I met John from Top Shelf Vapes at Vapestock. Not in the exhibit room, in which it was impossible to breathe, let alone move. Nope. At the bar, where the real meeting took place.
Top Shelf is swinging for the fence, positioning himself as a supplier moreso than a retailer. He is passionate about his ingredients. His offerings have very bold taste -- every bottle is a double-shot. His liquids make great plumes of vapor. It's a smooth vape; if you want throat hit, add a bunch of nicotine. (And the converse is true.)
When I was in college, there was a New Wave band called The Cars. They mixed their music through car stereo speakers, so it would sound right. When I sampled these flavors, all I had on me was an ego-style battery and a 2ohm dripping atomizer. As it turns out, I was barking up the right tree, because these flavors are optimized for that kind of equipment.
Here are the flavors I tasted:
Absinthe: Bold but not overwhelming licorice. Vast plumes of vapor, can't see my hand in front of me. Goes down smooth.
Lemon/blueberry cotton candy: Unique, but not my cup of tea; it seemed a shame to tart up his fruit flavors with candy taste. But he says it's one of his most popular flavors.
Peach Mango Tango. One word: yum. Exquisite. If fruit were music, this is like putting your head between the speakers and turning the volume up to 11. I pocketed his sample bottle while he wasn't looking.
These are great flavors to wean yourself off tobacco. They will gob-smack your nicotine-addled taste buds awake. If you're selling starter kits, this guy will make you look like a hero. He also has a retail website.
My prediction is that entry-level devices will look a lot different a year from now. Today, you typically get into vaping with a disposable cigalike, and will probably go with a rechargeable cigalike before you really figure out how to make vapor. A lot of people get turned off early and go back to smoking. I think suppliers are going to push better hardware-liquid systems further down the distribution chain over the next several months, as Halo has done with their well-regarded Triton system. If suppliers like Top Shelf are on board that train, it will be good for everybody. Except for oncology surgeons, I guess. Sucks to be them, these days.
Top Shelf is swinging for the fence, positioning himself as a supplier moreso than a retailer. He is passionate about his ingredients. His offerings have very bold taste -- every bottle is a double-shot. His liquids make great plumes of vapor. It's a smooth vape; if you want throat hit, add a bunch of nicotine. (And the converse is true.)
When I was in college, there was a New Wave band called The Cars. They mixed their music through car stereo speakers, so it would sound right. When I sampled these flavors, all I had on me was an ego-style battery and a 2ohm dripping atomizer. As it turns out, I was barking up the right tree, because these flavors are optimized for that kind of equipment.
Here are the flavors I tasted:
Absinthe: Bold but not overwhelming licorice. Vast plumes of vapor, can't see my hand in front of me. Goes down smooth.
Lemon/blueberry cotton candy: Unique, but not my cup of tea; it seemed a shame to tart up his fruit flavors with candy taste. But he says it's one of his most popular flavors.
Peach Mango Tango. One word: yum. Exquisite. If fruit were music, this is like putting your head between the speakers and turning the volume up to 11. I pocketed his sample bottle while he wasn't looking.
These are great flavors to wean yourself off tobacco. They will gob-smack your nicotine-addled taste buds awake. If you're selling starter kits, this guy will make you look like a hero. He also has a retail website.
My prediction is that entry-level devices will look a lot different a year from now. Today, you typically get into vaping with a disposable cigalike, and will probably go with a rechargeable cigalike before you really figure out how to make vapor. A lot of people get turned off early and go back to smoking. I think suppliers are going to push better hardware-liquid systems further down the distribution chain over the next several months, as Halo has done with their well-regarded Triton system. If suppliers like Top Shelf are on board that train, it will be good for everybody. Except for oncology surgeons, I guess. Sucks to be them, these days.
