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.
We, that is, you and I probably take the idea, numeral and digit, Zero (0) for granted; we use it everyday and don't give a second thought to the fact that it's a relatively modern invention. As recently as 1740 BC, the so-called "ancient" Egyptians acknowledged the notion of zero and made use of a hieroglyph to denote the digit in their accounting records. The Egyptians appear to have been prolific and almost obsessive about documenting every aspect of their lives.
The "ancient" Greeks, being the extraordinary philosophers that they were, had difficulty with the notion of "nothing being something" "which, by the Medieval period, lead to religious and philosophical arguments about the nature and existence of zero and the vacuum". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero
"Subzero literally means "beneath zero." As such, it is usually used for negative numbers; the most common usage refers to negative temperature." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-zero
Sub-Zero is also the name of an Absinthe based e-liquid by Toasty Juice.
Toasty Juice is a fledgling operation, owned and operated by Assad Nasralla, based in New Jersey, USA which operates a Facebook page through which he can be contacted. Search for Toasty Juice or (be)friend and message Assad himself to order his liquids.
gentleman /jenˈtl-mən/ noun (pl genˈtlemen)
A man of good birth or high social standing
A man of refined manners
A man of good feeling and instincts, courteous and honourable
A well-to-do man of no occupation
A polite term used for man in general
A man who without a title bears a coat of arms (historical)
More generally, any man above the rank of yeoman, including members of the nobility (historical)
A personal attendant (Shakespeare)
[Chambers Dictionary (iOS) © Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd.]
Occasionally, you come across a man or woman who displays courtesy, honour, refined manners and a disposition towards goodness. In my correspondence with Assad Nasralla, owner and operator of Toasty Juice, I've found him to be an example of all these worthy attributes. He may or may not be well-to-do, of high social standing or above the rank of yeoman, but he's a (super) nice guy that cares about his juices and who really wants you to enjoy them as much as he does. A gentleman. Of course, everyone needs to make a living, so he doesn't give his liquids away for free, but I do get the impression that Assad is intensely and passionately interested in crafting and refining the experience of vaping his e-liquids and less so about busying himself with the acquisition of filthy lucre and the building of an empire. (Then again, who amongst us wouldn't want a healthy bank balance and an empire?) Assad Nasralla is an artisan as well as a gentleman.
Toasty Juice offer a range of three distinct liquids; Sub-Zero ("Sweet minty Absinthe with... layers of flavor"), Green Machine ("A Kiwi/Peach Absinthe with citrus undertones") and Dragon Jazz ("A dragon fruit cocktail Absinthe with a Jazzy exhale"). Each liquid is available in a 30ml bottle (US$20.00) at nicotine strengths of 6, 12 and 18mg.
The bottle is a reasonably robust, clear glass with a black, plastic, screw top cap and an inbuilt eye dropper with a pointed tip for easy access to your preferred atomiser. The label features the charming hand-drawn artwork of Andrew Hsu (Andrew Hsulamander on Facebook) and includes the name of the liquid and nicotine strength as a percentage. In the case of the review sample, the nicotine strength is 1.2%, which might otherwise be listed as 12mg. I would not be giving due diligence to this process if I didn't remark that the bottle is not childproof, and that the artwork on the label is very possibly, visually appealing to children. Please use and store this e-liquid out of the sight and reach of children.
The colour of Sub-Zero is extraordinary. It seems to have altered over time (steeping for 4 weeks or so); shifting from a tertiary blue-green to it's current state of a somewhat cloudy, saturated and darkened Robin Egg Blue. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_egg_blue There are small yellow bubbles of what look to be essential oil suspended in the liquid, which a vigorous shake of the bottle seems to disperse. This same vigorous shake of the bottle disperses minuscule bubbles of air throughout the liquid, which rise to the top at a very leisurely pace, suggesting a high Vegetable Glycerin content. As the Sub-Zero bottle (and it's stablemates, Green Machine and Dragon Jazz) has (have) been steeping, completely sealed (!), these last few weeks, the room has filled with the aroma of anise. When I open the bottle and hold it below my nose the aroma of sweetened anise is potent with a whisper of mint lurking low in the scent.
I'm vaping Sub-Zero in an Igo-L on a Poldiac running on a freshly charged 18650 battery. There's five wraps of 0.2 (32AWG) Kanthal wire around three strands of 2mm Silica wick and the atomiser is reading 2.3ohms on the Provari. The wick is well and truly saturated with the liquid, following three or four days of successive use.
This is an interesting juice, because flavour aside, both anise and mint provoke chemesthetic reactions in the gustatory system. Let's explore.
Upon commencing inhalation, the first sensation I'm aware of is a cooling of the forward edge of the tongue. Following this is an awareness of a mild sweetness and a sensation that I've not encountered in vaping an e-liquid before. It feels like my tongue is being "gripped" or shrink wrapped in a film of brittle plastic; it's very odd but not at all unpleasant. As I continue to inhale the flavour of anise begins to manifest alongside the cooling agency of the mint. Successive inhalations cause an intensification of the perception of anise, with a bias towards an earthy and almost salty character, rather than the sweetness one might expect and a progressive, but mild numbing of the tongue. Exhaling reintroduces the minty aspect of this liquid with a cooling sensation at the back of the throat, while the anise continues to dominate flavourwise. The aftertaste and "after-sensation" is a melding of the anise and mint and a slow subsiding of the anaesthesia about the tongue. Accompanying this is a sensation that mimics the coating of the roof of the mouth with a fine grained furriness which I would suggest is also a chemesthetic reaction to the anise.
Given that this is a 12mg liquid, I find that throat hit is, for the most part, absent. In it's place is the symphony of chemesthetic reactions taking place throughout the gustatory system. Vapour production is excellent, with a profuse amount of the stuff pouring from my mouth and nose as I exhale.
To obtain the very best that Sub-Zero has to offer in terms of flavour and anaesthesia, I'd recommend flooding your system with it (be careful you don't overdose on nicotine). Progressive inhalation cycles appear to build the flavour to a veritable crescendo which unfurls nuances of flavour and sensation that aren't immediately apparent when you begin to vape it. The flavour is, of course, full bodied. Sub-zero is a very worthy debut liquid from Toasty Juice and as a variation on the Absinthe family of flavours it works exceedingly well.
