Home General Discussion

Ploom: new high tech tobacco pipe, for cigar smokers?

Hello all,

First time posting. I'm the co-founder of a San Francisco company that recently launched a new pipe tobacco product called Ploom.

It heats special tobacco-containing capsules called "Ploom Pods" to just the point where they release a flavorful vapor, without burning or the side effects of combustion.

We've seen a lot of sales and interest from cigar smokers. The experience is quite different, but many cigar enthusiasts are surprised by the clean, intense tobacco flavor. This surprised us, too, since many of our blends have a good deal of top flavoring and were aimed more at the social cigarette or hookah smoker.

Due to the interest in pure tobacco, we're starting to work on lines with no added flavor. We've experimented with tobacco taken from some famous cigars, and the results are very promising. The process is more like steeping tea, so we can preserve the aroma of the unlit tobacco. Even non-smokers don't find the smell offensive. To the contrary, most everyone finds it pleasant, and it can be used indoors even most places where smoking is banned.

I wanted to get a discussion started online about how the product is perceived relative to cigars.

Also, we are looking for territory reps in all corners of the U.S. If you are interested or have any recommendations, please let me know.

For more info on the product and company, you can visit: http://ploom.com

Regards,
Adam

Disclaimer: As mentioned, I am representing the company. Apologies if I missed any policies regarding posting in this manner.
«1

Comments

  • wwhwangwwhwang Posts: 2,878 ✭✭✭
    Why do I feel the need to run my anti-virus if I actually check out that website?
  • Duder2Duder2 Posts: 926
    It actually looks really interesting. Especially for folks in crazy liberal states like mine that have gone smoking ban crazy. I'm kind of intrigued by the technology and just curious about the experience... Not sure if I'm $65 worth of curious, but I wonder...
  • Sol1821Sol1821 Posts: 707 ✭✭
    We have a lot of this sort of stuff in the uk where smoking is banned near enough everywhere.
    It goes down good with the cigerret adicts who need to smoke inside, and with people trying to cut back.
    Im assuming its stilll going to have the nicotine in there?
    Tbh the actual smoking of a cigar is a very small part of the cigar experiance for me, i really enjoy the learning about differnt things, buying cigars, aging them, and being part of the cigar comunity.
  • aron325aron325 Posts: 158
    so now we have salesmen in these forums? are your freaking kidding me. if you ask me he can take he sh*t elsewhere and sell it. my god you really cant get away from any of them lol
  • Looks interesting indeed. However, 6 bucks for 5-10 minutes of 'flavor' is a bit out of my price range for a day to day smoking item. However, it would be great for winter times when even smoking a pipe would be a bit too chilly to enjoy.
  • FourtotheflushFourtotheflush Posts: 2,555
    Id be willing to test drive a free sample.
  • cabinetmakercabinetmaker Posts: 2,560 ✭✭
    Fourtotheflush:
    Id be willing to test drive a free sample.
    +1
  • ShotgunJohnShotgunJohn Posts: 1,545 ✭✭
    Wow, tis the season for spam!!!!
  • xmacroxmacro Posts: 3,402
    From the Ploom website:
    All of our tobacco blends start with the finest grade of Bright Virginia tobacco leaf, grown and cured here in the U.S. The leaf is combined with other premium ingredients in our own custom blending process. We never use expanded or reconstituted tobacco, or other fillers. The result is the purest, highest quality tobacco experience possible.
    So what your site is saying, is that you mix *** in with the tobacco, much like the cigarette manufacturers do


    EDIT: A bit of googling, and I found that these used to cost $30: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/25/ploom-review.html

    The concept of "vapor, not smoke" has been around for awhile - most noticably with potheads

    - http://gizmodo.com/5540974/ploom-vaporizer-review-solid-concept-goes-up-in-smoke
    - http://gizmodo.com/5219983/taking-the-670-volcano-vaporizer-for-a-test-drive

    The comments at the bottom of the Gizmodo reviews are hilarious. Seems a lot of the posters think tobacco, in any form whatsoever, is cancerous, disgusting, and should be banned - but marijuana is perfectly safe and should be legalized.

    Quote of the day from the comment section of the Ploom review on Gizmodo:
    Tobacco makes you smell and gives you cancer, just stick with weed.


