Youtube juice reviews are totally Boring

[Vapian]

This is an interesting discussion; might as well throw two cents into it and maybe ask some questions.

First, I must say that I found YouTube nicquid reviews helpful when I was starting out. The first nicquids I used were ordered from the same vendor as my first e-cig, and well over half of them sucked. Same for my first order of a dozen samples from another random vendor I stumbled across. But with a gazillion vendors out there and every flavor under the sun, where does a new vaper start? Sitting through a few dozen reviews on YT was actually pretty helpful and got me started with a few good vendors and flavors that helped get me past the first month or so.

However, it is true; for quite some time I was pretty sure there was some rule that people weren't allowed to do reviews unless it it started and ended with heavy metal music, had crazy flip-flopping text effects (ideally swirling about with flames, smoke and/or explosions), dim lighting, noisy backgrounds, wardrobe consisting entirely of pajamas, bathrobes or Snuggies; Scripting and re-takes being expressly verboten, and YouTube would automatically delete it if the reviewer didn't vape through at least a third of the video.

(Now, I KNOW that doesn't apply to many good reviewers but if you've looked at all you've seen something that fits that description.)

Admittedly I am vain enough to think I might have something to contribute, so I've done a few reviews myself. Not all were done very well but I am trying to get better. So, hopefully germane to this discussion and hoping that no one minds, I have some questions:

1. Are ALL nicquid reviews boring/useless, no matter how they are done or what information they attempt to convey?

If the answer to that is "yes", there's probably not much point in looking at the rest of the questions.

But if the answer is "no", there are more questions I am interested in for anyone who would like to answer.

Assuming that certain things are always better if attention is paid to them (focus, good lighting, good sound, and such):

2. What is the most important information that should be presented (aside from basics like flavor, vapor & throat hit)?
3. Can a review be too short?
4. Is a longer review OK if it covers more flavors? If so, what's too much (either in time or number of flavors)?
5. Does it bother you if the video is all one take, or if it contains cuts?
6. What kind of things will guarantee you never watch a reviewer again?
7. Is there anything a reviewer can do that makes you want to watch past/future reviews?
8. Is a rating or scale (X out of 5 or 10; Thumbs Up/Down) necessary or is a general overview that doesn't really "rate" it OK?
9. What were your favorite things about reviews that you didn't hate?
10. What were the things that absolutely turned you off to reviews that you didn't like?

(I apologize in advance if one of things you don't like is forum posts with lots of questions.)

Basically, while I've wondered about continuing to do nicquid reviews precisely because I'm not sure how helpful they are, I am also encouraged to continue because at least two vendors have responded to those reviews and are actively working to improve their products based on them. Even if I'm boring as hell I can't see this as a bad thing.

But obviously if it's something worth doing it is worth doing right, and this seems like an excellent opportunity to discover specific, addressable things that vapers do and do not like about, or do and do not want to see in, nicquid reviews.

<Sits back and waits to see what compound interest does with two cents. ...>

 

[FRANKSTER]

This is an interesting discussion; might as well throw two cents into it and maybe ask some questions.

First, I must say that I found YouTube nicquid reviews helpful when I was starting out. The first nicquids I used were ordered from the same vendor as my first e-cig, and well over half of them sucked. Same for my first order of a dozen samples from another random vendor I stumbled across. But with a gazillion vendors out there and every flavor under the sun, where does a new vaper start? Sitting through a few dozen reviews on YT was actually pretty helpful and got me started with a few good vendors and flavors that helped get me past the first month or so.

However, it is true; for quite some time I was pretty sure there was some rule that people weren't allowed to do reviews unless it it started and ended with heavy metal music, had crazy flip-flopping text effects (ideally swirling about with flames, smoke and/or explosions), dim lighting, noisy backgrounds, wardrobe consisting entirely of pajamas, bathrobes or Snuggies; Scripting and re-takes being expressly verboten, and YouTube would automatically delete it if the reviewer didn't vape through at least a third of the video.

