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Pineapple Cheesecake from Hurricane Vapor
About a week ago a thick envelope from our friends at Hurricane Vapor arrived. That, in itself, was not a surprise. It was what the envelope contained that was the surprise. An eLiquid flavor, one in which we had no idea was under development, was a big surprise.
Pineapple Cheesecake
Hurricane Vapor, a young, up and coming premium eLiquid company out of Miami Florida was once again defying our expectations with an unexpected left turn. Their new Pineapple Cheesecake is so good, yet so unforeseen, that I kept picking up the bottle, turning it around and around in my hand to verify what was printed on the label. “Pineapple Cheesecake?” I should also mention that this is the first, but probably not last, pineapple blend from Hurricane Vapor.
The Team Responds
Any new storm juice from Hurricane Vapor is a special occasion here. The Hurricane Vapor ‘flavor profile’ is one of the best in business, and one that our team loves to analyze and talk about. That being the case, when it was time to review I picked up five empty 5ML bottles out of the stockroom, filled them with 4ML with the new storm juice, labeled them and passed four of the small cobalt blue bottles out among the team members, keeping one for myself, and asked them to report back in a ‘couple’ of days, or whenever they ran out of the pineapple cheesecake, so we could get together and talk about it.
I passed them out on Thursday at 3PM, the next day, at lunchtime it was all gone, except for 9ML left in the 30ML bottle (I slipped my boss 1ML in a carto). On Saturday I filled five cartomizers and attached them to five Vision Spinners, and passed them out the group and opened the floor for discussion.
I told them they didn’t have to vape the cartomizer I just gave them, but the Spinners and cartos were just there in case anyone needed a reminder when they were describing the flavor and how they did or did not enjoy it.
Angel asked me if they could vape the pineapple cheesecake if they already knew what they were going to say, and rather than use it as a reminder, were they allowed to simple enjoy the vape. (Angel is a stickler for the rules.) I said yes, of course, and they all put down what they were currently using and started vaping the pineapple cheesecake instead.
This was a good sign for Hurricane Vapor.
A Different Kind of Review
Because this is a review of a single flavor, something we may do on occasion, once we’ve gotten to know the brand, and the people behind the brand, I decided to shake things up a bit. Even though I too had a Spinner with a cartomizer of pineapple cheesecake eJuice, I took the position of playing someone in charge of a sort of ‘group therapy’. I opened up the discussion and mostly listened, asking a few questions, and really tried to get them to open up and speak their minds about this particular flavor, or Hurricane Vapor in general. I would take notes, being careful to capture not just the words, but also the emotion behind the words. Below are the most interesting and the most revealing words spoken by the team. I’ll leave my own impression for last.
Group Talk – Saturday –September 2013
Julia: If there is one thing I know I can expect out of a new eLiquid flavor from Hurricane Vapor its that the storm juice will taste like its supposed to taste. I wasn’t at all surprised that Pineapple Cheesecake tasted just like a pineapple cheesecake, despite having never attempted a pineapple flavor before. That same high-quality pineapple flavor, the cheesy-creamy cheesecake taste that you would expect in a good eLiquid is all there and it’s all there in abundance.
If they (Hurricane Vapor) had gotten wrong, that would be the surprise. That would be the lead off of this review. But they didn’t get it wrong; they never do, well, except for that first menthol from last year. Since then, if its one thing they get right time after time, it’s the flavor.
Did anything surprise me about Pineapple Cheesecake? Well, a couple of things really. I would never have expected a pineapple or pineapple cheesecake could be an all-day vape. Something with a lot of taste, and something that has a texture that allows you to vape for as long as you want without losing the flavor, or winding up with Vapers Tongue, is not what I usually think of when I think about pineapple. Somehow they managed to remove that certain characteristic in pineapple flavoring that causes just about every pineapple blend to get too rough on the throat after a few hours, or dull the taste buds. That surprised me most of all.
The other thing that surprised me, the other thing that is still surprising me is the vapor output. Look at this (inhales and exhales a huge plume of vapor). How the hell is this pineapple cheesecake making this much vapor in a simple carto? That PG/VG blend of theirs is really something, isn’t it? And did you notice the drag wasn’t a huge 10-second drag?
