UPDATE: January 8th, 2013 – Alice in Vapeland has been awarded with 5 Spinfuel Choice Awards for excellence in eLiquid artistry. We have updated this review to reflect the flavors that have earned this award. For more about the Spinfuel Choice Awards click here.
Lead Writer: Julia Barnes. Team: Julia Barnes, Lisa Johnston, Chelsey Laney, Jason Little, and Jon Locke.
Introduction:
The slogan under the Alice in Vapeland’s logo reads, “Premium, Delectable, All Natural Vape Juices”. After vaping the first few flavors for our review I understood exactly why the word ‘delectable’ was used in their slogan. What a perfect way to describe these flavors. Delectable…
Alice in Vapeland creates eLiquids that are not only delectable, but also truly unique and original. As you will see in this review each of the team members I assembled for this mission was impressed by every flavor, even those that didn’t exactly hit a home run. That is a rarity here at Spinfuel.
There is also a certain ‘mystique’ about AiV (Alice in Vapeland), and the owners have done a bang up job in creating and maintaining that mystique. From the unique approach of a fanciful motif, right down to the clever names they use for their flavors, they carry forth a world of mystery and playfulness .
The artwork created to represent each of their flavors, and especially in the packaging of their eLiquids, combined with the incredible flavors of their eLiquids, AiV has taken this company that is in its infancy (barely 4 months old) to such heights that their customers call themselves “Vapelandians”, embracing the fantasy that surrounds Alice in Vapeland.
Launching an eJuice business is one thing, growing it and making it profitable is quite another. Chances are that if I hadn’t just informed you that AiV is less than 16 weeks old you would have thought they’ve been around for years. The ‘Vapelandians’ are fiercely loyal, and after you get the opportunity to vape on of AiV’s flavors you may just become a loyal Vapelandian yourself.
About Packaging
AiV’s physical representation of their eJuice (the bottles) stands in stark contrast to the majority of brands that ship their eJuice in simple plastic bottles with inkjet-printed stick-on labels. (not that there’s anything wrong with that)
A bottle of ‘twas Brillig (as an example) is a bottle you would be proud to prominently display in your office or home. Bottled in amber-colored glass, with gold print on black foil labels, and an artful ‘dog tag’ (‘twas brillig has a gold-colored dragon attached to a chain which is wrapped around the neck of the bottle), each bottle is a testament to the commitment to quality that AiV insists upon. Alice in Vapeland
In addition to these creative expressions, each bottle is professionally sealed as well, with a perforated plastic collar that seals in the freshness, protects against tampering, and assures against contamination. You must tear off this plastic collar in order to unscrew the cap. (You’ve seen this method of sealing bottles whenever you buy a bottle of ‘anything’ at the drug store.) This shows, in our opinion, a respect for the product that is not so readily seen by some eJuice companies that have been around for years.
The Proof is in the Pudding
Maybe we are suckers for good packaging, but after seeing how carefully prepared and packaged the Vape Juice was we believe that AiV might set the standard in eJuice packaging some day soon. Naturally, creative packaging is great way to separate your product from the pack, but the beautiful representation has to be followed up by great vape juice. Fortunately, the eJuice from AiV well deserves this kind of treatment.
Pricing: The 30ML bottles we received for review are priced at an incredible $16. That is a great price for eJuice of this quality. Their “petite” size is $11.00 and come in 18ML plastic bottles or 15ML amber-colored glass bottles. The Giant bottles, 60ML, are $30, an incredible 50 cents per ML with amber-colored glass and the ‘dog tag’. We definitely see 60ML bottles in our future.
Particulars:
The ‘Vaping Juice’ as AiV calls it, was created on September 25th, and arrived at the Spinfuel office on September 28 or 29th, I can’t exactly remember which day.
Eleven (11) flavors were considered for review, they are: “A Quiet Morning”, “B/W Cookie”, “Cherry Blossom”, “Crunkberry”, “Cupcake City”, “Lemon Love Cake”, “Mystic Mandalime”, “Orange Creamsicle”, “Frost Blossom”, “Sweet Tease”, and “Twas Brillig”. There was no standard nicotine level or PG/VG percentages. We asked AiV to send us their preferred mix for each flavor. All the flavors came in 14mg nicotine strength except for two. Creamsicle and Frost Blossom were Zero-Nicotine strength. We’ll identify the nicotine level for each one as we review them. AiV offers nicotine strengths for each flavor in Zero, 6, 11, 18, and 24mg. (not sure why we received 14mg)
Alice in Vapeland does not publish their VG/PG mix ratios other than to say that the mix is the ‘ideal’ mix for that particular flavor. This is a different approach to take in the eJuice business, but I happen to agree with them on this. Creating an ‘ideal’ flavor might need dozens of tweaks in the PC/VG circus to nail it down, so I put my trust in the artist making it rather than insisting on a 50/50 or 70/30 ratio.
