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Question about the safety of a shop that makes juice themselves...?

I discovered a new shop, needed a new battery and my local one was closed so we found another one near by. Got my battery (all is ok with that) picked out a flavor (Vanilla) and went home. When I tasted it, it tasted like frikkin feet and mint. So called him up he said no problem bring it back. I go in with my bf, the guy says ok let's see what the deal is, and he disappears behind a curtain for ten minutes... as we leave bf looks at me and says well we aren't going here anymore. ?huh? He's mixing it himself back there! That's why he draws the curtain, that's why it took 15 mins to get a flavor..... but now I'm wondering.. what are the dangers of this? Is it merely a taste issue? (I have yet to use the new one, little nervous for various reasons) SO ANYWAY thought I'd come here and ask away, as ya'll have helped me in the past. =) Thanks in advance! ~ Shawnna
 
Yea, definitely shady... and not too great at duplicating results apparently, judging by the first bottle. But is there any risk to any parts, including the coil, using it, or is it just about that it might taste gross?
 

RMarcusY

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THAT is why I started DIY. I don't trust anyone that has to hide and make juice.
Some of them have a bottle of high % and no % of each flavor and guess about the % that you ask for. There are lots of good venders here at the VU, try some of them for your juice needs.
 

outwest

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most of the places here will mix it behind the counter or in back room, but where u can see them and they can see you. From a business standpoint, that only makes sense so that they can watch for shoplifting. The only reasons I can see to hide the mixing is that either they're not very clean or they want you to think they're buying in special stuff that u cant just make at home. I suspect the latter in this case, but you never know.
 

bondo

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It depends. In your case it does sound a bit fishy but quite a few b&m's here mix juice in house behind closed doors. I prefer 0mg nic and most don't keep a full stock of every house flavor in 0mg so I often get fresh mixes when trying new flavors. It doesn't bother me much but I make sure to taste test the fresh bottle to make sure it's on par with the sample or atleast close depending on wether or not it's a shake n vape flavor.
as far as "behind closed doors" goes,they almost have to to ensure sanitary conditions. I'd be a helluva lot more worried if they pulled out the kit and mixed my bottle right there on the counter next to the register....
 

Time

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I think it's common. They don't want you to see how easy it is.

If I was selling juice for a living, I wouldn't want all my customers knowing they can do it themselves. I'd go behind the curtain. :p
 

soulshine

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Ewww.."shop juice"...LOL It's been awhile. But the answers above are probably spot on. DIY seems a little daunting at first, but it's easier than you might imagine as everyone has said. You will spend a bit of $ getting started but once you realize you can make 240 mls of juice for less than you probably spend on a 15 ml of "pro juice"...you will kick yourself for not learning sooner..LOL If you're still at a point where you aren't ready and opt for premade juice, I would suggest ordering online from some of the recommended vendors on this site. It's not a guarantee that you will get official lab made juice, but most of the bigger companies are starting to step up their game.

If you are interested in learning a bit more about DIY, look through the entire section. There are many guides on how to get started and answers to most of the questions that will come up, along with lots of recipes to get you started :)
 

outwest

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Ewww.."shop juice"...LOL It's been awhile. But the answers above are probably spot on. DIY seems a little daunting at first, but it's easier than you might imagine as everyone has said. You will spend a bit of $ getting started but once you realize you can make 240 mls of juice for less than you probably spend on a 15 ml of "pro juice"...you will kick yourself for not learning sooner..LOL If you're still at a point where you aren't ready and opt for premade juice, I would suggest ordering online from some of the recommended vendors on this site. It's not a guarantee that you will get official lab made juice, but most of the bigger companies are starting to step up their game.

If you are interested in learning a bit more about DIY, look through the entire section. There are many guides on how to get started and answers to most of the questions that will come up, along with lots of recipes to get you started :)
Even easier when you do like most of my local shops do. They have the various nic level bases all made up and just squirt that, plus the flavor you asked for, into a bottle. They don't seem to be real accurate with their nic levels though. :( 'Course, when you consider the fact that different flavorings call for different percentages. . . And then there's the times you get a bottle with a nic hot spot. . .

There are some good juices out there to be had, but instead of shop juice I recommend learning to DIY. Plus, that way you know who the flavorings come from and thus can do a better job of avoiding the bad ingredients (diacetyl, etc).
 
