KillTheCan.org Blog http://blog.killthecan.org Recovering Nicotine Addicts Telling It Like It Is Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:06:36 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Canker Sores – In The Mind Of A Former Dipper http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/02/canker-sores-in-the-mind-of-a-former-dipper/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/02/canker-sores-in-the-mind-of-a-former-dipper/#comments Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:06:36 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=1022 I’ve been quit now for over 5 years.  Unfortunately it took me over 17 years to smarten up to the point where I made my decision and actually quit dipping.  These days it’s very rare that I even think about dipping other than when I’m posting roll on the forums.  And [...]]]> I've got a canker sore... do I have cancer?I’ve been quit now for over 5 years.  Unfortunately it took me over 17 years to smarten up to the point where I made my decision and actually quit dipping.  These days it’s very rare that I even think about dipping other than when I’m posting roll on the forums.  And those thoughts are nothing more than a passing memory of my time as a dipper.

I’ve said time and time again that I was/am one of the biggest hypochondriacs that you’ll ever run into.  Many times early in my quit I was absolutely sure that cancer had finally won the battle.  Last week was one of those times.  I’m just now getting over a nasty canker sore in my mouth.  Coincidentally in one of the spots where I used to keep my Kodiak.  So even though I’ve been quit for over 5 years now when I get a sore in my mouth such as a canker sore, my mind immediately goes to the worst possible place: cancer.

I suppose that this is my penance for being such a dumb ass for so many years.  I don’t think I’ll ever really feel at peace but what this latest episode did do was once again revitalize my quit.  I’m quit.  Pure and simple.  I’ve done the best thing that I can do for my health: I’ve quit chewing tobacco.  And I’m much better off for it.

That said, I did some research about canker sores during my last scare.  Here are a couple of items that you may find interesting:

  • Simple canker sores may appear 3 or 4 times per year and last up to a week.  They typically affect people between 10 and 20 years old.  While we really don’t know what brings them on there are some things that we THINK cause them including: stress, certain acidic foods (lemons, oranges, tomatoes, etc.) or “mouth trauma” such as from chewing on ice, a sharp tortilla chip, etc.
  • Complex canker sores are less common and typically affect people who have had them before.  This typically is due to a vitamin (B-12), zinc, folic acid or iron deficiency.
  • Cold sores are NOT canker sores.  Cold sores typically are found outside the mouth rather than inside.

Symptoms of canker sores:

  • They hurt… like a son of a bitch.
  • Inside the mouth, on the tongue, inside the cheek.  As you know, this is prime area for former dippers.  Damn.
  • Round, white or gray in color, with a red edge or ring around them.

For additional information on canker sores check out these links:

 

]]> http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/02/canker-sores-in-the-mind-of-a-former-dipper/feed/ 3 Us Vs. Them In A Nutshell http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/us-vs-them-in-a-nutshell/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/us-vs-them-in-a-nutshell/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:38:50 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=1004 I often get asked how we differ from other quit sites out there.  I typically don’t really respond other than to tell folks to check us out and see if they like what they find.  More often than not folks tend to stick around.

Every once in a while, we’ll get someone on [...]]]> Us Vs. ThemI often get asked how we differ from other quit sites out there.  I typically don’t really respond other than to tell folks to check us out and see if they like what they find.  More often than not folks tend to stick around.

Every once in a while, we’ll get someone on our forums that gets rubbed the wrong way and takes his ball and goes home crying about how we’re too rough or have said something that has offended them.  I will say with nearly 100% certainty that we’re guilty.

No bones about it… we rub some people the wrong way.  We speak our minds and piss some people off.  As the header of this blog says, we are “Recovering Nicotine Addicts Telling It Like It Is“.  And while that may sound great in theory, there’s a kicker to it… nicotine addicts who have just started out in their quit really don’t like to hear the truth sometimes.

So here’s a few Us Vs. Them items that really sum it up in my humble opinion.