I suggest that the first time you order from them let them send you the flavor as they created it and once you’ve had a chance to vape it for a while then you can go back to them and have future orders mixed to the ratio you want or need.Alice in Vapeland
They will use the ratio you want them to, even if you want to go all VG or all PG, but the way I see it they are the ones that put weeks and weeks of developing the flavor and dozens upon dozens of beta versions to find the ideal mix, so trust them first and customize later. Having said that, if you have a PG allergy then by all means request non-PG mixes.
The Hardware used in this review were varied, and included the following; Johnson Creek VEA, Apollo eCigs VTube, Halo G6 mini-batteries, ProVape Provari mini, MyFreedomSmoke’s Joyetech eGo-C Twist + CE5 Clearomizers.
Procedures:
Alice in Vapeland provided us with 30ML amber colored glass bottles, which allowed the team to enjoy 6ML of eJuice for each flavor. The team members were each given 6ML in 10ML bottles; tall, thin bottles we purchased from Totally Wicked for just this purpose. This type of bottle left plenty of air for further “steeping”, and was wide enough to easily accommodate 1ML syringes.
As the lead writer of this review I divided the eLiquid up the night before and stored the 10ML bottles (totaling 55 bottles) in our cool and dry stockroom overnight.
A Word about Customer Steeping
Our experience is that every brand of eJuice we’ve ever reviewed or ever purchased for our personal use improved after being opened, transferred to another bottle(s) (in the reviews) and left to steep overnight. This held true for Alice in Vapeland as well.
The Meeting
At 9:00AM the next morning the bottles were passed around to my team and we scheduled a meeting to discuss our impressions some 72 hours later.
At that meeting each member brought with them any remaining eLiquids they had, along with their hardware of choice. We discussed each flavor at length, going over such topics as flavor, vapor production, throat hit, and several other aspects that go into deciding the overall favorability of the brand, each of the flavors, and more.
Notes were also taken and shared. Various team members’ vaped various flavors during the meeting and bolstered their argument by having certain other members’ vape particular flavors as reminders. All in all this was a very lively discussion. We came away with many across-the-board decisions as well as many ‘standalone’ decisions. All notes were collected at the end of the meeting, and the lead writer, me in this case, spent 3 days writing up a narrative of the review process. Deciding on which truncated dialog would make it into the review (statements were taken verbatim, though sometimes shortened by removing redundant statements), from both the notes and discussion.Alice in Vapeland
The Rating SystemAlice in Vapeland
We use the 1-5 Star system. If a team member absolutely loves a particular eLiquid it is awarded 5 stars. In order to “love” the eLiquid it most not only taste terrific (subjective) but it must also deliver a satisfactory throat hit (subjective), produce excellent vapor (non-subjective), and so forth. Any eLiquid that delivers a great flavor but fail short in vapor production or throat hit, etc., is usually given 4 stars. A one star rating is given for eLiquids that fall far short of good vapor, throat hit, and flavor.
A word about subjective taste:
We understand that taste is highly subjective. I could adore the flavor of a particular eJuice while you could despise it. Nonetheless, we offer our opinion on the taste of eLiquid flavors because there are 5 of us and we are all very different Vapers with very different likes and dislikes about eLiquids.
Over the months that we have been reviewing eJuice we’ve heard from our readers that particular members of the team seem to have very similar “tastes” of that reader and therefore makes a decision to try (or not try) a new eLiquid based on that team members opinion. It seems to work well, so we don’t mess with the system if there is enough eJuice to distribute to 5 team members. Though it is still a good idea to remember that taste is very subjective.
There is no order to the flavors chosen in the review. The lead writer randomly chooses them. All original bottles are placed in a box and the lead writer reaches in, one by one, and pulls out the bottle, places it in the middle of the table and opens the meeting to discussion. The order of flavors below is the same as the order in which they were pulled from the box and discussed.
We’d love to hear from you in the comments below. If you have any question about a particular eLiquid discussed in the review let us know below and we’ll give you our honest answers.
On with the show…
B/W Cookie (Award Winner) – 14mg, and Alice in Alice in Alice in Vapeland Vapeland Vapeland describe it thusly: “Your favorite big Black & White cookie, vapestyle. Bold and chocolatey on one half, white-frostingy on the other, all on top of a big soft-cookie flavor.”
Julia: 5 Stars – Without a doubt one of the best flavors, if not the best, of the eleven we sampled. Alice in Vapeland (AiV) tells us that their flavors are “subtle”, designed to be all-day vapes. For the most part that is correct.
With B/W Cookie, designed to taste like the famous Black and White Cookie, (made famous by a Seinfeld episode in which Jerry tells Elaine, “Look to the Cookie” when discussing race relations) this flavor is more than subtle. Somehow AiV has been able to capture the real flavor of the B/W Cookie, which I find amazing since the flavor of the actual cookie comes from being iced with two flavors split down the middle, and a very special cake recipe. An amazing achievement and one that I would have said was impossible to do. Bravo AiV!