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Pauly Walnuts

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I have a local shop that makes juice. I have absolutely no problem with it. Heck, hed do it right in front of me opening a sterile pipette, then drip the flavorings into a clean bottle on a scale. My shop was very precise and clean, though I wouldnt assume all are like that.

The big question is, do we know how anyone makes our juices? Chances are, smaller juice companies do the same as the local shop, but they use their website as the curtain.
 

pulsevape

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I don't like shop juice.....I prefer shops that specailize in making juice or juice companies they tend to keep the place they mix sterile and clean.
 

Swerved

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I have a local shop that makes juice. I have absolutely no problem with it. Heck, hed do it right in front of me opening a sterile pipette, then drip the flavorings into a clean bottle on a scale. My shop was very precise and clean, though I wouldnt assume all are like that.

The big question is, do we know how anyone makes our juices? Chances are, smaller juice companies do the same as the local shop, but they use their website as the curtain.

This is the thing I've often wondered. I'm sure some of the smaller juice vendors are people doing it out of their garage. I mean, anyone can make a website claiming their juices are mixed in an A2LA accredited laboratory, but who is going to actually follow through and check that?
 

RMarcusY

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This is the thing I've often wondered. I'm sure some of the smaller juice vendors are people doing it out of their garage. I mean, anyone can make a website claiming their juices are mixed in an A2LA accredited laboratory, but who is going to actually follow through and check that?
Me,
Heartlandvape is here in OKC, and I check them out at least once a month. They have clean mixing rooms.
You have to trust and know who's mixing juice that you are going to inhale into your body.
 

pulsevape

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well that may or may not be true but when it's some small time b&m and you know the guy is mixing it in the backroom then you know his facilities aren't all that clean.
 

pulsevape

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Me,
Heartlandvape is here in OKC, and I check them out at least once a month. They have clean mixing rooms.
You have to trust and know who's mixing juice that you are going to inhale into your body.
Yeah I don't buy juice from them anymore,but tasty vapor is in my neighboehood and they have a lab set up and mix custom juice, but you can see their lab. it's pretty nice,
 

Swerved

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Me,
Heartlandvape is here in OKC, and I check them out at least once a month. They have clean mixing rooms.
You have to trust and know who's mixing juice that you are going to inhale into your body.

Roger that. If there were a juice vendor in my town I'd likely go check em out too, but I don't know of any. I do know what goes in the juice I make though so if I screw up, it's on me.. lol
 

Larry J

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Shawnna, one thing to consider (other than the obvious concerns mentioned above) is that the first bottle of juice you bought was fresh and had not had time to steep. It's been my experience that vanillas and creams need at least two weeks of steeping before they're vapeable. It might not be bad juice but just needing time to mature.
 

Pauly Walnuts

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The problem is, everyone has their own set of cleanliness standards. I feel absolutely safe vaping the juice I make at my computer desk. Others would call my mixing station a health risk simply because it isn't a clean room in a laboratory.

I understand these concerns but keep in mind, the stuff is heated to double waters boiling point before its vaped. It is messy, but pg is anti microbial. So under most mixing conditions, its pretty safe IMO.
 

Mattp169

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ok juice is super easy to make. if everyone knew how easy it was, more people would do it. then most brick and mortars wold be out of business.
Juice is what pa s the bills. Mods and tanks do not make much profit.

it costs a store about $3 to make a 30ml bottle of juice and most sell it for 10-20
where a piece of equipment they sell for $20 costs them usually 10-15

Vapors spend alot more on juice then equipment

therefor for brick and mortar stores, its all about the juice

So mixing behind a curtain or a back room out of sight makes sense to me.
this does not mean something fishy is going on.
Its just they dont want you to know how easy it is

Also doing everything in view of the customer gives away the recipe, the brands of flavorings, approximate amounts etc

IMO if someone has gone through the trouble of setting up a brick and mortar, they are probably going to be trying to have a fairly clean environment to mix juice in. B&Ms are expensive to keep open, so they have to worry alot more then someone with just a website.

To me the whole hiding behind a curtain is more to protect their investment in a business, then it is to hide something fishy

What would concern me is 15 minutes to make one bottle of juice, unless that was just for the purpose of making it seem harder then it is.

If your concerned ask to see the mixing room, tell then you are concerned . try to be nice, because you could easily come off as accusatory. Say you want to see where the juice you be buying all the time is mixed, so when people say things like, "you dont know what's in it" you can reply "yes i can I have seen where it is made, I know the person who makes it. Have you seen where the sausage patty on your egg mcmuffin is made and who makes it?