  • We NEVER ask for money to run the site.
    We’ve said it time and time again.  Our site is free to use for anyone who wants to use it.  We don’t solicit donations or funding.  If someone wants to donate to us or purchase from our store we’re absolutely thrilled and offer our sincere thanks.  However we made a decision long ago that this should be a free resource for anyone and if there are shortfalls in funding we reach into our own pockets to keep it going.  That’s our pledge.
  • We don’t support NRT.
    NRT (or Nicotine Replacement Therapy) contain nicotine.  While our site is called KillTheCan.org (which is obviously a reference to the cans that chew or dip is sold in) we recognize that our battle and our addiction is with NICOTINE.  As such, these products are not allowed.  Other non allowed products would include: dip, chew, snus, cigarettes, cigars, etc.  It seems silly that we have to put this out there but there are other sites out there that think these products are acceptable.  In our opinion this is akin to giving someone addicted to Jack Daniels a lite beer.  It’s absolutely ludicrous.
  • We don’t accept failure.
    There are some sites out there (quite a few actually) that think failure is just a part of quitting.  They feel that you should just  give it the “old college try” and if you fail you should get a pat on a back, an “atta boy” and be on your way with another attempt at quitting.  This is a recipe for continued failure.  Our site is built around personal accountability and accountability to the others on our forums.  As such, failure is met with swift and sometimes brutal retaliation.  If you think this is unfair… well, so is cancer.

Please don’t respond with, “But Chewie… I’m so addicted I just CAN’T quit.”  I’m sorry, but that’s bullshit.  That’s your addiction speaking.  I was just as addicted as you are and I’m quit.  And if by some chance you did chew more that I did or for a longer period of time, I can guarantee you that someone on our forums has you beat.

Please don’t respond with, “What about the time you ask for funding to go to the Summit?”  That’s different.  As I said above, we never ask for money  to run the site.  We decided as an admin/mod team that we were going to attend the event and asked the community if they wanted to chip in.  Never did we guilt them into donating.  Never did we put it front and center.

Please don’t respond with, “But I quit with NRT… it works!”  Thank you for bringing that up… it leads nicely into my next point.

  • We believe our way is the BEST.
    Period end of story.  We think the way we quit and the methods we use are the best out there.  Otherwise why would we be doing it?  Notice I don’t say the “only” way to quit.  We fully recognize that there are other ways to quit and even be successful at it.  We just think they’re sub-standard to what we’ve put together.  We’ve got more than 10,000 members on our forums so I can’t be the only one that thinks this.  Is this me just “Drinking the KTC Cool Aid?”  Hell yes it is.  Cool Aid Man line up another round.
  • We understand that we’re not for everyone.
    Yes… we get it.  We say some harsh things.  We tell people what they NEED to hear rather than what they WANT to hear.  If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times: “We bust balls because we care.”  We can tell an addict what a doctor, a spouse or a child cannot.  We speak from experience.  But we realize that our “brand” of quit is not for everyone.  I routinely refer folks to other sites and organizations where I hope they can be more successful.
  • We are addicts.
    We’re a bunch of addicts.  We do what we do to help other addicts attain the freedom from our addiction that we’ve managed to secure.  We don’t (generally) hit you with a bunch of statistics or some study that tells you how bad nicotine or tobacco is for you.  We don’t get caught up in the “harm reduction” mumbo jumbo.  We feel that NOT being addicted to a substance is better than BEING addicted to one.  And we help people quit.  It’s what we do. 

So I rambled on a bit more than I’d planned to, but there you have it.  Next time someone asks me what sets us apart I’ll be pointing them to this post.

]]> http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/us-vs-them-in-a-nutshell/feed/ 8 2011 – The Best Of The KTC Blog http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/2011-the-best-of-the-ktc-blog/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/2011-the-best-of-the-ktc-blog/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:13:06 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=996 As I’ve said in previous posts, I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to site analytics and how people find us.  During the past year, I find myself referring to something that’s been written here on the blog quite a few times so I figure I’d put this post together.  Got something [...]]]> As I’ve said in previous posts, I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to site analytics and how people find us.  During the past year, I find myself referring to something that’s been written here on the blog quite a few times so I figure I’d put this post together.  Got something you want us to cover in 2012?  Leave a comment and we’ll see what we can do!

