Spinfuel Talks With V8P Juice Company
During the review process, especially when the team is reviewing a brand of eliquid we’ve never presented in the pages of Spinfuel we like to interview them and present the interview on the same day we publish our comprehensive review. Below is that interview. We hope you enjoy it.
Don’t forget to read the review, you can do so right here.
SPINFUEL: Welcome to the pages of Spinfuel. We’ve been looking forward to talking to you. Would you like to introduce yourselves to our readers?
Alex: Yes of course we do… V8P Juice launched in January 2014 as is the brainchild of a team of Doctors, Nurse Practitioners, and RN’s. Chemists & Engineers based in Delray Beach, Florida.
We built our brand with health in mind. We only use the highest quality and purest Organic, Non-GMO & Plant-based ingredients available. We take pride in what we do and really appreciate the invitation to be reviewed by Spinfuel!
SPINFUEL: What position(s) do you hold in the company?
Alex: My name is Alex De La Espriella; I am the CEO of V8P Juice and an EDM Music Producer and Audio Engineer. Christina Amoroso, A.R.N.P. is our Vice President and Public Speaker for our Team of Medical Personnel.
SPINFUEL: Getting down to business; who or what inspired you to get into the e-juice business? When was that?
Alex: We decided to create V8P Juice after I went to the Big Industry Show last year in Denver. I came back after a great experience and spoke to Christina about the idea to switch from the music industry into the vape industry. She mentioned to me that there was a huge need for a high quality eliquid in her medical practice. She wanted to offer patients an alternative to smoking. She noticed a huge increase in her patients wanting to quit over the past 5 years, but was morally opposed to recommend the current brands due to lack of regulation and proper labeling, and a host of other issues.
Patients also frequently complained that hypnosis and other oral medications weren’t working to help ease their addiction. Since our launch in January, her practice has seen a 100% success rate in converting analog cigarette smokers to digital vapers.
The happiness shared from her patients after successfully making the switch and helping them to live cleaner healthier lives is what motivates us to make the best e-liquids possible.
SPINFUEL: Where are you located? What’s the local and state level situation there with respect to electronic cigarettes? What’s the “attitude” of the people there about eCigarettes?
Alex: We are located in Delray Beach, FL. Currently, the vaping industry is booming here, all the way from the Keys to the Panhandle. We are very excited to be a pioneer in this industry and part of its exponential growth here in Florida.
I would say overall, the attitude is extremely positive. People in South Florida have been very receptive to the benefits of vaping versus smoking due to their health conscious & active lifestyles. Also, a huge vape enthusiast scene has emerged here with many cloud competitions and vape events held monthly around the South Florida area. These events give vapers a chance to compete for free e-liquid, accessories and mods from sponsoring vendors. It’s really been a win – win for everyone involved.
SPINFUEL: When you launched your company how did you decide on your first flavor or “set” of flavors?
Alex: During our R&D phase we mixed over 400 flavors and then narrowed it down to our favorites, while keeping in mind that we wanted a little something for everyone. After about 8 months of mixing and remixing, we finally created our 8 Signature Flavors; 2 signature tobaccos, 3 decadent custards and 3 sweet candy and fruit flavors. It was a lot of work, but we are really proud of our creations.
SPINFUEL: It seems that no matter how many eLiquid vendors we review, they all have their own “signature” recipes. Each brand is different, which I find remarkable, and exciting. With just a handful of ingredients each company is able to create their own specific traits. How would you describe your signature?
Alex: We pride our brand on being clean, safe and plant-based! We do not use colorants, additives and petroleum by products, which we think, gives us an edge on being the cleanest & safest e-liquid. We are Plant-based. Our VG is USDA Certified Organic and our PG is derived from Non GMO Corn, not Petroleum. We use the best Nicotine available from our partner NicSelect which is the industry’s first and only “Vaping Grade” Nicotine. It exceeds US Pharmacological Standards and is manufactured from Real Tobacco Leaves in an FDA Approved Facility. I would say that our top grade ingredients and flavors really set the bar high for other brands.
SPINFUEL: We steep all the eLiquids we receive for review purposes, even if we’re told there is no need to do so. Do you steep your eLiquids before they are shipped to customers? If so, how long do they sit before you ship them out? If you do not, do you suggest that customers ‘home steep’ them before vaping?
Alex: All of our E-liquids are pre-steeped for 2 weeks minimum before the customer gets them. We batch mix every month based on the previous months sales history, so we tend to keep up with stock and are able to hold onto it long enough to have it well steeped before shipping.
It’s good to go the day you buy it, but as always with any e-juice it only gets better with age, so go a head and steep it for as long as you’d like. Chances are, however, you won’t be able to put it down, so don’t expect to hit that 6 month mark anytime soon!
SPINFUEL: What’s the best way, in your opinion, for customers to ‘steep’ eLiquids at home? Do you have an area in your facility where your liquids go to steep?
