The Best E-Liquids of 2019, so far anyway

Some loyal readers might remember from previous years’ lists that lemon bars and key lime pie remain a constant favorite among our staff. But this seemingly simple profile is actually pretty tough to nail perfectly. Some are too tart and tangy, while others lean too heavy on the sugary elements. Only a select few have ever struck that fine balance… and this is one of them.

According to the “official” description, Lush is a creative recreation of the classic lemon bar, bringing together the sharp tang of fresh lemon on the inhale, with a genuine, authentic homemade whipped cream to smooth out the citrus on the way out. In other words, there’s nothing resembling a flavor from  a prepackaged snack cake here – just the homemade goodness you remember from childhood.

Hell, I’m not even sure it’s in the bottle, or just my head, but I could swear there were some VERY subtle graham cracker notes within the cream flavor… but maybe that’s just nostalgia taking over. Either way, this is the kind of e-liquid we buy in bulk, and still have trouble keeping it on hand.

AQUA E-Liquid – Lush Features:

• 60mL Unicorn Bottle
• MAX VG
• Child Resistant Cap
• Made in USA
• Manufactured by Marina Vape
• Available in 0mg, 3mg, 6mg

If you’re looking for a flavor profile a little more complicated than lemon and cream, maybe ICED Passion Fruit Orange Guava (creative names not needed here) is a little more your speed. This triple-layered tropical punch just drips with real fruit flavor, and none of the latent stickiness you get with cheaper juices.

The passion fruit’s natural sweetness is the primary star of this e-liquid, but just when things might seem a little “one note” the bright, tart citrus comes rushing in to cut through the predominant flavor. And by the time THAT gets a little intense, the subtly sweet guava smooths things over in all the right ways.

Of course, as an ICED juice, there’s also the gentle cooling effect of menthol to help further balance the three potent flavors. But unlike other e-liquids that overdo it with the menthol/mint notes, this cooling effect is barely there, just giving enough “oomph” to make it stand out against a sea of candy-like liquids on store shelves.

While this might not be a “classic” flavor trio, maybe it should be… at least in the way Coastal Clouds brings them together.

Coastal Clouds Co. – ICED Passion Fruit Orange Guava Features:

• 60mL Unicorn Bottle
• Child Resistant Cap
• 70% VG
• 30% PG
• Made in USA
• Available in 0mg, 3mg, 6mg

Is there any flavor more universally loved than apple cinnamon? Everything from cider to cocktails to that thick fluoride paste your dentist uses can be found in this classic combo flavor. Which is why it’s a little surprising so many companies have missed the mark when attempting to make this profile into an e-liquid.

But then again, maybe it isn’t. While anyone can slap together apple and cinnamon and call it a day, it takes a deft hand to give users the sensation of biting into a warm apple pie. And Ruthless Vapor had that hand when it concocted Rewind -Jacked. Not only is cinnamon the first thing you taste (kind of like that pie we mentioned a few lines ago) but the apple is a little more tart than sticky, almost like a Granny Smith profile, rather than that cloying candy notes so many other companies turn to.

Also, there’s a very subtle, but much appreciated dose of fresh cream on the exhale that completes the experience. Given the name, you might think this is supposed to be a play on Apple Jacks cereal, but with some high-wattage vaping behind the flavor, it really does evoke memories of holiday dinners, rather than Saturday morning breakfast.

But we’ll let you decide that for yourself… because no matter how you interpret the flavor, I think we’ll agree it’s damn good.

Ruthless Vapor – Rewind – Jacked Features:

• 60mL Unicorn Bottle
• Child Resistant Cap
• 75% VG
• 25% PG
• Made in USA
• Available in 0mg, 3mg, 6mg

Nicotine salt e-juices are a tough sell for me, since the high nicotine content still tends to dominate the experience, even on the world’s best concoctions. But Sadboy Tear Drops seems to have the right formulation in its recipe book, and no salt liquid better represents this than Shamrock Cookie.