The Top 10 Posts Of 2011
(Based On Number Of Views)

#10 – American Gladiator “Hawk” Is Coming To KTC
For the first time in 2011, we had several guest chatters into our live chat.  This was the first announcement.

I was shocked that the next 7 out of the top 10 posts for the entire year of 2011 were product reviews.  Just goes to show that people are interested in these products!  If you’re a smokeless alternative company and would like to be reviewed please leave a comment and we’ll make arrangements.  Interesting to note that several of these posts are quite a few years old at this point.  We may just re-review them in 2012.

#9 -Root 100 Product Review

#8 -Holt Tobaccoless Chew Review

#7 – Hooch Snuff Review (Chattahoochee Herbal Snuff)

#6 – Where Do You Buy Your Fake Dip?
Not a review but still talking about fake dip/smokeless alternatives.  We’ve started to compile a Where To Buy list.  Please leave a comment if you’ve got a store that we don’t have listed.

#5 – NiP The Grip – Energy Dip Review

#4 – Young’s Chew Review

#3 – Absolut Snus Review

#2 – Jake’s Mint Chew Review

#1 – Fake Dip: To Chew Or Not To Chew
A post that I wrote in May of 2009 while sitting in my basement one evening.  It gets comments to this day and I absolutely LOVE IT.  That tells me that people are out there thinking about quitting and looking for help.  To date it has over 144 comments!

Is there something that we’ve not covered on the site or here on the blog that you’re interested in?  Let us know… we’re always looking for suggestions!

]]> http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/2011-the-best-of-the-ktc-blog/feed/ 0 NBC’s Biggest Loser – Short Cuts Galore http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/nbcs-biggest-loser-short-cuts-galore/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/nbcs-biggest-loser-short-cuts-galore/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:33:52 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=990 One of NBC’s most popular show is called The Biggest Loser.  If you’re not familiar with the show, contestants go on and go through a “boot camp” like program in order to lose weight.  During last week’s show one of the contestants, Mike Messina, was shown to be a nicotine addict.  While that’s certainly not [...]]]> The Biggest Loser On NBCOne of NBC’s most popular show is called The Biggest Loser.  If you’re not familiar with the show, contestants go on and go through a “boot camp” like program in order to lose weight.  During last week’s show one of the contestants, Mike Messina, was shown to be a nicotine addict.  While that’s certainly not shocking (there are a lot more dippers out there that you realize) what was kind of shocking was how NBC chose to deal with it.

Thanks to KTC moderator klark and several others, it was brought to my attention that way The Biggest Loser chose to deal with Mike’s addiction was by prescribing and promoting the patch.  Now I’m not hear to debate whether the patch works or not.  Personally I think cold turkey is the only way to go and until you ditch ALL nicotine (including any NRT whether it’s the patch, gum, etc.) you won’t truly be “free” from your addiction.  That’s another discussion for another time/post.

What I take great issue with is the way NBC chose to portray this.  You wouldn’t prescribe a Miller Lite for someone addicted to Jack Daniels would you?  You wouldn’t give someone a candy bar and a milkshake if they had a food addiction would you?  Then why on Earth would you give a nicotine addict a product that contains nicotine?  This seems more than silly to me.

After klark wrote his post, he sent a note to NBC and The Biggest Loser… as of this writing they haven’t responded.  I’ve reached out to Mike Messina via his Facebook page offering our services.  After all… they are free and the best available (my humble opinion of course).

I hear that the theme of The Biggest Loser this season is, “No Excuses”.  That’s right up our alley at KTC.  Mike, I can’t offer to help you with your weight loss goals.  But I can offer this… join our forums.  Make your daily promise to get quit.  When the finale roles around and you’re back in the public eye, wouldn’t you love to say that you’ve been dip free for a few months?

