FSUSA (FreedomSmokesUSA) I hate to be the bearer of a bad review....

[RandomMusing]

I always read reviews before making online / blind purchases, be it for cosmetic products, clothes, household products and now e-liquid. I understand that not everyone will love the things I love and visa versa, but I do appreciate reading honest reviews, even if they differ from my own, so while I hate to give a negative review for a much loved company, I feel I should review my products honestly.

I'm still new to vaping (about 5 weeks) and I understand that a lot of people would rather read reviews by more experienced members who have been vaping longer than I have, but after trying, retrying, waiting, steeping...etc, my opinions stay the same and I feel the need to voice my opinion.

I've read a lot of reviews on e-juice companies and flavors. I even spent time watching YouTube reviews and asking for recommendations and decided because of all the positive reviews on FSUSA customer service and flavors I would place an order.

First off the customer service has be great. I got updated emails every time my package moved and the shipment was fast and everything was packaged very well.

*I used the drip method for all the flavors, a clean 510 atty on Joye eGo and I would drink water between trying each flavor. Some I tried in brand new / empty cartos as well.*

I've placed TWO orders of samples with FSUSA. Here was my first order....
* Orange Cream Sicle - Tasted a hint of orange, no cream. The orange tasted like orange flavored medicine and perfume.
* Peppermint Patty - Tasted like old chewed peppermint gum and metal. Tried in empty carto as well, tasted the same.
* Thin Mint Cookie - Tasted almost identical to Peppermint Patty. Tried in empty carto as well, tasted the same.
* CandyCane - This is the only one that tasted somewhat like the name. It has more of a cinnamon taste though. Closest thing I can compare it to would be Cinnamon gummy bears. Tried in empty carto as well, tasted the same.
*Smore - I taste nothing but old, stale gram cracker pie crust
* Caramel/Cream - Taste like Heavy mixing cream and perfume
* RY4 - Taste like sweet / sour heavy mixing cream on inhale and Jalapeno on exhale. Tried in empty carto as well, tasted the same.
* RY5 - Same as RY4 but a bit less sour and more sweet.
* Peanut Butter Cup - No peanut Butter, no chocolate, really there is no taste but a very slight hint of peanut and a perfumey taste
* Wyatt Earp - This was a free sample. It tasted like soapy perfume and Jalapeno.

After my first order I decided that maybe food / sweet flavors weren't for me, so I decided to try again, this time with more tobacco flavors....

* Max/Boro - First I was pretty suprized that the liquid was brown. No tobacco taste. Taste like a sweet, soapy perfume with some spiciness on exhale. This made my nose and sinuses really uncomfortable. Tried in empty carto as well, tasted the same.
* New/Port - Slight mint taste, soapy perfume and again with the peppery / spiciness. Tried in empty carto as well, tasted the same.
* Coffee Espresso - Oh boy, taste like old burnt coffee and perfume.
* Cappuccino Smooth - One of the better ones. Somewhat taste like coffee with cream, but again with that perfume like taste on exhale
* American Spirit - Perfume with heavy Jalapeno taste. No tobacco taste at all

NONE of the flavors tasted as described. I've had these samples for about 2 weeks now and re-tried them again today and they all taste the same as they did the day I got them. They all have a strange chemical / perfume smell to them.

 

[Anaconda]

I am a little surprised by this post. I've order from all over the place, and I personally (as mentioned above, taste is subjective) found FSUSA to have the best flavors on the market.

The first thing that came to my mind were to make some suggestions, and had to mention my FAVORITE VAPE, MaxBoro! I was very surprised to see that you disliked this flavor. I have had 5 of my friends try it, and they all want me to get them some too. This is easily my favorite daily vape. It has a great Marlboro taste with a warm caramel/slight nut taste. This is a very well rounded flavor.

I was also going to suggest you try the Banana Nut Bread. This is easily my 2nd favorite flavor from FSUSA. A very nice nutty taste with a rounded banana bread taste to boot.

