Break out the tissues because it pains and saddens me a great deal when I read some first impressions and understand in the deep recess of my heart that your first experience could have been much better with AHL juices
if only we had a FAQ (hint) for new folks.
I would like to compare 5Pawns (which you and I both like a great deal) and AHL. Hopefully this will give you some perspective and ideas along with the great help posts already appearing. Please, make no mistake, I regularly vape a number of 5P flavors along with AHL juices. Both create marvelous mixes but for better or worse approach it in different ways. It's understanding this difference which can be very very frustrating for the first order with AHL. A few thoughts:
1. 5P mixes for numerous delivery devices. T2, iclear, RDA, RBA etc. They deliver "flavor that satisfies" across all those devices. The AHL default mix is for a dripper (RDA or a quality RBA) and as others have stated that's the reason why your juice is "flat" and lacking flavor in many instances. As others have said, a feedback and request and AHL will increase the flavor profile for YOUR delivery devices. This of course has it's limits from a mixing perspective as the basic integrity/flavor profile of the juice must be preserved.
2. 5P delivers juice that is already steeped. Other than the first run of the Mixology line which was a little green and has since been corrected you just break the seal and vape. Many of the AHL juices require proper steeping and depending on the individuals taste buds that's 2 weeks steeping and we have a few that love one month of steeping or even 6 months. And of course, some that love the stuff "fresh".
3. At the risk of being banned from our "clan" /LOL /joke I would say that AHL juices in many cases (not all) are "understated" as compared to 5P. For example, I like bold banana and many (not all) of these banana centric AHL mixes are a little to "understated" for my buds even after a request to increase xxx to the max which has it's inherent limits. On the other side of the coin, Gambit from 5P is a top seller and is not "understated". It's so popular that my local B&M can't keep enough of it in stock and is universally loved by vapers using all kinds of delivry devices.
4. Both 5P and AHL strive for "authentic" and deliver. Both create grown up multilayered flavor profiles.
HTH