We can help.  It’s what we do.  

 

]]> http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/nbcs-biggest-loser-short-cuts-galore/feed/ 2 How Did You Find The Site? http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/how-did-you-find-the-site/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/how-did-you-find-the-site/#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:06:17 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=984 I’m always interested to hear how people found us.  Some folks are told about the site by a current member of our support forums.  Others see a KTC product and find us that way.  Word of mouth, the page suggestion tool, Twitter, Facebook, etc.  But by far the #1 [...]]]> website analyticsI’m always interested to hear how people found us.  Some folks are told about the site by a current member of our support forums.  Others see a KTC product and find us that way.  Word of mouth, the page suggestion tool, Twitter, Facebook, etc.  But by far the #1 way people find us is through an Internet search.

I’m a bit of a geek and I’m always looking at our website analytics.  As we just flipped the calendar I figured it’d be a good time to take a look at a year’s worth of data as it pertains to how people found us.

Top 10 phrases that people used to find the main site (http://www.killthecan.org/) in 2011:

  1. kill the can
  2. killthecan
  3. how to quit dipping
  4. quit dipping
  5. quit chewing tobacco
  6. killthecan.org
  7. quitting chewing tobacco
  8. how to quit chewing tobacco
  9. quit the can
  10. smokey mountain snuff

Nothing really shocking there other than #10.  Just goes to show the true reach that KTC is establishing. Very cool.

Top 10 phrases that people used to find the forums (http://forum.killthecan.org/) in 2011:

  1. kill the can
  2. killthecan
  3. qsxtreme
  4. salma hayek nude
  5. killthecan.org
  6. kill the can forum
  7. swj
  8. www.killthecan.org
  9. qsx lite
  10. moose

Some odd ones here.  I’ve got to wonder if people Googling for “salma hayek nude” got what they were looking for when they found our community???

Top 10 phrases that people used to find this blog (http://blog.killthecan.org/) in 2011:

  1. fake dip
  2. fake chew
  3. jakes mint chew review
  4. jakes mint chew
  5. jakes mint chew reviews
  6. fake chewing tobacco
  7. mint snuff side effects
  8. smokey mountain snuff cancer
  9. smokey mountain snuff review
  10. hooch snuff reviews

Very interesting stuff here as it seems that this blog has become a goto resource for smokeless alternative reviews.  I didn’t necessarily intend that to be the case, but I love trying and reviewing the products!

So here’s the question… how did YOU find the site?

]]> http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/how-did-you-find-the-site/feed/ 2 Ringing In 2012 With Some HUGE Numbers! http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/ringing-in-2012-with-some-huge-numbers/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/ringing-in-2012-with-some-huge-numbers/#comments Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:42:41 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=978 Happy New Year quitters and welcome to 2012!!!  2011 was another great year for KillTheCan.org and I thought I’d share some numbers with you.

At the end of 2011, we had surpassed the 10,000 member mark and sat at 10,258 members.  That’s an increase of 3,300 members in 2011 (up from 2,113 new members the [...]]]> Happy New Year 2012Happy New Year quitters and welcome to 2012!!!  2011 was another great year for KillTheCan.org and I thought I’d share some numbers with you.

At the end of 2011, we had surpassed the 10,000 member mark and sat at 10,258 members.  That’s an increase of 3,300 members in 2011 (up from 2,113 new members the previous year)!

Our forums have over 1.25 MILLION posts which represents a ton of quitting and even better… a ton of support.

Just like last year, we made a ton of great strides in the past year:

2012 is off to a tremendous start with an influx of New Years quitters.  I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our members for making KillTheCan.org THE best place on the web to get support when quitting dip or chew.  I’d also like to offer special thanks to the mod and admin teams for giving so selfishly of their time and efforts.

Thanks to everyone and here’s to an bigger and better 2012!