I felt the same about the Peanut Butter Cup... pass. Orange Creamsicle, way too sweet, and not very creamsicly...

Now I've tried about 25 differnt flavors, and I can say I really liked about 40% of them, 20% so so, and 40% I didn't like. With that said, I gave the 40% of the samplers I didn't like (ie Pure Cig, Desert Ship) to my friends, and they LOVED them!

So as far as I'm concerned, I normally don't was time reading reviews for the simple fact, that my idea of a good taste is very likely differnt from another persons. You'll never see me vaping Pizza or Rib or Tuna.... all I can say is YUK. I love all of those as foods, but not as vapor...

So I suggest when you are going to buy e-juice, get what sounds good to you.

I'm sorry to hear you didn't get what you were expecting, and it ALWAYS sucks to feel like you've wasted money, better luck next time.

 

[son et lumiere]

I think Janty and FSUSA are the best. With that being said. Good luck finding a better juice vendor. BWB is okay but nothing over the top for me.

 

[jplanet]

I've noticed from your previous posts over the past few weeks that you haven't found any juices that you liked the flavor of yet. There are some things you might want to consider - it is possible that you naturally have an aversion to either PG or VG, in which case you can try a juice that has one or the other and see if it makes a difference for you. You mention perfumy, peppery and metallic quite a lot, which makes me wonder if you're running your atties too dry - my favorite flavors seem to match that description when I either haven't let a fresh clean atty prep long enough with enough liquid, or if I've used too few drops when topping it off. There are also some flavors that stick in my atties and develop a burnt perfumy flavor that is always there until I let it soak in alcohol and thoroughly wash/dry burn/repeat.

I have also not yet had a single juice, good or bad, that didn't taste drastically different after two weeks. I have to wonder that every single flavor you have tried tastes identical after two weeks...I have had a slight hint of perfume in many juices that vanished within a few days.

Perhaps try to stick to a juice that is the least offensive to you for a little while, and occasionally order a single small bottle from different vendors. Lots of people don't get on well with food-flavored juices. Maybe stick to a few basic popular tobacco flavors for a while, let your taste buds adjust from years of smoking analogs...

 

[RandomMusing]

I think Janty and FSUSA are the best. With that being said. Good luck finding a better juice vendor. BWB is okay but nothing over the top for me.

I don't know about Janty but I've read quite a bit about BWB. Right now, after having no luck with FSUSA I decided to try Dekang liquids since the only tobacco flavor I've really liked was in a prefilled carto that came with my first e-cig and I've been told that most of those type of e-cigs cartos have Dekang juices.... I hope I find something.

I've noticed from your previous posts over the past few weeks that you haven't found any juices that you liked the flavor of yet. There are some things you might want to consider - it is possible that you naturally have an aversion to either PG or VG, in which case you can try a juice that has one or the other and see if it makes a difference for you. You mention perfumy, peppery and metallic quite a lot, which makes me wonder if you're running your atties too dry - my favorite flavors seem to match that description when I either haven't let a fresh clean atty prep long enough with enough liquid, or if I've used too few drops when topping it off. There are also some flavors that stick in my atties and develop a burnt perfumy flavor that is always there until I let it soak in alcohol and thoroughly wash/dry burn/repeat.

I have also not yet had a single juice, good or bad, that didn't taste drastically different after two weeks. I have to wonder that every single flavor you have tried tastes identical after two weeks...I have had a slight hint of perfume in many juices that vanished within a few days.

Perhaps try to stick to a juice that is the least offensive to you for a little while, and occasionally order a single small bottle from different vendors. Lots of people don't get on well with food-flavored juices. Maybe stick to a few basic popular tobacco flavors for a while, let your taste buds adjust from years of smoking analogs...

When I dripped I used brand new, never used atties, normally 4-5 drops. I also used brand new, never used catros for a lot of the flavors. I've tasted burnt atties and catros so I'm sure that was never the problem.

