Gourmet E-Liquids
As you know, a few of the folks here on the team are pretty avid vapors, and even though we’re not specifically an e-cig site per se, we still love to add a bunch of our favorite kits, juice, mods, etc here! So, for this feature, here’s our Editor’s Picks for the top Gourmet E Liquids! Let’s call it a baker’s dozen.
Anyway, I can’t speak for you, but don’t you sometimes get tired of seeing the same names of e-juices on every e-commerce menu? Do you want to try something new? The following vapor juice brands are among the best there are. Vendors who carry only top-shelf e liquid sell this stuff, so what are you waiting for? Here’s my top 12 (or 13 if you count the 2 in the organic e-juice listing). (BTW: We have more at our e-liquid category here)
1. Archetype Blends
Archetype is made by Benjamin Harrison, a man who has devoted several years to learning how flavors come together. There are a handful of blends to choose from:
• Strangeland
• Lola
• Midnight Delight
• Afternoon Delight (regular and high-vegetable glycerin)
• Benny’s Brew
• Dairy Berry
• Legend
Enjoy a unique twist on the legendary RY4 tobacco blend with a touch of maple and hazelnut when you vape “Legend.” Dairy Berry tastes like vanilla yogurt plus mixed berries. The standard version of Afternoon Delight is one of Archetype’s biggest sellers; a mixture of vanilla frosting, butterscotch, caramel, and pecans suspended in 50% VG (vegetable glycerin), 50% PG (propylene glycol).
Update 2022 – we have been unable to find Archetype these days. Probably because the industry has changed so much since this post was originally written so long ago. It is clear that today’s vape enthusiast is going to be best served by sticking with companies who have the most experience in the industry like VaporFi (here is the link to their extensive website).
2. Khali Vapors
California is the vape state, seen in evidence by the number of exceptional e liquids coming out of that part of the country. Khali Vapors picks up on the sound of “Mulcahy” as in Patrick Mulcahy who partnered with Matthew Halvorson to form the company. That’s not where they got their name back in 2013. That was from the origins of “California” and Queen Khalifia. Their aim is to make e juices you can vape all day: nothing too powerful or sweet, but the right blend for a long session. A bear stalks across labels for Hearst Castle (melon and vanilla yogurt), Valley Girl (raspberry and caramel cream pie), Sunset Blvd (lemon, lime, pomegranate, and pineapple) and two guava styles. These are The Fairmont (with pineapple) and Devil’s Punchbowl (with peach). Khali uses a 40/60 PG/VG blend for sub ohm vapers. Find them directly at http://khalivaporsmerch.com/
3. King’s Crown
These four e juices are made by the woman behind Suicide Bunny. Her mix of 70% VG is ideal for cloud chasing and tends towards the creamy side. Custard with stone fruits (like peach and apricot) and spice are collectively known as “Bound by the Crown.”
Fight your Fate with strawberry and lemon, King’s Crown’s only non-creamy e juice. The King favors a peanut butter cookie with cream. Claim Your Throne and call for creamy butterscotch with brown sugar for dessert every night.
4. Nick’s Blissful Brews
Nick Gollust of Southern California made his first e juice for someone near and dear but soon discovered he had an audience to feed. He makes a top e liquid which includes flavors like Apple Cider, Smoked Custard, and Loop Ninja. He uses only the best ingredients to create a VG-rich mix like fruity cereal and milk (Loop Ninja), creamy spiced apple (Apple Cider), and the tobacco-vanilla custard he calls “Smoked Custard.” These and Nick’s other flavors are all best sellers.
5. Northern Lights
laska doesn’t export much to the rest of the United States or the world, yet this northern-most US state is home to more than one top-class e liquid company. Northern Lights is a husband-wife team that got its start in the Fall of 2013. These two former smokers discovered a love of e juice they just had to impart to the rest of the vaping world, but only after lovingly creating each product in quality-controlled micro-batches from their Alaskan facility.
$100 Apple Pie is their bestseller, available with a 50/50 or high-VG ratio. It tastes just like a spicy apple pie with the crust included. $100 Punkin Pie features both custard and whipped cream plus pumpkin and spice. There are a few other flavors to try as well, all of them popular with customers.