]]> http://blog.killthecan.org/2012/01/ringing-in-2012-with-some-huge-numbers/feed/ 0 How’s Your Quit? http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/hows-your-quit/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/hows-your-quit/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:15:41 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=957 “How’s your quit?”  It’s a three word sentence that means absolutely nothing to most people.  But it’s a question that to us addicts can quite literally be the difference between life and death.

OK, that may have been a bit of an overstatement, but not by much.  You never know when someone is struggling with [...]]]> How's Your Quit?“How’s your quit?”  It’s a three word sentence that means absolutely nothing to most people.  But it’s a question that to us addicts can quite literally be the difference between life and death.

OK, that may have been a bit of an overstatement, but not by much.  You never know when someone is struggling with their daily battle.  What if your question could save their quit?  Wouldn’t you ask?

I’m a firm believer in asking this question sometime during just about any correspondence that I have when it’s with a member of KTC.  When you’re early in your quit it will be easy to ask the question… it’s most likely what your conversation is about.  After all, when you’re in the early stages of your quit you’re fixated on one thing… your quit.

However, as time rolls on and you get some legs under your quit, life will indeed return to normal.  You WON’T be thinking constantly about fake dip, last night’s dip dream or the crave that brought you to your knees yesterday afternoon.  And that’s when your addiction will sneak up on you.  That is when your mind will start to justify “just one”.

It’s THOSE times where the question becomes all that much more important.

An addict will always be an addict.  I’m sorry if that upsets some people but I believe it more now than ever.  I’ve often said that I’m no more than $5 and a gas station away from my addiction.  Simply asking that question allows me to not only help someone else, but to focus for a moment on my quit.  That renewed focus even if for just a moment allows me to remember how far I’ve come and the foe that I continue to fight against.

So I’ve got to ask… How’s your quit?

]]> http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/hows-your-quit/feed/ 2 Amazing Logic http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/amazing-logic/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/amazing-logic/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:09:09 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=944 I recently ran across an article on the USA Today website titled Program urges smokers switch to smokeless tobacco.  I think it’s pretty obvious where I stand on this particular article so I won’t bother you with my thoughts on the “Switch and Quit” program director Brad Rodu who I think shouldn’t be allowed [...]]]> USA Today LogoI recently ran across an article on the USA Today website titled Program urges smokers switch to smokeless tobacco.  I think it’s pretty obvious where I stand on this particular article so I won’t bother you with my thoughts on the “Switch and Quit” program director Brad Rodu who I think shouldn’t be allowed to continue practicing or teaching this garbage (oops… did I say that out loud?)

This is pretty typical of the “harm reduction” crowd where they’ll site all kinds of studies, non-studies, etc. to get their point across.  You can see more of this type of “discussion” on this post.  But I digress.

What really motivated me to write this post was some of the comment on the article itself.  User “Man in the Middle” had this to say:

I quit using the e-cigarette.

I started out at 8mg. of nicotine, then walked it down to 0mg. over a few month until I was just smoking tobacco flavored water, and the chemical that they use in fog machines, which has been proven not to be harmful to humans.

I still have an urge for the e-cigarette sometimes because half of the addiction to smoking is the irritation on the throat. For some reason, humans get addicted to irritants on the throat. It;s similar to how people get addicted to the inhaler puffer things.

I’ve been carbon-monoxide and tar & nicotine free for over a year now, and I FEEL GREAT! Getting the tar out was the biggest thing that made me feel a lot better. Woo-hoo!

While I’m not a huge fan of NRTs (in this case the e-cig) I’ll give MAD PROPS to this guy for being free.  He’s nic and tobacco free and has been for over a year.  Well done sir!

Then along wanders this guy (username ZoSo15) and restores my faith in humanity (Please note my sarcasm…)

Congratulations, man. I just passed my two year anniversary of quitting cigarettes thanks to my e-cig. Unlike you, I’m still addicted to the nicotine but that’s fine with me.

It’s actually become somewhat of a hobby of mine, haha. I still have all the health benefits of quitting smoking, I just have a nicotine addiction. But on it’s own, nicotine is just a mild stimulant similar to caffeine. And I don’t drink coffee, so I don’t see myself quitting any time soon.

