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
Preamble
"Hurray! The gay dancers, you whose bellies are gone!
You can cut capers on such a long stage!
Hop! Never mind whether it's fighting or dancing!
- Beelzebub, maddened, saws on his fiddles!"
Arthur Rimbaud, Dance of the Hanged Men
Dead Man's Party, the subject of this review, reminds me of the imagery associated with Dia De Muertos (Day of the Dead), a Mexican holiday which remembers and celebrates family members and friends who have died. While it's often associated with and celebrated on the same days as the Catholic holidays All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day (November 1 and 2), "...scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl (the Queen of the Underworld)." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead
Dia De Muertos is a subject close to my heart. When I was working on LittleBigPlanet http://littlebigplanet.com/en/?t=GB for Playstation3 at Media Molecule I spent a lot of time researching and creating artwork around the theme of Dia De Muertos. So much so, that I lived and breathed that particular Mexican holiday for a number of weeks. I wish I'd had Dead Man's Party to vape on at the time!
In a recent review of another e-liquid by an artisan juice maker, I wrote the following which is equally applicable to Eric TheDad, Executive Chef and head honcho at The Standard, Jameson's Irish Vapor Juice and The Blueprint Vapor: "(Eric TheDad) is an artisan juice maker, which means that he has a small range of juices, which he's undoubtedly spent a great deal of time developing and fine tuning to a high level of sophistication. I imagine he will have deliberated over each of his liquids to an exquisite degree to ensure they delivered a very particular flavour with the appropriate amount of throat hit and vapour production. He might have agonised over the density and texture of the vapour; adjusting PG/VG ratios so that the vapour felt a particular way in the mouth. How much sweetener should be used? Would the addition of Vodka produce a sparkle at the back of the throat? How does that feel and is it desirable within the context of the flavour? Would the addition of a few drops of Menthol brighten the flavour at all? How much Menthol can be added to a juice before it intrudes and/or begins to dominate? Mixing juice requires patience, a finely tuned palate, a working knowledge of flavour pairing, the delivery of flavour in vaporous form and how the human gustatory and olfactory systems apprehend it. Beyond this lies the world of branding and marketing which requires another range of skills altogether. The artisan juice maker is an artist who delivers a particular type of experience via vapour to his or her audience. Next time you take a vape, give yourself a moment or two to really pay attention to the vapour being drawn into and through your mouth and reflect on the sensations occurring there and the deliberations the juice maker made in order to deliver that particular experience to you." http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/710-by-mad-murdock.html
While I'm at it, I want to mention what an amazing chap Eric TheDad is. Not only is he an accomplished chef (I haven't tasted his food, but I've seen photos) but he's the bearer of a refined palate, has an eye for design, is acutely savvy when it comes to business (he'll deny it) and is an all round nice guy. I had the pleasure of speaking to him on the phone and even though he doesn't need reviews at this stage to move his merchandise, he was very happy to send some samples for me to write about. He and his team will turn up to a brick and mortar opening and give away bottles of liquid for half an hour. That's very generous but it's also exceedingly savvy marketing.
The Review
Dead Man's Party ("Blueberry Lemonade Thingamajig") is one of six e-liquids in The Standard range. The others are Cell Block Four ("Créme Brûlée with hints of citrus") http://vapour-taster.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/cell-block-four-by-standard.html, Curious Jorge ("Banana banana banana and then some more Banana!!") http://vapour-taster.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/curious-jorge-by-standard.html, Frankenvape ("Kiwi Marshmallow and lots of goodness") http://vapour-taster.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/frankenvape-by-standard.html, Irie Nights ("Jamaican rum and brown sugar party") and G35 ("A mix of coconut, pineapple and mango with a hint of menthol!!"). Each of the juices are available with nicotine contents of 0, 6, 12 and 18mg.
The Standard Range is available from a seemingly vast number of brick and mortar stores throughout the United States as well as online at Elevated Vaping http://elevated-vaping.myshopify.com, My Vapor.Gasm http://www.shopmvg.com, Vape Revolution http://shop.vaperev.com, Aqueous Vapor http://aqueousvapor.com and LiteCigUSA http://www.litecigusa.net/default.asp. (There are too many stores to list here. Google is your friend)
Each of the juices are elegantly bottled in a thick, cuboid, glass bottle with a label that wraps around two and a quarter of the sides. It's said that a good meal begins by pleasing the eyes; the same could be said of vaping. "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." http://vapour-taster.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/frankenvape-by-standard.html The artwork on the Dead Man's Party label features a number of skeletons eating, drinking and dancing which is very similar to the imagery often associated with Dia De Muertos. The label includes the following information: the brand name, the name of the liquid, nicotine strength in mg, the brand website address and a warning that the liquid contains nicotine and should be kept away from children. The black screw top cap is not childproof so extra care should be taken in storing and using this e-liquid away from children and pets. There's no attached dropper either, so you'll need a syringe or eye dropper, (both of which are readily available at pharmacies or online) to transfer the liquid into your favourite device. Although it's not explicitly stated anywhere, the bottle contains 30ml of fluid.
The colour of the liquid is a more deeply saturated Apricot Orange http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_orange#Apricot A brief, vigorous shake of the bottle disperses minuscule bubbles of air throughout the liquid, which defy gravity and the viscosity of the liquid at a snail's pace, suggesting a high vegetable glycerin content. The aroma that escapes the opened bottle, held below my nose alternates between the sweet and sour of lemonade and the summery blueberry.
I've been vaping Dead Man's Party in both an Igo-L and a Killer/Big Boaby (tank) but for the purpose of this review I'll be using the Igo-L on a Poldiac running on an 18650 battery. The coil is freshly wound with five wraps of 0.2mm (32AWG) Kanthal wire around three strands of 2mm Silica wick. The atomiser is reading 2.2 ohms on the Provari.
I fire the device and begin to gently inhale, and as I do so my mouth fills with a velvety smooth, dense vapor laden with a fruity sweetness. There's also a sensation of fine grained sizzling or tingling on my tongue which I'd attribute to the presence of vodka. Having inhaled as much vapour as I'm able, I follow through with a short, shallow intake of fresh air which chases the denser volume into my lungs. I then hold my breath for a moment or two. During these latter two stages in the inhalation process, the flavour of blueberry unfurls, followed almost immediately by the flavour of homemade lemonade. As I slowly exhale, the lemonade flavour grows in intensity until it dominates the blueberry. Exhaling more quickly and with some force seems to marry the blueberry and lemonade which produces an exotic, seemingly unlikely flavour pairing that nevertheless works surprisingly well. It's very moreish. The blueberry returns in force to dominate the gustatory sense for the duration of the aftertaste, alongside a light acidic tang on the forward edge of my tongue.
The mild sensation of tingling on the tongue, as you vape Dead Man's Party, is as close a simulacrum of the fizziness that you usually get with carbonated beverages, as you could get in a vape. I found the throat hit to be mild, while the mounting of pressure at the back of the throat during inhalation, that I so often speak of is considerable. Vapour production is also significant.
I've come to expect excellence from The Standard and in Dead Man's Party my expectations are fully realised. The flavour pairing is inventive and works surprisingly well. The tingling sensation and mild, lingering acidity on the tongue are suggestive of having actually imbibed lemonade. This is a satisfying vape which does indeed begin by delighting the eye, and in my case anyway, provokes the imagination.
