Review of 6 Vapor Kings Primo-Vapor PG-based e-juices

[ThunderPumpkin]

A month ago I ordered 6 bottles of Vapor Kings Primo-Vapor PG-based juices and some hardware, along with 18 Mt. Baker Vapor juices. They're finally here in South America, having been transshipped by friends in the US (so the delay is not the vendors' fault!)

I'm currently reviewing the MBV juices I've received, along with the 6 Vapor Kings juices I bought. I'll be reviewing them gradually, as I try them, one per post. Most of my VK order was hardware -- I got these juices just for the heck of it. For that reason, I got a couple pretty unusual flavors, in addition to some standards.

All the juices are 18 mg of nicotine. As far as the PG/VG mix, the website says they're PG-based and the bottles do, too. I don't know if that means 100/0 or the more common 80/20. The bottles say "Made in China", and the VK website says their Primo-Vapor line is made by Dekang.

To my surprise, VK included no samples. They're certainly not obliged to, but as my total order was a bit more than $100, I'm frankly kind of surprised they didn't.

The flavors I'll be reviewing are the following (the ones I've reviewed so far are in bold):

• RY4
• Green Tea
• Black Tea
• Strawberry
  
• Spearmint
• Cappuccino

My overall scale for reviewing is a bit different than the one I used for Dekang and Liqua juices. I've quickly realized that in calibrating my expectations for those brands, my old scale had no room for anything truly excellent. So I've eliminated the first rating ("1. Nasty. The mere idea of vaping it turns me off") and shifted things accordingly:

1. Yuck. Won't finish the bottle unless it's the only thing I've got.
2. Vapable, but nothing a cheap Chinese vendor couldn't put out.
3. Good
4. Great!
5. Vapegasm!!

All juices are being vaped on an eGo-V V2 at 4v using a generic CE4+ clearomizer. The "authenticity" rating refers to how similar the flavor is to what it's imitating.

Finally, although these juices have already spent a month in their bottles steeping, after the initial review I'm going to let each one steep with the caps and droppers out for two days, and then let them steep in the closed bottles. Once I've finished the initial reviews and a couple weeks have passed, I hope (but don't promise!) to add steeping notes to each juice.

SUMMARY: A series of mediocre e-juices that can be had much cheaper elsewhere. Don't bother.

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Vapor Kings RY4
18 mg, PG
Overall Rating: 3/5 - Good

TH: 3/5
Vapor: 5/5
Flavor: 3.5/5
Authenticity: ?
Color: Nearly transparent, with the lightest of yellow hues.

When I started vaping, I tried the odd tobacco flavor (Desert Ship, etc.), but these were unconvincing. And after a few weeks of not smoking, I found I didn't want tobacco flavors at all. I'm still at the point where I avoid cigarette smoke not out of disgust, but out of fear of temptation. But I placed this order some time ago, before I decided I wanted nothing to do with our favorite plant, and I included RY4, having read about its mysteries.

That said, my first toke of Vapor Kings RY4 was a pleasant surprise! It's a somewhat complex taste, which is attractive. The predominant note is of old, dark brown leather. It brings back my father's tool belt, although I'm certain it smelled nothing like this. It has a very subtle sweetness that takes a long time to manifest itself. There might be the slightest hint of coconut somewhere in here, too. There is no trace of vanilla or caramel, for those who seek such things.

The TH is not particularly strong, though that might have to do with the 18 mg of nicotine, rather than 24. As a result, I hit the PV more with this than with stronger fare. The vapor production is copious. I can't address the authenticity of this RY4, as no one really knows exactly what it's supposed to be... but who cares.

The only downside of VK's RY4 is that it has a slight taste of something like steam when exhaled through the nose, not unlike the faint smell of a steam iron. Yes, yes, vaping is about producing steam and inhaling it -- we all know that. But you normally don't notice the steam, much less taste or smell it -- it's supposed to be an invisible vehicle for the flavor. The only other juice I've noticed this from is Dekang's Cappuccino. This steam smell is not at all unpleasant... I perceive it more as the base showing through a not entirely potent flavor. But I'm not sure that I would want a more potent old leather taste!

All in all, it's a fine vape that I can imagine going quite well with booze of various sorts, which seems to be a hot topic around here I haven't tried any other RY4s to compare this one to, but I have a strong feeling that it's a middling one.

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Vapor Kings Jeremy's Black Tea Blend
18 mg, PG
Overall Rating: 3/5 - Good

TH: 2.5/5
Vapor: 3/5
Flavor: 3/5
Authenticity: 5/5
Color: Nearly transparent, with the lightest of yellow hues.