  • Duder2Duder2 Posts: 926
    tkohler:
    Looks interesting indeed. However, 6 bucks for 5-10 minutes of 'flavor' is a bit out of my price range for a day to day smoking item. However, it would be great for winter times when even smoking a pipe would be a bit too chilly to enjoy.
    It's $6 for a pack of 12. And if they'd let me test drive it for free, I would...
  • If I'm going to smoke, I'm actually going to smoke.

  • Thanks everyone for the comments - this is very helpful. Just to clarify a couple of things:

    Yes, the idea of not burning lets you use it indoors. But also, gentle heating is really a whole new (and potentially better) way to enjoy tobacco. It preserves the good aromas without introducing the bad. Think of steeping tea or coffee, versus burning it.

    The price of the pods is for a pack of 12. So each pod comes out to ~50 cents. If you think of it as a short cigar session (it lasts 10 minutes), that's very reasonable. Vaporization is highly efficient compared to smoking, which lets us use the highest quality ingredients yet keep the price down.

    But yes, the cost to get started is $39.95 for the Model One pipe, or $65 if you get a starter kit.

    I can send samples to the first 5 people who PM me their address.
  • VulchorVulchor Posts: 4,848 ✭✭✭✭
    Oh what the hell, I'll bite. PM sent.
  • PsychoSJGPsychoSJG Posts: 766 ✭✭✭
    Free trial is always good. PM sent
  • Andrew_DzikoskiAndrew_Dzikoski Posts: 381 ✭✭✭
    pureflavor:
    Yes, the idea of not burning lets you use it indoors. But also, gentle heating is really a whole new (and potentially better) way to enjoy tobacco. It preserves the good aromas without introducing the bad. Think of steeping tea or coffee, versus burning it.
    Not really the idea of a vaporizor has been around for decades. There use to be a very similar product with a ceramic element inside for cigarettes pretty cool but if you want to quit cigarettes get an E-cig not this crap. Just my 2 cents.
  • Duder2Duder2 Posts: 926
    pureflavor:
    Thanks everyone for the comments - this is very helpful. Just to clarify a couple of things: Yes, the idea of not burning lets you use it indoors. But also, gentle heating is really a whole new (and potentially better) way to enjoy tobacco. It preserves the good aromas without introducing the bad. Think of steeping tea or coffee, versus burning it. The price of the pods is for a pack of 12. So each pod comes out to ~50 cents. If you think of it as a short cigar session (it lasts 10 minutes), that's very reasonable. Vaporization is highly efficient compared to smoking, which lets us use the highest quality ingredients yet keep the price down. But yes, the cost to get started is $39.95 for the Model One pipe, or $65 if you get a starter kit. I can send samples to the first 5 people who PM me their address.
    PM sent.
  • aron325aron325 Posts: 158
    i have a enjoy eletronic cig and it sucks. dont buy this crap. its all garbage from the epa people trying to save the ozone lol. use your money for something better like real cigars
  • Andrew_DzikoskiAndrew_Dzikoski Posts: 381 ✭✭✭
    I have one from another company but I won't really support any other product then the ones I already sell but I do love the one I have.

  • Ok, samples are going out to the first 5 who responded.

    We had to skip a couple names because we can't currently ship to Canada and Washington state (all other states are ok). Sorry if either applies to you.

    Hopefully the takers will provide some comments in the forum. Regards, Adam
  • Amos_UmwhatAmos_Umwhat Posts: 8,824 ✭✭✭✭✭
    xmacro:
    From the Ploom website:
    All of our tobacco blends start with the finest grade of Bright Virginia tobacco leaf, grown and cured here in the U.S. The leaf is combined with other premium ingredients in our own custom blending process. We never use expanded or reconstituted tobacco, or other fillers. The result is the purest, highest quality tobacco experience possible.
    So what your site is saying, is that you mix *** in with the tobacco, much like the cigarette manufacturers do


    EDIT: A bit of googling, and I found that these used to cost $30: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/25/ploom-review.html

    The concept of "vapor, not smoke" has been around for awhile - most noticably with potheads

    - http://gizmodo.com/5540974/ploom-vaporizer-review-solid-concept-goes-up-in-smoke
    - http://gizmodo.com/5219983/taking-the-670-volcano-vaporizer-for-a-test-drive

    The comments at the bottom of the Gizmodo reviews are hilarious. Seems a lot of the posters think tobacco, in any form whatsoever, is cancerous, disgusting, and should be banned - but marijuana is perfectly safe and should be legalized.

    Quote of the day from the comment section of the Ploom review on Gizmodo:
    Tobacco makes you smell and gives you cancer, just stick with weed.


