Apollo Exteme: Is It Just Me???

[DebbieNY]

Got my 1st shipment from Apollo early last week. One battery was DOA, so Customer Service said they would send me a replacement (still waiting on that one though). When the 2nd battery died, I put it on the charger and thanked the ecig Gods that I still had my Krave 301, because Apollo's USB charger proved to be DOA also.

Customer service said that they would send me a USB replacement within my 2nd order (I was impressed by how long the 1st battery lasted & the taste/performance of the Tobacco pre-filled carto [despite being a menthol smoker], so I felt I had made a good decision with choosing Apollo and ordered again). Got my 2nd shipment yesterday, along with the replacement USB... Ahh, back in business!

I proceeded to vape the empty cartos that I had filled with their Tobacco Menthol eliquid... Blech, there is not a shred of menthol taste to be found anywhere and it has a terrible after taste! In fact, I have no idea what this even tastes like. Checked the 30ml bottle again, in case it was wrong... Nope tobacco menthol is clearly noted on the bottle. Tried the carto that I had filled with Cappuccino (had tried Krave's Cappuccino disposable once & thought that I'd died and gone to Heaven!) and again, blech, not much Cappuccino flavor at all and there's that same after taste. 8-o Now, I'm getting worried that I may have jumped the gun too soon, because I ordered 2 other flavors (RY4 & Vanilla, which I filled a couple of cartos with) from my 2nd shipment.

I'm currently vaping the prefilled Vanilla carto that came with the carto assortment in my starter kit and it's OK, not spectacular, but better than the refillable carto that I filled with the Tobacco Menthol & Cappuccino eliquids. Tried a carto that I filled with Vanilla and I'm not even getting a vapor or flavor at all. Try the second one that I filled & still nothing. Mind you, being new to all this, I was careful to follow their instructions on how to fill them. Which brings me to the whole point of why I posted all this...

1. I've read that eliquids generally need to steep. How long is the average? The tobacco menthol (30ml) & cappuccino (10ml) bottles sat for about a week before I used them.
2. As for my 'non-menthol' tasting tobacco menthol: Is this normal or could something have gone amiss in the mixing or labeling at Apollo? I'd hate to have to contact them to complain about something yet again, if it's just a case of my taste buds expecting something else (if this is normally how this flavor tastes to others). Flavor is subjective, afterall, but I can't even determine what flavor this is.
3. As for the non-responsive vaping of the cartos that I filled with vanilla: What would cause this? Could the carto be faulty or is it possible that I did not put enough in the carto? BTW, this the only 10ml bottle that came equipped with a very fine point dropper, so perhaps a much smaller quantity is actually dispensing than with the larger droppers in my other bottles.
4. Flavors: Should I seek out eliquids that have a particular PG/VG ratio for better flavor?

I appreciate any feedback from others that have used Apollo's eliquid and refillable cartos, as I don't have much of a guideline since I only have experience with Krave and I don't want to have to contact Apollo again & risk sounding like one of those people who is never satisfied.

Many thanks, everyone!

Debbie

 

[marine]

I am new to the vaping world ... and also bought one of Apollo's extreme kits ...... in my opinion a total waste of money .... so I chalked it up to a learning experience and went with a couple of ego's and some decent juice from mount baker ..... I found the prefilled cartos from apollo to be very nasty tasting and being 100% pg ... dried my mouth out ..... funny thing is 1 of my extreme batteries died right away and the other is not working well and this being less than a month since I purchased ..... sorry for the bad news !!! ..

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Got my 1st shipment from Apollo early last week. One battery was DOA, so Customer Service said they would send me a replacement (still waiting on that one though). When the 2nd battery died, I put it on the charger and thanked the ecig Gods that I still had my Krave 301, because Apollo's USB charger proved to be DOA also.

Customer service said that they would send me a USB replacement within my 2nd order (I was impressed by how long the 1st battery lasted & the taste/performance of the Tobacco pre-filled carto [despite being a menthol smoker], so I felt I had made a good decision with choosing Apollo and ordered again). Got my 2nd shipment yesterday, along with the replacement USB... Ahh, back in business!

CS is very important to all of us and kudos to Apollo.

I've read that eliquids generally need to steep. How long is the average? The tobacco menthol (30ml) & cappuccino (10ml) bottles sat for about a week before I used them.

Generally tobaccos need to be steeped. Here's a quick way:
place bottle in hot tap water fro 45 mins- shake and place in cupboard.
next am shake, uncap and allow fresh air in- recap and place in cupboard
next am shake, uncap and place open bottle in cupboard
next am shake and vape.
Heat and air can damage juices but also can be used to our advantage.

As for my 'non-menthol' tasting tobacco menthol: Is this normal or could something have gone amiss in the mixing or labeling at Apollo? I'd hate to have to contact them to complain about something yet again, if it's just a case of my taste buds expecting something else (if this is normally how this flavor tastes to others). Flavor is subjective, afterall, but I can't even determine what flavor this is.

I DIY my juices and you consider buying some menthol drops and adding your own- be forewarned they are VERY STRONG. Also most of us have vendors for hardware and separate vendors for juice.

As for the non-responsive vaping of the cartos that I filled with vanilla: What would cause this? Could the carto be faulty or is it possible that I did not put enough in the carto? BTW, this the only 10ml bottle that came equipped with a very fine point dropper, so perhaps a much smaller quantity is actually dispensing than with the larger droppers in my other bottles.

