Juice review website from professional chef

[Harplayr]

I, for the sake of all of us, appreciate what you did for those who enjoy such a thing, but (as a Libra) I also have to point out the opposing side. Forgive me if this bothers you.

Gordon Ramsay is a 5 michelin star chef and he LOVES the foie gras. Meanwhile, I am vegan and I would never condone the abuse of animals for the sake of the taste of its artificially fattened liver; let alone eat such a mess. I appreciate that you have made such a website but, at the end of the day, each person's taste is very different. Above all it is the one thing that they can call their own. A professional chef, for example, who tells me that a filet mignon is tasty, means nothing to me because I'd never eat it.

I am a DIY ejuice kind of guy, so I take all juice reviews with a grain of salt, but instead of happy-fun-times comments I thought I would present the other side who is unaffected by such opinion. A professional chef who tells me that one artificial flavor is better than another is still just a person using their opinion to hold sway over the masses, who believe the chef's opinion over their own common sense, just because they say they are better at it. Artificial flavoring does not require a chef to tell you that it's artificial. Each artificial flavor represents something that it is clearly not. In almost all cases, no matter how bad they may taste, they are clearly better than the ashtray taste of a real cigarette. To those who agree with me please vape whatever makes you happy. I am a musician, but I cannot tell you that one song is better than another if you love the song I do not. I can scream that song X is awesome, but if you think it's not, then it's not the song for you.

P.S.: Why do chefs smoke when they know full well that it affects their ability to taste? How does one claim to have a "professional palette" when they have clearly limited their ability to claim such a thing in the name of stress relief? Why do a job that is so stressful, then claim to love it, when it becomes too much for one to bear that they must, in essence, shorten their lives and weaken their ability to do it just for the sake of enduring it? Contradiction much? That would be the same thing as a musician blowing out their eardrums because making music is stressful and then claiming authority on all such matters.

I like your analogy about being a musician. Maybe you can’t tell us if one song is better than another, but as a musician you can recognize the talent and skill of another musician.

On this review site, Chef is not telling us that WE will love or hate a juice, but he is commenting on things like accuracy of flavor and breaking down the taste experience. That is something that with his training he is qualified to do. If he reviews a liver and onion juice and says it’s spot on, knowing that I have no interest in vaping liver and onions I will not try it though.

So far I have tried several of his reviewed juices and find his assessments very helpful.

 

[chefjosh]

Thanks Harplayr...I appreciate you stepping in here, but I suspect it's fairly pointless. When someone jumps in to argue that they're doing it right and you're doing it wrong, and then starts bringing up random points about things that have nothing to do with the conversation at hand (i.e. he's a libra, he's a musician, he's a vegan and you're not, so once again, you're doing it wrong) there's probably no point in further discussion. By asking questions he then provided his own answers to, I think his goal was to begin some sort of childish argument, first insulting other peoples' choice in food, and then the entire culinary profession by insinuating that a smoking chef is a worthless one (especially one who serves (GASP!) foie gras!). I imagine he'll post again, but I think it would probably be best just to ignore him. I don't know what he's doing here anyways...he's obviously a master of DIY, among other things, I'm sure.

 

[elmattias]

I like your analogy about being a musician. Maybe you can’t tell us if one song is better than another, but as a musician you can recognize the talent and skill of another musician.

On this review site, Chef is not telling us that WE will love or hate a juice, but he is commenting on things like accuracy of flavor and breaking down the taste experience. That is something that with his training he is qualified to do. If he reviews a liver and onion juice and says it’s spot on, knowing that I have no interest in vaping liver and onions I will not try it though.

So far I have tried several of his reviewed juices and find his assessments very helpful.

this. +1 trillion internets. some of us (myself included) have no interest in DIY aside from rebuilding our nova heads....i don't want to play with dangerous nicotine and potentially kill myself in the process...the idea of a reviewer with the palette of a chef is that he will pick up more things than an untrained palette....and like harp...i've found his reviews spot on....also taste perception has nothing to do with anything, as most of your senses begin returning to normal with vaping as opposed to smoking....so i don't see how this is a factor....regardless of all this: keep up the good work sir chef! you're doing a wonderful job over there and i, like many, are finding your reviews helpful

 

[chefjosh]

You may want to add that to your site on how you go about reviewing, might help ease some concerns to viewers that don't come here and see this, if they are concerned about stuff like this, LOL I had never though of it before, the things I learn reading these threads!

You are absolutely right Jixchel! I've been meaning to update the info on the front page, now that the site has matured a bit since it's launch a few months back. That is definitely crucial information and will certainly be included.

Hope school is going well for you...I know it's not always easy, but it's usually fun! If you ever have any questions, school, cooking, or vape related, feel free to PM me here or use the contact link on the website.

 

[chefjosh]

Very professional, thoughtfully designed site, w/well-written reviews.

Good luck going forward. I can see how much work went into this, on many levels.

Thanks Racehorse...no doubt it was lots of work, but it's a labor of love. Thanks for taking a look at it!

