's no problem with doing that, I feel like he hasn't really put his heart into the juices. Also, he seems to be using Mount Baker's names (or close copies) for his juice: Solar Flare, Punk Juice, etc. Also, the guy doesn't even vape. While that doesn't stop someone from putting out a good line of juice, how do you know if you're making a good flavor if you don't give a day-long stress test? The juice I tried from Velvet Vapor (Snickerdoodle and Blueberry Cheesecake) has way too much flavoring in it. I tried cutting it with 50/50 base, but I still can't get it to not be overpowered. Both of these juices had a wet and mushy throat hit. I was pretty put off by the juice selection at this shop. I would prefer to just order the juice from Mount Baker for cheaper. The hardware selection, on the other hand, is pretty decent. His hardware is fairly priced unless you get a starter kit. His clearomizer prices are very fair and I picked up an iClear 30 and some Evods from him. Downeast Vapes, on the other hand, puts out a fantastic product. I've done some taste tests for Steve in the past month and I am astounded with the juices he comes up with. I would definitely try the Smore 'Nana, Wicked Good, and Maine-iac. I came up with the flavor profile for Maine-iac on accident, but Steve made it a reality and it is a wonderful juice. He also uses natural ingredients in his liquids, which I really like. If you're looking to shop in Maine, I would recommend the hardware at Maine Tobacco and juices from Downeast.

 

[VaperInMaine]

Agreed on Downeast Vapes juices. I tried Apple Pie, and Cavandish. I tried them as soon as they came in the mail, and they were so-so. Two week later, and they were simply AMAZING! I just can't put them down. I only have about 2mls each left out of the 30ml bottles. My only complaint is that I didn't order more. Thanks for the way insight on Kickass vapor juice. I was considering a run up to Bangor. I think I'll hold off. I don't understand how someone who doesn't vape can expect to produce decent juice. I mean you should have a baseline to compare your product too. I know taste is subjective, but you need to know what to strive for.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

 

[thedescolada]

Thanks for the way insight on Kickass vapor juice. I was considering a run up to Bangor. I think I'll hold off. I don't understand how someone who doesn't vape can expect to produce decent juice. I mean you should have a baseline to compare your product too. I know taste is subjective, but you need to know what to strive for.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

Thanks for backing me up on this. I don't think he should be segregated as a non-vaper, or treated worse for it. I've started making my own juice and I feel confident in the juices I create because if I can vape them all day, maybe someone else out there can. I would recommend the drive up here (Bangor/Orono) if you want to get some hardware or just want to try out the juices he makes. He does have an extensive testing 'bar'.

 

[Btsmokincat]

hey BT, thanks for doin the research on them for the rest of us . I've been interested in them, but they are far from me, so I never got interested enough to visit lol. I live in Westbrook, so I didn't want to travel that far just to investigate. Now that I know they got a thumbs up though, I might just make the trip. They sound like they have good products and a good variety at a decent price.

if you get around to it, try some juice from Downeast Vapes too, and lemme know bout them lol.

So it's been a few weeks of vaping the kick-... juice, of the six I bought three are pretty good to ok, the other three are tolerable to yuck!

The Strawberry and Berry Craze are pretty good, the Strawberry Lemonade has way more lemon than strawberry but it's ok, the sweet-tart is tolerable and the Blue Craze and Fresh Mint are not so good. Because they have a small but pretty good selection of hardware, I'm still looking forward to them opening just down the street from me next month. As for the Velvet Vapors Blueberry it's ok, more of a strong candy flavor.

I didn't know the kick-... juice was made by someone who doesn't vape, that explains alot! Nothing against it but how do you know if juice is any good without trying it...

As for Downeast Vapes, I just put in my second order with them! Their juice is freakin' awesome!! I absolutely love their Blueberry and I have 30ml on it's way with a 10ml bottle of Apple Pie to try. Can't wait!

