The Prime Vaping Interview
SPIN: Tell our readers why you decided to get into the e-juice business.
PrimeVaping: Well my parents were life-long smokers and tried so many times to quit without success. I myself was a smoker and had actually quit for 3 months, but was having a very hard time with cravings. We had heard about the e-cigarette, so after I did a lot of research I ordered just a regular 510 for us to try. My parents were able to quit immediately for the first time in their lives! They went from cigarettes to an e-cig without a hitch, and I never had another cigarette or have I craved one since discovering e-cigs. We were ordering juices from some of the bigger US companies, and they were ok, they worked. I was only 19 years old and trying to figure out where my life was going. I knew I wanted my own business, but wasn’t sure which direction to go in yet. When I realized how many people this industry could help, I knew this was my answer. I started making juices for us, and of course so many people we knew wound up leaving cigarettes behind for an e-cig. Before I knew it, I was making juices for everyone we knew that was using an e-cig., and the rest is history.
SPIN: Who inspired you to get into the e-Juice business?
PrimeVaping:I would have to say my parents had a lot to do with that. As I said in the previously, they were able to successfully quit cigarettes for the first time ever. My mother actually suggested I make a business out it. They have both been a huge help with this business.
SPIN: How many resellers stock your e-juice?
PrimeVaping: Well right now we only have one reseller. Our juices are available at Evapor of Appleton in Appleton Wisconsin. We are just now working on getting into different stores. It takes so much time to just operate a website and everything else involved that we didn’t even think of it until recently.
SPIN: Why is American Made e-Juice so important today?
PrimeVaping: Well first of all with the way our economy is, I think it is very important for everyone to try to support American companies. I know that some of the so called “American made e-liquids” are made using ingredients that come from other countries. I just don’t trust ingredients from other countries. We have never purchased any of our ingredients from China.
SPIN: How do you concoct such amazing flavors?
PrimeVaping: First of all, we try to listen to our customers. We are always getting requests for a flavor. People email us asking that we make a certain flavor, and if it’s possible we do it. We have a lot of testers for our flavors, and they do not go on our site until we feel they are ready. A lot of trial and error!
SPIN: How long does it take to go from an idea to the final product?
PrimeVaping: That can vary greatly. Sometimes you just hit it right rather quickly, and sometimes it takes a long time. There are some flavors I have worked on and on and on, and never quite get it. The hardest part of making a good flavor is that people’s tastes are so different. I may taste something and think it is horrible; someone else will try it and love it. It is the hardest part of this business, because not everyone is going to get the same flavor. Of course you also have to taste them when first made and then periodically throughout the steeping period.
SPIN: Can you tell us a little about your background?
PrimeVaping: Well I really don’t have a whole lot of background “laughing”. I am only 21 years old, and I started working on this business when I was 19. I was born in Boca Raton, FL, and my family moved to Woodstock, GA 7 years ago. I’m the youngest of 5, and I have 4 older sisters. My whole life revolves around this business and my family. I have a real passion for graphic design and web development, and my family takes advantage of that, quite often. “laughing”
SPIN: Safety is a huge factor today. Tell our readers what kind of measures you take to make sure that your e-juice is safe to consume?
PrimeVaping: You’re right safety is a huge factor, and it is something we take very seriously here. We do everything in our power to make sure that the product we ship to our customers is of the best quality. We use nothing but USP Pharmaceutical Grade Nicotine that is made here in the US, USP Food Grade PG, VG and all of our flavorings are FDA approved. We make sure that all of the flavorings we use do not contain Diacetyl, Acetyl Propionyl, or Acetoin. We use the same safety guidelines that are used in commercial kitchens. After all, we vape the same juice we sell to others.
SPIN: How important is it to use pharmaceutical grade PG, VG? Do you use distilled water? Are there any “filler liquids” in your juice?
PrimeVaping: As I said earlier, we use nothing but the best quality ingredients available on the market. We have never used any type of fillers in our juices. Our ingredients are very simple; USP PG, USP VG, USP Pharmaceutical grade nicotine, and FDA approved food flavorings. We do not typically add any distilled water to our juices. The only time you will find distilled water in them, is if someone orders 100% VG juice and asks us to thin it with water.
SPIN: Is your flavoring organic? Are they also “American Made”?
PrimeVaping: The flavorings we use now are not organic. However, we have been working on a whole new line of organic flavors for some time now. We have located the organic flavorings we like, and have been working on some e-liquids. We want to make sure we have more than a few flavors to introduce to begin with. There are a lot of particulars to work out before we will be ready to introduce them.
SPIN: How can you make sure that your flavors are always consistent, that each batch delivers the same flavor and nicotine levels?
PrimeVaping: First of all, we do not make our liquids in batches. We make every bottle individually. Our customers can choose any PG/VG ratio they want, and that just makes it impossible to make anything in a batch. It makes for a lot more work for us, and we have discussed many times just offering the most popular ratios, but people are always commenting on the fact that they like having that option. As far as making sure that the nicotine levels are always accurate, we are extremely careful and use precise measuring equipment for every single bottle.
SPIN: How many flavors do you offer today? Which are your favorites?
PrimeVaping: We currently have 56 flavors to choose from. As far as what my favorite is, that’s a hard one. I am always vaping different flavors, but if I had to choose one it would probably be our Strawberry. It is one of our most popular flavors.
SPIN: Why should our readers buy their e-juice from you?
PrimeVaping: I guess for all the reasons I have outlined in this interview. We take great pride in our e-liquids, we use nothing but top quality ingredients, and make sure things are done in a safe environment. Our e-liquids are not the cheapest on the market; however they are not the most expensive either. Quite simply we have a very good quality all American ingredient e-juice.
SPIN: Lastly. What are your plans for the rest of 2012 and beyond?
PrimeVaping: Hopefully we will continue to grow. As I said earlier we have plans to add a whole new line of organic e-liquids. We are going to go forward with getting our e-liquids into different stores throughout the USA and possibly other countries. Our hope is to have a brick and mortar store sometime in the near future. I also think it is very important to be involved in keeping the e-cigarette business going. All of the vendors out there should do whatever they can to help fight for this industry. I believe we are truly making history in the battle to help people get away from analogs.