    It's a strange situation, but this makes me think: If any of us want to be free to smoke, or otherwise imbibe natural products, perhaps we'd all be better off supporting each others freedoms, instead of backbiting. It's ridiculous to suppose that any smoke inhalation is "good for you", but none of us is going to get out of here alive, and how we choose to enjoy our life shouldn't be a target for anyones political agenda. Let freedom rule!
    WARNING:  The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme.  Proceed at your own risk.  

    "If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed.  If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." --  Mark Twain
  • ejenne87ejenne87 Posts: 1,925 ✭✭
    I just got a PM saying my free samples were on the way. I am very curious to see how this works. I am looking forward to the opportunity to try this thing out.
  • PsychoSJGPsychoSJG Posts: 766 ✭✭✭
    Same. I wonder what pods and how many we get. I know this is in no possible way a replacement for cigars, but it should be fun to play with. Also nice to be able to use it in the apartment and gf's car (cigars deff not allowed in either).
  • Duder2Duder2 Posts: 926
    Well that's gay, denied cuz I live in Wa... Hope ya'll enjoy.
  • LeftFiveLeftFive Posts: 184 ✭✭
    I'm interested to hear how people like these. Not in a cigar-replacement way, but just in general. Electronic cigarettes fascinate me the same way Acid cigars do; I'm pretty sure I won't like them, but can't help wanting to try every flavor.

    I noticed that the pipe uses butane fuel instead of an electric heating element. I'm assuming there's a flame inside the flute/pipe then?
    I like the idea of freebasing actual leaves a bit more than heating some kind of flavored juice.
  • xmacroxmacro Posts: 3,402
    Amos Umwhat:
    It's a strange situation, but this makes me think: If any of us want to be free to smoke, or otherwise imbibe natural products, perhaps we'd all be better off supporting each others freedoms, instead of backbiting. It's ridiculous to suppose that any smoke inhalation is "good for you", but none of us is going to get out of here alive, and how we choose to enjoy our life shouldn't be a target for anyones political agenda. Let freedom rule!
    There's a big difference between smoking to relax or as enjoyment (cigar, and to a lesser extent, cigarette smokers), and smoking to get high/mind-altering. It's the same difference between someone who drinks to relax and enjoy themselves, and someone who drinks solely to get drunk/an alcoholic.

    One person is able to control their impulses and be responsible; the other type of person has little to no control over their impulses and cannot act responsibly (and please don't try to tell me there are "responsible drunks" or "responsible potheads" out there - we both know that's an oxymoron/a lie)

  • LeftFiveLeftFive Posts: 184 ✭✭
    xmacro:
    There's a big difference between smoking to relax or as enjoyment (cigar, and to a lesser extent, cigarette smokers), and smoking to get high/mind-altering. It's the same difference between someone who drinks to relax and enjoy themselves, and someone who drinks solely to get drunk/an alcoholic.

    One person is able to control their impulses and be responsible; the other type of person has little to no control over their impulses and cannot act responsibly (and please don't try to tell me there are "responsible drunks" or "responsible potheads" out there - we both know that's an oxymoron/a lie)

    Maybe I'm misinterpreting you, but the instant pothead title for any marijuana aficionado seems harsh. I know several "responsible potheads" and every one of them smokes to relax and have a good time.
  • xmacroxmacro Posts: 3,402
    LeftFive:
    xmacro:
    There's a big difference between smoking to relax or as enjoyment (cigar, and to a lesser extent, cigarette smokers), and smoking to get high/mind-altering. It's the same difference between someone who drinks to relax and enjoy themselves, and someone who drinks solely to get drunk/an alcoholic.

    One person is able to control their impulses and be responsible; the other type of person has little to no control over their impulses and cannot act responsibly (and please don't try to tell me there are "responsible drunks" or "responsible potheads" out there - we both know that's an oxymoron/a lie)

    Maybe I'm misinterpreting you, but the instant pothead title for any marijuana aficionado seems harsh. I know several "responsible potheads" and every one of them smokes to relax and have a good time.
    I've honestly never met - in person, in the media, online, etc - a person who smokes pot regularly and doesn't fit into the stereotypical hippy mold (eg - trashy clothes, **** job, thinks the world owes them something, not going anywhere in life, etc). Every one I've ever talked to does it not to relax, but to get high; I've also met a few alcoholics that drink for the exact same reason, not to relax, but to get drunk and alter their perceptions.

