Chris 'majorvapes' SissonWhen I was at CVE Edmonton I met with a company called Half Pint Labs. They’re a pretty new company out of Saskatoon Saskatchewan that were quite happy to share their wares with me for review. This is a rather big set so I’m just going to give a quick rundown along with my opinion. Here are my honest thoughts on Half Pint Labs.
Bottles:
The juices I received came in 30ml old school needle tip bottles but I believe they’re actually sold in 60ml chubby gorilla style bottles. I didn’t see the ratios listed but if I had to guess I’d put them around the 70vg mark. The labels looked a bit odd as I believe they just used the 60ml labels on some 30mls. They all sport colourful labels with most being quite obvious as to what the flavour is. They did have some of the important info in fine print but I believe these were meant as sample bottles and not regular retail labels. The set I got was in 3mg. Here’s a shot of the lineup by half pint labs I received:
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!
Peach Drops
Description: Mouth watering peach candy drops.
My thoughts: Pretty much a bang on Peach Fuzzy candy flavour. It’s a bit more sweet then it is sour but all around quite tasty. No weird chemical tastes or any harshness, just a nice pleasant Fuzzy Peach sort of flavour. I usually tend to prefer more realistic peach flavours but I can totally appreciate a Fuzzy peach every now and then and this one hits the spot. