Aunty Flo's Pear Drops by The Alchemist's Cupboard

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

In Norwich, a beautiful city, not far from the easternmost point of the United Kingdom lives and works an Alchemist. Traditionally, Alchemists have been a secretive and shy group of people, many of whom were persecuted and executed by the authorities for their beliefs and practices. Our Norwich based Alchemist is similarly secretive, but for different reasons altogether. (We don't burn our Alchemists at the stake anymore.) His e-liquids, he claims, are made fresh to order using the "purest and best" ingredients available from the UK, EU or US only. "...we don’t sell generic E-Liquid flavours and brands that you could purchase from a number of different suppliers." This Alchemist has a cupboard, within which he stores the raw ingredients, the materia prima with which he works to formulate the Philosopher's Stone or, as we know it locally, Aunty Flo's Pear Drops (and other rarefied concoctions).

http://www.thealchemistscupboard.co.uk/

Aunty Flo's Pear Drops is available in 10 (£4.20), 30 (£11.65) and 50ml (£19.10) bottles at nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24mg and a PG/VG ratio of 60/40. Pear Drops are an old fashioned confectionery; a sugar-coated, sharp and tangy, mentholated boiled sweet. Imagine an Olde Worlde confectionery store with wood panelled walls and everything in glass jars and you begin to get a picture of the milieu from which Aunty Flo bought her Pear Drops.

The bottle is an easily squeezed, clear plastic with a white, childproof, screw top cap. The label contains the following information: the brand name, the name of the E-liquid, toxicity warnings in the form of a skull and crossbones graphic (originally a Freemasonic motif: another link to Alchemy), storage and handling instructions, medical advice in case of poisoning, a tactile warning triangle which complies with EU regulations regarding the storage and handling of toxic substances, an ingredients list, liquid quantity in ml, nicotine content in mg, a reference number (which I assume is the batch number), a bottle date, a best used by date, the Alchemist's Cupboard website address and the company's telephone number.

The liquid itself is a clear, saturated caramel colour and has an aroma that's very suggestive of the type of confectionery you would find in an old fashioned confectionery store. It takes me back to Sovereign Hill, an historical (gold mining) theme park near Ballarat in Victoria, Australia which I visited a number of times as a child. There was a confectionery store there that smelled just like this e-liquid.

I'm vaping Aunty Flo's Pear Drops in an Igo-L on a mechanical mod with an 18650 battery. As I draw the vapour into my mouth, I discover to my horror, the presence of menthol. I'm not a fan of menthol or mints of any kind, but I consider myself a professional and I did promise several reviews ago that I would vape with my eyes wide open, so I persist.  And in doing so, I discover that it's not too bad; in fact it works quite well and I confess it's grown on me. On the inhalation, the tongue receives a mild, fruity sweetness and as the vapour reaches the back of the throat, the coolness of the menthol asserts itself. There's also that familiar mounting of pressure at the back of the throat which signals at a certain point that inhalation should stop. The flavour of pear is most prominent at that point in the breath cycle when I've stopped inhaling and I'm about to exhale. As I exhale, the pear flavour continues but is overwhelmed briefly by the iciness of the menthol coming to the fore and which lingers in the aftertaste.

Throat hit is good; obviously the menthol contributes to and amplifies that sensation and vapour production is very good.

The name and the aroma of the liquid are further served by the flavour to suggest an olde worlde type confectionery. The menthol isn't overly strong and works surprisingly well in combination with the pear flavour. The Alchemist's Cupboard website suggests that this is probably not going to be suitable as an all day vape and I'd have to agree with them.  Having said that, it's a vape that I'd happily turn to if I wanted a taste of something that we, in the 21st century have deemed "old fashioned". I like "old fashioned" and as I said earlier Aunty Flo's Pear Drops has grown on me. The more I vape it, the more I like it.

The Alchemist's Cupboard state that some customers have advised them that this e-liquid has cracked CE5 polycarbonate tanks. Stick to glass or stainless steel tanks and you'll be OK.

Update 30/05/13:  I've just had an email from The Alchemist to inform me there's no menthol in this liquid.  The coolness is provided by Koolada, which is made with menthyl methyl lactate, which is a derivative of menthol but unlike menthol has no flavour and is used to impart a cooling effect to foods and beverages without disturbing the primary flavour.

Absinthe by Decadent Vapours

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

In my review of Decadent Vapour's Apple Pie http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/apple-pie-by-decadent-vapours.html I wrote briefly about the Decadent Movement of the late nineteenth century, which was a literary and artistic movement in Europe dedicated to the liberation and promulgation of beauty, elegance, artifice and the life of the imagination. Absinthe ("la fée verte" (the green fairy)) was valued and consumed in great quantities by the artists and writers of this period because of its supposed psychoactive properties. Apparently, unscrupulous Absinthe producers were known to take shortcuts in colouring the liquid by adding toxic substances (Copper Salts or Antimony Trichloride, for example). It's been suggested that these additives, rather than anything else in the liquid may have been responsible for the hallucinogenic properties that Absinthe was said to have. It's been noted that the inebriation that follows drinking of Absinthe is distinctive in that it bestows upon the consumer a certain clear headedness, or "lucid drunkenness". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe Any talk of inebriation in this review is moot though; we're vaping Absinthe flavoured vapour which has no intoxicants in it, beyond of course, the nicotine.

Absinthe by Decadent Vapours http://www.decadent-vapours.com/en/ is available in 10 (£4.95) or 30ml (£14.95) bottles at nicotine strengths of 0, 8, 11, 18, 24 and 36mg and PG/VG ratios of 100/0, 0/100 or 50/50.

The 10ml bottle that I received is an easily squeezed, vivid green plastic with a childproof, black plastic, screw-top cap. The dripper is a 1cm long plastic needle.  The label contains a wealth of information, which is as follows: the name of the liquid, the brand name, the words "Premium E-Liquid", the quantity of liquid in ml, nicotine strength in mg, the base liquid (PG, VG or both), the batch number, a use by date, an ingredients list, the Decadent Vapours contact details, warning symbols, a tactile triangle which complies with EU law regarding the sale and storage of toxic substances, first aid advice, storage advice, and an advisory suggesting that the product not be sold to, or be used by persons under the age of eighteen years.

The colour of the liquid is a clear, very pale, desaturated Paris Green http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green#Paris_green which happens to be one of my favourite colours (it speaks to me of nineteenth century machinery), and the aroma that issues from the bottle is an unambiguous anise.

As usual, I'm vaping Absinthe in an Igo-L on a mechanical mod with a freshly charged 18650 battery. The flavour of Anise and therefore Absinthe, is so unlike anything else I've ever tasted. The immediate sensation in the mouth is sweetness on the forward edge and tip of the tongue which is followed closely by what I can best describe as a type of umami flavour. Umami is traditionally associated with protein rich foods and is described as having a savoury, brothy quality. It could be that I'm way off the mark, but the flavour of anise doesn't seem to me to fit neatly into any of the other conventionally accepted flavour categories. There is perhaps a certain salty, mildly piquant, metallic quality to the flavour but oddly enough I find myself associating it most strongly with umami. Prolonged vaping of Absinthe produces a mild anaesthetic sensation in the tongue, or lack of sensation as the case may be.

If I draw the vapour down into my lungs slowly I experience a significant throat hit but if I draw the vapour down forcefully there's no throat hit at all. Vapour production, despite the 100% PG content is substantial, though not as voluminous or as enduring as a more VG heavy vapour.

For as long as I can remember, I've disliked liquorice and have avoided it and anything tasting remotely like it. I've never drunk Ouzo, Absinthe or Chartreuse and I've avoided black jelly beans like the plague. So, it was with a measure of reluctance that I opened Decadent Vapour's Absinthe and prepared to vape it. Imagine my surprise when I realised my distaste for anise and/or liquorice turned to genuine partiality for this flavour. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've been vaping Absinthe constantly for several days now. Intoxicated? No, but a certain convert to anise... absolutely. It doesn't mean I'll be reaching for the black jelly beans, but it does mean I'll be looking forward to my next Absinthe flavoured vape.

Apple Pie by Decadent Vapours

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

Preamble

Image used with permission.

The word "decadent" has special significance for me. As an art student, some 23 years ago, I was very inspired and influenced by the Decadent Movement of the late nineteenth century. Decadence was epitomised by a celebration of elegance, beauty, artifice and a life rooted in the imagination over nature, Realism (another art and literary movement) and fundamentalist materialism. Writers and artists associated with this period were Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, Gustave Moreaeu, Odilon Redon and Gustav Klimt. The man in this photo, Peter Cole, the founder of Decadent Vapours looks like he would have fit right in. I'd suggest that the fact that he chose the name Decadent Vapours for his company speaks to an understanding of the significance of artifice not only to the Decadent Movement, but to the art of vaping as well. I struggle to think of a single flavoured vapour that isn't an artificial adaptation of a flavour found elsewhere, whether it be some form of foodstuff, beverage, or tobacco. Having said this, some e-liquid producers are better at delivering flavoured vapour than others. From what I can tell so far, Decadent Vapours do it very well!