Alex: We have a set of Dark Cabinets that we age our liquids in. I recommend a safe, cool dark place that is preferably locked or at least child proof and pet safe.
SPINFUEL: Let’s talk about packaging. How are your eLiquids packaged?
Alex: Our V8P Juice is beautifully labeled, barcoded and nicotine strength color-coded. We make it simple for the stores to keep track of inventory and for customers to know the strength of the product by color-coding the rubber dropper tops.
Black = 0mg, White = 3mg, Yellow = 6mg, Orange = 12mg, & Red = 18mg.
Our bottles are frosted glass and have child safe and tamper evident seals. Our labels are brightly colored and the name says it all.
SPINFUEL: There is a lot of concern these days about how and where eLiquids are being made. Could you describe your ‘mixing’ area? Where do you do your mixing, bottling, and shipping?
Alex: Our work areas are all separate from another following GMP standards and ISO level 7 cleanroom standards. We use sterile glass vessels for mixing and storage and take great care in all formulations. Rest assured that the same care that goes into our medical practice, goes in to our e-liquids.
SPINFUEL: How do you make sure your mixing tools and containers are kept clean and sterile?
Alex: We use sterilized glass graduated cylinders and beakers for measurements and mix in sealed glass containers. We sterilize all glassware after every flavor batch and sterilize all mixing vessels prior to use. Cleanliness is a top priority for the V8P Juice Team.
SPINFUEL: Safety is also a huge factor today. What kind of measures do you take to make sure that your e-juice is safe to consume? What methods do you use to prevent contamination or other factors that can harm your product?
Alex: We batch mix everything in closed glass vessels to ensure safety and quality. We source from proven American Suppliers and only deal with the best ingredients. We test all batches for nicotine accuracy twice before they leave our production area and we also have separate rooms for all our pre production, receiving, mixing and bottling areas and conform to all GMP standards. We are also in the process of getting our E-liquid tested from an independent third party and are building a larger facility to expand into in December with a state of the art flavor laboratory here in Delray Beach.
SPINFUEL: What assurances do you have to make sure the nicotine levels in your individual bottles of e-Liquid are what they are supposed to be?
Alex: We use a double titration method to ensure nicotine levels are accurate at both the receiving end from our supplier and our end product. We want to know that both what we buy and what we sell is exactly what they are supposed to be.
SPINFUEL: Does your crew wear any type of special clothing when they are mixing?
Alex: Our crew wears medical scrubs / gloves that are only used for mixing eliquid and takes sterility and cleanliness as serious as in an operating room.
SPINFUEL: Do you mix everyday? Do you mix in batches, and if so, how large is a typical batch?
Alex: A typical batch is currently 2000ml per Nic strength per flavor, which makes about 200 10ml bottles. We batch those as needed usually about once – three times a month. But, we are quickly out growing this phase and will soon be upgrading to provide larger batches and larger storage space. We have plans for a new location in December 2015.
SPINFUEL: Do you have a specific audience in mind for your eLiquids? In other words, are your ejuices best used with cartomizers, tanks, and clearomizers? Are they blended for dripping, or subohm coils?
Alex: We developed our juice in a 70/30 blend of Organic VG and Plant-based PG to taste great in all devices, however we personally love to drip our juice!
SPINFUEL: What types of hardware do you use when testing your liquids? Is there any specific hardware that provides the best ‘vape’ for your eLiquids?
Alex: I personally run a Godmod 180 with a Dark horse atty at 50watts with a 15 wrap 28ga Kanthal Dual Micro Coil. I get tremendous flavor and great vapor production. Christina likes her Kanger Sub Tank on her eLeaf 50watt box mod. For its size it packs a huge punch and has great battery life!
SPINFUEL: What is your suggested, or “house blend” for PG/VG ratio for your ejuice?
Alex: Our Ratio is a 70% USDA Certified Organic VG and 30% Plant-based PG from non GMO Corn. We find that to be our sweet spot for great flavor and vapor production in all devices whether you drip or run a tank.
SPINFUEL: How do you make sure that your flavors are always consistent, that each batch or bottle delivers the same flavor time after time?
Alex: We take great care in our recipes and in our measurements. We also source from reputable companies that do not dilute the flavorings we receive, so we have had great luck with keeping our formulas consistent. We personally taste every batch of juice after it’s made to ensure that it is the same on our palette every time.
SPINFUEL: Something that as always had me wondering; how does a professional eLiquid artist make sure that their flavors taste the same no matter what the PG/VG ratio?
Alex: It’s hard because there is always a slight variance as you change the base formula, but Our Bio-PG adds a bit of a floral note rather than the acidic note that the petroleum based PG has naturally, so our juice tends to be a bit sweeter and than the other brands.
