What's so cool about vaping? Vape-shop regulars explain the draw - The Union Leader

Monadnock Vapor manager Garrett Matthews, 20, works with flavored e-juice. (Melanie Plenda)

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A display of e-juice for electronic cigarettes at Elite Vapor in downtown Manchester. Flavor combinations are a key part of the attraction to vaping. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER)

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From left to right, Zach Adams, 22, of Keene, Nathan Tarbox, 18, of Swanzey and Clint Coons, 18, of Keene hang out at Monadnock Vapor. Tarbox said he’s found new friends among a group of regulars who go to the shop to get supplies and talk. (Melanie Plenda)

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Zach Adams blows vapor onto a counter as part of a trick where he runs his hand through the cloud to make tornadoes. (Melanie Plenda)

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Jonathan Coimbra of Elite Vapor exhales vapor from an electronic cigarette in front of the downtown Manchester shop on Tuesday. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER)
KEENE -- The thick, head-height haze filling Monadnock Vapor in Keene is deceptive. Someone walking in the door could be forgiven for wincing, thinking thick cigarette smoke is permeating the air all around.
But the tell-tale pungent odor of burnt tobacco is absent, replaced by something that smells a lot more like vanilla and fruity flavors.

It's comfortable, that smell, and goes nicely with the nattily appointed leather couches nestled in the corner and the uber-modern black bar at which several regulars are planted.

“Usually we'll have a crowd of regulars come in hang out, vape, try new juices, talk about new products,” said Garrett Matthews, 20, who's been the shop's manager for about 15 months. “There aren't like a ton of places that are acceptable to vape inside except, of course, your own house, so it kind of just gives everyone a place to come together and hang out where they are allowed to vape. And it brings together a ton of people who wouldn't be brought together otherwise.

“You see, like, 40-year-old motorcycle riders, talking to nurses, talking to school teachers, talking to high school students — 18-year-old high school students of course.”

That's the community, he said. And one can find it on any given day sitting around the e-juice bar of most any vape shop around the state. And Monadnock Vapor is not unique. Vapers across New Hampshire are finding judgment-free fellowship and a vibrant vaping subculture in shops and even at special events and competitions.

Growing alternative

Vapers inhale the heated vapor from an e-liquid through a personal atomizer or vape-pen. The e-liquids, also called e-juice or vape juice, is typically made of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin mixed with food-grade flavoring and liquid nicotine.

About 10 percent of U.S. adults now vape, according to an online Reuters/Ipsos poll of 5,679 Americans conducted between May 19 and June 4, 2015, up from a 2.6 percent estimate by the U.S. government in 2013.

In New Hampshire, there are more than a dozen vape shops across the state. Many smoke shops now offer vaping stops, and there are skads of vendors for the oils and vaping atomizer makers.

“Vaping is like a worldwide thing,” Matthews said. It's all across the country, there are so many people who smoke cigarettes and there's such a good opportunity here to stop everyone from dying from smoking cigarettes. It's huge.”

The juice comes with varying levels of nicotine and a myriad of flavors, everything from cotton candy to buttered popcorn to “unicorn tears.”

“That's most of the conversation in here,” said Joshua Durisseau, 19, Keene, of the flavor options.

Vaping is different from the electronic cigarettes sold in most stores that sell tobacco products. Those devices, often designed to look like regular cigarettes, use replacement cartridges with limited flavor choices.

No more butts

Durisseau said he had been a smoker, but started vaping two months ago and pretty quickly weaned himself from cigarettes altogether. He said he's just getting to a point where he feels confident enough to blend a few of his own flavors together and even invented one of his own that resembled grape Kool Aid.

Matthews said that's not unusual, likening it to people who get into wine or even cigars.

“People usually start out with the house blends because they're a little cheaper,” he said of the juices that run anywhere from $13 to $18 for a 30 milliliter bottle of juice. “But eventually they get bored with those. They want something a little more spunky, something that has a little more complexity to it, more flavors.”

Matthews said the vendors know what they are doing, since many transition from the culinary and coffee worlds to that of vape juice making.

“It's all about mixing flavors that taste good at the end of the day,” he said.

There have been cases of e-cigarettes catching fire or exploding, primarily from overheating batteries. While these instances so far have been rare compared to the number of people who vape, vaping enthusiasts say often the problem comes down to operator error. Several vaping sites online encourage vapers to take precautions, such as not letting the vape device overheat, not overcharging the battery, and not getting it wet, among other things.

But the problems appear more part of growing pains than a trend.

Matthews found that many vapers started because they wanted to stop smoking cigarettes, and it made the transition fairly painless.

“When you smoke a cigarette you don't enjoy the taste in your own mouth,” he said. “You want to be spitting the whole time, like you don't even feel comfortable swallowing your own spit.”

Another draw, said vape barkeep Zach Adams, 22, of Keene, is that unlike cigarettes, vaping can be a hobby. While many vapers can just use the pen-style vaporizers to vape, others find it more satisfying to use so-called box mods. These are palm-sized boxes with atomizers affixed to the top and are customizable. What that means, Adams said, is that home hobbyists with enough time and YouTube videos can construct their own tricked-out heating elements and giant batteries that allow for a more customizable experience.

“With mine,” he said. “I like mine hot and screaming flavor, with a really big punch in the back of my throat. With the other ones you can't turn them high enough, because they're either not hot enough or just burn (the juice), there's like no middle sweet spot. With these you can just pick what you want if you want super flavor or giant clouds, or want it to be really cool.”

Adams said he smoked cigarettes all through high school but was inspired by both his stepdad and grandmother, each with 30-plus years of smoking under their belts, who quit by vaping. So he tried it. Not only did he quit smoking, but he found that making better and more advanced box mods became something of a serious hobby that he and his stepdad could do together.

“At first it's fun just because it's like new, and it's doing stuff with your hands and you get to actually make something,” he said. “It might be conceited but I think it tastes better when you do it yourself, it's more satisfying. The fact that I put that together and I used my hands, it's more rewarding and you get to choose a little more of how you want it to be.”

 

I love that there are more and more vape shops around that specialize in creating flavors, juices, and experiences. I also love that these are actual shops, not just a trendy kiosk in the mall or temporary vendor at an event or market. Vaping is the way to go. Awesome article.

 

Wow, a positive research finally.