Lisa: 5 Stars – The order in which this flavor earned its 5 stars from me are, Throat hit, Vapor, and then taste. This flavor delivered a great throat hit. Not so big that it hurt or made me cough, but a solid, great feeling smack. The vapor was thick, luscious, and long lasting. As for the flavor I agree with Julia, this was the Black and White cookie magically transformed into a vapor. The B/W Cookie vape has earned a spot in my rotation.
Chelsey: 5 Stars – There is no doubt that anyone who has had the joy of eating a Black and White cookie (a good one, not the cheap ones you find in most grocery stores) will agree that this eJuice flavor is a near-perfect match. I loved it. Vapor was thick and there was plenty of it. The throat hit was terrific. This is a great flavor by anyone’s standard.
Jason: 5 Stars – There is no better cookie on the planet than the famous New York Black and White Cookie from Glaser’s Bakery on 83rd and First. (Though there are different opinions about the best in NYC). There is a very specific flavor in the mix at Glaser’s that gives it that special something. After vaping the B/W Cookie for a few hours it had me wondering if AiV looked to NYC bakeries for that special taste. This vape was beautifully crafted and it delivered on every level. I would love to know the inspiration for this flavor because to me there was a lot of Glaser’s in it. Made me homesick.
Jon Locke: 4 Stars – I feel like the odd man out. I’ve never had a Black and White Cookie so I have no reference to base it on. That said, it is a great flavor. The eJuice put out 5-star level vapor and throat hit, and although the taste was excellent, it wasn’t the 5-star level of awesome I need it to be to get that 5th star. But, I will continue buying this flavor because it is an all-day vape, and I plan on going to NYC with Jason when we get home to NH and trying out the Black and White Cookie wherever we find them. The way you guys went on and on, how can I resist?
Mystic Mandalime – 14mg is described by AiV this way; “An exotic breeze of mandarin and lime, to whisk your senses to far off lands . . Enjoy the sweet tartness of these two flavors together! Taste the sweetness of the delightful mandarin, and then the spicy hit of the bold lime.”
Julia 4.0 Stars – This was a difficult flavor for me. Sometimes Lime works well and sometimes it doesn’t. Mixed with a mandarin orange flavor the taste becomes unfamiliar. At first I’ll admit I pulled the ProVari away from my mouth as soon as my taste buds sent the impulse to my brain. My brain must have said, “Danger! Danger! Unfamiliar!” … but I certainly wasn’t going to judge an eLiquid based on a single drag. So I took another. And another. And another. As I did so the flavors became more familiar and I was able to discern the lime and the mandarin, and separate them. It slowly became an “interesting” flavor.
It certainly delivered on the vapor, “plenty of plumes of perfectly proportioned provider of profound peace” (try saying that out loud 3 times fast!). The throat hit was rather light though, especially for a 14mg nicotine strength. Taking the “interesting” flavor of lime and mandarin orange and the lack of throat hit at 4.3v (any higher and it became very warm, too warm) tells me that this is a 4 Star vape.
Lisa: 5 Stars – I LOVE lime flavored eJuice. I remember the first time I vaped an eLiquid containing lime and it hit me like a 2×4 on the back of the head, but I’ve since come to adore the flavor. It is such an original for a vape juice, and so pleasant on the tongue. Mix in a nice dollop of mandarin orange and you have an original, never tasted before, blend that is out of this world.
I thought the throat hit was awesome, not too rough and not too slight. Vapor was enormous. The simple fact is I stayed with this flavor a couple hours longer than I was supposed to because it just wouldn’t let me go. When I get more of it I will fill my 6ML tank with it and vape it all day long.
Chelsey: 5 Stars – If Spinfuel ever had an award for most original and most delicious flavor for an eJuice this one right here would win. Mystic Mandalime is a perfect blend of lime and mandarin orange. It was definitely not an overpowering flavor. It is a real all-day vape for anyone looking for a fruit-based flavor that doesn’t have a real ‘fruity’ flavor. This has a serious flavor. It was as if this ejuice had a purpose. Great vapor and a ‘more than nice’ throat hit, one of my favorite vapes of all time.
Jason: 4 Stars – The problem for me wasn’t the lime it was the mandarin orange. Mandarin orange does not taste like orange, it is more tart than an orange. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed it and I did vape it for the entire time I was supposed to. If it’s a 5 Star vape then it is something I want to go back to at some point, and I didn’t want to go back to Mystic Mandalime.
Jon Locke: 4 Stars – The AiV description uses the term “sweet tartness” and that is a perfect description for it. It is also the reason I cannot award that 5th Star. I’m just not crazy about any type of tartness in my vapes. The throat hit was one of the weakest of the eleven flavors. Having said that, I think that if anyone who does like a “sweet tart” flavor will flip over this. I hear Lisa and Chelsey, and these two represent the people that do like a sweet tartness to their vapes. I don’t, and it really is as simple as that.
Cupcake City – 14mg: Described by Alice in Vapeland as; “Stocks might be falling but our cupcakes are rising. Up, up, up into clouds of deliciousness! Let us take you to the penthouse of frosting-topping with this fun-filled cupcake vape.”
