Review - Cleopatra from Lazarus Vintage's Valley of the Kings line

Lazarus Vintage

Valley of the Kings line

http://lazarusvintage.com/index.php/seven-wonders/valley-of-the-kings.html

Cleopatra

We welcome you to the Lazarus Lifestyle; where your desired vape intensity will transform into a personal world of incredible aromatics and savory flavors. Our mission is not simply to serve you our reserved elixirs, but to increase your expectations for how you should be captivated by a truly fine vape.

Our first Journey will be through the Seven Wonders of the World where you are No.1. The course at hand is warm and inviting with a hint of coolness in the air that will refresh your taste for new things. You will look up and gaze upon a Nebula and be mesmerized by the Stardust within. Admiring the clouds above, you retrieve your trusted Compass and guide your vessel to the Lighthouse; a beacon of sweetness in a world of spice. Upon your arrival, a bottle of vintage Trinity Reserve is opened. Humbled by the smooth vanilla bourbon warming your senses, you embrace the generosity of the many that have helped you along the way....

This is but the first chapter of many more to be introduced in our future. Our greatest continual challenge will be for your palate to be dazzled as it interprets the richness of flavors along with the intensity of beautiful aromas; Aromas so alluring that every one around you is pleased to be in your company and flavors so masterfully created that they are in a refined league of their own. This is the embodiment of the Lazarus Lifestyle and we welcome you to the Lazarus family

Sincerely

Sir James

(from their website)

The Lazarus Vintage line of e-liquid was developed to be some of the most premium e-juice on the market.  Some of their flavor combinations are normally only found in high end cigars and pipe tobaccos.  The flavor profiles they choose for their different lines are wonderful and, at times, exotic.  And Cleopatra, named after the famous Egyptian queen, is no different.

Queen Cleopatra was renowned for her exotic beauty.  She charmed Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, bringing those two leaders to their knees with her charms.  Even though her beauty was actually rather ordinary, what ultimately made Cleopatra attractive were her wit, charm and, as the Greek essayist Plutarch put it, "the sweetness in the tones of her voice."

It seems Lazarus Vintage used Plutarch’s words as inspiration for their e-liquid.

According to their website, the flavor profile is:

An exotic blend of Greek and Egyptian flavors, the mixture of pink champagne and hypnotic fruits seduce you like the beauty that captured the heart of Julius Caesar. The ageless beauties of these ingredients are what give Cleopatra the elixir of life.

Honestly, this is a rather sentimental review for me.  Cleopatra was the very first e-liquid I bought when I upgraded from a cheap Voodoo pen setup to a mechanical mod.  The owner of my local shop only carries what he considers to be top of the line e-liquids, and he carries the entire line of Valley of the Kings.

When I was taste testing all the juices he carries, Cleopatra was the one that grabbed my interest that day.

Cracking the wax seal on the bottle that day, my hands trembled in excitement at the new world opening up to me.  The smell rising from the bottle was very fruity – subtle tones of peach and strawberry were what stood out the most.

Tasting a drop on my finger to see what it tasted like outside of the small clearomizer with which I’d first taste tested the juice, the flavor was crisp and not overly sweet.  Strawberry was the most dominate flavor but there was a undertone of peach.

Once my brand new setup was ready to use, I juiced up the fresh cotton in my new RDA (yep, I went straight to an RDA instead of a tank) and fired the mod off a few times.  The vapor that rose from my brand new mod was fruity – strawberry, peach, a hint of apple, and a bit of grape filled the air.

That very first inhale on my very first mod was quite tasty.  Strawberry, peach, plum, and a bit of apple filled my mouth, hitting my taste buds with a unique, exotic flavor.  That first exhale was plum, hint of strawberry, and a very subtle champagne-like flavor.

All in all, this was an excellent choice as a first juice.  The fruity flavor was a great all-day vape.  The only downside for this – and any of the Lazarus Vintage juices – is that they can be a little pricey.  Lazarus seems to be very proud of their product.  So if you’re looking to make your first juice purchase, you might want to consider another line of juice from which to choose.