The Review

Apple Pie by Decadent Vapours http://www.decadent-vapours.com/en/ is available in 10 (£4.95) or 30ml (£14.95) bottles at nicotine strengths of 0, 8, 11, 18, 24 and 36mg and PG/VG ratios of 100/0, 0/100 or 50/50.

The 10ml bottle that I received is an easily squeezed, vivid green plastic with a childproof, black plastic, screw-top cap. The dripper is a 1cm long plastic needle.  The label contains a wealth of information, which is as follows: the name of the liquid, the brand name, the words "Premium E-Liquid", the quantity of liquid in ml, nicotine strength in mg, the base liquid (PG, VG or both), the batch number, a use by date, an ingredients list, the Decadent Vapours contact details, warning symbols, a tactile triangle which complies with EU law regarding the sale and storage of toxic substances, first aid advice, storage advice, and an advisory suggesting that the product not be sold to, or be used by persons under the age of eighteen years.

The colour of the liquid is a clear amber and the aroma is that of a freshly baked Apple Strudel.

I'm vaping Apple Pie (11mg, 100% PG) in an Igo-L with a freshly coiled wick on a mechanical mod with a fully charged 18650 battery. If I take short, sharp drags I sense the sweetness filling my mouth; I can taste apple and buttery pastry and on the exhalation, a very subtle hint of anise. Very subtle. When I begin to take slower, deeper drags, this is what I experience: on the inhalation I taste the familiar sweetness along the forward edge of my tongue with broad washes of apple passing through my mouth, along the length of my tongue to hit the back of my throat... which it does with some force. For that brief moment between inhaling and beginning to exhale, a mild tartness manifests. Then, as I begin to exhale, the apple flavour intensifies while secondary notes of a rich, buttery pastry and subtler notes of cinnamon and perhaps nutmeg reveal themselves.

The aftertaste is similar to that provoked by having eaten a baked apple. Throat hit is substantial, even for an 11mg vapour. It's more a case of that building pressure at the back of the throat type hit than the rasping kick you get with higher nicotine strength liquids. Vapour production is very good, though it disperses rather quickly.

When I first tasted this e-liquid I was blown away by the richness and fullness of flavour. As I've continued to vape it over the course of a week, my esteem for it has grown. It has a complexity of flavour, finely balanced that you don't often find in e-liquids. Having done a little DIY liquid mixing myself, I know how difficult it is to render anything worth talking about, so I have great respect for anyone who manages to mix an e-liquid that works. There are a few mixers ("cooks", alchemists, palates... what is the accepted term for mixers of e-liquids?) who have a great talent for producing extraordinary juices. The man or woman who does the job at Decadent Vapours is one of these people.  Sir, ma'am, you have a very fine palate.

I highly recommend this e-liquid. In fact, my wife and I will be purchasing a great deal of this stuff in future. That, my friends, is a seal of approval.

Blue Raspberry by Parkes Vaping

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

Raspberries are red, the juice is called Blue Raspberry and the colour of the liquid is a slightly darker Islamic green. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_green#Islamic_green We have a veritable rainbow on our hands. What to make of it? The picture on the Parkes Vaping website http://www.parkesvaping.com/ is of a glass filled with blue crushed ice, which suggests to me that Blue Raspberry might be a flavour sold in that form in convenience stores.

Parkes Vaping are based in Indiana, USA. Blue Raspberry is available in bottle sizes of 6 ($3.00), 10 ($5.00), 15 ($7.50), 30 ($15.00), 50 ($25.00), 60 ($30.00) and 120ml ($50.00) at nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 9, 12, 18, 21, 24, 30, and 36mg with PG/VG ratios of 100/0, 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40, 50/50, 40/60, 30/70, 20/80, 10/90 and 0/100. Further options include an extra shot of flavour (add $0.50), added sweetener, menthol and frost, which apparently imparts a coolness to the flavour and mouthfeel of the liquid, like menthol but without the taste of menthol.

The bottle is a clear, soft, pliable plastic with a screw top cap which isn't childproof, so vapers with children around will want to take extra care in the storage and use of this liquid. The label features the Parkes Vaping logo and contains the following information: the name of the liquid, nicotine strength in mg, PG/VG ratio, the creation date, the Parkes Vaping website URL and advice to "keep out of reach of children".

As mentioned previously, the colour of the liquid is a slightly darker Islamic Green which suggests the addition of food colouring to the mix. The aroma from the bottle has a sweet and fruity fragrance, though it isn't particularly redolent of raspberries.