This delectable e-liquid is about the closest approximation to McDonald’s Shamrock Shakes as I’ve seen. (And you know countless companies have tried.) But what amazes me is how effective they are in delivering the full potential of the flavor, even with ridiculously potent nicotine levels residing beneath.

But what about that cookie? Well, that might be the most invigorating element of the liquid. Not only does the cream flavor smooth out the bright peppermint/spearmint notes, but there’s also a faint whiff of vanilla wafer cookie on the exhale that turns this into something much more balanced and enjoyable.

If you find yourself buying more fast food milkshakes in the early spring, and want something beyond the usual slate of boring pod mod flavors, take a long look at Sadboy Tear Drops’ Shamrock Cookie – it’s good enough to keep you from even taking a sip.

Sadboy Tear Drop – Shamrock Cookie Features:

• 30mL Unicorn Bottle
• Child Resistant Cap
• 50% PG
• 50% VG
• Nicotine Salts Formulation
• Crafted For Ultra-Low Wattage & Pod-Based System
• Made in USA
• Available in 28mg, 48mg

Speaking of cookies (and Sadboy for that matter) comes a traditional e-liquid formulation that brings us back to one of our guilty pleasures – dunking fresh cookies in homemade jam. Okay, maybe that’s not AS common as the people on our staff feel, but if you’ve ever done it, you’ll understand why Sadboy decided to take a stab at this indulgent flavor profile.

The key here is the authenticity of the blueberry itself. In short, this isn’t a blueberry concentrate, or a synthetic flavor extract. The sensation here is of genuine blueberries, which can be both tart and sweet – often in the same bite. And that’s what makes it work here – the sensation of warm sugar cookie and honest fruit preserves comes together for a juice that you’ll probably be reordering three or four puffs into your vape.

Carbs be damned – get your sneaky sweet fix this way instead.

Sadboy E-Liquid – Blueberry Jam Cookie Features:

• 100mL Unicorn Bottle
• Child Resistant Cap
• 30% PG
• 70% VG
• Made in USA
• Available in 0mg, 3mg, 6mg

If blueberry jam wasn’t a regular staple of your breakfast table, maybe Jam Monster’s classic PB&Jam combination is a little more your speed. But what makes this special isn’t just the rich peanut butter flavor and punchy strawberry jam notes – it’s the actual toast that turns this into something special.

Don’t get us wrong, the fruit flavor and peanut butter is authentic and satisfying, to be sure. The strawberry jam is slightly tart, naturally sweet and never overwhelming. Likewise, the peanut butter reminds you of all the good brands you enjoyed as a kid (or earlier this morning) – sweet, but not sticky, with a sense of real roasted nuts. (E.g., it’s not like those awful sandwich crackers you find in school lunches.)

But the toast? I don’t know how they do it, but I’m glad they do. Somehow, Jam Monster has recreated the taste of warm, slightly overtoasted bread crusts, right down to the nutty, grainy flavors. On its own, it might not be that inviting, but when “smothered” in luscious PB and J? Well, if you’re like us, you’re going to vape it a lot.

Jam Monster Liquids – PB & Jam Monster STRAWBERRY Features:

•     100mL Chubby Unicorn Bottle
•     25% PG
•     75% VG
•     Child Resistant Cap
•     Made in USA
•     Available nicotine: 0mg, 3mg, 6mg

So far, most of the fruit combinations we’ve mentioned have been pretty “known” by most people around here. But we had to explain a few things about this next combination from Rounds E-Liquid. For starters, lychee might be a common cure for the sweet tooth across the globe, but a good percentage of Western society has yet to embrace this fruit, which is a shame based on this liquid.

On its own, the rich, indulgent lychee might be too much to vape for an extended period of time. But when combined with bright, tart cranberry – a flavor I don’t think I’ve seen in a vape liquid yet – the combination goes down like an amazing cocktail from some South Pacific resort. Mostly because the cranberry cuts through the sweetness before it ever gets to be too much on the palate.

Some may not enjoy how tart this authentic cranberry flavor is, but I personally found it to be refreshing and different. There’s only so many pastry and breakfast flavors a person can handle, making this liquid even more enjoyable than we ever expected.