Review - Ramrod by Strix Elixirs

Strix Elixirs

http://www.strixelixirs.com

Ramrod

One of the most popular type of flavors of e-juice are the cereal flavors.  It seems like lots of companies out there are trying their hand at popular flavors like Trix, Captain Crunch, Froot Loops, and other breakfast cereals – these companies are all trying to get as close to these flavors (with milk, mind you) as they possibly can.

So how does a company distinguish themselves in a market like this?

I was very excited to see that the wonderful people at Strix Elixirs had found just the way to do this.  Their newest juice flavor is called Ramrod, and, according to their website, the flavor profile is:

Our Ramrod flavor takes fruity cereal rings to the next level by leaving out the milk. Ever eaten a whole box of plain cereal or one of those little individual packs? Yep, this juice is just like that.

With a description like that, I had to try this juice.  One of my favorite snacks while watching movies at home is a handful of cereal straight out of the box.  So this juice sounded like something right up my alley!

As much as I’d love to go on and on about the different qualities of this juice – about how it smells and tastes with no heat versus how it smells and tastes when vaped – there’s not a lot of distinctions that could be made between the two.

Why?

Because the smell and taste of this juice, whether straight from the bottle or while vaping it, is exactly as promised.  This juice tastes just like you’ve grabbed a handful of Froot Loops right out of the box and popped them into your mouth.  From the little hints of the flavors you pick up to the taste in the back of your throat, this juice reminded me of the cereal from first taste to last.

If you’re a fan of cereal vape juice, this is a definite must have in your juice collection.  The flavor definitely will NOT disappoint!

Review - Fuzztastic by Jubs Joose

Jubs Joose

http://www.jubsjoose.com

Fuzztastic

Gummi candy – it’s everywhere you look nowadays.  And it’s not just the traditional gummi bears that were dreamt up by German candy maker Haribou, either.  Gummies come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, flavors, and nationalities.  In fact, America has such a love affair with all things gummi that, in an article in USA Today, gummies were ranked as the 7^th most popular candy in the country.

The major problem with gummi candy – like all candy – is they are loaded with sugar and calories.  And since they can be so addictive and so easy to eat an entire bag of your favorite gummi bears, rings, bottles, frogs, snakes, worms, etc., those calories can add up quickly.

The creative geniuses at Jubs Joose found a way to solve that problem – Fuzztastic.  According to their website, the flavor profile is:

This has been described as peach rings. It does have a predominate peach ring taste with hints of other fruits in the mix. Fuzztastic is a fantastic version of peach rings with a bit more to offer, give it a try and tell us what you taste!

Who wouldn’t want to try a little Fuzztastic?

When I cracked open my bottle of Fuzztastic, I immediately could smell a pleasing peach candy aroma hit my nose.  Being a huge fan of peach candy, I was excited to try this juice.  So I placed a drop of juice on my finger and was impressed with the flavor – it tasted like peach Jell-o!

I juiced up some fresh cotton and fired off my mod a few times.  The vapor smelled just like the aroma of peach Jell-o when you add hot water to the powder.  That’s a very comforting, familiar aroma while delicious and new at the same time.  It was an encouraging scent.

That first inhale was nothing but the taste of peach rings – sweet, peachy, a bit of a tang.  On the exhale, the flavor was mellower but it was still that peach rings taste.

Now the flavor wasn’t the taste of the peach rings you find in the grocery store.  This is more like the flavor of the peach rings you’ll find in the candy section of an Asian market or in the Japanese candy you can find at your favorite comic book or DVD store.  The peach flavor is very much a peach candy, but it’s not nearly as artificial as the grocery store peach rings you’ll find.  It’s also not as in your face as those grocery store gummies – it’s a more mellow flavor that is very enjoyable.

If you’re a fan of gummi candy in general and peach rings in particular, I recommend ordering some Fuzztastic.  This is a juice that could easily be an all-day vape – or something tasty to vape after lunch or dinner to satisfy a sweet craving.