 

[ShogaNinja]

I like your analogy about being a musician. Maybe you can’t tell us if one song is better than another, but as a musician you can recognize the talent and skill of another musician.

On this review site, Chef is not telling us that WE will love or hate a juice, but he is commenting on things like accuracy of flavor and breaking down the taste experience. That is something that with his training he is qualified to do. If he reviews a liver and onion juice and says it’s spot on, knowing that I have no interest in vaping liver and onions I will not try it though.

So far I have tried several of his reviewed juices and find his assessments very helpful.

I am truly glad you like it, but your argument doesn't hold water. Some of the most talentless musicians are the most successful. Here's proof: 10 Disappointing Facts About Pop Music - YouTube

If people used their palates there wouldn't be a McDonald's.

Why isn't this thread under General E-Liquid Discussion?

 

[Berylanna]

Do I receive juice free of charge? I do now, but not all of it (I spent $50 on juice to review this week alone), and it never effects the outcome of the review.

The fact is, I have spent well into the 4 figure range on this website since it began and my total revenue since launch hasn't exceeded $60...if you choose to distrust my reviews because I accept juice submissions from vendors, I can't prevent you from doing so, but at least have all the facts before you form that opinion. As far as ads go, I would love to run ads from hardware makers exclusively, but beggars can't be choosers.

Can I tell my favorite juice-only vendors to send you samples on my dime?

Can you do any grouping or adding tags like "people who like this also liked" -- linking to other reviews on your site?
I'm trying to think how to do that without spending a fortune in software or your time. I only program in 'C.' Or does that subtract from your own review? I'm not thinking of anybody but you rating the quality, but rather the "If you like Heinlein, you may also want to try Asimov" type of thinking.

 

[Harplayr]

Thanks Harplayr...I appreciate you stepping in here, but I suspect it's fairly pointless. When someone jumps in to argue that they're doing it right and you're doing it wrong, and then starts bringing up random points about things that have nothing to do with the conversation at hand (i.e. he's a libra, he's a musician, he's a vegan and you're not, so once again, you're doing it wrong) there's probably no point in further discussion. By asking questions he then provided his own answers to, I think his goal was to begin some sort of childish argument, first insulting other peoples' choice in food, and then the entire culinary profession by insinuating that a smoking chef is a worthless one (especially one who serves (GASP!) foie gras!). I imagine he'll post again, but I think it would probably be best just to ignore him. I don't know what he's doing here anyways...he's obviously a master of DIY, among other things, I'm sure.

You're right. No point in hyjacking this thread with a flame war.
I just wanted to voice my opinion that I've found your site VERY useful and I look forward to reading your upcomming reviews.

 

[JENerationX]

I get that taste is subjective. I may hate flavors that others think are fantastic etc. (I actually hate some of the most highly recommended juices on this board).

That being said, I appreciate chefjosh's reviews because rather than tell me it's got clouds of vapor and tastes good, having a developed palate allows him to discuss all of the flavor notes in a particular juice. If something has undertones of coconut for instance, that's not going to be a juice for me. I appreciate being able to read both the major notes and minor notes on the juice and deciding from there if it's something I might want to try. I know I may or may not agree on whether or not I like it, but having read a detailed review from Josh, I'm more likely to know what I'm getting into than a review from some fanboy of Boba's that can't tell me what all of the flavors are.

 

[chefjosh]

Can I tell my favorite juice-only vendors to send you samples on my dime?

Can you do any grouping or adding tags like "people who like this also liked" -- linking to other reviews on your site?
I'm trying to think how to do that without spending a fortune in software or your time. I only program in 'C.' Or does that subtract from your own review? I'm not thinking of anybody but you rating the quality, but rather the "If you like Heinlein, you may also want to try Asimov" type of thinking.

I really like the idea of having a little "If you like x, than you may like y" type of tag, but like you I am limited in my technical knowledge. Since the website was built from the ground up, the only limitation is my technical skills. I can only code HTML, and even that isn't quite up to where it should be yet. I could manually tag similar juices, and while daunting, it's somewhat do-able now with ~60-65 reviews. It would, however, be incredibly time consuming when we start getting into the hundreds of reviews. As I'm writing this, I'm thinking maybe each juice could be tagged on the back end with "fruity" "nutty" coconut" etc, and than there could be a piece of code that compares tags and adds links automatically. I do have a tech guy that helps with the more complex code so I'll ask him about that, but at this rate, I'm going to owe him enough to put his kids through college.

As for your first question, I'm not in love with the idea of people buying juice for the site, but since I do accept donations, we can talk a little more about it. To be honest, I'm not even sure why I don't love the idea, but it just doesn't feel right. Let's exhaust all other possibilities before we resort to that. First, let's make sure I don't already have some bottles from your faves in my "Waiting to be Reviewed" box. If there not in there, let me reach out to your vendors and see if they'd be interested in submitting juice for review. If neither of those things pan out, we can talk about it further at that point. I'll PM you now to discuss what you'd like to see reviewed and we'll take it from there.