I'm dripping Blue Raspberries into an Igo-L on a mechanical mod with an 18650 battery approximately half way through its charge. Short, quick draws and swirling the vapour around my mouth delivers a very agreeable, sweet berry flavour to my taste buds. When I begin to take deeper, sustained draws the flavour reveals itself fully. It doesn't taste like fresh raspberries but it does taste like the raspberry flavoured liquorice I used to eat as a young teenager. On the inhalation the sweetness is less intense than it was when I was taking the short, sharp drags.  There's a mild sense of berry flavour, but then as I exhale, the dominant raspberry notes come into focus. There's a mild sourness underpinning the raspberry with light floral accents that seem to come and go as I continue to vape. Pulsing the switch to progressively heat the coil seems to intensify the flavour.

For a 12mg liquid this delivers a significant throat hit. It's that progressive mounting of pressure at the back of the throat rather than an immediate, rasping thump. Vapour production is good and pretty much what I'd expect from a 70/30 PG/VG mix.

I find Blue Raspberry quite refreshing and it's another e-liquid that I'm looking forward to vaping at the height of summer. It also works well postprandially, with it's sweetness and slight sourness cutting through the aftertaste of whatever it is you might have just eaten.

Snickerdoodle Cookie by Parkes Vaping

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

Ssssnicker Dooodle. Sniiicka Doodle. SnickahDoo Dell. The word itself is fun. It's a linguistic toy!  According to Wikipedia, the word Snickerdoodle is a "corruption of the German word Schneckennudeln ("snail noodles"), (which is) a kind of pastry. It is also possible that the name is simply a nonsense word with no particular meaning, originating from a New England tradition of whimsical cookie names." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snickerdoodle

Whatever the case, a Snickerdoodle is a type of cookie that's been rolled in cinnamon and sugar. I've never had the pleasure of eating a Snickerdoodle, but I've eaten plenty of donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar, so I suspect I have an inkling of what the cookie might taste like.

Snickerdoodle Cookie is also an E-liquid from Parkes Vaping http://www.parkesvaping.com/ who are based in Indiana, USA. Parkes Vaping offer an extraordinary number of options when  ordering their juices. Snickerdoodle is available in bottle sizes of 6 ($3.00), 10 ($5.00), 15 ($7.50), 30 ($15.00), 50 ($25.00), 60 ($30.00) and 120ml ($50.00) at nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 9, 12, 18, 21, 24, 30, and 36mg with PG/VG ratios of 100/0, 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40, 50/50, 40/60, 30/70, 20/80, 10/90 and 0/100. Further options include an extra shot of flavour (add $0.50), added sweetener, menthol and frost, which apparently imparts a coolness to the flavour and mouthfeel of the liquid, like menthol but without the taste of menthol.

The bottle is a clear, soft, pliable plastic with a screw top cap. The cap isn't childproof. The label features the Parkes Vaping logo and contains the following information: the name of the liquid, nicotine strength in mg, PG/VG ratio, the creation date, the Parkes Vaping website URL and advice to "keep out of reach of children". The liquid itself is a clear, Princeton Orange https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_orange#Princeton_orange and actually smells like a freshly baked cookie rolled in cinnamon and sugar.

I'm vaping Snickerdoodle Cookie in an Igo-L on a mechanical mod with an 18650 battery. It's been a few hours since I took the battery off the charger, so the power output is right at the sweet spot providing a healthy charge to the atomiser without burning the juice. As I draw the vapour into my mouth there's the sensation of a slightly spicy sweetness along the front edge of my tongue. I can taste the cinnamon on the underside of my tongue if I hold the vapour in my mouth and swirl it around. The next sensation I become aware of is that mounting pressure at the back of my throat that I so often get with sweeter vapes. You learn quickly not to ignore this signal; otherwise you risk a coughing spasm. As I exhale, the flavours of cookie and sugar join the cinnamon. Oftentimes, a cake or cookie vapour tastes like dough, but Snickerdoodle Cookie tastes like baked cookie. Just like the real thing (cinnamon donuts, in my case) there is a slight residual "furriness" left in the mouth, which, combined with the aftertaste is very reminiscent of having eaten the genuine, baked article.

Throat hit is significant and vapour production is very good, though each of these will depend on your chosen nicotine strength and PG/VG ratio.

Snickerdoodle Cookie tastes like a home baked cookie and there's no hint of artificiality in the flavour at all. I thoroughly enjoyed vaping it as I wrote this review and would happily vape it again, but I would do so in moderation.