It’d be nice if the FDA would get on our side, but alas, they are just another government entity being controlled by big corporations.

Occupy.

Sigh.  I won’t get into all of the reasons that “occupy” has become nothing more than a punch line.  What I will say is I feel bad for this dude.  I have no problem with him being addicted to nicotine.  I’m not one of the “You must quit or you’re going to die,” crowd.  Everyone must come to their decision to quit on their own.  But I do feel bad for this guy.  He honestly thinks that a nicotine addiction is something akin to caffeine.  As far as I know, cacaffeine isn’t toxic, isn’t addictive, can’t cause intoxication, cancer or death, doesn’t increase the rate of birth defects or increase blood pressure.  But what do I  know… I’m just a quitter.

]]> http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/amazing-logic/feed/ 1 Grinds Coffee Pouches Review http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/grinds-coffee-pouches-review/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/grinds-coffee-pouches-review/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:13:17 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=895 I’m always looking for a new smokeless alternative out there and I recently ran across Grinds Coffee Pouches.  (In all fairness, I’ve been sitting on this review for a while now and I’m just now getting around to writing it…)  Grinds Coffee Pouches are just that… coffee in a small pouch.  Each can [...]]]> Grinds Coffee PouchesI’m always looking for a new smokeless alternative out there and I recently ran across Grinds Coffee Pouches.  (In all fairness, I’ve been sitting on this review for a while now and I’m just now getting around to writing it…)  Grinds Coffee Pouches are just that… coffee in a small pouch.  Each can contains 20 pouches and there are currently 3 flavors available: Cinnamon Roll, Mocha & Mint Chocolate.

Each can of Grinds Coffee Pouches contains the same amount of caffeine as 4-5 cups of coffee making each pouch roughly 1/4 cup of coffee.  I’m a 2-3 cup per day coffee drinker so this was right up my alley.  In addition to the caffeine content, Grinds touts additional “B-Vitamins” and “Energy” when describing their product.

Grinds Can

The Grinds Pouch Saver?

Initial Impressions – I was very impressed with the packaging from a relatively new player in the smokeless alternative market.  I was pleasantly surprised at how moist the product was.  I was anticipating something along the lines of a Skoal Bandit but this was MUCH moister.  The can lid has a built in “pouch saver” (At least that’s what I think it is…)  While the concept of re-dipping is super disgusting and completely foreign to a non-dipper, I think it’s safe to say that most of us have done it.  If this is in fact a pouch saver then kudos to Grinds for getting it right.

Grinds In The Can

Grinds In The Can

Cinnamon Roll – Right away when I popped open the can I got a great smell.  The “roll” flavor really coming through.  This isn’t a typical cinnamon substitute.  It’s really got that “bakery” flavor/smell to it which is nice.  It reminds me of the cinnamon rolls that I used to get at Ikea back in the day.  Outstanding spitability with this flavor and I caught a nice little caffeine buzz as well.  This is the first of the “energy/caffeine” alternatives where I can say that.  Good longevity – I kept it in for a good half hour or so with little/no flavor loss.  This may be a little on the sweet side for those of you that like a more traditional chew but this is a very nice chew.

Mint Chocolate – A simply OUTSTANDING smell coming out of this package.  Smell and taste really reminded me of those little green/brown chocolate mints with the silver wrapping that you find in restaurants.  Just as with the Cinnamon Roll flavor this one had great spitibility with a long lasting flavor.  However with this one I’d say the flavor profile left me wanting “more”.  I really got the concept of a flavored coffee coming through here which, let’s face it, is what we’ve got here.

Mocha – I’d heard good things about this flavor before I tried it and I was in fact impressed.  Got a good amount of chocolate smell & flavor coming through here which is nice.  Like the others, good longevity, spitibility and caffeine buzz.  No lack of flavor profile here as I’d consider this one the most “robust” of the bunch.  This is THE coffee alternative product out there for serious coffee drinkers. 

