I was contacted by David from Vape Club and was asked if I would like to have some juice from their fairly extensive menu to try out for review. Of course I said yes please and here we are, with the first of the four bottles I was sent. It's a name I'm sure pretty much anyone who has an Internet connection and vapes will of heard about. It's Jimmy The Juice Man and I have before me a bottle of Creme Brulee.
Let's get down to what I think about this particular flavour, I started off with a tank full in a SQuape R with a nickel build on a DNA40 device. I sat there having a vape and do you know what? I just hated it. It's supposed to be Creme Brulee, why can I only taste banana? Not nice banana at that if I'm honest. It didn't get any better with different temperature or wattage settings. In the interest of fairness and my thoughts that , so many people rave about this stuff, it can't be that bad. I tried a different angle, I put a kanthal build in a Kayfun V4, on a Phenom and gave that a blast. It was slightly more appealing but I still wasn't sold on this juice at all. My next move was to try it in a dripper, so a fresh build was put in the Derringer and I gave that a go, it was starting to get better. I was actually beginning to
get some of the other flavours starting to show through now, I could now detect a bit of burnt sugar, a bit of the creamy goodness too. There still for me though, wasn't that wow about it. So along the same line of thought as before, I decided that if using a dripper helped. Would it get better if that dripper got smaller? Out came my Squonker with a tiny little No Fear atomiser on top, still using kanthal and some new Japanese cotton. I filled the little squonk bottle and tried again.
Now I wasn't expecting much improvement but I've got to
say I'm liking this juice more and more each time I have a squonk. On the inhale I now get that creamy custard flavour come through so much better, with the accompanying banana which now doesn't overpower as it did before. Then on the exhale that creamy custard flavour starts to give way to nice little hint of burnt sugar. What I didn't expect when I first tried this juice was the banana. Whenever I've been out at a restaurant and have chosen Creme Brulee as a dessert, it's never had banana in it. So I looked up the recipe and I was a little surprised to find how many variants of Creme Brulee there actually are. Typically you get Custard, flavoured with Vanilla, topped with caramalised or burnt sugar. Due to the sweetness of the dish you would normally only have a small serving.
Your most common recipe is this:-
Crème brûlée (/ /; French pronunciation: [kʁɛm bʁy.le]),[1] also known asburnt cream, crema catalana, or Trinity cream[2]is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hardcaramel. It is normally served at room temperature. The custard base is traditionally flavored with vanilla, but can also be flavored with a variety of other flavorings. (This is from Wikipedia)
This is the recipe I'm most used to, so I think I would like this flavour more if they dropped the banana and stuck with the vanilla as the main flavouring for the custard base.
Saying that though, the more I vape this with my squonking setup the more it's growing on me. I have tried it in a tank again and I still hate it, so for me it'll be a juice I use exclusively in a very tiny 14mm bottom fed dripper. The question is, when this bottle has gone will I be wanting any more of it? Yes I think I will, I'm sure it's only going to get better as it steeps. Who knows, in a few more weeks once it's matured some more I may even acquire a taste for this juice in a tan, if I do I'll let you know. This juice is available in 0,6,12 and 18mg strengths, it's a 50/50 PG/VG blend and will cost you £15.99 for 30ml. You get your usual child proof cap with dripping pipette and a nicely presented bottle, I have to say I really do like the brand logo quite a lot. Vape Club offer next day delivery if you order before 16:20 hrs and if your order exceeds £20 the postage is free, yes you read that right I did say free. To be fair with the selection Vape Club have on offer, spending £20 is going to be so easy. They have juice from all the big names, I'm sure you'll be spoilt for choice. I urge you to have a look on their page which is www.vape club.co.uk, I was personally amazed and really happy that a UK company has such a wide selection of premium juice available. American liquids are great, but it's the shipping costs and the weeks wait, even longer if customs want to check it over that just makes it really expensive and has always put me off In the past. I did get this juice free for review, but I will definitely be keeping Vape Club in my browser bookmarks and will, most certainly be visiting to make a purchase in the future.
***Update***
I have continued with my search to get the best from this particular liquid and have found,
that for me it works best with a Stainless Steel mesh wick. Using the same 14mm atomiser I switched the configuration to allow a central mesh wick, then using some 0.2mm Kanthal I was able to wrap a 1.1 ohm coil and Squonk away. The Mesh wick is quite highly regarded as one of the best, if not the best wicking material to provide the best flavour possible. In this case and with this particular juice, I have found it to be completely accurate. The thing to bear in mind with a Mesh wick build is that it needs to be properly oxidised before use and just as importantly, it wicks very well but will not absorb liquid like cotton or silica etc. wick will. That is why you will see cotton in the bottom of the atomiser. It's there solely to catch excess fluid. This will stop excess fluid congregating at the air hole of the atomiser which will cause it to gurgle. If you have a central wick compatible atomiser I strongly advise you give it a try, it works really well. There are video tutorials about on YouTube should you want or need some help.
* What is written above are my personal thoughts and opinions only, everyone's tastes are different and because I have liked or disliked a particular liquid shouldn't and doesn't mean you will too. Please take my opinion as it was intended, not as a reason to purchase or avoid, but rather to help you make your own decision based on your own research, budget and requirements.
