Table of Contents
Pink Spot Vapors – Spinfuel eLiquid Team Review
Lead Writer: Julia Barnes Reviewers: Julia Barnes, Chelsey Laney, Tom McBride, Lisa Johnston, John Manzione, and special guest, Jason Little. All gathered for this Pink Spot Vapors Review.
UPDATE: January 10th, 2013 – The Spinfuel Choice Awards – Pink Spot Vapors has earned eight (8) Choice Awards today for their excellence in eLiquid Artistry. Each of the award-winning flavors now feature the Choice Award logo next to the title.
Introduction to Pink Spot Vapors
The thing about Pink Spot Vapors that impressed me the most as I began looking into the company as part of my preparation for this review was their facility where the eJuice is created. There are literally hundreds of eJuice companies in the United States and Canada where the ‘facility’ is an apartment kitchen. Not so with Pink Spot Vapors. It was nice to know that Pink Spot uses a commercial facility equipped with stainless steel tables and other equipment required in the preparation of eJuice.
With the right equipment and safeguards in place to insure that the eLiquid that we inhale is safe from contamination or other hazards, Pink Spot Vapors consistently receives an “A” rating from the strict regulators in the Nevada and Las Vegas health departments. That is comforting to know while you are vaporizing a liquid and taking it into your lungs.
Pink Spot Vapors is owned and operated by Penn and Sandi Elletson in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is a major player in the eLiquid marketplace. With more than 80 flavors of smoke juice (and another 80 or so in development) Penn and Sandi could quite possibly be the hardest working husband and wife team in the eJuice industry, or at least the hardest working couple I’ve seen.
Pink Spot Vapors is both a wholesaler and retailer of eJuice. Suppliers and retailers in the U.K. and the US buy and resell Pink Spot Vapors eJuice. Their first brick and mortar store was opened in Las Vegas in 2012. It’s been quite a ride in a short period of time.
Part One
For this review the Spinfuel Review Team sampled just 13 of the 80 flavors of the ever-expanding line of gourmet juice. Three (3) of the 13 flavors were evaluated in Zero-Nicotine and 24MG nicotine. The eLiquid was blended as 70/30; 70% PG & 30% VG, both of which are ‘Food Grade’ and FDA approved.
The American ‘harvested and manufactured’ nicotine is ‘PG-based’ (and Pharmaceutical grade as well) which actually allows some flavors to reach a 50/50 PG/VG ratio (depending on the nicotine level of the eJuice). But, to be honest, we at Spinfuel have no idea why.
We should also mention that Pink Spot Vapors will tailor their flavors in order to meet any specific needs you may have, and at no additional charge.
Pink Spot Vapors uses NO artificial colors in their eJuice line. As far as we know the product we received is identical in every way to what is shipped to customers. They were well packaged and appeared to be fresh.
eJuice Characteristics: All thirteen (13) bottles (30ML) received by Spinfuel were of the ‘thicker’ variety, although we had no trouble using the juice with various methods for filling cartomizers and cartridges, including a simple drop-by-drop method directly onto the filler material in a standard resistance 510-thread cartomizer.
Review Hardware
The hardware used in the review included a ProVape Provari-mini, a Storm 2.0 (ego-c), various Halo Cigs batteries from their G6 and Element series, a Johnson Creek VEA, and one of Totally Wicked’s new Odyssey PV’s.
Review Procedure
Each member (a total of six reviewers this time out) was given a 2 cartomizers for each flavor of eJuice. (26 cartomizers and/or cartridges per reviewer for a total of 156 individual carts) along with 3ML of eJuice for each of the 13 flavors along with extra ‘blank’ 510 cartridges, on an as-needed basis. The reviewers’ vaped for approximately 72 hours, using ‘Pink Spot Vapors’ eLiquid exclusively. On Saturday, July 14th, the reviewers met to discuss their notes and opinions of each flavor. Below are the edited notes and truncated conversations that occurred in the meeting.
Rating Scale – 1 through 5 and then some
The rating scale used for this review is as follows;
1 Star – Terrible, can’t vape it. “F”
2 Stars – Not very good. A “D”
3 Stars – Nothing to write home about, but not bad. “C”
4 Stars – Really good. Better than most. “B”
5 Stars – Excellent eJuice. Really enjoyed it. “A”
5 Stars and then some – Awesome eJuice. Couldn’t get enough. A real winner. “A+”
Part Two
Overall Impressions
All the reviewers agreed that Pink Spot Vapors accurately reproduced the flavors they describe on their website. Whether or not a reviewer embraced a particular flavor had no impact on the agreement that the “flavors” were as described. One such example was “Nutty Buddy”, an eJuice created to reproduce the flavor of the classic “Nutty Buddy” cookie. While some liked it and some did not, all agreed that the flavor was extraordinary similar to the cookie.