Purchasing Your First Mod

Purchasing your first mod

Another great article from Mile High Vapor (http://www.mhvapors.com/pages/purchasing-your-first-vaporizer-e-cigarette).

The Bare Basics: Vape

When you are ready to begin your venture into the vaping community for the first time it is important to start off with the right hardware, and to know what you are looking for. 

Although my first vaporizer was a disposable e-hookah pen I bought from a local gas station back in 2009, I believe it is important to start off with a quality re-fillable vape. To someone who has no experience this may look complicated to you, but I promise it is very easy to figure out and you should be confident in your ability to use one within the next  five minutes of reading. 

To get you started we have outlined a basic re-fillable vaporizer kit in the picture below. It is called the eGo-T kit, and is available at almost every vape shop for around $25-$35.

 

As shown, this kit commonly comes with:

• A Battery
• A Battery Charger
• An Atomizer (with an un-screwable tip, aka a drip tip)
• Usually a Carrying Case

I believe this kit is perfect for your introduction to vaping for a few reasons. One, it is a very reliable vape with not much at all that can go wrong. Two, it is very simple to use. Like I said earlier, this kit is refillable, so you can add and change your e-Liquid when needed (which is also very easy). This kit can be purchased with e-Liquid for around $20 from the right vendor. I used this kit for over a year before deciding to move into more advanced vaping. 

There are very few things you need to know too use this vape. I have created an image below with instructions on how to power on/power off, charge, and fill or refill the device. Notice that the Atomizer is screwed onto the battery in the same place that the battery screws into the charger... so when charging it you will have to unscrew the atomizer.

One note about the atomizers is that they do not last forever. The average atomizer shown above (Which is called a CE4 Atomizer) will last around 1-3 months. When they go bad you will tell by a burnt like flavor, or it will become very leaky. I recommend buying an extra one with your kit. We usually have these in stock for around $5. 

Now that you have an idea of what to look for, and know how to operate a vape, the last step before making a purchase is knowing what e-Liquid or E-juice you want. 

E-juice/e-Liquid 

Picking the right Liquid is a VERY important step in your first purchase, because if you do it wrong it could completely turn you away from vaping! As I described in my previous article (Vaping 101), e-Liquids come in many different nicotine contents ranging from none at all (0 mg/ml nicotine) to very high (24+ mg/ml nicotine). I will describe some good starting points again.

0    mg/ml  =  Non-Smokers or someone who wants ZERO nicotine, and only flavor

12  mg/ml  =  the average smoker or someone who smokes lights

18  mg/ml  =  A heavier smoker 

24  mg/ml  =  A smoker who previously smoked more than a pack a day

These guidelines are very vague and are based on other people’s opinions than my own. In my experience, I went from smoking occasionally and smoking a LOT of hookah, to trying 12 mg/ml in a vape and I found it was way too high for me. My advice would be to follow that guideline, and also buy a 0 mg/ml bottle so that if you find the nicotine is too high, you can mix the two and bring it down if you find the throat hit unpleasant. 

There may also be an option for PG/VG mix. I have covered the slight differences between the two and choices that you have in my next article. For now I would recommend getting a 50/50 mix, which is what many vapers start at. 

Lastly you must choose your flavor. This choice is very opinionated. Some flavors are good to vape every once in a while... and some you will find to be something you can sit and vape all day. We have a decent variety of flavors with prices that are hard to find elsewhere and I encourage you to take a look for some you may like, especially if you think you might be into fruity, desert, or cool (menthol, Icy) flavors. If you’re looking for tobacco like flavors, I recommend trying out some Halo cigs tobacco e-Liquids. It will really be trial and error until you find out what you’re into.

For those of you who really want to jump into vaping and purchase something you will be able to stick with for years to come, I would recommend buying what is called a Variable Voltage device (more information about these in our next article). If in stock, a great vape to buy is the Vision Spinner battery kit, which from us only costs you $15-$20 more than your simple eGo kit. 

I hope I was able to give you enough information to get started on your switch to vaping.