Julia: 5 Stars – AiV’s description of this eJuice flavor is definitely vague, and I don’t know why. This is an amazingly terrific flavor. The can be no doubt that the people at AiV who do the actual creating of the flavors do so at a very professional level. The cupcake taste is as real as eating a cupcake made at a real bakery. Seriously.
There are other cupcake flavors on the eJuice market and some of them are quite good, but I call them “desert” vapes because they are very sweet. AiV’s cupcake, although sweet, has more of a real ‘cake’ flavor than a ‘sweet’ flavor. It is that real cake taste that makes this, if not an all-day vape, then certainly a ‘most-of-the-day’ vape. This one I plan on adding to my rotation. I miss it already.
Lisa: 5 Stars – What a company, this Alice in Vapeland is. How can each of their flavors be so damned good? How can they be so close to the real thing? Cupcake City was my 8th flavor by AiV, and the 7 before it were also 5 Star flavors, and at this point I was beginning to think that there wasn’t a bad one in the bunch. While I was vaping Cupcake City I felt wrapped in a warm blanket of cake, very comforting, very satisfying, delicious cupcakes.
Vapor and throat hit were superb, thick clouds of vapor rising to the ceiling, and a nice tap at the back of my throat that gave this eJuice character and realism. Cupcake City is sublime.
Chelsey: 5 Stars – I love desert vapes so I was looking forward to vaping Cupcake City the minute I saw the name. I was hoping for a real sweet, vanilla frosted cupcake vape that I could sink my teeth into. But I didn’t get it. No, what I got instead was 10 times better than a simple cupcake desert vape. Cupcake City is perfection.
First, the actual flavor of the cupcake was an actual cupcake. Not too sweet, but at the same time, sweet enough. There is a definite cake taste to it that makes you just want more and more. Next, the vapor was so thick it slowly rose up to meet the overhead fan in the communal living room. The throat hit was also perfect. Not punches in the throat like some kung-fu movie, but more of the solid finger –flick, to remind me that there is real vapor here.
I really can’t speak more highly of Cupcake City. Of all the desert vapes in the world, this one stands above them all. Give me a cupcake-flavored eLiquid that I can vape all day and I am yours. AiV did just that, and I will vape this again, and again, and again.
Jason: 5 Stars – It is flavors like this that got Tom to back away from this review. While Tom is a real tobacco-vaping guy he would have joined this team and raked AiV over the coals because none of these flavors taste like a Marlboro. I enjoy tobacco vapes a lot myself, but it’s flavors like Cupcake City that caused me to widen my palette wide enough to allow for more non-tobacco flavors.
Cupcake City is an amazingly accurate eJuice flavor that delivers on ALL fronts; a great cupcake taste, rich and thick vapor, and a throat hit that would satisfy 99% of the vapers out there. Despite tasting like a cupcake, Cupcake City isn’t my idea of a desert vape, it is so much more than that. Alice in Vapeland is a company I’ve never heard of before this review and now that I have I see myself becoming a Vapelandian. They produce some great flavors and this is one of them. If you’re looking for a vape that delivers the real taste of real cupcakes look no further, you’ve found it,
Jon Locke: 5 Stars – From the very first pull on my eCigarette (Apollo VTube) I knew Cupcake City was going to be special. At once sweet and cake-y, this flavor nearly knocked me over with a magical combination of flavor, vapor, and throat hit.
There are lots of cupcake flavors on the market, and many of them are excellent. But Cupcake City has a little something more. Not really sure what it is (I wish I did), but it was a most satisfying flavor. The next time Spinfuel puts together an eJuice giveaway these guys have to be a part of it. I’ll wager that even people like Tom would love most of these flavors from AiV. (high praise indeed Jon – Julia)
Crunkberries 14mg – Alice in Vapeland has this to say about Crunkberries; “2AM in cereal-land: the satisfying hit of a spoon to milk and cereal. Oh Yum! The Captain of Crunch added extra berries to your bowl . . . Adult-kid tested, Adult-kid approved. All your favorite flavors “looped” into one fine vape.”
Julia: 5 Stars – I’m not a huge fan of Fruit Loops or Captain Crunch berries, and I’m not sure which one AiV is going after here. Maybe both, maybe neither, in any case this is a fantastic flavor!
Crunkberries is sweeter than Cupcake City, but still not overly sweet. You definitely get that sweet cereal taste though, which means that it is a sweet vape without belonging to any other family of flavors. Its identity comes from something else, something I am not familiar with. But enough of that; Crunkberries delivers on a great sweet flavor, produces a fantastic amount of vapor and nice throat hit to boot. This is a great flavor to vape, and to me an original flavor.
Lisa: 5 Stars – LOL! I can’t believe you never had Captain Crunch berries Julia! Oh well, Crunkberries tastes exactly like Captain Crunch berries, and it is delicious.
While I willingly give this flavor 5 stars, and despite Crunkberries being a sweet vape along the lines of Cupcake City, it is a sweeter flavor than Cupcake City. This is almost a full-blown desert vape, meaning that it’s delicious, sweet, and not conducive to all day vaping, though it can be a full day vape if you vape sweet vapes all the time.