So, you want my official stance on Hurricane Vapor Pineapple Cheesecake Storm Juice? Here it is:
“With a true, authentic flavor of a Lindy’s Pineapple Cheesecake, Hurricane Vapor earns yet another Spinfuel Choice Award for creating one of the finest pineapple eLiquids you can find. A full-bodied, full-flavor eJuice with all the markings of excellent eJuice artistry, hefty throat hit, massive clouds of vapor, and a level of satisfaction that is so good you’ll want to vape it all day long, Pineapple Cheesecake by Hurricane Vapor continues the tradition of award winning eJuice. “
With such a positive “official stance” on the eJuice I asked Julia if she thought the Pineapple Cheesecake was… original. Her response:
“Original? Well, not really. The flavor itself, pineapple cheesecake has been done before, and some of them are really great. Hurricane Vapor isn’t reinventing the wheel if that’s what you mean. For an original ‘flavor’ flavor you could count Cinnamon Roasted Almonds or Banana Bed Pudding, or the mango/papaya milkshakes as ‘original flavors’, but what is original about their pineapple cheesecake is how they crafted it to work as an all-day vape while keeping the flavor honest. It’s a pineapple cheesecake, you know that from the first drag, and it’s done in the Hurricane Vapor ‘style’ of authentic taste, all-day vape characteristics, and an untiring flavor profile.”
Well then, let’s move on to Keira…
Keira: Have you noticed that when people who review eLiquids on YouTube, or review any vaping hardware, their demonstrations of how much vapor can be made from a single drag they all take about an 8 second drag? Seriously, watch a few and time them. It may be a little more or a little less, I gave up counting the seconds long ago, but it’s really a long drag, always. Because of that, watching a video of someone exhaling vapor is not a very reliable way to judge the vapor production, it’s just not.
Almost any eLiquid, or for that matter any clearomizer, or rebuildable or even a cartomizer, will put out a s**t load of vapor with an 8 second drag. Try getting that much vapor from a 3 second drag. That’s the real test. Take a 3 second drag from a simple carto and let’s see the vapor. That’s why we use so many different devices, right? I mean really, how often do any of us take 8 second pulls on our batteries?
Well, watch this. (Proceeds to take a 3-second drag and a somewhat massive amount of vapor is released), That my friends, is vapor from a cartomizer! That is what I expect from vendors like Hurricane Vapor, every time.
But, as we all know it’s not just about vapor or the lack thereof. There is flavor to consider. Is the flavor true? Does it taste like the company wanted it to taste? Is the flavor something you can enjoy for long periods of time? Does it satisfy on both a flavor level and, I hate to say it, a ‘smoking’ level? Is the eJuice you’re using good enough to keep you off cigarettes? That is the criteria I use when I review eLiquids. (Wow, never heard Keira admit that before – Tom)
Does Hurricane Vapor’s Pineapple Cheesecake deliver on all those levels? In a word? Yes.
Okay Tom, here’s my official text for the review (reaches into her purse and pulls out a sheet of paper…handwritten…nice!)
Hurricane Vapor Pineapple Cheesecake is another in a long line of delicious eLiquids that are sure to please even the most discriminating palates. It’s an immensely satisfying desert vape that doubles as a terrific all-day vape. Sweet pineapple and creamy cheesecake combination with a full throat hit and vapor production that will impress you, every time.
Well, that certainly sounded good, but it also sounded like some official PR statement, so I had to follow up with something that would push her off the public relations attitude.
“Keira, that sounded an awfully lot like a statement you were paid to make. I’m sure you believe it, but can you make me believe it?”
Keira – “Hey, that took me a half hour to come up with that! You want it in a more messy way? Something that doesn’t sound fake? Pineapple Cheesecake is one of the only pineapple flavored vapes that will take you through a whole day of vaping without making you sick of pineapple. It’s one of the few pineapple eLiquids that doesn’t screw up your throat after a few hours, and, damnit, it tastes like pineapple cheesecake! Pineapple first, then the cheesecake. I may have wanted a bit more cheesecake flavor in there, but it’s damned good just the way it is.”
Ah, the truth, naked and honest. That’s what this is supposed to be about, and she finally admitted that she would have like to taste a bit more cheesecake in it. Now I turned my attention to what Jason was rambling about…
Jason: Pineapple makes a great flavor for eLiquids because it is both distinctive and generally well liked by most people. Whether it’s a Pina colada blend or a cheesecake blend, pineapple is always the dominant flavor. Don’t like pineapple, you won’t like any pineapple blends. Like most, I love me some pineapple anything.
Like everybody else I was impressed by the vapor…clouds and clouds of vapor. But, come on, all of Hurricane Vapor’s eLiquids are vapor producers. They are all also heavy on flavor; there isn’t a single eJuice in their lineup that is weak in the flavor department. You have to hand it to the people down there in Miami, in the three major categories, throat, vapor, and flavor, Hurricane Vapor has it nailed, so for me this was all about how faithful this flavor was to the actual pineapple cheesecake flavor.
That was honest. But is his official description for the review honest as well?