---

There are different types of cinnamon. For the most part, what we in the west refer to as cinnamon is actually Cassia. True Cinnamon comes from the Cinnamomum Zeylanicum (or Cinnamomum Verum) tree found in Sri Lanka, Seychelles and Madagascar while Cassia comes from a variety of related trees found in Vietnam, India, Indonesia and China. The flavour of cinnamon is due to an aromatic essential oil, Cinnamaldehyde, which makes up 0.5% to 1% of its composition. In its concentrated form, Cinnamaldehyde is very hot and can be the cause of serious health issues. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon 

Fortunately, Snickerdoodle Cookie is a mild, sweet cinnamon flavour so vapers should be reasonably safe if it is vaped in moderation. Nevertheless, I feel it's my duty to advise that vapers vape e-liquids which contain cinnamon at their own risk. 

Cinnamon flavoured e-liquids have also been known to corrode plastic tanks. I'm using a stainless steel dripper, so I can't confirm or deny this.

Pucker Up Granny by Diamond Vapor

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge. I won it in a giveaway on Facebook. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

Diamond Vapor http://www.diamond-vapor.com/ are based in Florida, US and are run by a friendly and very enthusiastic husband and wife team. They provide a range of vaping related goods but of course, it's their e-liquids that are of most interest to me. Please see my previous reviews of two of their liquids here: http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/strawberry-waffles-by-diamond-vapor.html and http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/bear-tropics-by-diamond-vapor.html

Each of their e-liquids are offered in 10 ($5.00) or 30ml ($12.00) bottles at nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 12, 18 or 24mg and PG/VG mixes of 50/50, 60/40 or 70/30. There is also the option to specify your own preferred PG/VG ratio if you so desire.  

The subject of this review, Pucker Up Granny, (I'll refer to it as PUG from here on in) came to me in a 10ml bottle. This is a soft, pliable plastic bottle with a non-childproof, screw top cap, which required, surprisingly, a fair amount of force to squeeze the liquid out of it. The label contains the following information: the brand name, the name of the e-liquid, the date of manufacture, nicotine strength in mg, PG/VG ratio, advice to "keep away from children" and the proud proclamation, "handmade in the USA".

The liquid is a slightly cloudy, Ivory colour and while it's a 50/50 PG/VG mix the consistency of the liquid is thinner than I would have thought it should be.

This review is an interesting case study (for me anyway) of the role vision plays in the apprehension of flavour. My wife and I are fans of cooking shows and here in the UK we get a show called Masterchef, in which amateur cooks are pitted against one another in heats, quarter and semi finals until one cook is crowned the Masterchef. One of the tests involved is a palate test in which the competitors are blindfolded, fed a number of foods and asked to identify them. I find this intriguing because recently I've reviewed some juices that had interesting names but neither the vendor's website nor the bottle gave any indication of what flavours contributed to the overall taste of the vapour. So, in a sense my palate was being tested. Whether or not I passed, I'll never know.  What follows however, is an example of my palate failing dismally. As a reviewer of flavoured vapour, this is not an easy thing to admit.

When I first put PUG into my Vivi Nova several months ago, it didn't occur to me to look at the Diamond Vapor website for a description of the flavour, so in a sense I was tasting this juice blindfolded. Initially, when I tasted PUG, I didn't like it at all.  It tasted to me like PK Juicy Fruit chewing gum on the inhalation and Hubba Bubba bubblegum on the exhalation. I've never been a fan of either chewing gum or bubblegum, so I put it back on the shelf and moved on. Some time later, I was perusing the Diamond Vapor website and was surprised to see PUG described as "sour apple". Well, at least the name of the juice made some sense to me now. Today, on a whim, I filled my Igo-L (with a fresh wick and coil) with some PUG and vaped it and was further surprised to discover I was no longer tasting PK Juicy Fruit or Hubba Bubba; I was tasting apple!  It's certainly not as sour as the name suggests, but it isn't a particularly sweet apple either. Slightly sour, slightly sweet. A mellowed Granny Smith, perhaps. The potency of the flavour seems perfectly judged and I have to say I like it a lot. So much so, that I've been vaping it all day. The additional pleasure for me in vaping PUG today, has been discovering and pondering the role that vision plays in the apprehension of flavour.

Throat hit is negligible but this is entirely expected with a 12mg juice. Vapour production however is excellent, with dense volumes of vapour pouring forth into the room around me.

I have no hesitation in recommending any of the juices I've reviewed from Diamond Vapor. 

I'll be vaping with my eyes wide open from now on.

Myster-E by Mister-E-Liquid

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

Mister-E-Liquid http://www.mister-e-liquid.com/ are based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Myster-E is available in 6 ($3.75), 18 ($9.95) and 36ml ($15.00) bottles at nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 32mg and PG/VG ratios of 100/0, 80/20, 67/33 (MEL custom blend), 60/40 and 50/50. 