I would say that the vapor is just as thick as cupcake city but the throat hit is lighter. I tried pushing the voltage some to see if I could find the right volts to get a better throat hit while maintaining the great flavor, but it eluded me. Still, when all is said and done this is a great, sweet vape that I can vape all day. Nicely done!
Chelsey: 5 Stars – Definitely Captain Crunch with only the berries. It is a sweet, desert-type vape with plenty of vapor but little to no throat hit. I love the taste of it, and you will too if you’ve ever been a fan of Captain Crunch berries, but if you need a good throat hit at the same time you probably won’t find it. I vaped this flavor from 7PM to midnight and it seemed like the perfect time for it. I had plenty of vaping satisfaction without the need to grab a snack that evening. That’s pretty huge!
Jason: 4 Stars – My biggest issue with Crunkberries was the lack of a throat hit. It was also on the difficult end of sweet spectrum. I enjoyed the flavor and the vapor quite a bit, and I did get the whole vaping time allowance in, but I had to break it up into two parts. It’s a good vape, but not great.
Jon Locke: 5 Stars – There are plenty of good reasons to give Crunkberries a 5 star rating; the flavor is phenomenal, the vapor is awesome, the throat hit was okay when pushed up in the higher voltage. But to me the best reason of all is that it took me right back to being 12 years old and eating Captain Crunch Berry every single morning! Man it bought back memories.
This is a great flavor and one that anyone would enjoy if they like sweet cereals as a kid or an adult. This flavor is definitely the sweetest flavor by AiV.
Lemon Love Cake – 14mg – This is what Alice in Vapeland says about this flavor; “Lemon may be sour, and Cake may be sweet, but pure Love is in the air when these two meet!”
Julia: 5 Stars – “Lemon Love Cake” was my 3rd or 4th flavor from AiV, and while this is definitely a excellent combination of flavors, the lack of a throat hit took this from a 5 to a 4. All 4 Stars means is that something was lacking, holding it back from a fantastic, almost perfect vape that you can pull out at any time and enjoy it immensely. But in order for me to give 5 stars to this particular flavor there has to be some kind of throat hit. I couldn’t get anything close to a throat hit. Otherwise though, this is fantastic! A perfect blend of lemon and cake with just the right amount of flavors of each.
Lisa Johnston: 5 Stars – I expected a harder hitting lemon flavor, and thankfully didn’t get it. The lemon was definitely lemon flavored but with a sweetness to it that was delectable. Combine that with a true ‘cake’ flavor and you have something delicious and satisfying. Unfortunately the throat hit was very light or not at all. Would I vape this again? Yes indeed I would. In fact I look forward to placing my first order for several of these flavors.
Chelsey Laney: 5 Stars – ‘Lemon Loves Cake’ is a phenomenal flavor. Like many of AiV’s ‘vape juices’ (I love that term), this is another all-day vape that you wouldn’t normally expect it to be. The great thing is that the lemon doesn’t overpower the cake flavor. To me, the flavors were evenly divided, not an easy task I imagine since lemon is such a strong flavor. I’m beginning to understand why AiV can take up to 2 months to develop a flavor.
Jason: 5 Stars – For the first hour or so I was convinced this was going to be a 4 Star flavor for me. The lack of a throat hit was holding it back, or so I thought. Then something surprising happened. After a while I completely forgot about a throat hit and discovered that I was deeply involved with the complex flavors of lemon and cake. It no longer mattered because it was very satisfying. I think more than any other flavor, Alice in Vapeland proves their ability to create great eLiquids by successfully pulling off such a delicate balance with Lemon Love Cake.
Jon Locke: 5 Stars – I’m awarding 5 Stars for this flavor because AiV is the first brand to get me to vape a lemon flavor for more than the allotted time. In other words, it was so good that when it came time for me to switch flavors (in order to get to each one in the 72-hour period) I really had to fight the urge to stay with it. In fact I did stay with Lemon Love Cake for almost a full hour past the deadline. How in the world do you take a flavor like lemon and tame it to the point that it shares its existence equally with a flavor called ‘cake’? I have no answer other than to say that AiV just did it.
Cherry Blossom – 14mg – Alice in Vapeland describes this flavor as “Blossoms falling all around . . . like little hearts adrift find my cup of tea to steep … and soon my spirits Lift…Clouds of fresh off-the-tree cherry in cherry blossom green tea.”
Julia: 5 Stars – Definitely an all-day vape and truly ‘subtle’ in its cherry-goodness. I expected a heavy floral accent to this flavor but it wasn’t there, thank goodness. The cherry flavor was true, with a slight sweetness of ripe cherries at the height of the season. A definite throat hit, clouds of vapor, and very smooth and satisfying. This is a definite addition to my rotation of vaping flavors.