(Now, I KNOW that doesn't apply to many good reviewers but if you've looked at all you've seen something that fits that description.)

Admittedly I am vain enough to think I might have something to contribute, so I've done a few reviews myself. Not all were done very well but I am trying to get better. So, hopefully germane to this discussion and hoping that no one minds, I have some questions:

1. Are ALL nicquid reviews boring/useless, no matter how they are done or what information they attempt to convey?

If the answer to that is "yes", there's probably not much point in looking at the rest of the questions.

But if the answer is "no", there are more questions I am interested in for anyone who would like to answer.

Assuming that certain things are always better if attention is paid to them (focus, good lighting, good sound, and such):

2. What is the most important information that should be presented (aside from basics like flavor, vapor & throat hit)?
3. Can a review be too short?
4. Is a longer review OK if it covers more flavors? If so, what's too much (either in time or number of flavors)?
5. Does it bother you if the video is all one take, or if it contains cuts?
6. What kind of things will guarantee you never watch a reviewer again?
7. Is there anything a reviewer can do that makes you want to watch past/future reviews?
8. Is a rating or scale (X out of 5 or 10; Thumbs Up/Down) necessary or is a general overview that doesn't really "rate" it OK?
9. What were your favorite things about reviews that you didn't hate?
10. What were the things that absolutely turned you off to reviews that you didn't like?

(I apologize in advance if one of things you don't like is forum posts with lots of questions.)

Basically, while I've wondered about continuing to do nicquid reviews precisely because I'm not sure how helpful they are, I am also encouraged to continue because at least two vendors have responded to those reviews and are actively working to improve their products based on them. Even if I'm boring as hell I can't see this as a bad thing.

But obviously if it's something worth doing it is worth doing right, and this seems like an excellent opportunity to discover specific, addressable things that vapers do and do not like about, or do and do not want to see in, nicquid reviews.

<Sits back and waits to see what compound interest does with two cents. ...>

Hello there...great post, if you do juice reviews the way you just presented yourself...I think you are going to get a strong following. As far as what I would like to see is an honest real in your face review. If the reviewer thinks the juice is great, by all means state it. On the other hand, if it sucks I also want to hear it. I do not want apologies. I do not want to hear that maybe this is something you would like and also tell me that taste is subjective, I already know that.

I want your subjective opinion and if it sucks, say so. Many reviewers start off saying that joe from xyz sent me over some juice to review, I feel right there, that the review is tainted a bit. I know that if a friend of mine was a vendor and he sent me juices to review, I would not be able to destroy his juice. I think reviewers should purchase their own juice and not vape it until they are reviewing it. I want to see the expression on their face when they take that first primer puff. I know that I have gagged a few times and ran for water b/c some of this stuff taste like vomit.

We are the customers and we are putting this juice in our bodies, I want a real review from your guts. I placed a video on my original post of a real bad juice review, The worst I have ever seen ( not counting those crab juice reviews) and this guy (his name is Rob) keeps apologizing that the juice sucks. I do not want to hear apologies, if it sucks, it sucks.

Let me ask every one on ECF if you went to a restaurant and ordered a 50 dollar steak medium rear and a 100 dollar bottle of wine, and the steak taste like shoe leather and the wine like vinegar. Are you going to call the waiter over and tell him, I understand the wine and steak suck, but I also know that taste is subjective. lol...I think not

I think a juice review should be like if you and your buddy were sitting on the couch vaping a juice for the first time. You would hear a great review then, I guarantee it. Just be true to yourself and it will come across in the review.

Forgive my writing skills, I suck and I know it and I say it.

 

[mariahpoo]

1. NO

2. What is the most important information that should be presented (aside from basics like flavor, vapor & throat hit)?

Quality of the flavor, and what it actually tastes like.


3. Can a review be too short?

Yes, if you say just yuck or yum. We need an in depth description. And some humor.

4. Is a longer review OK if it covers more flavors? If so, what's too much (either in time or number of flavors)?

Yes... 3 Would be my personal limit.