The Juice
EJuice from various brands come in a variety of ‘thickness’. While some are thin and runny, others are thick and slow to move through the bottle. Pink Spot Vapors is among the thicker juices.
Vapor production was excellent for each flavor and performed well in each piece of hardware. Though we cannot speak for all 80 flavors, all 13 flavors produced great vapor; we believe it’s safe to assume the others will as well. The Throat hit on these 70/30 mixes was all ‘very good’ to ‘excellent’.
The Flavors
For discussion purposes all thirteen (13) bottles of eJuice were placed in a box and Ms. Barnes reached in and chose a flavor at random. The comments below are arranged as they were picked. That being the case, the first flavor is:
Pirate’s Booty Described by PSV (Pink Spot Vapors) as a take on classic Rum Runner Cocktail, with lots of exotic juices and Island rum. So, how did our team take to this booty? Let’s see.
Julia: Definitely a lot of juice flavors coming through, though I didn’t taste much rum. I like the flavor, but it wasn’t an all-day vape for me. 4 Stars
Chelsey: Many of the flavors from PSV are of the juice variety, so I agree with Julia on this one, many different flavors coming through. 4 Stars
Tom: I did taste the rum, and I think you might have too if you knew what to look for. My problem with Pirate’s Booty is that it wasn’t a “wow me” flavor. It was good, just not great. I expected more. 4 Stars
Lisa: I’m not sure what I tasted. While I got the ‘fruity’ taste I couldn’t describe any one flavor. But I loved it though. Very tasty, and I’m guessing that the flavor that smoothed out the fruitiness came from the rum. 5 Stars for me.
John: I think Lisa hit the nail on the head. Lots of fruity flavor though it was mellowed out by the rum. The rum took the edge off the fruit, which I liked a lot. Not my favorite, but close. 5 Stars
Jason: Yea, John and Lisa have the right idea. I would reorder this one. Not their best flavor out of the 13, but damn near close. 5 Stars
Washington Red Apple (Award Winner): Just like it sounds. Red Apple. So many times you see or taste a flavor that offers up a ‘granny smith’ apple flavor, but seldom do you taste a real Red Delicious apple flavor. So, how did this one go down?
Julia: Without a doubt the very best Apple flavor I have ever had. Sweet, with plenty of ‘apple-ness’, and it was certainly delicious. 5 Stars and then some.
Chelsey: Washington Red Apple is extraordinary! Loved the hell out of it. Sweet apple is a good vape. Love love love it! 5 Stars and then some.
Tom: As much as I love tobacco flavors Washington Red Apple out-shined many of my favorite tobacco flavored juice. This is a winner and I loved it. 5 Stars and then some.
Lisa: I agree. Totally awesome Apple flavor. The sweetness of this one is what’s missing in a lot of the other apple flavors. I was amazed, and didn’t want to move on the next flavor. 5 Stars and then some.
John: Best damned Apple flavored eJuice I’ve ever tasted. 5 Stars and then some.
Jason: I dislike every Apple flavor on the market, except this one. The sweetness of the Red Delicious makes this a winner. I wonder why more juice makers use the granny smith instead of this red delicious? 5 Stars
G-Spot: This is a grape flavored vape created by PSV. Was there enough grape flavor? Too much? Let’s take a listen.
Julia: Not my favorite flavor because I’m not crazy about grape flavored ejuice. I love that PSV uses a little ‘sexy’ in their description and G-Spot goes beyond the sexy. As a grape eJuice it’s one of the most grape-y. 4 Stars
Chelsey: I love grape ‘anything’ and this one has a LOT of grape flavor. Sweet and smooth. 5 Stars
Tom: Nah, I didn’t like this one. I don’t much care for grape and this was too much grape. 3 Stars
Lisa: The G-Spot didn’t hit the any spot for me. I sure tasted the grape though, and the Vapers out there that love grape will certainly love this one. But not me. 3 Stars
John: Wow, I am surprised. I thought this was excellent. Very grapey yes, but so what? G-Spot was awesome! 5 Stars
Jason: I kinda agree with everybody. Very grapey, sweet, and smooth, etc.. For the same reasons some of you don’t like I really liked it. 4 Stars
Jane’s Wild Juices (Award Winner): This one is a pineapple, amaretto, and peach flavored eJuice. Did it hit the mark?
