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. Pertinent portions of this review are quoted from my review of Toasty Juice's Sub-Zero. http://vapour-taster.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/sub-zero-by-toasty-juice.html Quoted passages are in italics.
Preamble
"And for the first time in hundreds of years the night came alive with the music of dragons"
The following lyrics are from the song "Black Dragon" by Swedish band, Dissection. It's not Jazz, but it is nevertheless, a powerful invocation of what might be called "Dragon energy". The dragon or winged serpent is a spiritual concept common to many and various ancient (and not so ancient) cultures and is understood nowadays as a metaphor for Kundalini energy. Please understand that the lyrics presented here should not be read literally. These are spiritual concepts couched in the language of mythology and actually refer to the liberation of the human psyche from bondage. (We, in the western world, have a narrow view and understanding of the representation of good and evil. In many other cultures, it's recognised that what may appear evil, is in fact good and that what may appear good, may in fact, be evil.) Enlightenment, or happiness, peace and understanding independent of circumstances, is the goal.
Tohu Tehom Theli Than Leviathan Tanin'iver Taninsam!
Tohu Tehom Theli Than Leviathan Tanin'iver Taninsam!
We invoke thee, Black Dragon of Chaos
We evoke thee, O mighty dragon force
Awaken now from your aeonic slumber -- rise up from the abyss
Dragon of forgotten lore - let your Chaos rule forever more
Lotan - Raise your seven heads and let the ancient ones rule again
Apep - Dragon of devouring darkness, supreme ruler of emptiness
Open up your black diamond eyes and rejoice as Ra's creation dies
Jormungand - Lord of the poisonous sea, fulfill the twilight prophecy
Unleash your hatred upon all life and kill this world in the final strife
Tiamat - Queen of the formless deep - The Eleventh seal is now broken
Hark to your children's invocations and awaken from your dreadful sleep
Tohu Tehom Theli Than Leviathan Tanin'iver Taninsam!
Tohu Tehom Theli Than Leviathan Tanin'iver Taninsam!
Leviathan - Tortuous one, by your Wrathful Chaos our war will be won
Bring forth your darkness, grant us your grace and enlighten us in your wicked ways
Typhon - Lord of dark desires, purify us with your smokeless fires
Make us at one with thyself and walk the earth once again
Tohu Tehom Theli Than Leviathan Tanin'iver Taninsam!
Tohu Tehom Theli Than Leviathan Tanin'iver Taninsam!
Dissection, Black Dragon
I consider it quite fitting that the dragon depicted on the label of Toasty Juice's Dragon Jazz is a black silhouette.
The Review
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.
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.
The colour of the liquid is a clear Imperial Red http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_red#Imperial_red A brief, vigorous shake of the bottle diffuses tiny bubbles of air throughout the liquid which rise to the top at a snail's pace, indicating a high Vegetable Glycerin content. As the Dragon Jazz bottle (and it's stablemates, Sub-Zero and The Green Machine) has (have) been steeping, completely sealed (!), these last few weeks, the room has filled with the aroma of anise. Opening the bottle, holding it below my nose and taking slow, sustained nasal inhalations, with the purpose of identifying aroma, I detect the volatile top note of the anise with a lesser, middle note of somewhat exotic, fruity sweetness. I use the word "exotic" because I recognise the aroma as being of a fruity character, but it's not a fruit that I'm gustatorially familiar with. (Did I just abuse a word?)
I'm vaping Dragon Jazz 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.
I must confess I've never eaten a Dragon Fruit, but that won't hinder me from describing my experience of Dragon Jazz at the level of pure sensation. I fire the device and wait a moment before putting the drip tip to my lips and begin drawing the vapour into and through my mouth. My immediate perception is of an intense sweetness, followed closely and then dominated by the characteristic, earthy flavour of anise. The longer I draw, the more pronounced becomes the anise flavour and what begins as a fine grained tingling along the length of my tongue, manifests more resolutely as a numbing sensation. Having taken my fill of vapour, I follow through with a breath of fresh air to chase the denser volume into my lungs and as I do so I become aware of a sweet, mildly flavoured fruitiness at the back of my throat and along the insides of my cheeks. Dragon Fruit is said to be a mild, if not bland fruit, so I don't expect to be overwhelmed by the flavour, and yet it's assertive enough in this instance that I'm quite aware of it. The fruity flavour predominates as I exhale but immediately I finish exhaling, the anise reappears and assumes primacy through to the last lingering moments of the aftertaste. At some point during the aftertaste, I become aware of a trace of bitterness throughout my mouth accompanied by a metallic tang around my forward teeth and gums
Given that this is a 12mg liquid, I don't expect any sort of significant throat hit but the chemesthetic reaction provoked by the anise is a very worthy substitute. Vapour production is excellent.
I approached Dragon Jazz with a measure of curiosity; Dragon Fruit was an entirely unknown quantity to me. Whether or not this is a faithful representation of the flavour of the fruit is immaterial, because this is after all, primarily an Absinthe vape. However, as far as I'm concerned, it works exceedingly well. The balance of fruit against the anise is finely balanced with the interplay of sweetness, earthiness and bitterness adjudged perfectly. Very tasty indeed.
