How many vapers are looking for a straight up tobacco replacement?

[djsvapour]

Mcclintock - we are going to be giving away about 1,000 free samples of the disposable version of the product over the next week or so (our web guys are currently building the page for people to register). If you're in the UK, I can make sure you get sent one - it would be good to get thoughts from people like you who have tried other tobacco flavours and not been satisfied.

It's close to being ready then... that's good.

I have to say, the people behind the product are certainly going to have an interesting (challenging) time. The market is pretty messed up really... most people trying e-cigs don't know much about them and trust that what they buy is OK. The reality is that the "cheap" generic stuff isn't cheap and the good stuff (liquids are hardware) is actually too cheap.

Why would someone pay £1,000+ a year to vape on refills when you can have a £100 e-cig (or two), some £20 tanks and pay less than £1 a day to vape the liquid?

If this new liquid is available in bottles, to get it going would be helped enormously by the backing of some celebrity (youtube) vapers and/also some of the forum members.

As for disposables... who knows. Some people see a market there, but I'm not convinced. Most smokers have now tried e-cigs and sadly a large amount didn't find supermarket ones very satisfactory. Many gave up with them or simply hurdled up the equipment ladder.

However, 2016 *the implementation of the EU TPD* will reshape the whole e-cig market overnight.

 

[Bunnykiller]

I prefer NETs.... I even do my own extracting of pipe and cigar.... but I no longer care for the taste of a real ciggie.... so.... a juice that tastes like a real ciggie wouldnt be on my list to purchase...

 

[eratikmind]

Since I started Vaping, nearly 2 years ago, I never had the desire to vape any tobacco type flavors.

Personally, I didn't want anything that would remind me of that foul and nasty habit. Currently, I use either a 0mg or 3mg unflavored nic base. At times, I will add a small amount of fruit flavoring to change it up.

 

[Dobo]

I don't use any tobacco flavours after moving to vaping.

 

[MikeyDrum]

My first bottle of eliquid while trying to get off of "analogs" was a menthol tobacco flavor. I still have about 3/4 of the bottle left. For me, one of the best parts was having amazing flavors while still vaping and getting my nicotine fix. I think its a common first eliquid

 

[Lancey]

As it happens - they've produced a menthol version, and in the taste tests most of the hardened tobacco smokers on the taste-test panel said they preferred it over the Virginia blend version.

 

[Lancey]

@djsvapour - really trying to get on the radar of the celebrity YouTubers and bloggers in this space, but the problem we're having is that (as you know) it's extremely crowded and we're just another vendor crying for attention, so it's kind of tough to get them to talk to you, no matter how good you think your product is.

 

[BDietz72]

Speaking as someone who quit smoking (using eCigs) only a week ago I can tell you that what I've been looking for has nothing to do with finding a cigarette 'analog'. I don't need (or want) it to look like a cigarette or taste like one. What is important for me is two things:

1) a consistent amount of nicotine in the juices. They often don't -seem- to have a consistent amount regardless of what the bottle is labeled though I have no way of actually testing the juice itself to know for sure.

2) The feel of the drag. Vaping is not as 'satisfying' as smoking thus far, mostly because I don't get the same 'feel' when taking a drag. It's difficult to describe, but vapor is not as 'substantial' as smoke is. You can adjust the amount you get per drag, but the consistency of it is still 'off' to a smoker. This is the number one complaint I've heard amongst other smokers who quit by switching to ecigs.

So yea... my 2 cents.

 

[tj99959]

IMO, it's perfectly natural for a new user to want a flavor that tastes just like xxxx brand of cigarette. (and I was the same) The only problem is that there is only one way to get the taste of burning tobacco, and that's to burn it. So in the end 'flavored tobacco flavors' do better. (like RY4 (caramel tobacco), or 555 (hazelnut tobacco) I was one of those with the habit of putting a small slice of apple in my tobacco tins, and to this day I probably vape more apple flavored juice than all other flavors combined.

Next:
I take a dim view of disposables for a different reason than many. At least we could "field strip" a cigarette. A good average number would be to say that a person will vape 3ml of liquid/day. The normal disposable holds about 1ml of liquid. So a person would need to find a place to dispose of three of those cartridges every day. Well I live in one of the most pristine places on earth, and the LAST thing I want to see are those @#$% disposables laying on the ground!
Even if a person only used one disposable/day, that would still be 365 disposables/year laying somewhere for the next 100 years!

The alternative is that THIS is my total contribution to the environment after about 3 months of use from it.