 

[thedescolada]

A brief update for those still watching this thread. I spent about 2 hours in Maine Tobacco and Vaping Supplies, here's why:
I was just hanging out there, looking at getting myself a Protank 2 and people kept coming in with issues with their mods or wanting advice. When it was clear the person working there wasn't educated on their questions, I asked the people a couple questions to see if I could help. Turns out, for some of them, I could. The person working there is named Trisha (Tricia?) and I offered for her to ask me questions about vaping stuff. She actually had a bunch of questions, and most of them were questions that customers would ask. She was eager to learn more about clearomizers (what's the difference between this one and that one, etc.) and devices and ohms and volts. She said the owner gave her a brief overview of the devices and what they do, but obviously it wasn't enough. One customer had gone through 10 Evod heads and they kept burning. I tried to help this woman but she seemed to be in a rush. Another guy had purchased 4 of the chargers they sell there and all of them broke on him. I told him to go to Amazon or Ebay to get a quality charger and helped him with battery safety. It probably wasn't the most polite thing to do in someone's shop, but when it comes to battery safety, I don't screw around. Trisha stayed around and asked me questions about what I was telling the customers and had a host of questions herself. She was amazing and really made up for some of the shop's flaws. By the way, she's going to be the manager of the shop in Waterville! I told her if she needed help on the weekend that I would make the trip down, we'll see what she thinks.

tl;dr. Maine Tobacco and Vaping supplies has a gem with Trisha who will be the manager of the new store in Waterville. She cares about vaping and wants to learn all she can (and she actually vapes herself). The Protank 2 rocks. Zombie Juice by Kickass isn't terrible.

 

[VaperInMaine]

Thanks for the positive review. I read my earlier post on this thread, and I think I was a little harsh. Just because the owner does not vape, I took that as an immediate turn off. In retrospect, I have to give credit for the guy for doing something that all of us vapers in Maine want. I think that we sould be giving positive encouraging support. If they make a juice that is not good, feedback as to what would make it better would probably help him. @thedescolada, I think that if I were in the same situation, I would have done the same think. I love this new hobby, and I also love helping people.

 

[Btsmokincat]

Update - They have been busy working on the Waterville store and have hung a banner outside that says "Vapors and Tobacco - Coming soon". It still hasn't opened but I believe they have all the remodeling done and now are ready to move in the displays and product. As soon as they open I will post here again!

 

[callmecletus]

No complaints at all with the Maine Tobacco Store. Found them soon after I started my vaping experience back in August, and was thankful I did. To be able to see and hold many of the items I had only viewed online was a great help in choosing my early gear. Their selection for the beginner vaper is quite good, and the prices are reasonable. They don't carry any high end stuff and very limited rebuildable merch., but have a broad selection of clearos, popular brand mods, coils, batteries and supplies.
There house brand juice is certainly nothing to write home about, but I have found a couple juices I have gone back for. 15 bucks for 30ml isn't bad when I can try it and know what I am getting. I have talked to the owner a couple times, but didn't realize he wasn't a vaper, not that I care either way. I have also met his wife who does vape however.
I live about 100 miles away and usually only get to Bangor about once a month or so. I always stop in and find something to buy. I am happy when I can keep a little of my vape funds in state.

Now I am off to check out this Downeast juice!

 

[kathi17]

I wish I had known about the Bangor store before now. I don't get to Bangor that often, but I hope next weekend has decent weather so I can go!

I normally shop at the Cigarette Shopper in Ellsworth. I first tried Phoenix Vapors, (it was the only thing available), when they first got them. They were just okay, and most of the juices were pretty flavorless. Next, I tried the Metros, but those weren't much either.

Last Sunday, they had a new display of something called Puff. They seem to be an Ego clone, and are better than the Phoenix Vapors and Metros, but aren't really what I wanted. It seems like they aren't quite up to the other brands, so I mentioned Kanger to them. For Puff juice, they only have straight tobacco in 24, the Puff flavors are 12. I really seem to need the 24s though.

I went back today, and talked to them a lot. I pointed them to ECF, and recommended them joining to see what is available. Some of the employees are now vaping, and they are really interested in learning. A lot of their customers are vaping now too, and it seems like they are really interested in getting some good products in. If there are other members here who shop in the Ellsworth area, I recommend that you go in and talk about vaping too.

There is another smoke shop up the road from them, but I have never had a good experience in there, so have always walked out without buying. I don't know whether they sell vaping supplies or not.

 

[Btsmokincat]

So still no opening in Waterville for the Vapors and Tobacco store yet. I can see they've been very busy inside but still no product. I'm wicked anxious for them to open as my awesome employees got me a gift certificate from the Bangor store to use at the Waterville grand opening!

The BIG recent development though is.... a second vape shop has already opened in Waterville! Vapor Guru's! I'm going to start another thread....