5. Does it bother you if the video is all one take, or if it contains cuts?

I don't mid much... on cuts and such as long as its not fake.


6. What kind of things will guarantee you never watch a reviewer again?

Boring long intro.... "I have been vaping for ...., this is my dog and my trusty pv"


7. Is there anything a reviewer can do that makes you want to watch past/future reviews?

Be honest. describe the flavor/ kind of flavor. Be honest.


8. Is a rating or scale (X out of 5 or 10; Thumbs Up/Down) necessary or is a general overview that doesn't really "rate" it OK?

No


9. What were your favorite things about reviews that you didn't hate?

"WOW this is good!" No descriptive qualities


10. What were the things that absolutely turned you off to reviews that you didn't like?

Long drawn out bs... "I got this from... its wraped in... my friend said... if you sniff it you get... are you ready?" YES GET ON WITH IT!

 

[Gimpy8877]

I like the way you do your reviews Vapian, I like the bullet points and you don't spend too much time on each juice.

 

[Vapian]

Frankster, you bring up a several points worth talking to:

I do not want to hear that maybe this is something you would like and also tell me that taste is subjective, I already know that.

Yeah... guilty. I've done that. I can see why people do it, I know why I did it, but on review it's kind of like instructions on shampoo or a "Don't use while sleeping" warning on a hair dryer. Veteran vapers will be tired of it. Still, I think it may be useful for the occasional new vaper who doesn't quite get that yet. Would some briefly-displayed text to that effect make more sense than taking up 5 or 10 seconds of video time?

Many reviewers start off saying that joe from xyz sent me over some juice to review, I feel right there, that the review is tainted a bit. I know that if a friend of mine was a vendor and he sent me juices to review, I would not be able to destroy his juice.

This is something that could be talked over for pages. It's all about trust; Do you get the gut impression that the reviewer will put the viewer's interests over their own or that of the vendor, regardless of how they got the nicquid? The only way I can think of to get that kind of feel is to watch their reviews over time. If you end up trusting them, keep watching ... and if not, unsubscribe and don't watch anymore.

I do feel that there is a good case for vendors providing samples for review, provided the reviewer's policy makes it clear (and they follow through) that the review is the review, a snapshot in time good or bad, and the vendor has no say in it. Conversely, I don't necessarily think reviewers should solicit products for review - or at least, not specific products (though there is at least one exception, that being a "shoot-out" review). But this topic is another area that could be an entire discussion on its own.

I think reviewers should purchase their own juice and not vape it until they are reviewing it. I want to see the expression on their face when they take that first primer puff.

While I can see the apparent appeal of that, I'm not afraid to outright disagree -- at least the way I do things.

While I haven't been consistent about it in the past, going forward everything gets tested in cartomizers to identify the carto-killers. Depending on the nicquid this could take half a day or several days by itself.

Also, while some flavors are straight-forward others are complex and layered. In a recent review I literally spent two days figuring out and noting everything I was tasting in just one nicquid (word from the vendor is that everything noted was accounted for in the recipe). Granted, that kind of time would not be spent on something that sucks but I feel the good stuff deserves a more comprehensive look.

While perhaps a quick video clip could be done of that first drag, that's more set up (if one actually sets up lighting and such), more video clips to track, more editing to do later. Certainly I would not expect everyone to do it the same way, but I'm hoping my method results in detailed descriptions that pay off in fewer surprises for anyone who buys something I recommend.

... if you went to a restaurant and ordered a 50 dollar steak medium rear and a 100 dollar bottle of wine, and the steak taste like shoe leather and the wine like vinegar. Are you going to call the waiter over and tell him, I understand the wine and steak suck, but I also know that taste is subjective. lol...

Good point, good point ... but. Have you ever had a flavor grow on you?

In my case it was fruity stuff, especially watermelon. In my first few months of vaping I had some and thought that warm watermelon-flavored vapor was hideous. Watermelons are supposed to be cold! If I'd been doing reviews then, I'd have panned it like a creek during the gold rush. But it's grown on me. Now when I get in a flavor rut it's one of the first things I turn to.