Our Organic VG and Bio-PG work really well together and being one of the first brands to actively pursue the use of the “Green” PG we have discovered our own way of working with it that has helped to keep our juice consistent. It was a bit of trial and error at first, but our 70/30 blend is our sweet spot. We currently only offer our V8P Juice in our 70/30 mix so that makes life a bit easier for us. In future however we do have plans to release a subsidiary competition style juice line at Max VG (90/10) for all the cloud chasers.
SPINFUEL: Does nicotine levels affect the flavor of your eliquids?
Alex: Very slightly. We use the best Nicotine on the market from Nicselect. It holds its clarity better than any other brand of nicotine and has an extremely smooth throat hit and barley any taste or harshness. It’s really an amazing product! With Nicselect we notice our juice stays “Fresher” longer, but there is a tiny variance in vapor feel with the higher nic strengths but I wouldn’t say it affects the flavor very much if at all.
SPINFUEL: Were you a smoker before you switched to vaping? If so, what made you decide to quit smoking?
Alex: No, Christina and I were never smokers.
Christina and our medical consultants have seen the devastating effects of cigarette smoking on their patients over the last 10 years. They have watched them struggle with addiction as well as chronic, life threatening diseases such as COPD and lung cancer.
SPINFUEL: What type (and/or brand) of e-cigarette did you use to break away from analogs?
Alex: We developed our own Magnetic Vape Pen called the “V8PORIZER”. It features a 2.5ml glass tank and a 650mah battery and a replaceable coil that is easy to use and provides twice as much vapor production as an ego pen to help make the switch “a snap” for everyone! Keeping the patients in mind, we designed a pen that was easy to use. We even have a patient with a muscular disorder who has had trouble in the past screwing traditional pens together use our V8PORIZER pen with ease
SPINFUEL: How long did it take to completely leave analogs behind?
Alex: The feedback from our patients has been extremely positive. Once they V8P, they never go back! They say that after vaping, smoking cigarettes is never the same because they can taste all the chemicals.
SPINFUEL: How often do you vape? How many hours per day?
Alex: I vape on and off throughout the day. I find that nicotine’s stimulant properties help give me that extra push during my busy days. I personally like it better than coffee. Usually a good 3 puffs from my god mod will do the trick for the an hour or so. It depends on the flavor, but usually not more than 4 -6 hours a day, a few puffs per hour.
SPINFUEL: Do you have a “favorite” flavor? What is your favorite category of eLiquids for your personal vaping? Fruity, tobacco-based, sweet, and so forth?
Alex: I Vape Sweet Geisha and Blonde Bombshell religiously, and when I want a fruity mint I reach for Latin Lover. Christina really likes to mix both Sweet Geisha and Blonde Bombshell for a unique twist on our juice and also really likes royal blood, our triple berry bubblegum.
SPINFUEL: What makes a good eLiquid? In other words, what order of importance are flavor, vapor, and throat hit in your e-Liquids?
Alex: To me, it’s all about the Flavor First and foremost, followed by the vapor production. You need a good satisfying Vape! Throat hit for me is the least of it, I prefer as smooth a hit as possible.
SPINFUEL: Where do you think the eCigarette industry is headed? Do you have any predictions on the upcoming FDA regulations?
Alex: I think the industry is headed in the right direction, I see a lot of good companies out there doing the right thing and self regulating even before the big boys come in. We live in a Market driven social society where the best products and services rise and the rest fail, so nature will inevitably take its course and will weed out the companies that aren’t forward thinking and keeping up with the trends. I do worry that some of the regulation may be over reaching, and that there is too much propaganda being spread, but am hopeful that it will survive and thrive as all technology driven markets have.
SPINFUEL: Why should our readers buy their e-juice from you?
Alex: Spinfuel readers should buy our V8P Juice because its made from the best ingredients money can buy – USDA Certified Organic VG, Plant-based PG from non GMO Corn and Nicselect Nicotine and is produced by a medical team that has the users health in mind.
We keep it clean and free from additives, colorants, and harmful flavor compounds.
SPINFUEL: Is there anything else you’d like to say to our readers while you have their complete attention?
Alex: Yes! Go to our Website www.V8PJuice.com and try some V8P Juice! – Enter Promo code “SPINFUEL” at checkout and receive 50% OFF until May 31st! Enjoy this amazing deal as a thank for reading Spinfuel. Give V8P Juice a try; it’s a difference you can taste!
Welcome to the V8P Family and Thank you for your review. We welcome any feedback from you or your readers! Email us at V8PJuice@gmail.com with any comments.
SPINFUEL: I can’t thank you enough for talking with us today, even if it is through email. We really enjoyed your eLiquids and we look forward to arranging a “sequel” down the road!! 🙂
Alex: Thanks again! We have another 4 flavors ready for you, whenever you are ready! Stay in touch too because we will be releasing new flavors this summer! Get ready for a great second half of 2015! Vape Happy.
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