Julia: The dominant flavor here is pineapple, which I do like. I suppose that flavor I couldn’t identify was the amaretto. Not enough here it to bring it home, but it was good. 5 Stars
Chelsey: One of my favorites, if not my favorite. Definitely tasting all three flavors. I never vaped amaretto before, but it is a great vape. I could vape this all day. 5 Stars
Tom: The Amaretto was really good. Didn’t taste any peach at all though. I liked it, but like Julia I don’t think this is representative of their ability. 4 Stars
Lisa: Everything being discussed about Janes Wild Juices is right, I think. I liked it. Would I buy it again? I’m not sure. There are more than 80 flavors from PSV and before I would think about buying it again I would have to taste their entire line. 5 Stars
John: A good, reliable vape. Nice flavors, love the Amaretto. Solid flavors. 5 Stars
Jason: I would definitely buy Janes Wild Juices. Man, who would have thought Amaretto could make a great vape? 5 Stars and then some.
Nutty Buddy: Just like it sounds, Pink Spot Vapors says this is a reproduction of that cookie we’ve all tried before. Is it any good? Hmmm…
Julia: I hated this one. Hated it! Reminded me of my poor college days and my next door neighbor ate them all the time. 1 star
Chelsey: Wow, Julia! A little rough, no? You have to admit it tastes just like the cookie. If you like the cookie you will like this. I kinda sorta did. So, 4.5 Stars
Tom: Julia’s right, I’m not sugarcoating Nutty Buddy. Hated the cookie, hate this. But, Chelsey’s right. The cookie and this juice are identical in flavor. That’s a good sign that PSV knows exactly what they are doing. 2 Stars
Lisa: Loved the cookie, love this! Come on Tom and Julia. This is awesome stuff! 5 Stars
John: I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like it either. Peanut butter vaping? Not for me. 3 Stars
Jason: Nutty Buddy has a deep peanut butter flavor, no doubt about that. In college I ate these things all the time because they were cheap. Maybe because I remember the cookie so much is the reason I didn’t like this flavor. No, I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t vape it again. 2 Stars (editor’s note: Jason and Julia were not college neighbors)
Grasshopper (Award Winner): This is Penn and Sandi’s take on the Crème de menthe frozen drink. Does it equate to a good vape?
Julia: By far my favorite flavor of all thirteen! I loved this flavor. The crème de menthe gave it the coolness of menthol, only much much better. Original and awesome! 5 Stars and then some.
Chelsey: I agree, my favorite too. I wonder why? Got the crème de menthe, and the chocolate hints. I don’t know, together its like magic. 5 Stars
Tom: I thought I would hate this. I was ready to hate it. The first inhale? I hated it. Then another and another and I found myself loving the hell out of it. A true mark of an artist. How could I have been so wrong? 5 Stars and then some.
John: I liked it too. It’s weird how I get ’coolness’ from it, yet not menthol. A mixture of flavors that make something truly unique. This is a winner. 5 Stars
Jason: Come on guys. Yes it is a delicious vape. But would you vape it all day? I doubt it. Grasshopper tastes exactly like the drink, and that is a great thing. I give it 5 stars for achievement, but it’s a vape for every other day, maybe. 5 Stars
Swagger: This is an original tobacco flavored eJuice from PSV that you either love or hate. And that is exactly what our team discovered.
Julia: Another flavor (below) is the only other tobacco blend we sampled. Of the two, the honey tobacco is far better. This was way too strong for me. 3 Stars
Chelsey: I agree Jules; this was way too strong for me as well. Very dark, very thick, and very thick tasting. 3 Stars
Tom: Now you see, this is an excellent example of the differences in our taste buds. I loved the hell out of Swagger. I loved it so much I swaggered around town vaping it. Awesome is so many ways! 5 Stars and then some.
Lisa: Tom, I liked it too, somewhat. It IS strong, almost too strong for me. Swagger is very different from any of their other flavors. A dark, sweet tobacco vape. 3 Stars
John: Oh man, I think if you hate Swagger it’s because you didn’t let it sit overnight. Although I know you guys did, and you still hated it, so I don’t know… anyway, it’s great, I love it, and I give it 4 stars.