Lisa: 4 Stars – In all the physical ways Cherry Blossom passes the tests, plenty of vapor and a very good throat hit. Even the cherry flavor was accurate and as Julia says, the cherry flavor was as though the cherries were at the height of cherry season. An excellent addition to the AiV line, but one I would be less inclined to vape it all day. Still, there would times when this flavor would call out to me, but not enough to get the 5th Star.
Jason: 5 Stars – Most cherry flavored vapes that I have tried in the past have been either cough syrupy, or too tart, or too ‘floral’. I’ve enjoyed a few, but not many. This Cherry Blossom vape by AiV is like no other cherry vape I’ve had. The flavor is real cherry, a tiny hint of a floral bouquet, but so tiny you almost need to concentrate to get it, with a very clean taste. This is probably the best cherry vape I’ve had in the class of cherry non-sweet vapes. Does that make sense? There are some cherry vapes that are very sweet, and I’ve liked some of them, but this one is not overly sweet and stays true to the flavor of cherries.
Jon Locke: 3.5 Stars – Cherry Blossom was my least ‘enjoyed’ flavor of the bunch. The reason though, is that the flavor was real cherry. I’ll give you an example. I love cherry pie, probably my favorite pie other than pecan pie, but I don’t particularly like fresh cherries. AiV Cherry Blossom is fresh cherries from the market, not cherry pie.
White Rabbit 14mg – Alice in Vapeland says only this about White Rabbit; “…the curiously indescribable White Rabbit!”
Julia: 5 Stars – White Rabbit is a delicate and delectable tea-based vape, I think its tea anyway. Tons of vapor and a really good throat hit make this an ideal all-day vape. White Rabbit is also confusing. Try as I might I cannot force my brain to make sense of the subtle flavors in this juice. I’ve enjoyed other flavors in the past where describing the ejuice is near impossible but I find myself vaping it constantly. White Rabbit is a flavor that really does meet the requirement of the word “indescribable”.
Lisa: 4 Stars – Julia is exactly right. If she hadn’t put forth the idea that what we were vaping was tea based I don’t know if I would come to that conclusion, or any conclusion. I do know that while I was vaping it I enjoyed it despite being able to identify it. I have a love/hate relationship with flavors like this. Bottom line is that it is a wonderful vape, if you like tea flavored (?)vapes this one has to be on your list. You know, on second thought, this could be a light coffee flavored vape.
Chelsey: 3.5 Stars – White Rabbit is my least liked flavor because it is might be a tea-flavored vape or not. I don’t know how anyone would not have some difficulty identifying the flavor of tea, or whatever, other than the limited amount of tea-flavored vapes out there. I agree that it produces a wonderful amount of vapor, and the throat hit delightful. Before this meeting I just accepted that I had no idea what flavors were involved in White Rabbit but now I tend to think it is a coffee vape, a very delicate coffee vape.
Jason: 3 Stars – I think White Rabbit is one of AiV’s most popular flavors, so why are we not following along? The truth is that not many of us are tea vapers and unless you are you may have problems with it. For me, I love tobacco flavors (and I’m really looking forward to AiV’s tobacco line!) and I like some sweet flavors. Tea isn’t sweet and it’s like the opposite of tobacco. For that reason…. I’m out.
Jon Locke: – 4 Stars – LOL! Watch Sharktank much Jason? (You should have been in the room, he nailed it!). Okay then, tea-flavored vape or coffee flavored. Hmmm… There are hundreds of different teas in the real world, everything from tea with honey to tea with cherries. I’ve tried to decipher which kind of tea is in this flavor and the closet I can come to is black tea. But I’m not sure so don’t bank on that. I did enjoy it though, so whatever it is, it’s good.
Frost Blossom: 0mg – Alice in Vapeland has this to say; “On a hot summery day, a curious frost fairy dared to flit after the fragrance wafting from a beautiful orange tree blossom. The tiny fairy alit on a delicate petal, tasting its sweet citrus essence. Her single kiss brought an orange glow to the tips of her wings and sent quivers of icy frost rushing through the tree, blossom to root, thrilling and cooling the orange tree. So enamored with the little fairy was the shivering tree that it grew glistening frost blossoms in her honor to last for all time.”
Julia: 5 Stars – Alice in Vapeland’s description of Frost Blossom tells you everything you need to know about this flavor, if you read between the lines. It is a marvelous blend of floral hints with citrus touches, and a minty/frosty tingle. Thankfully, it’s not menthol, there is a huge difference between this minty/frosty tingle than a flat out menthol. This is so much better.
The Frost Blossom that we enjoyed was also a zero-nicotine mix, and the only way to tell was the complete lack of a throat hit. Otherwise it was so full of flavor that you didn’t mind the missing throat hit. I have no doubt that a nicotine mix would have provided a great one.
Lisa: 3 Stars – You (Julia) are exactly right about the difference between a frosty flavor and menthol. I liked the frosty touch. What I didn’t like was the lime citrus flavor. I like lime-flavored vapes, I’ve reviewed them before, but this one lacked any sweetness to the lime, it was very floral instead of sweet. I enjoyed it for a while, but then I just wanted to move on.