The bottle I received from Mister-E-Liquid is a clear, easily squeezable plastic with a non-childproof, white screw top cap. The label bears the handwritten name of the Liquid. Ordinarily Mister-E-Liquid bottles are labelled with an ingredients list, nicotine strength and PG/VG ratio but international orders are sent out with handwritten labels in an effort to avoid difficulties at customs.

The aroma wafting from the opened bottle smells like fruit salad. In my house, growing up, fruit salad meant apples, bananas, oranges and maybe grapes. The liquid is a clear, Congo Pink. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variations_of_pink#Congo_pink

The Mister-E-Liquid website describes Myster-E as "a deep and bright vape, blending 4 flavors together giving this juice many layers".

Without any doubt we can say that this is a fruity vape. The Mister-E-Liquid website isn't giving anything away so we feel compelled to play a guessing game; who can correctly identify the four flavours that contribute to the overall taste of Myster-E?  Ok, I'll bite.

I think the dominant flavour is blackcurrent. It tastes almost exactly like the blackcurrent cordial I drank as a child. I think there's also some raspberry in the mix. There's a slight acidic tang on the tip of my tongue in the aftertaste which suggests that there may be something citrus involved as well. I don't think it's orange or lemon. It might be lime. I think there's also one or two drops of Isoamyl Acetate in the mix. This is the chemical which, for the most part, is what you're tasting when you eat a banana. I'm only sensing this at the end of the exhalation and very mildly at that. I'd suggest that there's also some menthol here which often serves to "brighten" fruit flavoured vapour. It's not enough to register on the palate or the back of the throat as a menthol vape, but it does serve to "season" or amplify the various fruit flavours. There's also a very mild "freshness" that lingers in the aftertaste.

This is not an overly sweet vapour, so I'd suggest that it could serve quite easily as an all day vape. Despite the low nicotine strength of 12mg, the throat hit is quite reasonable and with a PG/VG ratio of 67/33, vapour production is substantial as well. I'm finding it quite moreish and the longer I vape it, the more I like it.

Blue Dragon by Mister-E-Liquid

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

Mister-E-Liquid http://www.mister-e-liquid.com/ based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, produce a sub-range of liquids within the wider context of their catalogue, based on Dragons and the various colours associated with them.

Dragons are a subject close to my heart, but not The Hobbit, Skyrim, World of Warcraft or the defanged New Age type of dragon. I live near a small hill that has a ruined, Christian chapel built on its apex. Before this little chapel was built in circa 1317, the site was used by the local Saxons as a centre of worship and they called it Drakhull (Dragon Hill) and was believed by them to be the home of a Dragon. Also, in the Iliad, the ancient Greek epic poem, Agamemnon was said to have had a blue dragon motif on his sword belt. (Thanks Wikipedia) This is the type of Dragon that I'm interested in.

I'm not sure this is what they intended, but as I vape on Mister-E-Liquid's Blue Dragon, this is the stuff that I'm thinking about.

Blue Dragon is available in 6 ($3.75), 18 ($9.95) and 36ml ($15.00) bottles at nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 32mg and PG/VG ratios of 100/0, 80/20, 67/33, 60/40 and 50/50. The Mister-E-Liquid website describes Blue Dragon as "a multi-flavor blend with a solid throat hit, plumes of vapor and plenty of delicious flavor".

I don't think the bottles sent out to the buying public are the same as the ones I received, which are labelled with the handwritten name of the liquid and nought else. I enjoy a grassroots, thumbing the nose at the "man" attitude and approach, but it does make it difficult for me to relate the quality of the product available to the consumer if I'm not able to assess it myself. That's the pedant in me speaking. The artist and the rebel in me imagines this is how it's going to be, if e-cigarettes and e-liquids as we know them are regulated out of existence. Think Moonshine. Prohibition era black markets. Handwritten labels without ingredients lists, safety warnings or tactile triangle stickers. (Do U.S. laws require these anyway?)

In any case, the bottles are an easily squeezable, clear plastic with a white, screw top cap, which is not childproof. If this is the bottle sold to the public and you have a child nearby, please store it with care.

The liquid is clear and colourless. This is refreshing in an industry that often feels it needs to add colouring to make its liquids more appealing.  As I unscrew the cap and hold the bottle to my nose, the first thing I smell is sweetener, closely followed by the aroma of Granny Smith apples.