Granted, truly awful flavors from the get-go may not get a second chance. But if I'm just not sure I'll move on and come back to it again later, just in case. Outside of reviews, that has paid off more than once.

Forgive my writing skills, I suck and I know it and I say it.

Dude ... you use punctuation. That automatically bumps you up at least a dozen notches in my book.

 

[Vapian]

I agree. I saw one where a lady said bacon was good. But honestly I think that was the only review I have seen where they were not givin the juice/ friends with the guy at the company. She honestly liked to vap bacon. How many other people have liked the bacon flavor? I have seen it countless times in the worst juice thread, But I don't think I have ever seen someone say it was good, or that they were vaping it right now. lol

I think that was SteelJan's video on DFW's Bacon flavor. And I'll be honest with you... I saw the same video, I've tried it, and I love it. No, it is not an all-day or even an everyday vape, but I do vape it from time to time when I'm dying for the flavor but trying to avoid getting any fatter than I am.

Agreed, not everyone is going to like it and there are probably many vendors using crap-fake bacon flavors. But I honestly, truly believe that DFW nailed it about as closely as is possible in a vape.

So, there's one for ya.

 

[PurpleBandit]

Thank you thank you thank you OP.

I know taste is subjective, but damn why post a review of something if you're just going to passively praise it. I'm fairly new to the vaping world, but I could tell you right now that I can only handle YT review in small doses. I'd rather read pages of reviews than watch crappy videos. If reviewers heeded to these guidelines, i would watch them more often.

1. KILL the music intro. Music taste varies, not all of your watchers are gonna want to sit through your awesome music. Plus if you have some heavy/singer sounds like a tortured bear/death metal playing for an intro, and then proceed to review something like MsT's Strawberry Shortcake....guess how seriously I will take you. One night almost every video I checked out started off with heavy metal or smooth jazz...wtf.

2. Don't show me the box it came in. Cardboard is not that interesting.
*unless the package came from amazon. amazon shipping is always amusing.

3. Don't be afraid to say something negative and if you do, stand by what you say. Fellow consumers are the best support we have. I personally value user/peer review over "expert" reviews.

4. If you are going to put yourself on a public forum and share what may be valuable information, take some time to familiarize yourself with the english language. Read up and practice public speaking before you press record. I'm not asking for perfection, but good lord enunciate!! keep the "Uh and ummmm's" to a minimum. Don't record while you're high or intoxicated. Please talk with some sort of enthusiasm. I hate people who speak like they don't give two _____'s about what they are doing.

Just my $0.02

 

[Ealisaid]

I think well-done reviews can be an asset to the vaping community, but hey...it's the internet. Everyone's a critic, whether we like it or not. I don't have a problem with "boring" reviews as long as they're helpful. For the most part, I prefer written reviews because I can easily skip over anything that isn't relevant to me. Videos are great for instructions/how-tos but most of the time they aren't necessary for a simple juice review.

For juice reviews, one of the things I'd find helpful that I rarely see is for the reviewer to spend a month with each juice and see how steeping effects it. I want to know how the juice vapes the day it arrives when it is still fresh-outta-the-mailbox. Then test it again a week later. And then again a month later. Steeping can sometimes be important but most reviews never even mention it.

What I'd love to see is reviewers finding a niche, reviewing many of a particular type of liquid...be it tobacco, menthol, cheesecakes, 100% PG, organics, or whatever, and becoming something of an expert on that. Then I'd know which reviewer to check out if I had a hankering for cherry cheesecake. That "Really Big RY4 Roundup" thread must be incredibly useful to anyone looking for a good RY4, even if it isn't on YT. Now we just need one of those threads, or even a series of videos I suppose, for...everything else.

 

[FRANKSTER]

Hello people...below gives you an idea of my problem with e-juice reviews...must we all be subjected to this...these people are killing me.