Chelsey: 3 Stars – While I was spending time with this flavor I kept asking myself “When would you vape this?” and “Who is this for?”. I couldn’t come up with a good answer to either of them. Frost Blossom has a good flavor, for a while, but it’s definitely not an all-day vape. Was it created to fill a slot, was it created because they could, or am I missing something? I don’t know.
Jason: 4 Stars – If this were a 14mg nicotine vape I’d be all over it. Sure, this isn’t an all-day vape for me either, but I’ll tell you what; on a hot humid day this is a wonderful way to vape and stay cool. Think about it; do you want to vape a heavy, sweet, desert flavor when it’s humid as hell outside? No, of course not. If you are hot, if the weather is hazy hot and humid, but you still want to vape you want something that will help you cool off. Frost Blossom does exactly that. I took a star away because there was no throat hit at all, but as a zero-nicotine flavor it’s amazing.
Jon Locke: 5 Stars – Maybe its because we’ve been stuck in Florida all year, surrounded by hot and humid weather daily. Maybe it’s because the air around here is so heavy it’s laborious to even breathe. Whatever the reason Frost Blossom is the cure. I took the last 1ml of ejuice I had left of this and put it into a cartomizer, stuck it onto a halo battery and vaped while I was on the beach carrying John’s photography gear. Frost Blossom made me feel less humid, less sweltering hotness. My only issue is that I used to be a smoker and my usual nicotine strength for vaping is 18-24mg, so by the time we left the beach I needed to vape something with nicotine in it. Other than that, Frost Blossom is one helluva flavor.
Orange makes me Creamsicle: 0mg – Alice in Vapeland offered this: “Jack and Jill went up the hill carrying buckets of cream and oranges. They slipped and fell and mixed so well, that little creamsicles came tumbling after. Orange Makes Me Creamsicle is a delightfully orange-tangeriney creamy concoction, sure to make your lips wet. Orange you glad we made this.”
Julia: 3.5 Stars – Whoa, the description for Creamsicle must have been written by someone who was feeling particularly horny that day. Either that or Chuck Lorre wrote it and passed it on to Alice in Vapeland. It’s kind of crude. Anyway, Creamsicle is our 2nd 0-nicotine flavor, and boy the nicotine missing from this is sorely missed. It’s missing a throat hit completely, but excellent vapor production nonetheless.
Now, about the flavor; I can taste the orange really well, but where is the creamy part of it? I love Creamsicle ice cream so I kept picking up the CE2 that contained this juice every couple of hours to see if steeping longer had any affect and that the ‘creaminess’ would suddenly appear. It never did. So rather than tasting like Creamsicle ice cream it tastes like an orange flavored vape. In and off itself it’s a pretty good flavor, but that’s not supposed to be how it tastes, at least if you go by the description.
Lisa: 5 Stars – I hate the name of this flavor, and the description takes on a whole new attitude that I don’t see in any other description. It’s ‘out of place’ if you ask me. Which you didn’t. But, man is this a great flavor or what? It is a great flavor, but not exactly what the name intends.
The flavor is not that of the famous “Creamsicle” ice cream bars, or even a Creamsicle flavored ice cream that you get in half-gallon cartons. I know because I buy that flavor often. In the actual Creamsicle there is no “citrus” orange flavor, there is sweet orange, deliberately non-citrus, and creamy vanilla ice cream. The flavor here is orange citrus without any vanilla at all. If I was attempting to blend a Creamsicle flavor I think I would use orange, vanilla, and cake flavors, or maybe a sweet orange and vanilla.
Regardless of how inaccurate the name and description are, this is a great citrus orange flavored vape, just don’t expect the famous Creamsicle flavor.
Chelsey: 3 Stars – After listening to Lisa and looking at my own notes, I’m in complete agreement with her, except to add that I did not appreciate the 0-nicotine mix. At one point I had to stop vaping this flavor and switch to a 24mg tobacco blend just to satisfy my nicotine ‘urges’.
Jason: 4.5 Stars – I approached this flavor differently than my teammates because I had never had Creamsicle ice cream. I had no idea what it was supposed to taste like so I came at it blind. This is one of the best citrus-based flavors I’ve ever enjoyed. I only wish it wasn’t 0 nicotine.
Jon Locke: 4 Stars – An excellent orange flavored vape. I think that 14mg or 24mg of nicotine would have made it better, it was still an excellent tasting vape.Is it a Creamsicle flavor? No, I don’t think so. The orange in Creamsicle is much sweeter and less citrusy than this flavor. I think Lisa is on to something about adding a vanilla to this vape, and maybe even the incredibly delicious ‘cake’ flavor that is uniquely AiV.
A Quiet Morning 14mg – Described this way by Alice in Vapeland; Hints of green tea and passion fruit . . . . . to be enjoyed in absolute peace.”
Julia: 5 Stars – Now THIS is a great tea flavored vape! Both the green tea and passion fruit shine through wonderfully well. A nice blend of the two melding into one all-day, relaxing vape that can make any Vaper a lover of tea-based flavors.