I know that the samples I got from FSUSA were all 50% / 50% and some other flavors I got from another company were 100% PG, which I preferred over the FSUSA.

 

[hairball]

Majority for my juice is from FSUSA. Dead on top notch flavors. I just can't taste chocolate but it's not their fault. My taste buds are there yet with recovery. By your post count, you're new to vaping. Have you thought that your equipment isn't for you? I know alot of people like 510's but not everyone. I prefer the 510 but have found that 801 and 901 kits provide better flavor versus the 510. 510's are better vaper producers but lacks in the flavor department according to most people's dislikes. Good luck in finding a vendor you like.

 

[jplanet]

...
When I dripped I used brand new, never used atties, normally 4-5 drops. I also used brand new, never used catros for a lot of the flavors. I've tasted burnt atties and catros so I'm sure that was never the problem.
....

This might be a silly question - are you cleaning the primer out of the new atties before you use them? Otherwise, I find that with new or fully cleaned atties, I have to prime with 4-5 drops, let sit for a few minutes, and then after the first puff or two, I need to add 3-4 more drops to get it going...

You might do well with VaporStation's sampler. VS juices seem to have a very different flavor profile than most other vendors...I'd put them up there with the best of them, and they're very inexpensive.

 

[Grammie]

New atties take a breakin period to get all the PG or primer off the atties. During that time all juice usually tastes like crap...

As mentioned, try sticking with one juice until the primer gets off the atty. I wouldn't inhale that bad taste either! You should be able to tell when the full flavor comes through by just tasting it in your mouth.

 

[chelstar]

I agree with the previous two posters, you have to clean and prime a brand new atty. Even then sometimes it just tastes yucky for a while. I had an atty that had a gross taste on it for like the first whole week I had it, despite cleaning it several times. (And I also was making the mistake of thinking it was the juice's fault!!) So if you are trying all of these flavors on brand new atties, that's probably what you're tasting. That said, I have to say I was not that impressed with FS USA. I thought Wyatt Earp was terrible. I also dislike the 50/50 pg/vg ratio they have. (Sometimes you can choose the ratio, but often it's 50/50 or nothing.) But although I didn't like those things, I thought the flavor of the other two liquids I tried from them was pretty good (Thin Mint Cookie and Strawberry Cream.) ((However Thin Mint Cookie gunked up an atty really bad and I thought it was ruined until I tried the dry burn method on it...))

 

[dagnagan]

I started out with an m401 automatic, not knowing any better, and after a couple of months bought a 510 kit for a friend who wanted to try vaping. He gave it up after a few weeks because he wasn't getting the menthol flavor he craved. So I took the 510s back and after using for a while realized that the 510 just wasn't delivering the flavor that the minis did. I think maybe it burns hotter and that sacrifices flavor for vapor - you lose some of the undertones of the flavor. I now rotate an eGo with the minis, because of the battery life, but I enjoy vaping the 401s more. Can't have everything, I guess.

I do like FSUSA's juices, although I can't compare to anyone else's because I just keep going back to them. Wyatt Earp with a little Coffee on top...mmmm.

 

[atsirk]

I too have had a lot of trouble with perfume undertones from some vendors - I think it is the flavorings they use. I'm a 'supertaster' and you may be one too. Google will find lots of info for you on that. Negative vendor reviews are tough here - some people who use them as thier go-to seem to take them personally. That said, I would recommend you try BWB, KBV, and Vaperite. Just my two cents.

 

[JudgeVape]

I have to rush to the OP's defense. I tried 8 FSUSA samples and had pretty similar experiences as him. Thin Mint was the only real winner for me. Hypnotic Mist was decent and I will surely finish it but it won't be a re-order. How Wyatt Earp, in particular, is so popular is beyond me. I tried everything dripped either on a Cisco 306 2.0 or a Joye LR 510 on a Riva.

I certainly cannot complain about FSUSA's customer service though. It is excellent.