Jason: I did not like it. The problem for me is that although you can tell this is a tobacco flavor it is way too sweet. 3 Stars
Honey Cured Tobacco (Award Winner): A smooth, slightly less sweet tobacco. The sweetness comes from an the use of honey. How to the team take to this one?
Julia: My first tobacco flavor was Swagger so I wasn’t expecting much for this one. The color is much lighter so I was hoping for a lighter flavor. Thankfully, I got it. A sweet honey tobacco that is so smooth is slides down into your lungs. This one proves that PSV can do tobacco. 5 Stars
Chelsey: I agree. Honey tobacco is a great way to spend an hour or so vaping. A lighter throat hit with it, but it is so smooth. Sweet, thick vapor and an excellent all-day vape. 5 Stars
Tom: Now we’re talking. Although it was a tad too sweet for an all-day vape for me, it was a delicious flavor. 5 Stars
Lisa: Honey tobacco is a good flavor. Mellow, smooth, and delicious. 5 Stars
John: I’ve had other honey cured tobaccos and this one is a bit sweeter than the ones I’ve tried. Still, an excellent vape. If you like sweet tobacco you will love this one. 5 Stars
Jason: I think we can all agree that this is a good honey flavored tobacco. Very smooth, I vaped this one quite a bit. 5 Stars
Watermelon Wave (Award Winner) – There are watermelon-dominate flavors and then there are watermelon-hinted flavors. This one is a dominant watermelon. How did it go?
Julia: Such a great watermelon vape! I vaped this at the beach, and it was like I was home as kid, enjoying a bowl full of watermelon on a hot summer day. 5 Stars
Chelsey: A sweet watermelon, almost too sweet. But wow, does this grow on you. Not much more to say other than if you love watermelon this vape is one you will love. 5 Stars
Chelsey: I could definitely taste other fruits in this flavor but watermelon is the key flavor. A sweet watermelon flavor for everyone! 5 Stars
Tom: This flavor reminded me why I don’t go for many fruity flavors. A very heavy watermelon taste in this, but for some reason I found myself vaping it more and more. It’s GOOD! 4.5 Stars
Lisa: Heavy watermelon flavor almost knocks you over. Sweet summer ripe watermelon is always welcome at my house. I’m going to get more of this one! 5 Stars and then some
John: For a watermelon flavor this is awesome! I couldn’t see myself vaping this all day unless I was out in the hot weather, but man, this is soooo good! 4 Stars
Jason: I happen to be somewhat of an expect on real watermelon so when I tell you that PSV got the taste down, you can bet on it. I didn’t know watermelon could be this good in a vapor. 5 Stars
Gummy Bear – Like the candy. Did it go over well?
Julia: I thought this was going to taste exactly like the candy, not the bar drink. I was wrong. It was like the candy with a shot of…something. Awesomeness! 5 Stars
Chelsey: I grew up on gummy bears so I know they got this one right. I’d like to vape this at the movie theater! Love it. 5 Stars
Tom: Another candy vape. I just didn’t like it. Sweet, too sweet. 3 Stars
Lisa: Not an all-day vape, but delicious nonetheless. I think flavors like Gummy Bear are a good choice for special cravings. Unbelievably good. 5 Stars
John: Too sweet for me. I like PSV’s fruit flavors, but their sugary ones are too sweet. I like filling a tank (DCT) and vape away for hours and hours, but with gummy bears and others like it I just can’t. 3 Stars
Jason: Gummy bears!! Just like the candy! Love it! 5 Stars
Fuzzy Navel (Award Winner): Just like the cocktail. Is it good? Let’s see…
Julia: First orange-hinted flavor I liked, anywhere. I think orange is hard to do, but when PSV gets ahold of it they do it up right. Peach and OJ, excellent! 5 Stars
Chelsey: In my bar days I drank Fuzzy Navels a lot. This is exactly like a Fuzzy Navel, so maybe I’m too close to the subject. LOL! Seriously though, all this is missing is a shot of booze! 5 Stars
Tom: Of all the fruity flavors this is my favorite. Nice, sweet orange and the peach blend. Yum! 5 Stars
Lisa: I don’t like orange juice, but this I did like. Maybe it’s the peach flavor mix. 5 Stars
John: I loved this one. One of my all-time favorite flavors. Something about this one I can’t put my finger on. I will get more of this. 5 Stars
Jason: A fuzzy navel minus the alcohol. Delicious and rich, but smooth as well. A good vape! 5 Stars
Frozen Lime Drop (Award Winner): Sweet and sour taste, with cool menthol. Did the team go for this one? Well…