FunkyVapes Juice Review - BackWoods Brew RY4 - - YouTube

RY4 juice review from myvaporstore.com - YouTube

 

[ambientech]

Hello people...below gives you an idea of my problem with e-juice reviews...must we all be subjected to this...these people are killing me.

FunkyVapes Juice Review - BackWoods Brew RY4 - - YouTube

RY4 juice review from myvaporstore.com - YouTube

If you stick with only watching reviews by those that have similar taste as you reviews are great. If you search for crap you get crap.....

 

[Freddytk421]

I only vape strong unflavored juice. It kinda tastes like poorly cured rubber smells. not burning rubber but when it's new. I love it. I think I should do a review.

 

[mariahpoo]

Hello people...below gives you an idea of my problem with e-juice reviews...must we all be subjected to this...these people are killing me.

FunkyVapes Juice Review - BackWoods Brew RY4 - - YouTube

RY4 juice review from myvaporstore.com - YouTube

I watched both.

The first one... uuuugh. Yeah, that is a prime example of a poor review. Passing the bottle around to have people smell it. I don't know if any of you care what it smells like out if the bottle, but I don't. It has nothing to do with how a juice vapes. They reviewed what the bottle looked like. There was a lot of non juice related talk. And the guy fiddling with the drumsticks was distracting.

Second one... A lot of rambling and non juice related talk, but toward the end I laughed. It didn't seem that he liked the vape too much (based on initial reaction). So I was surprised that he said he could vap it all day. When someone says "weird" off the first pull... lol.

 

[FRANKSTER]

I only vape strong unflavored juice. It kinda tastes like poorly cured rubber smells. not burning rubber but when it's new. I love it. I think I should do a review.

I think you should. Why not, you cannot do any worse than the people out there and you can get some stuff for free...you're a winner. BTW, can you give me a few examples of this strong unflavored juice and where you got them. Are you talking just about nic juice or something other. Bear with me, I'm not that bright.

 

[FRANKSTER]

If you stick with only watching reviews by those that have similar taste as you reviews are great. If you search for crap you get crap.....

Hello there...I was looking for ry4 reviews and this why I watch these videos...how can I possibly know it's trash until I watch it. I really do not understand your point. I did not seek these out based on quality, I really need to know why ry4 has such a great following when I tried it from one vendor and it taste like poison. I hear all kinds of great reviews on bwb ry4, therefore I like to get a handle on it, but of course every reviewer states that it is great. I think there is something wrong with that. Thanks for the comment anyway.

 

[FRANKSTER]

Hello people...I have a link below of Phil Busardo doing a review on a e-cig kit. Let me start off by saying that I think Phil is the best reviewer out there, bar none. The guy even shows you a chart of juice prices and shipping. That is how you do a review.

Watch how he decimates this kit...this is the way it is supposed to be done. I still have a slight gripe with Phil on his juice reviews though. He is too soft on juices he thinks suck...I would like to see him talk about juices the way he talks about kits. He is most definitely the best the vaping world has at the moment, without question and yet his juice reviews are boring to me.
Watch how it is done.

A PBusardo Review - TGO from HoosierEcigSupply - YouTube

Boy, I truly have no life...it's 7am and I am writing a post on ecf...my lord god, help me

 

[Uma]

Vapian! I love your tank tutorial!! You have the lighting, audio, facts, details, presence, and honesty down pat!
I didn't realize you do eJuice reviews too. I'll have to give them a look see today before the sun disappears into rain. (solar powered internet).

I like to know:
1. Carto friendly?
2. Tank Friendly? (sometimes too thin, sometimes too thick, so how should we punch our slots for this particular juice?)
3. Is it worth killing attys over? (some juices are the Holy Grail as long as we have enough extra attys/cartos handy)
4. Exactly what you're testing it with. Whether it be eGo, SB, VV, LR, SR, HR, and (what is the volt and Resistance?

