Honest review time: 7 Monks latest collection via Drip Direct

Here’s a look at a new set that I received from the good folks at Drip Direct. If you’ve never heard of Drip Direct they’re a wholesale distributor that services a lot of Canada’s best e-liquid brands. I’ve done a few reviews for them in the past and they’ve always set me up with some of the best liquids out there so when they handed me this new set I knew I could expect the same. This latest set is from the folks who brought us 7 Monks who recently launched a new set of three flavours but still bearing the original 7 Monks moniker. I actually reviewed their original lineup a couple years back and quite enjoyed not only their liquids but their style and presentation. The original line came in square glass bottles packed in gorgeous wooden boxes with the 7 Monks logo burned in to the lid. It was one of the things that drew me to their booth in the first place. This new set takes on a completely different look arriving in new cardboard boxes and doing away with the old square glass bottles and replacing them with more common unicorn bottles. Here are my honest thoughts on 7 Monks the latest collection.

Bottles:

The juices come in clean white cardboard boxes with their iconic logo on the front, an image of a Buddha like character deep in meditation. The rest of the box is quite modest with just the name of the flavour and the bottle size on the bottom. Inside clear 60ml chubby gorilla style bottles echo the design of the box but with much more colour. Each flavour is coloured to match it’s flavour profile with green for apple, red for strawberry and blue for blueberry. The juices are all 70vg blends and the set I got was in 3mg. Here’s a shot of the boxes and bottles I was handed:

Setup:

Testing was done mostly in a Hadaly clone with a three core alien(3×28/36ni80) build from the Canadian Coil makers SaddleHorse Blues, 4/5 wraps on a 2.5mm coming out to 0.28 ohms and running between 35-45w. Using Puff cotton, rda rinsed and rewicked in between. Here’s a shot of a fresh build:

Remember taste is subjective and results will vary! Click the titles for links to the products!!


7 Monks Apple & Coconut Cream Cookie

Site description: A freshly baked cookie infused with an assortment of crisp and sweet apples, topped with a perfect blend of coconut cream icing.

My thoughts: Kicking off with Apple & Coconut Cream Cookie which to me is probably the most unique flavour in the set, much like it’s name implies it’s an unusual mix of apples, cookie and a creamy coconut. It’s such a different mix that at first I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it but the more I vaped it the more I came around to it. The blend of apples is nice and sweet but because it’s mixed with a cookie flavour it comes off almost spiced, like it sort of reminds me of Apple Jax with just the slightest hint of a cinnamon flavour floating around in the background. The cookie which I’m guessing is something more like an Italian sugar or cinnamon cookie is sort of mild but definitely adds a thicker baked goods sort of taste to the flavour. It’s borderline apple pie with it’s somewhat unusual cookie mix acting almost like a crust. Then on the tail end I get the coconut or rather coconut cream. It sort of finishes off the flavour giving it a nice creaminess but also adding just a touch of a coconut flavour on the end which almost takes it somewhere tropical but not quite. While it is a somewhat unusual profile it’s not actually the first tropical inspired cookie that I’ve tried and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Definitely something worth checking out especially if you like apple, cookie and coconut flavours.

7 Monks Shortcake Cream Bar

Site description: A finely selected variety of strawberries with vanilla ice cream covered in an irresistible shortcake crumble coating.

My thoughts: This one is probably the most familiar of the bunch, it’s a super thick strawberry cream flavour with just a light touch of shortcake to it. It reminds me of a few of those strawberry Pocky flavours that popped up over the past couple of years with it’s thick creamy strawberry icing and delicate biscuit-like flavour underneath. This one is definitely on the sweeter side and leaves a sweet taste on the lips and tongue so folks who like their juice unsweetened need not apply. It’s a very simple flavour mostly centering around the sweet strawberry which I don’t really pick up a variety of like the description suggests, I get one strawberry and it’s mostly an artificial strawberry icing or ice cream sort of taste which is what gives it such a thick character. I suppose it reminds me a bit of strawberry Nesquik but comes off much thicker and creamier like an ice cream would. Unfortunately the shortcake pretty much gets steamrolled and just barely comes through that super thick strawberry ice cream and only on occasion for me. As much as I’ve run the gamut of strawberry and cream flavours this one is pretty damn tasty and maybe it’s the similarity to a strawberry Pocky but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying this one!!

7 Monks Blueberry Coffee Cake

Site description: A rich & creamy coffee cake with hinted notes of sweet blueberries complimented with a splash of meringue.

My thoughts: This last one was a real surprise for me. I absolutely love real blueberries and almost anything made with blueberries but very few blueberry flavoured liquids have made my list. This one is a bit of an exception simply for the fact it’s pretty much based on a recipe I grew up eating. It’s a classic coffee cake flavour but one that’s chock full of ripe blueberries. I don’t really pick up the splash of meringue from the description but imagine it adds to the sweetness and even a bit to the creaminess that the description mentions. The coffee cake however is rich with gentle notes of spice, maybe a touch of cinnamon in this one as well but it’s not really a cinnamon and sugar flavour, definitely more of a coffee cake or bakers spice sort of thing. If you’ve ever tried the classic ‘Boy Bait‘ blueberry coffee cake then you’ll get an idea of what this tastes like. I actually grew up eating it as it’s one of my mothers favorite recipes and this is about as close as I’ve tasted to the real thing. It’s warm and spicy, fruity from the blueberry and just a really warm and comforting flavour. The blueberry is sort of between fresh blueberries and a jam, like a fresh compote or something like that. It’s fairly forward in the mix and is pretty much the dominant flavour but it still lets the taste of the coffee cake come through. All in all a really nice warm blueberry flavour and a nostalgic one for me at that!!


Overall:

I pretty much knew what I could expect with this line up as 7 Monks has been making some fantastic juice since they’ve launched. One thing to note however is when I searched for them online I pretty much came up empty. It was listed on a couple of sites but showed out of stock everywhere I found them. I reached out to Drip Direct and they were kind enough to provide at least a couple links. I’m sure stores who regularly stock via Drip Direct will have it on their shelves but online might be another matter, at least for now. So huge thanks to Drip Direct for setting me up and to 7 Monks for making yet another fantastic lineup!!