The Pros

  • The concept of a “pouch” is very appealing to me these days.  I was never a pouch guy (I never felt like I was getting enough nicotine… *slaps head*) but now that I’m looking for flavor and less of a mess, this is great.
  • Nice moist product.
  • Nice caffeine “pick me up” (IE, buzz) – great for late night cramming!
  • Tremendous, long lasting coffee flavors.

The Cons

  • If you’re not a coffee drinker this most likely isn’t for you.
  • Pouch – this isn’t for everyone.  If you’re looking for something that’s super close to loose smokeless tobacco you won’t get it here.
  • Availability has been an issue and can only be purchased in a 3-pack.

Overall

I think it’s super cool that what you’re actually doing when you dip this product is “brewing” coffee in your mouth.  The product IS coffee… no nicotine and no tobacco.  If you don’t want caffeine and you don’t like coffee then this probably isn’t for you.  Are you a late night dipper who has problems falling asleep to begin with?  The caffeine in here probably makes this product out of your league.  However, if you’re a coffee fan you’ll fall in love with Grinds from the word go.  For all of my tests, I threw in 3 pouches at a time which made for outstanding flavor profiles, great spitibility and a long lasting chew.  The pouch didn’t hold in all the product as much as I would have liked, but having coffee floating around in my mouth isn’t nearly as bad as tobacco bits.  All 3 flavors tested offered a very strong coffee flavor with a nice lingering aftertaste.

I’d like to offer special thanks to Patrick Pezet for sending along samples for this review.  You can find Grinds on the web at http://getgrinds.com/ or on Twitter you can follow user @getGRINDS.

Have you tried Grinds yet?  Let us know what you think and we’ll add your review to the site!

]]> http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/grinds-coffee-pouches-review/feed/ 2 KTC Goes 10,000 Strong! http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/ktc-goes-10000-strong/ http://blog.killthecan.org/2011/12/ktc-goes-10000-strong/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:21:38 +0000 Chewie http://blog.killthecan.org/?p=909 If you’ve following along here on the blog or on our Facebook page, you know that we’ve been inching toward a big milestone on our forums.  I’m happy to announce that on November, 30th at 11:19 PM, forum member Kylecina joined our merry bunch… and became the 10,000th member of our [...]]]> The KTC Online Support Community Now Has 10,000 MembersIf you’ve following along here on the blog or on our Facebook page, you know that we’ve been inching toward a big milestone on our forums.  I’m happy to announce that on November, 30th at 11:19 PM, forum member Kylecina joined our merry bunch… and became the 10,000th member of our community!

Here’s a look back at our recent growth:

  • 10,000 members – 11.30.2011 – 113 days to go from 9,000 to 10,000 members
  • 9,000 members – 8.9.2011 – 111 days to go from 8,000 to 9,000 members
  • 8,000 members – 4.20.2011 – 107 days to go from 7,000 to 8,000 members (just over a Hall of Fame period!)
  • 7,000 members – 1.3.2011 – 167 days to go from 6,000 to 7,000 members
  • 6,000 members – 7.20.2010 – 182 days to go from 5,000 to 6,000 members
  • 5,000 members – 1.19.2010 – 141 days to go from 4,000 to 5,000 members
  • 4,000 members – 6.9.2010

I was hoping that we’d hit 10,000 members before the site celebrated it’s 5 year anniversary.  We didn’t quite get there, but I’m thrilled that we got there within the same month as when we turned 5.  I’m absolutely floored by the growth of the community and also at the LEVEL of support everyone gives.  As someone who’s been quit for years now it still shocks me by how many people will give selflessly of their time and efforts to help someone else quit dipping.

If you happen to stumble across this post and you’re not quit yet, I’d urge you to make your decision to day and get it done.  Why not make your News Year’s Resolution a little early this year and be well into your quit before you ring in the new year?

I’d like to offer a sincere thanks to all of our members for making KillTheCan.org what it is today.  Onward to 11,000!!!

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