1a. I'd like to see a blurb about the Reviewers preferences, like the RY4 poster mentioned. (love RY4 and love that thread). Instead of music, a nice helpful Intro consisting of the specialized flavors would be nice. "HI! I"M A COFFEE FLAVOR REVIEWER, I SPECIALIZE IN COFFEE BUT DABBLE IN DESERTS"
2a. Whenever anyone tests underload, they look at the numbers and think "yep, there are some numbers there, heck if I know what they represent, but there they are folks!" (should the numbers be higher or lower with their particular resisted or not resisted carto??) Please educate self and the viewer as well.

Can't wait to view your vids, Vapian. You rock.

 

[Running Wolf]

I agree. Video juice reviews do nothing for me either. I do, however, like to watch the negative reviews just to see the reviewer's facial reaction after taking a big vape.

Yeah look at some of the reviews/vids for jusices that suck.

With some of them it is like having to sit through eating a relatives bad cooking. "Oh aunt Jane you make the best rocky mountain oysters" meanwhile the face is 3 shades of green.

 

[Running Wolf]

I think some of the reviews are fun to watch, but I have to agree that they provide limited useful information. Taste is such a subjective thing. And what tastes good today... maybe not so much next month.

The other problem I have with liquid reviews - video or not - is descriptions like "Oh Wow!" aren't really helping. I know I have a hard time describing what can be very subtle taste sensations in certain liquids. We really need a tasting lexicon, of sorts, with clear definitions of different types of tastes that one runs across in liquids. "Oh Wow!" and "Yuck!" would be the first two descriptions excluded from said lexicon.

They are fun to watch for the entertainment value alone..... with tastes being so subjective. PBursardo is just fun to watch too.

So far I haven't really seen any review that can be equated to a wine or micro-brew beer analysis. Believe it or not North East Ohio (as well as the Niagara Valley of New York) have some good wines, vineyards, and wineries. You do have people talking about the initial hit and the taste of the exhale.

Might sound pretentious (not meaning to) but saying somethign has a light undertone of so-and-so with a foreground taste of that-and-this, would be more helpful.


Also it does help if you get some juices and find a reviewer, or friends, or other members of the hive mind with similar flavor preferences. I don't really like oranges, so knowing a reviewer who doesn't like oranges is a plus.

And generally if some flavor is universally panned.... as bacon seems to be, you know to avoid it Or at least that is a signal to me to avoid it. But than again some of the samples I ordered I got a bit brave on. You never know until you try it yourself..... only decent artificial bacon product is Bacon Bits, and that doesn't even compare to the real thing.

 

[ambientech]

Hello there...I was looking for ry4 reviews and this why I watch these videos...how can I possibly know it's trash until I watch it. I really do not understand your point. I did not seek these out based on quality, I really need to know why ry4 has such a great following when I tried it from one vendor and it taste like poison. I hear all kinds of great reviews on bwb ry4, therefore I like to get a handle on it, but of course every reviewer states that it is great. I think there is something wrong with that. Thanks for the comment anyway.

Stick to certain reviewers and only them. Within a couple weeks in I knew which reviewers I would watch and those I felt are paid off or do a terrible job at it. It isn't hard to avoid the idiot reviews as it is obvious as soon as you click play. If your favorite reviewer has not reviewed the juice or product you are inquiring then wait for them to review it or just order it and try yourself. I could spend several lifetimes complaining about things I don't like on youtube but would rather just avoid these things......

 

[Freddytk421]

I think you should. Why not, you cannot do any worse than the people out there and you can get some stuff for free...you're a winner. BTW, can you give me a few examples of this strong unflavored juice and where you got them. Are you talking just about nic juice or something other. Bear with me, I'm not that bright.

I just bought some 60mg/ml concentrated VG nicotine and added 1:1 PG so it was 30mg. I like it and I have been using 2 njoys gas station e-cigs and refilling 5 cartos for a whole month. I have only gone through 1/2 of the 60/ml bottle of juice in the first month. I have not had any conventional tobacco products and im as happy as can be. Im for sure ahead money wise. Im getting some real equipment hopefully it comes in tomorrow.