I'm dripping Blue Dragon into an Igo-L on a mechanical mod with an 18650 battery. As I draw the vapour into my mouth and across my tongue, I'm sensing sweetness and then almost immediately afterwards, an element of sourness. As a result of smelling the aroma of the liquid, I imagined I was tasting apple but there was something else there that I was having trouble identifying. It took me some time, vaping and searching my "flavour memory" before I realised what that "something else" was. As I continued to vape, the apple flavour gave way entirely to the taste of pear. Interestingly, the sour notes on the inhalation disappeared and I found that I was now experiencing sweet, fresh and juicy pear. It's been many years since I've actually eaten a pear but Blue Dragon seems to me, as much as my memory allows, a faithful adaptation of the actual fruit.

Several days later, as I fill the Igo-L and start vaping Blue Dragon again, I find I'm tasting apple. Again. What I thought to be a simple misidentification of flavour causing me confusion appears to be a layering of flavour. So it begins as apple and continues as pear.

I'm not entirely sure what nicotine strength this sample of Blue Dragon is, but I suspect it's in the region of 12mg.  This is a pretty mild nicotine content and doesn't usually deliver a particularly strong throat hit, but this is providing a substantial "thump" at the back of the throat. Again, I don't know the PG/VG ratio, but I think it might be quite high in PG and low in VG as the vapour seems a little thin.

This is quite a refreshing E-liquid and I can imagine myself vaping it all day during the height of summer, while I evoke the slumbering beast on top of Drakhull.


Update:  Since posting this review, I've had a friendly e-mail from Mister-E-Liquid explaining the handwritten labels. International orders are sent out discreetly, with just the name of the flavour in an effort to avoid difficulties at customs. The normal Mister-E-Liquid labels contain an ingredients list, the nicotine content and the PG/VG ratio. Also, the liquids sent to me for review were 12mg nicotine strength with a PG/VG ratio of 67/33.

Frankenvape by The Standard

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

This is the third e-liquid by The Standard that I've had the pleasure of tasting and writing about. It was kindly provided to me for the purpose of review by Vape Revolution http://shop.vaperev.com/ who are based in Cerritos, California.

The Standard offer a range of five e-liquids: Curious Jorge ("Banana, banana, banana and then some more banana") http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/curious-jorge-by-standard.html, Cell Block Four ("Creme Brûlée cake with hints of citrus") http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/cell-block-four-by-standard.html, Irie Nights ("Jamaican rum and brown sugar party"), Dead Man's Party ("Blueberry Lemonade Thingamajig") and Frankenvape (Kiwi Marshmallow and lots of goodness), each of which is available in nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 12, 18, and 24mg, comes in a 30 ml bottle and retails at $22.00.

The bottles used by The Standard are a thick, clear, cuboid glass with black, plastic screw top caps. They don't come with a dripper, so you'll need to use a syringe, eye dropper or pipette, all of which are inexpensive and readily available online or from your local pharmacy. The caps aren't childproof, so care will need to be taken if children are around.

The artwork and design of everything from The Standard is exceptional. As an artist, I really appreciate it when some care and attention to detail is given to the design of the packaging and presentation of a product. The label on my bottle of Frankenvape features a two tone image of Frankenstein (Boris Karloff in the 1931 version of the film, "Frankenstein") overlaid on a black and white, wood grain texture. The label also contains the following information: the name of the e-liquid, the brand name, nicotine strength in mg, a URL for The Standard website and a warning that the liquid contains nicotine and should be kept away from children.

The colour of the liquid is a crystal clear, Pumpkin Orange with viscosity somewhere between cooking oil and water, which I would attribute to the (unspecified) VG content. The aroma from the opened bottle begins as a sweetened tropical fruit punch which resolves into, and ends with a dominating kiwi fruit note. Subsequent whiffs begin and end with the aroma of kiwi fruit.

When I'm writing a review I prefer to drip feed my atomizer. So as usual, I'm using an Igo-L on a mechanical mod with an 18650 battery, an hour or two shy of a fresh charge. The sample I'm vaping is 12mg nicotine strength. Now that we've begun to talk about flavour, I want to suggest that Frankenvape doesn't taste at all like kiwi fruit or marshmallow. The liquid smells like kiwi fruit and the vapour has a mouthfeel that approximates the creamy, almost spongy texture of marshmallow, but for me it tastes like neither of those foods. As I draw the vapour into my mouth prior to inhaling, I taste a densely saturated, syrupy sweetness with hints of tropical fruit that follows into the aftertaste that lingers momentarily before I exhale. As I cast my mind across the breadth of the spectrum of tropical fruits though, I find it very difficult to pinpoint which fruits I'm actually tasting. Flavour is apprehended primarily during and after exhalation; with one exhalation I think I might be tasting blueberry. With the next, I'm tasting banana, and then again I think I'm tasting grape. The taste of Frankenvape mutates, slipping and sliding elusively from my grasp. I'm sorry I can't be more specific than suggesting it tastes somewhat like a tropical fruit, or a combination of tropical fruits, but whatever the case, the flavour is potent and it's delicious. There's also the merest whisper of fizziness at the back of the throat and on the tip of the tongue immediately following the exhalation, which suggests to me the use of vodka as a thinning agent for the VG. The aftertaste is vaguely reminiscent of the type of aftertaste you get when you've eaten a packet of Gummi Bears.