“As an excellent all-day vape, Hurricane Vapor’s Pineapple Cheesecake is an authentic eJuice that really does taste like it’s a vaporized pineapple cheesecake. Very satisfying, pineapple-sweet and delicious. I think this is an excellent eLiquid, especially for a first try with pineapple. Like several other HV flavors, Pineapple Cheesecake is now on my rotation.”
Hmm… what did Jason mean by “especially for a first try with pineapple”… I had to ask him. His reply:
“All I mean is that they seemed to have focused all their efforts on exotic flavors like mango, papaya, Cuban coffee, and so on. Even their peach flavored juice is ‘Irish cream’ instead of just a cream flavor. So, pineapple cheesecake seems to be a simple flavor. And since this is their first stab at it they didn’t stumble. They got it right, again. That’s really about it. I didn’t have a pineapple flavor in my usual rotation but since this one doesn’t flame out after a while I think it will go the distance. Of course, all I had is one tank full so far, but the entire time spent with it I never once felt that heavy-handed pineapple throat thing, where your throat gets all rough.”
I was definitely interested in what Angel had to say. In a casual environment Angel can let loose with some colorful language she usually leaves out of her reviews.
Angel: When I first learned that we were going to spend time with a pineapple-flavored eLiquid I was disappointed. Hurricane Vapor has never done a pineapple before, and they are masters of tobacco and exotic fruit like mango and papaya, but pineapple is almost pedestrian. Everybody does pineapple, ya know? I like pineapple, but from these days, I expected something different. I had no idea what, but pineapple cheesecake isn’t even listed on their website as a “coming soon” flavor.
But you know what? This eLiquid is excellent. I think of it as Pineapple Cheesecake done Hurricane Vapor style. That ‘style’ is an eLiquid loaded with flavor, with an excellent throat hit, and more vapor than you have a right to expect. Whatever their technique is when they go about creating a new eLiquid flavor the result is always something I’m going to want to vape. A lot. If a Vaper likes pineapple this is one that has to be tried. I’m willing to bet that it will become one a favorite of a lot of Vapers.
Me: And there it was, unfiltered. Still pretty tame though. I asked her if she had an official description she would like to contribute to the review, she said, “I just said it.” And I guess she did…
My impressions:
Sitting there listening to the other four talking about Pineapple Cheesecake I was struck by the way they were coming up with many of the same things I had been thinking about this flavor. Not by the fact that they all liked it, after all we like a good pineapple eJuice, but other things, things I didn’t expect to come up.
This is the first pineapple flavor from Hurricane Vapor. In order for the team to know that this is the first pineapple offering they had to know the lineup pretty well. I was impressed that they knew it, we vape a lot of great eJuice by a several great companies, but I don’t think we know many company lineups as well as we do Hurricane Vapor’s. Frankly, most of the time we do a review the company has a lineup that was larger than Hurricane Vapor’s launch lineup. They launched with ten flavors, not too hard to remember those because we reviewed all ten at once. Then, as they released new ones we reviewed them. Still, with all the different brands coming in it’s impressive.
It’s also important to note that several, in not all, of HV’s eLiquids are prime all-day vapes. Whether by design, or it just happens to be that way, is not known. One thing I certainly didn’t expect was a pineapple blend to work as an all-day vape. After I slipped John a full carto of it he came back a few hours later and also remarked that it seemed to him that it would make a great all-day vape too. So it unanimous.
In the end, Hurricane Vapor eLiquid is now well ensconced in the community of eLiquid companies as a premium vendor because they earned it. I can’t say that every flavor deserves a Spinfuel Choice Award, but they do have several of them already, and Pineapple Cheesecake joins the ranks.
To think that an eJuice company can launch in April and by September of the same year become a well known, high-profile eLiquid company is a bit bazaar. It takes 110% commitment, a willingness to put in everything you have, to take risks most people would be too afraid to do, and these guys do it like pros. Because they are pros.
Look, we deal with a lot of eLiquid companies; many of them are incredible artists creating some of the best eLiquids you can find. I can say, with confidence, that every member of this team is passionate about eJuice. We don’t/wont make it ourselves, we know we’d never be able to do it well, but we’re passionate about the art of it. The way some of the companies, including Hurricane Vapor, are able to take the barest of ingredients and put together something that is so pleasurable to use is just humbling.
Hurricane Vapor’s Pineapple Cheesecake is a terrific new member of the HV lineup. Real, honest pineapple cheesecake flavor, huge vapor clouds, and satisfying beyond what we expected, this Spinfuel Choice Award winner is something all pineapple Vapers would do well to try.
Let us know how you liked, or disliked, this kinda, sorta, different way to present an eJuice review. We’re always looking to make Spinfuel eMagazine better and better. With your input we can do that. Use the comment section below to comment on Hurricane Vapor, Pineapple Cheesecake eJuice, and/or this new way to review.
