Vaping Cloud Competition in Greenwich

Steve Shulman, co-founder and co-owner of Clouds Vapors & Lounge at 39 North Water Street in Greenwich, announced its first Cloud Competition being held on Saturday, November 8th from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM in conjunction with Clouds’ Grand Opening. There will be a variety of prizes for contestants. Come to compete or simply watch the contestants in action.

Not sure what we are talking about? A new lifestyle trend known as Vaping has struck the east coast like a storm. Vaping refers to smoking electronic cigarettes as a hobby. Vaping utilizes a propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin based liquid mixed with varying levels of nicotine and food grade flavorings. The user known as a vaper inhales and exhales from the device much like smoking a cigarette. The activity is known as vaping because the liquid gets heated up with an atomizer and turned into vapor. Vaping has been around since 1963, but has gained increasing popularity in the past few years.

Vaping swept the west-coast and is making its way here and growing throughout New England. During a Cloud Competition, two competitors are back-to-back and blow vapor clouds. A winner is decided based on size, density, length, and volume of the biggest cloud.

Studies have not shown vaping is a 100% safe hobby. Few studies have examined either short-term effects or long-term effects. “I guess that makes us the guinea pigs,” admitted Steven Shulman, co-owner of Clouds Vapors & Lounge. So far, anyone who chooses to use a vape is at risk for possible health issues in the future, but it is not believed to be anywhere near as harmful as cigarettes at this point.

Vaporizers used by vapers, the enthusiasts, come in a variety of sizes and price levels. The mini or cig-a-like are disposable electronic cigarettes that have a look and feel very similar to a tobacco cigarette. They are cheap and ideal for vapers who are quitting smoking. Mid-size or eGo electronic cigarettes are the most popular choice among vapers. They are manually operated, rechargeable, moderately priced and have twice the battery life and vapor as a mini. Mechanical and box mods are the most expensive, but the most desirable of vaporizers. These are variable voltage and wattage devices that utilize a hot coil system to heat the liquid enough to turn it to vapor. These use a mostly vegetable glycerin liquid with little to no propylene glycol. Ultimately. The choice of vaporizer depends on a user’s reason for vaping, i.e., hobby vs nicotine replacement solution, and the amount of money they are willing to spend.

E-Liquid or E-Juice is a major component used in vaping. E-Liquid is categorized by the amount of nicotine it contains and the propylene glycol/vegetable glycerin ratio. Nicotine can range from 0 milligrams to 24 milligrams depending on needs of the user. When using cig-a-likes and eGos, the liquid is generally more propylene glycol than vegetable glycerin as the vegetable glycerin is too thick to burn well in atomizers.

With Mods, the liquid is mostly vegetable glycerin as the coils burn hot enough to turn the thick liquid into vapor. Liquid for vaping comes in many different flavors from menthol and strawberry to bourbon and coffee. Among the favorite flavors used by customers at Cloud Vapors & Lounge were: Cereal Killa by 9 South Vapes, which is fruit loops flavor; Unicorn Milk by Cuttwood, which is strawberry nesquik; Mr. Miyagi by Alpha Vape, a papaya-plum juice. The variety of flavors is endless.

For information on the Saturday evening Cloud Competition, please call 203-531-5091 or e-mail cloudsvape@gmail.com