I ordered this flavor on a lark. I had mint, fruit, dessert and other e-juices, and I wanted to try something out of the ordinary, so I ordered VK's Black Tea.

The aroma of its vapor is pretty much the smell of a just-opened tin of looseleaf Chinese black tea, but sweet. Nothing like Lipton or other American bag teas. It's very pleasant, and quite authentic, but perhaps a bit too subtle -- it could use an extra flavor shot, if Dekang (the makers of this juice) did that. The TH is pretty weak -- weaker than the 18 mg juice I reviewed above. The vapor production is tolerable, though also on the weak side.

If it had more TH, I could see myself vaping Black Tea for extended periods -- its subtlety lends itself to that, I think.Re

Really, with a bit of tweaking, this could be a star.

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Vapor Kings Gunpowder Green Tea
18 mg, PG
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 - Good (but a bit worrisome)

TH: 4/5
Vapor: 4/5
Flavor: 2.5/5
Authenticity: 3/5
Color: Yellow

An interesting vape -- and certainly not a traditional one!

The flavor is quite pleasant -- it's a dead ringer for the green tea hard candies I've had (the Altoids type candies you can easily crush with your teeth). It does have a bit of a sickly sweet taste to it after just a short while, though. And after just five minutes I'm starting to feel I'm vaping green tea incense. That's why I've taken the overall rating down a bit, from 3 to 2.5. This is not something I'm going to be able to vape for more than 15-20 minutes a day, I fear.

The TH is quite good, and vapor production is just fine.

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Vapor Kings Strawberry
18 mg, PG
Overall Rating: 3/5 - Good

TH: 3/5
Vapor: 3/5
Flavor: 3/5
Authenticity: 3/5
Color: Intense yellow

I've been looking for a good strawberry vape for a while now. Liqua's is a travesty, and the no-name Chinese stuff I tried in an unlabeled bottle has nothing in common with the fruit except a reddish-pink color and, most likely, the pesticides.

Vapor Kings Strawberry is better than those two, but it's nothing to write home about. The flavor is actually recognizable as strawberry, and it's not overly sweet. It's also not candy-like, and has only a hint of perfuminess.

But its flavor is definitely not that of real strawberries, nor of canned strawberries (if that's your thing). It's a muted flavor, which is probably what saves it from being overly perfumy.

The TH is fine, as is the vapor production. It makes for a pleasant (if unspectacular) low-key vape that you can keep up for hours, as the flavor doesn't get in the way of the nicotine, nor does it overwhelm.

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Vapor Kings Spearmint
18 mg, PG
Overall Rating: 2/5

TH: 4/5
Vapor: 3/5
Flavor: 2/5
Authenticity: 2/5
Color: Light yellow

You'd think spearmint would be an easy flavor to do in an e-liquid. After all, spearmint flavoring has to be one of the oldest and most common ones around, having been used in food and candy since around the time dirt was discovered.

But Vapor Kings Spearmint barely has any spearmint flavor at all. There's enough that its clear that they didn't put the wrong stuff in the bottle, but no more. So no minty love here! This is actually not far from an unflavored vape. Big disappointment!

The vapor production is fine. The throat hit is very good, far better than what I'd expect from 18 mg of nicotine.

Not recommended.

 

[ThunderPumpkin]

Vapor Kings Cappuccino
18 mg, PG
Overall Rating: 2.5/5

TH: 5/5
Vapor: 4/5
Flavor: 2/5
Authenticity: 3
Color: Middling reddish brown, not unlike amaretto liqueur

I'm really anxious to find a great coffee vape, be it coffee and cream, espresso, cappuccino or mocha latte. I'm a coffee fanatic, and am especially fond of French roast (not French press!) and certain German coffees made from Ethiopian beans (not the ones that passed through a goat's digestive tract, mind you!).

Vapor Kings cappuccino is nothing special, and has definitely not put an end to my quest. It's recognizable as being a coffee vape, which is a good start, but the flavor is thin, weak and one-dimensional. It's also rather harsh. It has none of the complexity of cappuccino -- no creaminess, barely any sweetness, and there's only a single flavor from the coffee. My palate also becomes desensitized to it very quickly -- after 5-10 minutes, I can barely perceive the coffee flavor at all.

That said, this is the hardest biting juice I've ever tried in terms of TH -- it's what I'd expect from a 36 ml liquid!