6. Buckshot Vapors
The skull-covered label of this Californian vape juice is usually smiling over a candy or fruit-style e juice. C4 is a blueberry shortcake with cream and 60% VG. Double Tap tastes an awful lot like strawberry-dragon fruit candy. Experience an explosion of cherry-candy flavor from Cherry Bomb. The rest of their list is sweet too. Buy ’em at http://www.ejuices.com/collections/buckshot-vape-sauce
7. Elysian E-lixirs
There are a lot of husband-wife or BFF partnerships out there in the e juice world, but few siblings go into business together. Elysian E-lixirs is made by a sister-brother team who love mythology. Their e juice names play with mythological or fantasy themes as do their classical labels. Skadi, from Norse mythology, was a giant of the cold mountain realms. The e liquid named for her tastes like a cold bowl of lemon, strawberry cereal with cream. Boldr, another Norse figure, is associated with many fine attributes in human nature but also with an unusual mixture of raspberries, marshmallows, and spices. That’s certainly not a typical blend. Other names of e Elysian E-lixirs include Apollo, Artemis, and Pandora. Buy them right from the source at http://www.elysianelixirs.com/
8. Beantown Vapor
This is an old name compared with the ones above; a company that started in 2009. This team from Boston goes heavy with the vegetable glycerin in their small batches made from excellent ingredients and poured into 30-ml glass bottles with care.
That’s the same care they use to create flavors such as Soul Custardy, a complicated and layered combination of whiskey, Graham crackers, brown sugar, butterscotch, and custard.
Their Pearana sounds like it has some bite to it, but that’s just a play on “Pear” and “Banana,” a unique twist on the usual pairings. Lemonem could be a lemon sugar cookie right out of the oven; it’s that authentic. We get ours at www.breazy.com/collections/beantown-vapor
9. Cyclops Vapor
Again, a vape company plays with mythology to come up with names for their e juice. You can’t blame a team for comparing their vapor clouds to those of the heavens themselves, and at least Cyclops doesn’t overlap with Elysian and others. Athena is represented by a green apple; Hades by a creamy style of mocha vape. Seven more flavors include Colossus, Poseidon, and Gryphon.
10. Classified
The makers of Ben Jonson’s Awesome Sauce also spawned a tasty off-shoot: Classified e juices. Keen tastes like real fruit: kiwi, blueberry, and apple. Delight is a baked peach cobbler-type of fruity e juice. Get fancy with Plush, a banana soufflé and one more unique “delight” from Classified. We found these at www.giantvapes.com/classified/
11. VaporFi
No discussion about gourmet e-liquids would be complete if we didn’t mention the VaporFi Reserve Collection, which includes Decadence, and Summer Lovin’ for example – but even more so for their Grand Reserve line which is so fine that it reminds me of something that you might see featured in a scene from a James Bond movie where only the most elegant of potions will be seen.
In particular, consider the very highly regarded VaporFi Grand Reserve Catch Ya Latte that has reviewers insisting that you’ll “Kiss your coffee shop goodbye.”
Then there is the VaporFi Grand Reserve Cloud Candy that Tia’s video insists that you try. And if Tia says so, what’s a guy like me going to do – argue with TiaVapes? I think not… Anyway, The VaporFi Grand Reserve collection is one you should always have on the shelf.
Shot VaporFi -> http://www.vaporfi.com/
12. Two Organic Options: Velvet Vapors and Virgin Vapor
I don’t think that the organic e-juices are getting enough press. Velvet Vapor gets kudos for not only offering an organic flavors selection, but also for offering special discounts to fellow military/veteran colleagues. While none of the names of these organic e-juices are likely to hit you as being particularly innovative, they still rank for us on the gourmet e-juice list. There’s nothing at all wrong with Buttered Rum and Pecan Cake, for example; so these are good all-around choices. Find them (along with other supplies that they sell) at their site: www.velvetvapors.com/juices/organic
Annette Rogers, who runs Virgin Vapor knows her customers want e-liquids that are not only third party certified organic (which they are), pesticide-free and GMO-free (which they are) and also vegan. She does not use any artificial flavorings/sweeteners/colorings. Of course that is important, but those aren’t the only things that the Virgin Vapor e-juice is known for.
For something very different, try Afterglow for a hint of lavender, or Black Mamba for that anise/licorice bite – because if you are a fan of licorice, this is the juice for you. If not, don’t worry, because Virgin Vapors has plenty of more familiar flavors to choose from as well.
But seriously, it’s worth a few bucks to dive in and give one of these very different e-liquids a whirl.
Of course it’s nearly impossible for one article to cover all the worthy gourmet e-liquids that we can choose from nowadays. Feel free to add your suggestions in the comments, and we’ll add them to the list.