If they are standard carto they are 1 ml- 20 drops= 1 ml. I use the condom method to fill my cartos but now use rebuildable Mini Vivi Novas- easy to fill, heads are cheap ($2.00) and easy (10 secs) to replace.

 

[DebbieNY]

Marine, I just tried their factory pre-filled menthol carto... EWWW! There's menthol in it, no doubt, but it's definitely not helping the other nasty taste in there.

Thanks for the tips, Vapoor eyes or! I will give that process a go to see if it helps, but I suspect I may need to suffer through these until I order juice from some other more tried and true vendor (best suggestions?). What PG/VG ratio tends to rend the best flavors?

Debbie

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

You're welcome. Some vendors also offer to add extra flavor in their juice.
Juice Components
Flavoring usually about 15%- could be higher or lower depending on the flavor used.
PG enhances flavor, TH and lung hit- water like
VG= vapor and can mute flavor- thick
Nicotine- TH, lung hit and our need for nicotine. The MOST important ingredient in regards to TH and lung hit.
Standards in the industry are 80/ 20 or 70/ 30 PG/ VG.
Halo is regarded as having great menthol juices although I've never used them:
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/halo/249249-halo-help-menthol.html

 

[DebbieNY]

Well, I followed Vapoor Eyes Er's method of steeping over the last few days, and have only tried the Tobacco Menthol flavor today, but I must admit that it did get much better. Has more of a tobacco flavor now, with only a vague hint of menthol (which isn't enough for me IMO), but it definitely tastes far better than it initially did. Perhaps it will continue to get a bit better, but I'm not sure that I'd be running back to this one. Maybe I'll try adding some additional menthol flavor to it sometime. I haven't tried my RY4, Vanilla, or Cappuccino again yet, but I'm hopeful. I've got some samples of flavors coming from a couple of other vendors, so I'm hoping to find my new 'menthol love' among them.

While waiting for these to steep, I got through the entire variety pack of their pre-filled cartos and the only one that I liked was the Tobacco (and I'm a Marlboro Menthol smoker - go figure!). The rest of them were pretty hideous, so I have to wonder if the juice used for these are loaded before they've had ample time to steep, especially the Vanilla, Cherry, & Coffee flavors (blech!).

On a side note, I received my eGo, my replacement Extreme battery, and got a surprise of 3 tobacco flavor medium nicotine disposables! I also got a lanyard within my eGo kit, but it didn't list the lanyard as being part of the kit's package. I did order one of their leather cases with my 2nd order, but they contacted me to say that they no longer carried the one I chose and wanted to know if their other leather case (same price) was sufficient, so now I have to wonder if this is what they meant. I wouldn't call a lanyard as a comparable substitution for a case that was supposed to carry a couple of batteries, cartos, & a charger. Therefore, I'll wait a few days to see if I get the case before contacting Customer Service and questioning it. Maybe the lanyard was a little extra that they threw in with the eGo? I went to their site to search for the lanyard and it's cost, but there aren't any case options remaining.

All in all, I'm beginning to lean over to the conclusion that it may be a combination of being "just me", as well as Apollo. The hardware seems to be adequate (haven't played with the eGo yet), but I will most likely be using other vendors for supplies. I would rank their Customer Service and responsiveness very highly though, so in that respect I'm quite pleased.

Debbie

 

[DebbieNY]

Since some significant time has gone by, I feel that I must update my thoughts on Apollo's juices...

I have been testing out other juice vendors since then, so I had completely forgotten about my Apollo juices. I had given up on the menthol tobacco that I got from them (as well as a few other vendors -- just couldn't find one I liked -- I've settled on a pure menhol), so I decided to see what the 10ml of RY4 tasted like...

And... Low and behold... THERE'S the tobacco menthol! LOL I went back to their 'tobacco menthol' and that tastes like what I expected the RY4 to taste like, so I'm quite sure that they were mislabeled. Shame, too, as I'm a menthol girl, so I ordered the 30ml of that and only a 10ml of the RY4. I haven't tasted the French Vanilla or the Cappucino yet (both 10ml), but I suspect that they, too, will taste better. So, I guess that their juices' steeping time simply cannot be rushed... They'll be ready when they're good & ready, I guess! ;-)

I wanted to amend my opinion of Apollo's liquids (still hate the prefilled cartos, except the reg. tobacco one though). So far, I'm happy with them as a vendor (their service is great!), but only when using a discount code, then I stock up. Got a bunch of empty cartos and clearos (for their eGo) ready for vaping... Weeee!

 

[Sunbrnt]

I too am a fan of Apollo. I use the eGo kit though. Honestly I have had some DOAs as well but they have ALWAYS taken care of me right away. I have a bunch of their juices though I have gotten to enjoy the more complex ones more from other vendors. In a hardware standpoint though they are excellent.

 

[DebbieNY]

Got their French Vanilla in a CE4 on my Apollo eGo right now... Much better than when I first tried it about 2 months ago... I can't stop. LOL!

Yeah, I'm quite happy with the Extreme & eGo kits that I bought from them. I always receive my order quickly, despite being on the opposite coast, & they are quick to resolve any issues I have.

I am SO done with analogs... Yay!