With a line like that you may even get a demonstration.
 

KeyserSoze

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It depends. In your case it does sound a bit fishy but quite a few b&m's here mix juice in house behind closed doors. I prefer 0mg nic and most don't keep a full stock of every house flavor in 0mg so I often get fresh mixes when trying new flavors. It doesn't bother me much but I make sure to taste test the fresh bottle to make sure it's on par with the sample or atleast close depending on wether or not it's a shake n vape flavor.
as far as "behind closed doors" goes,they almost have to to ensure sanitary conditions. I'd be a helluva lot more worried if they pulled out the kit and mixed my bottle right there on the counter next to the register....
I bought juice from a B+M for the first time this year today (go me <- party dance). This shop is well known in my area, claim to be the "original" B+M here, all juice is "100% VG" and it was my first time there. Their menu goes on an on about how the ingredients are all US made, mixed in a clean room, highest quality etc. They didn't have any gear that I wanted and the juice prices were cheap so I chose two 10ml bottles that sounded good. The employee was nice and I didn't want to leave without buying a little something.

Tttthhhheeeennnn dude pulls a mason jar out from under counter (which I assume has the 3mg/ml VG in it). He draws it into a 30ml syringe that had been used enough to be missing half the markers (if he had spent some time here he'd at least know to put daggum packing tape over them). Then he grabs a 120ml squeeze bottle of the flavoring and starts squeezing. I can't imagine anyone being able to count drops that fast so he must be eyeballing the flavoring. I almost tossed them in the trash on the way to the car but wasn't feeling like that much of an ass at that moment. Tried the mixes and they are not very good (surprise!). Wish I had a poor vape-friend (with an indiscriminate palette) to give them to.

And here I have been stressing over an extra 0.01 ml of flavoring... :rolleyes:

I have a local shop that makes juice. I have absolutely no problem with it. Heck, hed do it right in front of me opening a sterile pipette, then drip the flavorings into a clean bottle on a scale. My shop was very precise and clean, though I wouldnt assume all are like that.

The big question is, do we know how anyone makes our juices? Chances are, smaller juice companies do the same as the local shop, but they use their website as the curtain.

Yep. :coughfivepawnscough:
 

bondo

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ok juice is super easy to make. if everyone knew how easy it was, more people would do it. then most brick and mortars wold be out of business.
Juice is what pa s the bills. Mods and tanks do not make much profit.

it costs a store about $3 to make a 30ml bottle of juice and most sell it for 10-20
where a piece of equipment they sell for $20 costs them usually 10-15

Vapors spend alot more on juice then equipment

therefor for brick and mortar stores, its all about the juice

So mixing behind a curtain or a back room out of sight makes sense to me.
this does not mean something fishy is going on.
Its just they dont want you to know how easy it is

Also doing everything in view of the customer gives away the recipe, the brands of flavorings, approximate amounts etc

IMO if someone has gone through the trouble of setting up a brick and mortar, they are probably going to be trying to have a fairly clean environment to mix juice in. B&Ms are expensive to keep open, so they have to worry alot more then someone with just a website.

To me the whole hiding behind a curtain is more to protect their investment in a business, then it is to hide something fishy

What would concern me is 15 minutes to make one bottle of juice, unless that was just for the purpose of making it seem harder then it is.

If your concerned ask to see the mixing room, tell then you are concerned . try to be nice, because you could easily come off as accusatory. Say you want to see where the juice you be buying all the time is mixed, so when people say things like, "you dont know what's in it" you can reply "yes i can I have seen where it is made, I know the person who makes it. Have you seen where the sausage patty on your egg mcmuffin is made and who makes it?

With a line like that you may even get a demonstration.

Sure it's easy bit time consuming.
I can't speak for anyone else but in my case I don't have the time to take on another aspect of vaping.
I'm running full tilt 7 days a week from pillow to pillow and can barely make time to rebuild.
I always say that I've got more time than money but juice is just something that I'd rather pay for and save my time for something profitable.
 

burley

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If your concerned ask to see the mixing room, tell then you are concerned . try to be nice, because you could easily come off as accusatory. Say you want to see where the juice you be buying all the time is mixed, so when people say things like, "you dont know what's in it" you can reply "yes i can I have seen where it is made, I know the person who makes it. Have you seen where the sausage patty on your egg mcmuffin is made and who makes it?

Dang, that's good.
 

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