I have found several juice vendors I have liked, including the above-mentioned BWB, Vaperite and now recently KBV.

 

[lasttango]

Negative vendor reviews are tough here

because most negative reviews aren't descriptive... they are typically people amusing themselves with their own wit or venting...

***and obviously, people who feel a personal connection to a vendor feel compelled to give another side of the experience...

You can and should expect some kind of backlash when you post a negative review about anyone, because some people love the vendor... I don't blame the fanboys/fangirls.

Most of the time, I can see an OP flaw in the neg review... like Malice, improper use or faulty expectations based on poor research. Many of the Neg reviews are when someone rushes on to ECF and posts a review minutes after trying the juice...

That said, your "neg" review was more useful -

however, I would hope that you let those FSUSA juices steep before diving into reviews.
vendor. perhaps you did.

Most vendors have an MO (can't think of another way to word it) --- their MO might be lighter flavor... a particular flavor company they use... a perfumy undertone... a strength or weakness in their base... and the love threads are people who appreciate the particular vendors MO...

When I dislike a popular vendor's juice, it's usually because of the very thing that everyone else loves about their juice... for example... I don't like flavourart... so I won't like FSUSA and other companies that use flavourart.

I don't negatively review a flavourart juice because I can't be objective and I also realize that it is top of the line flavoring and that I just have some unique aversion to it... I miss FSUSA's RY4... was and still is one of my favs... unfortunately flavourart makes me sickly. Great juice though.

I have never tried KBV and likely won't - for the same reason I don't buy Ms. T's and TV... but they seem to get a lot of love... as do BWB and Vaperite... before you buy them... simply because each has a large fan base, find out why people like them... I love BWB for precisely the exact reason some people don't like them... the lighter, complex flavor... BWB reviews are funny, because the fans use the best metaphors to describe the flavor... because the flavors don't pop out and whack you in the face... and the criticisms always sound the same... I didn't get any flavor.... etc... I always think, you know you wanted a lot of flavor... so why'd you buy a juice that is consistently prided for it's complex and subtle flavors?

FSUSA has one of the larger fan bases out there and it because people think they make awesome juice... which you didn't like.
Personally, I think your first sample set looked a little eclectic anyway ;-) FSUSA makes more than a hundred flavors... try the more tried and true samples...

anyway friend, so much good juice out there... and FSUSA is just as popular as the ones you haven't tried... so choose your next one wisely.

We could help you choose more wisely if you describe what your ideal juice would taste like.

 

[markfm]

Different strokes for different folks. Don't sweat it if a particular vendor's line doesn't agree with you, though as others mentioned it can be good to put them aside and then retry them a month or so down the line -- sometimes a bit of time sitting helps, and people's tastes really do change a lot over the first couple of months.

As previously noted, JC and BWB are well-known for their tobaccos. KBV is a new shop with a faithful following in the sweets area. Southern Ambrosia just opened, however Eekaa has been well known in PIF for some time for excellent DIY. Purevapes is another smaller vendor with a very solid reputation.

Good luck!

 

[lasttango]

***After re-reading your criticisms, I think I would suggest you shell out a few more bucks on some "organic" juices... like Vaperite and Vapesafe... I'd email Don at BWB and tell him what you are hoping to find before buying from him... He's really helpful and his juices are so different from each other that a user guide or advice is helpful...

I have tried every BWB juice now... except the ones in Don's imagination... so I might be able to help in that area also.

 

[JudgeVape]

Most vendors have an MO (can't think of another way to word it) --- their MO might be lighter flavor... a particular flavor company they use... a perfumy undertone... a strength or weakness in their base... and the love threads are people who appreciate the particular vendors MO...

When I dislike a popular vendor's juice, it's usually because of the very thing that everyone else loves about their juice... for example... I don't like flavourart... so I won't like FSUSA and other companies that use flavourart.

I suspect that it will be the same for me, not liking Favourart very much. I have an order on the way from VaporBomb (fortunately no flavors that overlap the ones I had from FSUSA) so I will probably know one way or the other in a week or two.