Julia: I did not expect to like this. I’m not crazy about limes, or at least I didn’t think so. Maybe its all the cocktail based flavors but Frozen Lime Drop is excellent. A good hit of menthol, but more cool than minty. So good! 5 Stars
Chelsey: Frozen Lime Drop was one of the first PSV flavors I tried. I had to go back to it this morning for a refresher. Did I really love this as much as I did when I first spent time with it? Yes I did. Many of PSV flavors are based on cocktails, as is this one, and it delivers on all fronts…some sweetness, some tart and a cool breeze. What more do I need? 5 Stars
Tom: I like this because of the lime. Turns out lime is a good flavor to make an eJuice with. Still, I wouldn’t vape this all day because it’s not, to me, an all day flavor. 5 Stars
Lisa: Frozen lime drop is an amazing flavor. I think PSV have carved out a nice area of the eJuice market with these cocktail-based eLiquid. I like this one a lot, and you could really tell that it is based on a drink. 5 Stars
John: I’m not crazy about menthol flavors so I was leery of Frozen Lime Drop. Thing is, it’s not really a menthol as much as it is a coolness. I’d like to keep some of this around for those hot days when I want to cool down. 5 Stars
Jason: Lime = Awesome. What more is there to say? Oh, yea, and it’s a cool hit for the throat. Man, I loved this one! 5 Stars and then some.
Cherry Limeade – Just like it sounds. And the team’s response was?
Julia: A good effort of cherry and lime. It was okay, not great. 3 Stars
Chelsey: You’re crazy; this was great. 5 Stars
Tom: Lime is a powerful flavor and although I tasted the cherry I think it would have been better described as ‘Limeade with Cherry’. Good, not great. 4 Stars
Lisa: I found this flavor to be a great fusion of cherry and lime. In all seriousness, I couldn’t get enough. 5 Stars
John: I agree with Tom that lime is a powerful flavor, and a good one. I’m just not so sure we should have sampled more than one lime based juice. I missed the hit of menthol that came with the Frozen Limeade. 4 Stars
Jason: Exactly. Not enough to make it that much different than Frozen Limeade, except for the loss of menthol/coolness. Good though, but not great. A helluva throat hit. 4 Stars
Pink Spot (Award Winner): Raspberry, lime, and pineapple. Does it work? Let’s find out.
Julia: The problem with this flavor is that the components are so well mixed it’s hard to tell what they were. I’m betting that had I not seen the description I never would have tasted any particular flavor except for… yes, lime again. 5 Stars
Chelsey: I could see myself spending a lot of money with PSV. All the flavors in all the juice we tried were all strong flavors. This is no different, other than it was great to vape. 5 Stars
Tom: An outstanding standout. A mix of the best fruity flavors with a definite lime presence. I liked it a lot. 5 Stars
Lisa: Unfortunately, this flavor was okay but not a standout. To many flavors for me to identify, though I was able to taste raspberry and once again the lime. 4 Stars
John: As a fruity flavor I found Pink Spot to be excellent. It has a nice blend of all the flavors in the description. 5 Stars
Jason: Pink Spot is a good flavor, though it was hard to identify them individually. I enjoyed it, though not as much as some of the others. 5 Stars
After Thoughts
As you can see, Pink Spot Vapors offers some very strong flavors. Unfortunately the overall thought was maybe there were too many fruity ones. Someone, I won’t say who, complained about the lack of coconut flavors, and a lack of tobacco varieties. As she put it; “We left too many flavors on the floor” and added; “Maybe we should have chose the flavors together.” Maybe she has something there. All of us felt a bit hemmed-in.
Of the 80 flavors offered by PSV we thought they were good representatives, but we wanted more variety. Lime is a standout flavor, and a good flavor to vape, but in such a short period of time there was no need to sample 3 lime flavors.
Sometimes an eJuice will taste different according to which hardware you use, this didn’t happen with PSV. Vaping any particular eJuice through a cartomizer or directly on the atomizer (as in the Storm 2.0) the flavors remained consistent.
As consumers we acknowledge PSV’s expertise in producing good, and often great, eJuice, and would highly recommend them. In the future we hope to sample more of the ‘traditional’ line of eJuice from PSV, their ‘pina colada’ or other, more traditional, tobacco flavors. When we do we’ll bring you another review.
Until next time!
Julia Barnes, with Tom McBride, Lisa Johnston, Chelsey Laney, John Manzione, and as a special guest reviewer, Jason Little!
