Saturday 2 November 2013

Karma Cream by Mr. Good Vape

Disclaimer: This E-liquid was provided to me free of charge for the purpose of conducting a review. This fact notwithstanding, I will, as best I'm able, provide an honest, accurate and unbiased assessment of this product.

Preamble


Karma Cream. Karma. It's a broad and deep subject, but I'd just like to introduce this review with the following little paragraph.
 
"...Karma is the law of cause and effect in the ethical realm." It refers to volitional thought, speech and act and exempts all those things that are beyond our control. It is, furthermore, not the only force of nature that moulds our lives, as many of us in the West believe it to be. It is considered in Buddhist lore to be one of "five orders or processes (niyama) which operate in the physical and mental realms." If you chose to harm somebody in a previous (or present) life, it's likely that you will suffer in some form in this or a future life. "...Karma law operates quite automatically and, when the Karma is powerful, man cannot interfere with its inexorable result though he may desire to do so; but here also right understanding and skilful volition can accomplish much and mould the future. Good Karma, persisted in, can thwart the reaping of bad Karma." http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/karma.htm

It's tempting now to offer some sort of cheap, journalistic transition into a discussion of the subject of this review, Karma Cream from Mr. Good Vape, but I'll resist it. For both our sakes.

Before we talk about the juice, let's look at Mr. Good Vape, the company.

Mr. Good Vape (The Godfather of Vaping) is based in Southern California and is the brainchild and joint venture of business partners and long-time friends, Gary Riddle and Chris Davis. Mr. Good Vape was set up to be a fun, approachable company with an emphasis on "sweet fruit and candy like flavors. Similar to Jelly Belly Candy company or Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream company." https://www.mrgoodvape.com/about-us/

Mr. Good Vape e-liquids are available from their own online store https://www.mrgoodvape.com, Vape Revolution http://shop.vaperev.com and fifty brick and mortar stores scattered throughout the US (with one in Kuala Lumpur, another in Ireland and another opening soon in England). https://www.mrgoodvape.com/contact/ Amusingly, each outlet is characterised as an Under Boss, Soldier or Capo, furthering the Godfather theme of the company.

The company offers a selection of eleven flavoured e-liquids. These are Bahama Mama ("Banana, Pineapple, Coconut Candy Colada and Cream"), Sweet Lovin ("...strawberries, watermelon and bubblegum..."), Karma Cream ("...juicy peaches, vanilla bean ice cream and two types of creams..."), Dreamsicle ("...(a) vape that mimics the old ice cream 50/50 bars. Loaded with Tangerines and Bavarian Cream and more..."), Melon Head ("...Cantaloupe, Mango, and Papaya..."), Moon Sugar ("...warm and bready with tones of Butterscotch and some graham cracker pie crust..."), Sunshine Daydream ("...Pineapple, Banana, Orange and two other excellent extracts. People say it tastes like Juicy Fruit Gum!"), Pistachio Man ("...Chocolate Mint Pistachio with an undertone of french vanilla ice cream and a slight hint of dark burley Tobacco imported from Italy..."), Heaven's Candy ("...Apple Candy, Sweet Plums and two types of sugary grapes with a hint of cotton candy..."), Sundae Fundae ("...Caramel Candy, Brown Sugar, French Vanilla, Butter Pecan, Cookies and Cream drizzled in butterscotch.") and Dabble Dooyah ("warm, Dutch, apple pie melted into two types of exotic, slow churned vanillas with a dabble doo of cinnamon drizzled in caramel").

The PG/VG ratio in each juice in the range differs from the next. For example, Sweet Lovin is a 50/50 liquid while Melon Head is an 80/20 (VG/PG) liquid. Check the juice you're interested in for it's specific PG/VG ratio. Each juice is available in a 15 (US$12.00) or 30ml (US$20.00) bottle at nicotine strengths of 0, 6, 12, 18 and 24mg.

The (15ml) bottles used by Mr. Good Vape are a clear glass with a black, plastic, screw top cap with an inbuilt eye dropper which makes transferring the liquid from the bottle to your favourite device very easy. Every label in the range features the cartoon portrait of the "Godfather of Vaping". He reminds me a little of Inspector Gadget. Is that bad? Information on the label includes the following: the company name, the name of the liquid, nicotine strength in mg, a "born on" date, an ingredients list, a warning that the contents of the bottle may contain traces of nuts and an admonition to "keep out of reach of children and pets".

The Review

The colour of the liquid is a clear Orange Peel Orange. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shades_of_orange#Orange_peel I know that this is a Vegetable Glycerin rich liquid (75%VG/25%PG ), so the requisite "vigorous shake of the bottle, which disperses tiny bubbles throughout the liquid" produces the expected result. The bubbles travel to the top of the liquid at an extraordinarily slow pace. As I hold the opened bottle below my nose and take slow, shallow and sustained inhalations, I sense a top note of sweetness almost immediately above the slightly tart aroma of peach. At the finish lies a slight amplification of the peach with a sliver of vanilla beyond that.

I'm vaping Karma Cream in an Igo-L on a Poldiac running on an 18650 battery. There's five wraps of 0.2 (32AWG) Kanthal wire around three strands of 2mm Silica wick and the atomiser is reading 2.3ohms on the Provari.

I take a few primer puffs to progressively heat the coil and as I do so my mouth fills with a fruity sweetness. In fact, the fruit is immediately recognised, at the level of pure sensation, as some form of stone fruit. As I begin to inhale the flavour is amplified and I notice a light tingling sensation along the forward edge of my tongue, but it's not until I take a short breath of fresh air to chase the vapour into my lungs that I recognise the flavour of peach with a subtle undercurrent of vanilla. When I begin to exhale, the peach is softened slightly by the gentle influence of the vanilla. Subsequent draws on the device seems to coax a creamy quality and flavour out of the vapour. The aftertaste is dominated by the peach with a mild, metallic tang around my teeth and gums.

As with many fruit flavoured liquids, I find that the throat hit is minimal. However, a certain mounting of pressure at the back of the throat as I inhale is substantial and it builds quickly. As expected with a VG heavy ratio, the vapour production is magnificent; profuse, dense plumes of white vapour.

Each of the individual components comprising the overall flavour of Karma Cream tastes authentic; the peach tastes like actual peach (sweetness and tartness perfectly balanced), the vanilla tastes like vanilla and the cream couldn't be anything other than cream. This is one of those liquids that could be vaped all day without any conscious awareness of the subtleties of flavour at play, but attentive vaping will be richly rewarded.