I've been an on-again-off-again vaper for a good three years now, starting with an M402, moving to an Intellicig Evo, 510, eGo, and then in to cartos, HV and mods. And despite trying many flavors from many places, it seemed I was a Johnson Creek devotee (especially Red Oak liquids).
I came across some praise for Halo a couple months back, and picked up a sampler tin. I'm now on my third 30ml bottle of Tiki juice.
Halo evaluation
As a company, Halo seems really professional. Their product packaging is on par or better than Johnson Creek, orders get shipped within hours, and their shipping packaging is probably the best I've seen.
Halo declines to indicate their PV / VG ratio, which I find a little unusual. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a 40 / 60 mix, based on how the liquid moves in my eGo-T carts.
On a personal note, the reason I never stuck with a PV is because I noticed that my gumline would recede after a few weeks, causing discomfort. At first, I thought it was a reaction to PG, but switching to Red Oak (a high-VG blend) didn't help very much. I'm absolutely delighted to report that in nearly four months, I haven't had this happen at all with Halo liquids.
Vapor production and throat hit
In every test, the vapor production is pretty incredible. Having used 100% VG liquids in the past, I'm not sure how they're doing it. The vapor production is as close to an analog as I've ever seen out of a PV.
Similarly, I've scoffed at 32+ nicotine juices, but somehow, Halo has figured out not only how to get a cigarette-like kick out of 24mg, there's also a certain "scratchiness" in my throat that's closer to real smoke than any other liquid I've ever tried.
Incidentally, my impressions here carry across every flavor in the Halo lineup.
Flavor
Tiki Juice seems to be something of an enigma, depending on what you're using it in. I've got different flavors across devices:
Boge Carto + GLV2 @ 5V: First few puffs are outstanding. Very, very light menthol, a hint of fruit, and a lot of cinnamon spiciness. Unfortunately, subsequent puffs scorch and render the carto unusable.
Boge Carto + Prodigy V3 @ 6V: Almost identical to the GLV2, though hitting the switch rapidly keeps the liquid from scorching too quickly.
HealthCabin LR dual-coil 510 carto + 900 mAh eGo-T battery: Plumes of vapor all day long. Tiki Juice shows more tropical fruit undertones in this setup, but the flavor diminishes quickly. Interestingly enough, the nicotine kick stays fairly consistent. If you're a light vaper, you may not notice diminished flavor, as leaving the carto for 10 minutes or so and returning to it seems to "recharge" the flavor.
HealthCabin Giantomizer (3-window) + 1000 mAh eGo-T battery: Absolutely stunning flavor and vapor production on the first puffs. I was really taken aback here, because the vapor just kept coming and the fruity flavor really shined. However, I theorize that Halo's liquids are too thick for the Giantomizers, because they didn't seem to wick under sustained use. Swirling the carto around for a while seemed to help, but there were serious consistency problems here.
510-T + GLV2 @ 5V: Burnt, nasty flavor all around. This confirmed for me that Tiki Juice is not something to use on higher voltage devices.
510-T + 1000 mAh eGo-T battery: Broadly sweet flavor, hints of menthol, but generally disappointing vapor production and flavor.
eGo-T B-type + 1000 mAh eGo-T battery: Doesn't give quite the hit of the LR carto in nicotine or flavor. It's all light, and after some consideration, I think this setup with Tiki Juice would be an outstanding way to introduce someone to PV's.
eGo-T B-type LR atomizer + 1000 mAh eGo-T battery: My personal favorite. As much or more vapor than the dual-coil carto, and the vapor is nice and thick. Menthol is subdued, but leaves a lingering coolness in the throat. Throat hit is cigarette-like. Complex cinnamon and spice flavors with just a hint of tropical fruit and maybe a touch of tobacco.
Halo G6: I liked the liquids so much, I bought a G6 (PV review coming soon). I thought it was strange that Tiki Juice wasn't offered as a prefilled carto, and after loading up some blanks, I think I understand why. Vapor production is fine, arguably warmer and fuller than I was getting from the 510 dual-coil, but the flavor is really strange. It's almost like it wasn't fully vaporized, leaving a weird candy-sweet flavor that felt stuck in the back of my mouth.
Parting thoughts
Tiki Juice in a LR eGo-T is incredible. I never was a menthol smoker, and I don't go for fruity flavors at all (Red Oak Tennessee Cured was my go-to liquid). Yet somehow, this is an all-day liquid for me.
The menthol is so light that it really gives more of a "fullness" than anything else. And while the flavor is spicy and sweet, it's so complex that there's no one element that overpowers another. I was sure that this was going to be the "try it once" flavor in the sample pack, and now I'm going through the stuff like crazy.
I've read complaints about Halo being a bit on the pricy side, but you really get what you pay for. Putting it in to perspective, a 30ml bottle costs less shipped to my door than three packs of cigarettes, and lasts me a lot longer than three days.