 

[kathi17]

The BIG recent development though is.... a second vape shop has already opened in Waterville! Vapor Guru's! I'm going to start another thread....

Oh how I wish I lived closer to Waterville so I could check out two shops! Keep us posted on how it is!

 

[kathi17]

Went to the vape shop in Bangor today, and I enjoyed it.

I only had bad juice, Phoenix Vapor and Puffs, so I decided to try the Kickass stuff. It's so much better than what I had, so I'm happy, but wanting to try some of those really good sample kits on line too.

My setup was a kit called Puff. It is an Ego knockoff, but it isn't bad. The clearomizers can't be changed, and I knew I didn't want to have them burn out on me and be stuck with more of the Puff ones because I couldn't get to Bangor. I got a Kanger MT3S. The owner told me it was glass, but I found out when I got home that it isn't. I think he honestly thought it was. He also didn't know about juices like citrus and cinnamon cracking or melting the plastic ones. I also bought two of the thingies to go inside them. (senior moment here, what they are called just flew out of my head).

Then, another lady and I began trying all the hardware out. He was taking it out of the case for us so we could look at it. She had the EVOD kit. We were trying everything, and I decided to get the Vision Spinner as well. I like it!!! I made my selection because I'm new to vaping with the newer stuff, and I figured I'd stick with things that all work together. The MT3S and Spinner work with my Puff stuff, so nothing will be orphaned if something stops working. I must say again, I really like the Spinner, it is so much nicer than the plain Ego style batteries!

For juice, I got caramel candy, butterscotch, green apple, and sour candy, and they taste really good compared to the flavorless stuff I had before!

I also got a little round metal stand that holds my three PVs.

The other lady and I had a really good time, and he was very nice, but now I have a couple of questions. He didn't tell me the Ohm thing about the MT3S, or the refill things I bought for it, and there is no labeling for the Ohms. He talked like I could use every setting from 3.3 to 4.8. I just saw in a few other posts where some numbers of Ohm things could only be used up to a certain voltage. I have mine set at 3.7. I hope that isn't too much? (Sorry, I only sort of know what Ohms are. I need to look it up).

 

[callmecletus]

Hello Kathi!

Glad your were able to make it to the Bangor shop (saw your earlier post). They have a pretty decent selection of stuff.

The kickass juice isn't bad, but a bit heavy on the pg ratio for my liking. It's nice to be able to go in and sample their flavors though.

The replaceable part for the MT3S are the coil heads. I believe they come in three resistances: 1.8, 2.2,and 2.5ohms. This number should be on the coil, but is really hard to see. General rule of thumb is ohms+2=volts. So a 1.8 ohm coil would equal approx. 3. 8 volts. Depending on your juice best vapor /flavor may be a little either side of that.

Let me know if you have any questions. Love to help a fellow Maine vaper!

Sent from the backwoods of Maine.

 

[kathi17]

Hi callmecletus, Yeah, I remembered that they were coil heads as soon as I posted the message. That's what happens when you get older!!! But thanks for reminding me anyway!

I was really happy with their selection. I was so used to never seeing anything but off brands any where I went, that it was nice to see some of the products mentioned here. It was also fun picking things out with the other lady. She and I were like two kids in a candy store!

The 80% 20% ratio of PG to VG bothered me too. All the flavors I got have the same ratio, so I assume that is what he uses. It's one of the reasons I want to get some from some of the venders like Halo, Heather and Alice. They have some really interesting sounding juices with less PG. I will still buy some of his juices when I get a chance to go back though, because I want him to be successful and get even better!

Thanks for you explanation of Ohms and Voltage!

Where in the back woods are you? We spend a lot of time out in the woods all over the less settled and unsettled parts of the state, including on the logging roads.

 

[callmecletus]

Kathi, I'm not really too deep in the woods actually, I live in Calais. Though a trip down Rt. 9 this time of year sure makes it feel like it. Lol.

I try to stop in the bangor shop and buy something when ever I'm in the area, because I too think it's good for the area and want them to keep it growing. I make most of my purchases online for convenience and selection both in hardware and juices. For juices one site I recommend checking out is Good Life Vapor. Lots of flavors and reasonable prices. I have also tried a couple from Alice and Heathers, they are good, but didn't do it for "me" personally.


Sent from the backwoods of Maine.