 

[n874]

Your website is great I ordered from Pink Spot last night based on your favs...

I was only thinking yesterday a social website would be a great somewhere we can rate & like juices from all the different vendors in one location and discuss them in a social context.

 

[Berylanna]

I really like the idea of having a little "If you like x, than you may like y" type of tags. <snip> I could manually tag similar juices, and while daunting, it's somewhat do-able now with ~60-65 reviews.

I would not suggest anything of the sort by hand.

 

[bravedawg]

What you say about PG being a better vehicle for flavor delivery, and VG delivering more vapor is usually true, but there are quite a few juices out there that bend those rules to the point of breaking. VG will almost always yield huge plumes of vapor, but there are plenty of 100%VG mixes out there that deliver on flavor as well without any PG at all. That said, a good deal of juices with 50% or more VG still deliver tremendous plumes and also have the PG benefit of flavor delivery. Also, I've had plenty of 80/20 juice that falls flat in the flavor department. While PG does help to deliver the flavor, it must be utilized correctly with the proper proportions of flavoring and nic.

As far as what I review, when given the option, I always opt for the "house" or recommended blend from a particular supplier, for example, Mister-E-Liquid's 33/67 blend. When I order juice and I'm simply asked to chose my mix without receiving that vendor's recommendation, I usually opt for as close to 50/50 as I can get. I'm not sensitive to PG, and I feel that this method gives every juice the best opportunity to perform well.

Thanks for explanation. Was just curious as to how you went about choosing the PG/VG mix. I personally love the heavy vapor that comes with the higher VG ratio and I do have some juices that are 50/50 and 60/40. I am leaning more towards the higher PG ratios lately though - I'm a diabetic and have noticed the higher VG has a tendency to raise my blood sugar.

Again, very interesting site. Thanks for all the time and effort you've put into it. I look forward to reading your reviews and trying out a few of your higher rated juices.

 

[chefjosh]

Your website is great I ordered from Pink Spot last night based on your favs...

I was only thinking yesterday a social website would be a great somewhere we can rate & like juices from all the different vendors in one location and discuss them in a social context.

Thanks n874! You'll have to let me know what you think of the juice and how they compare to the reviews. I always appreciate feedback, but especially when it comes from someone who ordered juice based on the website.

 

[frequentj]

Well, you know I agree with you on the sweet caroline. I vaped that for months straight!

 

[mwa102464]

KBV Rice Krispity Treat is my all day vape, this is a spectacular juice, as is the Special K Tobacco, and there Butterscotch cookie, Every juice Bob & Missy make I have enjoyed while the 3 above are my fav's

Chefjosh, I like your reviews, they seem to be very descriptive of the notes of each flavor and honest, nice job.

 

[frequentj]

KBV Rice Krispity Treat is my all day vape, this is a spectacular juice, as is the Special K Tobacco, and there Butterscotch cookie, Every juice Bob & Missy make I have enjoyed while the 3 above are my fav's

Chefjosh, I like your reviews, they seem to be very descriptive of the notes of each flavor and honest, nice job.

That's also my favorite part of his reviews. A lot of the juice descriptions on vendor's sites are very vague. I understand that taste is subjective, but I like knowing at least what flavors and notes are in a juice, and the ones I have tried are exactly like Josh has described them.

 

[chefjosh]

KBV Rice Krispity Treat is my all day vape, this is a spectacular juice, as is the Special K Tobacco, and there Butterscotch cookie, Every juice Bob & Missy make I have enjoyed while the 3 above are my fav's

Chefjosh, I like your reviews, they seem to be very descriptive of the notes of each flavor and honest, nice job.

Thanks for taking a look and for the kind words.

With so many people in love with KBV, they are already on my list for the next round of purchases. Right now, I've got 4 vendors waiting to submit their juice for review, but even that has to wait until I can catch up a bit on the "Waiting to be Reviewed" box. In the meantime, I will definitely put the Rice Krispity Treat flavor on my list, and depending on how large an order I can afford to place at the time, I'll try to add the Special K and Butterscotch Cookie as well. Thanks for the suggestions, they are much appreciated! Any and all feedback is always welcome and appreciated.

 

[DC2]

Thanks for taking a look and for the kind words.

With so many people in love with KBV, they are already on my list for the next round of purchases. Right now, I've got 4 vendors waiting to submit their juice for review, but even that has to wait until I can catch up a bit on the "Waiting to be Reviewed" box. In the meantime, I will definitely put the Rice Krispity Treat flavor on my list, and depending on how large an order I can afford to place at the time, I'll try to add the Special K and Butterscotch Cookie as well. Thanks for the suggestions, they are much appreciated! Any and all feedback is always welcome and appreciated.

KBV caramelized cappuccino is the best coffee flavor I've ever had.
Might as well throw that in while you're at it.

 

[Screwbag]

Cool site, lots of info! Keep it up!