Top 5 vendors (e-liquid)

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Jerms

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Love this thread, been following since the beginning and most of the vendors on my try next lists have come from here and the natural tobaccos thread. I'm going to add my top 5 knowing it might be fun to recheck it in a few months to see what's changed. I'm not looking for an all day vape nor an end all be all vendor. I love the journey involved in my vape hobby and love new juices and new vendors. I mainly direct drip onto an atty because I enjoy the ritual and switch juices many times during the day based on whim. So without further ado, and in no particular order..

HALO-- I started with Halocigs shortly after I started vaping a couple years back when there was a much smaller selection of American made juice vendors. I still have my original tin from my first sampler with the foam with cut out holes and use it to stand my twists in. With the growing NET vendors out now the lab produced Halo tobaccos no longer do it for me, tho I still enjoy Tribeca and Longhorn. I still use the menthols a lot. Most of my vaping is done dripped at home but on the go I use cartos. Menthols and mints are the only vapes that work well flavor-wise in a carto for me, and Halo to the rescue for that. They're all good, especially the newer Mystic and Kringles Curse (peppermint!). They've also slowly but regularly come out with new flavors (free 10ml sample with $20+ order) that lately have been delicious. Belgiun Cocoa and Cafe Mocha are both brilliant.

AHLUSION-- The list of what Ahlusion does right is astounding and would take pages. I don't see them falling off my list of favorite vendors in the near or far futures. You really need to try many vendors first to appreciate how far ahead of of the competition Wlad and co are with the depth and complexity of their flavors. The nuances that come out of the juices is impressive and they really are showing what can be done with juices when genius meets artist.

THE PLUME ROOM-- I have 10 flavors, 110mls from TPR for under $36 because of sales, promo codes, and Andrea's generosity in 2 orders. She goes above and beyond with upsizing bottles and throwing in free samples. The juices have just come out of the steep box a couple days ago so I'm just getting to know them. Some are wildly original (honey-fig tobacco, candied cavendish) and will take time to grasp. Some are instant hits with me (TPR cuban cigar, burley & candy.) Sadly, I can see that I may grow tired of most of these but it's really too early to tell and I still need to dive into her non-tobacco flavors. Be sure to check out the flavor of the week for a 30ml bottle for $10.50!

ALICE IN VAPELAND-- They make my list without having vaped a single flavor. I ordered "a bit of everything" sampler that includes 3ml of ALL their current flavors at a very reasonable price. Who else offers that? Awesome job with details in the packaging and some great free-bes. The concept and execution of AiV is truly well done and pretty cool. Collectable charms on the glass bottles, secret doorway on site to order juices in testing phase, fun stuff. The juices smell great and I hope they work for my tastes when done steeping so I can continue to order from them. NETs are on the horizon for them too so that's exciting.

GOODEJUICE-- Lame name, small selection of the juices in the line I'm interested in with them (house-brewed), bottles that should come with instructions to poke a hole in the tip in order to use them. GeJ doesn't do a heck of a lot right. Except making some of the best tasting and cleanest NETS on the market at a great price. I've only had 2, plan on ordering the rest of the line soon. Based on just those two I've concluded that Nick knows NETs. Vita Bella was created by God herself, this is a fact.

Thanks if you've spent the time to read all this lol! Yes, I can be prone to exaggeration and hyperbole (and bad spelling and poor grammar) but it's because I truly get excited by and enjoy this hobby!

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Jerms

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Bravo, Jerms.

I'm left speechless. You did that all on a phone to boot?

Haha thank you TB. One risk of such a long post is people glancing at it and thinking.... um, yeah I don't think so.. and skipping over it. That's ok tho, I had fun writing it. Yeah, my phone is where I do my internet. It has a slide out qwerty keyboard so typing's easy. My thumbs enjoy the exercise.

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TBinAZ

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I'll just sit here refreshing the screen until you post a juice review. I'll be sure to have my seat belt at the ready. :2cool:

Haha thank you TB. One risk of such a long post is people glancing at it and thinking.... um, yeah I don't think so.. and skipping over it. That's ok tho, I had fun writing it. Yeah, my phone is where I do my internet. It has a slide out qwerty keyboard so typing's easy. My thumbs enjoy the exercise.

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Kyi

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My personal favorites, after trying a good two dozen vendors or so...

1. Vapedudes - So far, I like almost all of their juices, and their shipping times are much better now than they were around Oct/Nov. Their ice and butterscotch flavors are great! If you were put off by their shipping before, give them another chance. My favorites are vanilla mint and chocolate strawberry.
2. AIV - good juices all around
3. Ahlusion
4. Mrs. T
5. Mister E
 
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Racehorse

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but if you are expected to paint photorealistic paintings, what's the point of being an artist?

I used to think that. Then, back in the 60s I went to see Chuck Close's work. Before that, I assumed that photorealistic painting meant trying to make a facsimile of a photograph, and it actually wasn't that. Much of what he did is actually hidden in his final image, and so it all appears to be continuous, but it's not. I call that *brain-fooling*....our brains will fill in details that are not there. To me, there is actually a great deal of aesthetic composition going on in the paintings of photorealistic painters, the great ones, anyway....and quite a lot of "brain fooling" going on with respect to the viewers -- it is so good that they are "fooled" into either seeing things that are not even there, or they are not seeing what is there. It depends on what they are trying to capture, and then, of course, where the painter's focus is and exactly what visual information they have chosen to convey.......reflections of light, or whatever. And sometimes, it is so briliantly disguised that our brain just makes assumptions, then look closer and see all this other stuff, even abstract stuff that is *hidden* in there.