Rounds E-Liquid – Lychee Cranberry Features:

• 2 x 50mL Unicorn Bottles
• Child Resistant Cap
• 70% VG
• 30% PG
• Made in USA
• Available nicotine: 0mg, 3mg, 6mg

Let’s get away from the fruits for a second, shall we? Well, ACTUAL fruits, anyway. There’s plenty of vapers that still enjoy candy and dessert flavors, no matter how much the FDA claims we shouldn’t. And this ridiculously accurate blue raspberry cotton candy liquid – Blue Dazzle — might be the guiltiest pleasure on this list.

What’s so impressive about Blue Dazzle is how Humble Juice Co. managed to give the juice a “fluffy” feeling on the inhale, as if you were actually letting cotton candy melt on your tongue. It’s a strange but delightful “dry” sensation initially, which quickly becomes a wonderfully sweet blue raspberry flavor, just like the candies and gums your parents never wanted you to have.

The best part is the lingering sugary feeling you get on the exhale, once again replicating the experience of eating actual cotton candy, instead of just approximating the flavors. This is about as close as you can get to a carnival treat, minus the diabetes. And as someone who actually has diabetes, flavors like this are all the more nostalgic and crave-worthy.

Humble Juice Co. – Blue Dazzle Features:

• 120mL Chubby Unicorn Bottle
• Child Resistant Cap
• 80% VG
• 20% PG
• Made in USA
• Available nicotine: 0mg, 3mg, 6mg

We’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the smokers and new vapers on this list. Sure, most experienced vapers have moved to new flavors in their devices, but there’s still a ton of people who desire the rich tobacco flavors they left behind when they switch to vaping.

And since this is a nicotine salt e-liquid, those recent converts are exactly the target audience. Silver Blend expertly melds a classic flue-cured tobacco richness with a subtle vanilla layer to smooth it out on the exhale. Kind of like a quality pipe tobacco, Silver Blend is one of the few tobacco e-liquids I’d still consider vaping, even after abandoning the flavor a long time ago.

Now, I know there’s probably a wealth of tobacco flavors populating shelves across the country, but let’s be real – tobacco is one of the few flavors that’s hard to replicate without a burning ember in front of your face. But Silver Blend does just that, with the nicotine content giving an authentic, satisfying throat hit along the way. Maybe it’s not quite the same as smoking… but we all gave that up for a reason, remember?

Taste-wise? This is the flavor country all those magazine ads boasted about. New vapers still longing for that smoking experience, your journey starts here.

Nasty SALT – Silver Blend Features:

• 30mL Unicorn Bottle
• Child Resistant Cap
• 50% PG
• 50% VG
• Nicotine Salts Formulation
• Crafted for Ultra-Low Wattage & Pod Based Systems
• Made in USA
• Available nicotine: 35mg, 50mg

Not one of the e-liquids above was a unanimous selection by our team. This one is, which is why I saved our collective favorite e-liquid for last. Strawberry Honey Graham by Cookie TWIST E-Liquid is a complex, layered, tremendously nuanced juice that expertly melds a honey-tinged dry cookie with fantastic strawberry jelly and a stronger honey note on the exhale.

It took me a full tank of this nectar before realizing how complex and different each puff is. And that’s not a criticism, but rather a glowing testimonial. Some puffs were heavy on the honey, while others let the strawberry flavor shine. The dry cookie always held it together, but I realized that vaping this liquid was like eating a sloppy, jam-covered honey graham cracker – you know, over the sink, real respectably.

Months after my first purchase of Strawberry Honey Graham by Cookie TWIST, I’m still finding myself surprised by the sheer amount of layers and unexpected flavors this liquid provides in each puff, and only wish I could go back and try it again for the first time. We try not to use too much hyperbole around this site, but sometimes it’s warranted. And this is by far the best e-liquid we’ve had (so far) in 2019.

Cookie TWIST E-Liquid – Strawberry Cookie Features:

• Two 60mL Unicorn Bottles
• Child Resistant Caps
• 30% PG
• 70% VG
• Made in USA
• Available in 0mg, 3mg, 6mg