Personally, I think your first sample set looked a little eclectic anyway ;-) FSUSA makes more than a hundred flavors...

That right there is probably a warning sign of sorts.

 

[banjo]

I'm sorry to hear that you can't find a flavor that you like, and wish you luck in your search. I don't care for one or two of the FSUSA juices that I've tried, but that is my problem - not FSUSA's. Several of their juices are among my favorites, and I've always been satisfied with their excellent service. You might try some sample size bottles from PureVapes, Gourmet Vapor, and VapeRite. They are all excellent suppliers that work hard at creating good flavors. Thanks for the post.

 

[Godzilla]

So here is the deal folks.

I am convinced that not all tastebuds are created equal. There are so many folks that love FSUSA in here. They are a great vendor, with great quality juices with great service but I fould the same thing as the original poster. I found perfumy or floral tones to their juices. There is only one that was a true flavor without the taste found in the rest of their juices. Cola.

I suggest that you go after juice vendors and flavors of the folks that feel the same way as you do about FSUSA. Likely your taste buds are similar to mine.

I find true flavors with no after taste or perfume, or soapy taste in the following vendors:

Vapor Bomb (I like the peach and raspberry)
Backwood Brew (His Caramel Capp and Cola are the absolute bomb) Caramel Capp has some sweetness, rich coffee and the Cola is non sweet and perfect flavor.
I order both of these with extra flavor, because my taste buds like it that way.

I have found most of the 10 Kick Bass Vapor Flavors to be delicious. I love every one, and there is no chemical, or perfume taste to anyone.
I especially love the OMG juice, and Crossfire Trail tobacco-no sweetness in the tobacco one.

Keep trying juices, just dont order so many from each vendor until you find something you love.

 

[RandomMusing]

I know for sure it was not the primmer on the atties. I know what that taste like... unfortunately. I've tried other liquids from another supplier with the same atties and catos and those were fine. Plus, like I said in my original post, I used not only atties but also brand new cartos, and I tried and re-tried all the flavors numerous times. I also let them steep for 2 weeks (for the first order) and one week for the second order and tried them all again yesterday before giving my review and they all tasted the same as the day I got them.

As for steeping, I have no intention on spending money on something I have to wait to use. I said this in another post, but could you imagine when you smoked if every time you bought a pack of analogs you had to let the pack "steep" for a month? I need an all-day vape, so I need something that can be used straight out of the mail. I'm going to keep trying these FSUSA flavors to see if I notice any difference with age, but honestly if I have to wait to love a flavor, then it's just not worth it.

I know that it sound easier to chalk up my bad experience to human error or bad equipment, but that's just not the case. Yes I may be new to vaping, but I've researched quite a lot. The problems with burnt atties and primmer was week one, luckily I'm a fast learner and I'm not still making those mistakes at week 5

Oh, and Atsirk, I do believe I could be a "super taster" I'm a woman and a vegetarian (not sure if either of those things make a difference) . I know for sure that I have a "super smeller" meaning I have a very sensitive nose and tend to smell things that others can't. People love me at wine tasting parties.

It's really hard for me not to mistaken the taste of heavy whipping cream and Jalapeno in the RY4, but on the other hand when my roommate tried it (he smokes) he said it tasted like blue cotton candy. Oh how I wish that's what I tasted.


By the way thank you to those of you who suggested other vendors.

*EDIT*
Godzilla, I've looked around to see if others had similar problems with FSUSA and did find that some do, which is good to know! I'll definitely be looking into the vendors you suggested, knowing that you too didn't care for the FSUSA liquids. Thank you!

 

[passerbyeus]

i think janty and fsusa are the best. With that being said. Good luck finding a better juice vendor. Bwb is okay but nothing over the top for me.

kick bass is way better in all ways ....I was sent to FSUSA to try some vanilla... wast of money... ask bOB to show you how vanilla is suppose to be....