I find the throat hit to be quite mild but there's a satisfying pressure that builds at the back of the throat on the inhalation, with a light raspiness on the exhalation. Vapour production is excellent.

The Standard have delivered another exceptional liquid in Frankenvape.  Everything, from the design of the label to the shape and material of the bottle, to the aroma of the liquid and the elusive but undeniably exquisite flavour of the vapour... it all suggests a very finely tuned mind and palate at work, producing this stuff. I encourage you to try it for yourself and if you can taste kiwi fruit or marshmallow, I'd love to hear from you.

Melon Medley by Jameson's Irish Vapor Juice

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

This bottle of Melon Medley by Jameson's Irish Vapor Juice was kindly sent to me by Vape Revolution, http://shop.vaperev.com/ based in Cerritos, California.

I'm not sure whether it's by design or it's just a failing on my behalf to do adequate research but the identity of the man/woman behind Jameson's appears to be a mystery. The Vape Revolution website says that s/he's a world renowned Executive Chef but leaves it at that. Apparently, (I don't remember where I read this) s/he's also responsible for The Standard Range of e-liquids.  I love a mystery (Neurocam anybody?) and the fact that this man's/woman's identity is elusive adds, I think, a certain glamour to the liquids at hand.

Jameson's produce a range of four liquids: Forbidden Fruit (Sweet apple and tangy lime), Peaches 'n Cream, Tanjello and Melon Medley, each of which is available in nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24mg, comes in a 30ml bottle and costs $25.00

The bottle is a dark brown, glass bottle with a standard black plastic, screw top cap. The photographs on the website show bottles with screw top caps with integrated drippers.  The website also mentions cork tops though I suspect these are only available if you buy the liquid in store.  If like me, you receive a bottle without a dripper integrated into the cap, you'll need to use a syringe, eye dropper or pipette to fill your device, all of which are readily and cheaply available online or at your local pharmacy.

The label is an elegant, faux "olde worlde" design. The printed weathered edges of the label, the choice of fonts, the crest, the decorative scrollwork and signatures (of the creator/s of the liquid I presume) all help to impart a sense of vintage and quality to the bottle and its contents.  The label contains the following information: the name of the liquid, the brand name, the phrases, "established 2012" and "quality crafted", a number denoting nicotine strength, a warning that the product contains nicotine and is not to be sold to minors. The following information also appears on the label; "Made from the finest local ingredients. Crafted locally in Southern California."

The liquid in the bottle has a potent and unmistakeable bouquet of melon. The scent alternates between cantaloupe, honeydew melon and a combination of both. There's something else here but I can't quite put my finger on it... an alcoholic or medicinal tint perhaps. You'll be pleased to know that this elusive component of the aroma doesn't manifest at all in the taste of the vapour. The colour of the liquid is a translucent apricot and it has the viscosity of a very thin syrup.

I'm vaping Melon Medley in an Igo-L on a mechanical mod with an 18650 battery. If I pulse the switch and take short, shallow intakes of vapour into my mouth I get intense bursts of sweetened melon flavour. Sustained inhalations begin with this momentary burst of flavour but the sensation of general sweetness predominates.  As the cycle of the inward breath ceases and pauses the combined flavours of cantaloupe and honeydew melon reveal themselves. On the outward breath, the flavour intensifies and it seems the cantaloupe comes to the forefront where it settles into a very refreshing aftertaste. I should add that the flavours are authentic; it tastes like fresh fruit and not some candy flavoured approximation of it. The feel of the vapour in my mouth is warm, velvety and entirely pleasant.

The sample I'm vaping is only 6mg so the throat hit is negligible. Neither the bottle, nor the Vape Revolution website makes any reference to PG/VG ratios but I'm fairly certain the VG content is significant; vapour production is very good with copious clouds of opaque vapour pouring out into the room.

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of The Standard range of juices and with Melon Medley, I consider myself a fan of the Jameson's Irish Vapor Juice as well. I'm keen to try the rest of the range now and when I do, I'll let you know.  Whoever this world renowned Executive Chef is, s/he is onto a good thing.

Melon Medley makes for a delicious and very refreshing vape and I heartily recommend it!