 

[Grimwald]

The mistake is having a "panel of smokers" as the test subjects. Smokers, particularly long term heavy smokers, have lost the sense of taste and smell. I, like many, started with tobacco flavors. As my senses returned, I left them rather quickly.

 

[djsvapour]

@djsvapour - really trying to get on the radar of the celebrity YouTubers and bloggers in this space, but the problem we're having is that (as you know) it's extremely crowded and we're just another vendor crying for attention, so it's kind of tough to get them to talk to you, no matter how good you think your product is.

Yes, but if the product is good and the community gets wind of it, getting the top people to look at it is easy.....

also, YOU won't know who is worth contacting. There are a lot of people blogging and reviewing who (to be frank) are time-wasters and freebie-grabbers. WE don't watch them. You shouldn't be sending them anything either... a brand can lose a lot of credibility doing this.

 

[zahzoo]

As others have stated... genuine tobacco flavors will appeal mostly to folks just starting to vape as a replacement to smoking.

You mentioned disposables and refillable devices... Sounds like you're talking cig-a-like sized devices. Again your target is going to be new vapers. Who are looking to handle something that looks and feels like a cigarette.

This is all good for the entry-level market... but from a sustainability perspective I don't see it as a good long term venture.

For me the first shift I made was to non-tobacco flavors. Once I tasted banana nut bread flavor... there was no way I wanted to touch tobacco. It also helped disassociate vaping from smoking quickly. The next thing to go was cig-a-like batteries. They suck... sorry but a 90 mAh battery doesn't hold a candle to an 1100 or 2500 mAh battery for the length they hold a charge or produce vapor. No way you can get 300 semi-satisfying puffs off a 90 mAh battery.

If your buddies that you are working with were smart... develop a product line that starts with an entry kit of cig-a-likes but also offer refillable tanks and bigger battery units. If you build any brand loyalty you can offer them a logical upgrade path.

If this tobacco juice flavor is as good as y'all believe it to be... it would be far more of a profitable venture to create and market the juice more so than hardware. That's where the real money is in the market if you can establish a popular juice brand. Far greater profit margins there too.

 

[Danbrooks2k]

Only when I was first trying to quit... the Njoy was pretty close...

Now I want bakery and fruit flavors

 

[SunshinePete]

I'm not sure smokers were ever hooked on the taste of cigarettes, and didn't we all hate the stale smell of them?

 

[Noob from NY]

I am new to vaping, after ten years of smoking analogs, and the first question I asked the store clerk was what do you have that is closest to Marb Lights? After a month, I still am searching for a good tobacco flavor e-liquid, but I agree with many who have responded previously, that a tobacco flavor will most likely have a shorter runway than other flavors, and be predominantly for new vapors trying to quit smoking. This could still be lucrative, as people are trying to quit all the time, and the tobacco flavor may help them.

 

[Ray in KC]

I've had them analog flavors pushed at me by fellow vapers a couple times
and I had to go brush my teeth the couple times right after! So no I'm good!

 

[philoshop]

Quite honestly a flavor product like that would be better directed at the companies manufacturing/mixing the liquids. They're in a position to offer it as an option for new vapers during the discovery/transition period.

 

[codger59]

When I switched from analogs to vaping, I was one of those looking for "replacement" tobacco flavors. Having tried MANY different flavors/brands (including some raved upon on this forum!), I can truly say that none have been 100% right. It's either "old shoe/feet" or - more often - an acidic "apple" undertone, sometimes to the point of being completely un-vapeable...had to smoke an analog just to get the taste out of the mouth The closest (so far) have been the "555" blends, but even those after time revert to a kind of RY4 taste. I'm beginning to believe it's not possible to get a full, clean, actual tobacco taste from PG or VG.
I do agree on the "throat-hit" mentioned previously. With an analog, it wasn't so much the taste as the feel, both inhale and exhale...not so much the volume of smoke as the mass. The vendor that can successfully replicate that will definitely get my business!

 

[djsvapour]

I just drove across town to a supermarket to buy the "tobacco" offering (10ml e-liquid) of a brand which has started advertising on TV.

The two things I know even before I vape it are 1. it won't taste like cigarettes. 2. I doubt I'll finish the bottle.

If anybody can improve on tobacco-type flavours I wish them luck.

 

[kirk1]

The answer is yes and no.

yes is with heavy marketing getting smokers who know nothing at all into vaping.

No is Tobacco flavours are nothing compared to their fruity counterparts, and in terms of devices, those analogs seem like they underperform drastically when compared to the likes of the nautilus and kangers.