In my humblest of opinions, this is a must-buy for anyone starting out, and analog smokers looking for something different but not too different.
I came across some praise for Halo a couple months back, and picked up a sampler tin. I'm now on my third 30ml bottle of Tiki juice.
Halo evaluation
As a company, Halo seems really professional. Their product packaging is on par or better than Johnson Creek, orders get shipped within hours, and their shipping packaging is probably the best I've seen.
Halo declines to indicate their PV / VG ratio, which I find a little unusual. If I had to guess, I'd say it's a 40 / 60 mix, based on how the liquid moves in my eGo-T carts.
On a personal note, the reason I never stuck with a PV is because I noticed that my gumline would recede after a few weeks, causing discomfort. At first, I thought it was a reaction to PG, but switching to Red Oak (a high-VG blend) didn't help very much. I'm absolutely delighted to report that in nearly four months, I haven't had this happen at all with Halo liquids.
Vapor production and throat hit
In every test, the vapor production is pretty incredible. Having used 100% VG liquids in the past, I'm not sure how they're doing it. The vapor production is as close to an analog as I've ever seen out of a PV.
Similarly, I've scoffed at 32+ nicotine juices, but somehow, Halo has figured out not only how to get a cigarette-like kick out of 24mg, there's also a certain "scratchiness" in my throat that's closer to real smoke than any other liquid I've ever tried.
Incidentally, my impressions here carry across every flavor in the Halo lineup.
Flavor
Tiki Juice seems to be something of an enigma, depending on what you're using it in. I've got different flavors across devices:
Boge Carto + GLV2 @ 5V: First few puffs are outstanding. Very, very light menthol, a hint of fruit, and a lot of cinnamon spiciness. Unfortunately, subsequent puffs scorch and render the carto unusable.
Boge Carto + Prodigy V3 @ 6V: Almost identical to the GLV2, though hitting the switch rapidly keeps the liquid from scorching too quickly.
HealthCabin LR dual-coil 510 carto + 900 mAh eGo-T battery: Plumes of vapor all day long. Tiki Juice shows more tropical fruit undertones in this setup, but the flavor diminishes quickly. Interestingly enough, the nicotine kick stays fairly consistent. If you're a light vaper, you may not notice diminished flavor, as leaving the carto for 10 minutes or so and returning to it seems to "recharge" the flavor.
HealthCabin Giantomizer (3-window) + 1000 mAh eGo-T battery: Absolutely stunning flavor and vapor production on the first puffs. I was really taken aback here, because the vapor just kept coming and the fruity flavor really shined. However, I theorize that Halo's liquids are too thick for the Giantomizers, because they didn't seem to wick under sustained use. Swirling the carto around for a while seemed to help, but there were serious consistency problems here.
510-T + GLV2 @ 5V: Burnt, nasty flavor all around. This confirmed for me that Tiki Juice is not something to use on higher voltage devices.
510-T + 1000 mAh eGo-T battery: Broadly sweet flavor, hints of menthol, but generally disappointing vapor production and flavor.
eGo-T B-type + 1000 mAh eGo-T battery: Doesn't give quite the hit of the LR carto in nicotine or flavor. It's all light, and after some consideration, I think this setup with Tiki Juice would be an outstanding way to introduce someone to PV's.
eGo-T B-type LR atomizer + 1000 mAh eGo-T battery: My personal favorite. As much or more vapor than the dual-coil carto, and the vapor is nice and thick. Menthol is subdued, but leaves a lingering coolness in the throat. Throat hit is cigarette-like. Complex cinnamon and spice flavors with just a hint of tropical fruit and maybe a touch of tobacco.
Halo G6: I liked the liquids so much, I bought a G6 (PV review coming soon). I thought it was strange that Tiki Juice wasn't offered as a prefilled carto, and after loading up some blanks, I think I understand why. Vapor production is fine, arguably warmer and fuller than I was getting from the 510 dual-coil, but the flavor is really strange. It's almost like it wasn't fully vaporized, leaving a weird candy-sweet flavor that felt stuck in the back of my mouth.
Parting thoughts
Tiki Juice in a LR eGo-T is incredible. I never was a menthol smoker, and I don't go for fruity flavors at all (Red Oak Tennessee Cured was my go-to liquid). Yet somehow, this is an all-day liquid for me.
The menthol is so light that it really gives more of a "fullness" than anything else. And while the flavor is spicy and sweet, it's so complex that there's no one element that overpowers another. I was sure that this was going to be the "try it once" flavor in the sample pack, and now I'm going through the stuff like crazy.
I've read complaints about Halo being a bit on the pricy side, but you really get what you pay for. Putting it in to perspective, a 30ml bottle costs less shipped to my door than three packs of cigarettes, and lasts me a lot longer than three days.
In my humblest of opinions, this is a must-buy for anyone starting out, and analog smokers looking for something different but not too different.