    My point is that there's a difference between doing something to relax, and doing it to alter your perceptions/get high/get drunk; the former is responsible and is an activity that adults engage in; the latter is something that people with little to no self-control engage in.

    That said, I've met people who smoked pot in the past, dropped it after college, and have gone on and done great things. Is it possible to smoke weed for relaxation and not it's THC/not to get high after college or as a part of your regular routine? I dunno, but I'm pretty skeptical, especially since every potheads I've met post-college are low-lifes who never got their life together. Maybe I just haven't met the right people, but in my life, I've never met someone with a good job who's going places in the world, who smokes weed.

  • LeftFiveLeftFive Posts: 184 ✭✭
    To be fair, I know more potheads than occasional smokers, but I also know far more alcoholics than occasional drinkers.
    We both agree on the point of excess. My contention is that you see any pot partaking as being instantly out of control, where I see it as being on equal ground as alcohol or any other psychoactive drug.

    I'm not saying there's no truth to the things you said, but parts lean toward uninformed and holier-than-thou.

    I'm not trying to start a fight either, I'm fully willing to agree to disagree and drop it.
  • Amos_UmwhatAmos_Umwhat Posts: 8,824 ✭✭✭✭✭
    xmacro:
    Amos Umwhat:
    It's a strange situation, but this makes me think: If any of us want to be free to smoke, or otherwise imbibe natural products, perhaps we'd all be better off supporting each others freedoms, instead of backbiting. It's ridiculous to suppose that any smoke inhalation is "good for you", but none of us is going to get out of here alive, and how we choose to enjoy our life shouldn't be a target for anyones political agenda. Let freedom rule!
    There's a big difference between smoking to relax or as enjoyment (cigar, and to a lesser extent, cigarette smokers), and smoking to get high/mind-altering. It's the same difference between someone who drinks to relax and enjoy themselves, and someone who drinks solely to get drunk/an alcoholic.

    One person is able to control their impulses and be responsible; the other type of person has little to no control over their impulses and cannot act responsibly (and please don't try to tell me there are "responsible drunks" or "responsible potheads" out there - we both know that's an oxymoron/a lie)

    No one who drinks does so responsibly? I've known plenty of the people you describe, and plenty that you think don't exist, who graduated *** laude from Ivy league schools and went on to do great things, and still are. Highly productive citizens, and total losers. Some people should avoid all mind altering substances. Certainly, during the 60's, to present, there have been and still are those who abuse substances, no arguement from me there. That said, for some, it is a viable alternative. I think you're out of your element here, perhaps too much FOX news Kool-aid. This is probably not the place for this discussion, so I will abstain from here out on this subject.
    WARNING:  The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme.  Proceed at your own risk.  

    "If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed.  If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." --  Mark Twain
  • xmacroxmacro Posts: 3,402
    LeftFive:
    To be fair, I know more potheads than occasional smokers, but I also know far more alcoholics than occasional drinkers.
    We both agree on the point of excess. My contention is that you see any pot partaking as being instantly out of control, where I see it as being on equal ground as alcohol or any other psychoactive drug.

    I'm not saying there's no truth to the things you said, but parts lean toward uninformed and holier-than-thou.

    I'm not trying to start a fight either, I'm fully willing to agree to disagree and drop it.
    And I'm not saying there's no truth to what you're saying. It's just that I see a difference between doing something for relaxation, and doing it to get high or drunk.

    I've just never seen anyone smoke weed who didn't want to get high, but most people I know drink to relax, not to get drunk. That's the difference I see between alcohol and weed.
    Amos Umwhat:
    No one who drinks does so responsibly? I've known plenty of the people you describe, and plenty that you think don't exist, who graduated *** laude from Ivy league schools and went on to do great things, and still are. Highly productive citizens, and total losers. Some people should avoid all mind altering substances. Certainly, during the 60's, to present, there have been and still are those who abuse substances, no arguement from me there. That said, for some, it is a viable alternative. I think you're out of your element here, perhaps too much FOX news Kool-aid. This is probably not the place for this discussion, so I will abstain from here out on this subject.
    umm . . . not sure where you pulled Fox, kool-aid, or any of your other arguments from, but what I said was that there's a difference between someone who drinks to relax and someone who drinks to get drunk - it's a problem of excess. I'm really not sure where you got the idea I thought alcohol was bad.

Sign In or Register to comment.