Lisa: 5 Stars – What I love about this flavor is that you really do enjoy it every second you’re vaping it. This is tea-based vapes done exactly right. The touch of passion fruit was inspired.
Chelsey: 5 Stars – “A Quiet Morning” has everything I look for in an all-day vape. And it’s certainly the best tea-based vape I’ve ever had. Usually an eJuice company will launch with a special flavor that they hope will put them on the map, for Alive in Vapeland this has seemed to happen more than once, we have to find you why it’s so good.
Jason: 5 Stars – For a tea-based flavor this is great. This could almost make me a believer. You know, when you go out to a restaurant these days they have sweeten tea and unsweetened tea, so why hasn’t anyone tried to make a sweet-tea eLiquid? Anyway, if this had been just a tiny bit sweeter I think I could have gone to 5 stars.
Jon Locke: 5 Stars – Everything about this eJuice screams perfection. I suppose for those people that love tea-flavored ejuice this would be its pinnacle flavor. I did enjoy this flavor quite a bit though. But I would have liked it more had it been a tad sweeter. Too bad they can’t mix tea with tobacco. I wonder if that would be a great flavor or a total washout. “A Quiet Morning” is a great tea eLiquid and I bet it has a loyal following.
Twas Brillig: 14mg – described by Alice in Vapeland as “`Twas brillig, and blackberry crumb Did cloud and cream in the ‘fere; All ‘landers were the bonifeers, And the oven wafted & and ummm…Clouds of a warm blackberry crumble . ..”
Julia: 5 Stars – Twas Brillig is a marvelous, brilliant, delicious and delectable vape juice. Wonderful flavors of blackberry and crumble cake blended together so perfectly that the thought of never being able to vape this again breaks my heart. Okay, perhaps I laid it on a little thick? Maybe. But this is one awesome mix of two incredible flavors. Without a doubt my #1 flavor from the entire catalog of AiV flavors we have here to review. The vapor is thick and luscious, the throat hit delicate yet full, Twas Brillig is without fault of any kind. I let my girlfriend vape ’twas brilig’ for a while and she loved it as well, and this girl is hard to please.
Lisa: 5 Stars – Blackberry is a flavor that seems to be overlooked by most of the pro-level ejuice makers and I have no idea why. Blackberry is sweeter than cherry and fuller than blueberry. It is almost lustful, erotic in deep aroma and flavor. AiV has created a masterpiece with this Twas Brillig. It deserves an award.
Chelsey: 5 Stars – Twas Brillig is beyond criticism. You can’t ask for a richer flavor, thicker vapor or a better throat hit (I really dislike this throat-hit phrase. Can’t we think of something better?). It has everything you could want, and the only way I could see anyone not liking Twas Brilig is an allergy of some kind. I mean its possible, all the ejuice is thin enough to have plenty of PG in it. I loved this flavor the minute I started vaping it. In fact, I swear, I kept thinking about it long after I was on to other flavors. Breaks my heart to know we used it all up.
Jason: 5 Stars – I bet our resident tobacco-nut would even love ‘twas Brillig. It has a very rich, very deep blackberry flavor that is simply out of this world. Rich clouds of vapor, a throat hit that smacks perfectly without going too far. This should be AiV’s signature vape, but then again maybe not; ‘subtle’ this isn’t. You don’t search for the flavors in ‘twas brillig, it finds you immediately.
Jon Locke: 5 Stars – This is an across the board 5 Star wonder. How could anyone not love this flavor? AiV has some awesome flavors, and this is my favorite. Twas Brillig will go into my rotation, and stay there.
How good is ‘twas brillig? After the first few drags I changed the way I was vaping it, and moved to taking in long, deep drags and held the vapor in and slowly let it escape my lungs and pass over my taste buds in order to get all the blackberry goodness. I treasured each lung full of flavor. Sounds crony but it’s the truth.
Final Words
As you can see, Alice in Vapeland was a hit with the team. We all found it hard to believe this company launched back in June.
There were a few flavors that didn’t go over that well with some team members but overall I think it has the highest score to date, or the 2nd highest. Standouts seem to be the sweeter, stronger flavors. Crunkberry, White Rabbit, B/W Cookie, and Twas Brillig are absolutely brilliant.
Alice in Vapeland has created a very special collection of flavors and a unique motif that is at once inviting and innocent. Even the logo exhibits a friendly and kind exterior.
Spending 72 hours with these 11 flavors was a real joy for every member. We have no doubt whatsoever that along with a handful of other companies we were truly inspired by, Alice in Vapeland will soon become a leader in the eJuice business.
If any eCigarette company is looking for an American made eJuice to fill their cartomizers this could be the company you need. If you were a vendor looking to expand your eJuice line you’d be wise to contact AiV to look into carrying their flavors in your store.
For these reasons, and more, we highly recommend Alice in Vapeland.
Julia Barnes, along with Lisa Johnston, Chelsey Laney, Jason Little, and Jon Locke. – October 5, 2012