Until I started takiing this stuff apart, and then knew how it was done, it's was easy for my brain to just see a facsimile.....but that is part of the brilliance. Not to mention, they are using paint and it ends up looking like a photographic work, even that, in and of itself, requires a great deal of technical brilliance. Not to mention sheer visual acuity.

Try to get the "shine" on a piece of silverware like Roberto Bernardi does, or the essence of light falling on a hardwood floor thru a patio sliding door....the way he does. :) To be honest, my eyes don't even "see" nearly as well as what his paintings convey....I am missing a whole lot of visual information that he is able to capture.....and that is either because he has hyper visual acuity (like a hawk perhaps who has more visual fields/cones inside their eyes that allows them to see a blade of grass moving from a mile up in the clouds) OR is just a technical genius. Either way, to be able to *represent* like this amazes me. Also keeping in mind that most people look at a photograph and see a picture, but really the photographer was photographing "light". Now, think about moving that to paints. It's really all sort of mind-blowing.

I can pretty much bet that a really good photorealistic painter could take an area in my house, something I see every single day, and show me something about it that i never saw as clearly or as profoundly as they paint it.

anyway, I have no background, education or study or even any hands-on experience in art or painting. I just used to pass a lot of time in art galleries in NYC, New Haven, or anywhere where I could find them, and listen to the docents explain stuff I would never know by just looking at paintings, as I'm really not sophisticated enough to know what I am seeing sometimes.

Just as the masters moved on to "more abstractional work", the photorealists moved from the old masters to less abstractional work. :) It's all a circle, all the time, toward and then away. Artists are so......reactionary. :) But the photorealists actually used many of the techniques that the old masters used, in their abstractional work.

By the way, one of the amazing things about Mr Close, the fact that he painted so many portaits......he had that disease, I dunno what they call it, where he is actually UNABLE to see or recognize faces. So then you ask yourself, if faces are unknowable to you, then how can you make a name for yourself by immersion into painting that which you cannot even see? But.......he did. It's very weird.

/rant
 

Racehorse

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PS I liked the comparison of mixology and art. And forgive my lack of brevity.....it was just nice to indulge since it's refreshing for me, at least, to intertwine other subject matter into juice topics...the juice thing starts to feel myopic and even a little claustophobic after a while, because in real conversation, the subject would have changed at some point, around the dinner table......over wine and good food, and even over a good vape.

then maybe it would flow back to juice vendors again......:)
 

Racehorse

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how some vendors appear to simply add pre-purchased flavorings and tweak the diluent and PG/VG base, or mix the flavorings at different ratios to "create" their own take on flavors. I find it tiresome to go to a site and find the old 'standbys'. So many use the same stock photos to represent their flavors , that I use that to as a clue that the flavors will be just as 'cookie cutter.'

You are exactly right.

and that is why the DIY section of the forum thrives. After purchasing enough juice and then getting to know the flavorings from the flavoring companies, it's not rocket science to figure out how to make a *simple* strawberry cheesecake. :)

However, I like to keep in mind....most vaporers are paying for *convenience*. I've even taken to calling it "my convenience juice." :)

In my opinion, artisanal vendors are authentically creative. This group does not automatically include all NET or WTA manufacturers. These creators transcend the rest by virtue of their initial intention, which shines forth as one that seeks to create or develop something interesting and original

talking to a few of those, come to find out, they starting mixing precisely because they couldn't find anything decent out there they wanted to vape. Just like a lot of the nicest PV designs seem to spring from people who were just vaporers, and looking for something "better", and figured they would just have to do it themselves. :)
 

Todd the E juice fanatic

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This is the thread that got me on my journey into my first purchases....I went with 4 so far....and thinking backwoods brew for my 5th... so here is my 4 in order...

1. HHV.......got the sampler of Shadowfax, PB, HT, Gandy...absolutely love the 1st 3....Gandy is steeping so have not tried it...I like cinful pear and carnival...Not so hot on mocha java smooth and the Tuscon cocoa is ok..I am loving the tobacco flavors so much, I put in a order for 5, 30 ml bottles !!

2. Vermillion River......Got a 6 pack sampler and a free sample....I loaded a full tip of Applewood for work....Very tasty...and treating myself to some vanilla blend while I drink a couple black butte porters...I have a feeling I will be making a big bottle purchase from them....yet to try....peachwood...texas watermelon, carmelized cap, butter rum, and Malibu pineapple

3. Mountain Oak....1st off....Legendary is one I love...Just a few drops...yum!!!...I like their Classic CountRY4....My worse purchase so far has got to be Black Forest...Not saying other people won't like it...It just sounded interesting to me and got some good reviews...I mixed it with the CC4 and it wasn't too bad...Maybe it will get better with age..Just wish I would have chosen something else in the 3 bottle , 15ml special....

4. AIV.....Only reason it sits at #4 is because I have not received it yet...I patiently wait !! Really looking forward to it though
Item: A Delectable Sampler (18 mg)
sample5: Zombie Apocalypse (3ml)
sample4: Bandersnatch (3ml)
sample3: Twas Brillig (3ml)
sample2: White Rabbit (3ml)
sample1: Orange makes me Creamsicle (3ml).....Plus 2 from the C room....footprints in the jello and pear ship !!

My motto is Vape it Forward....Good luck on your search for your favorite vapes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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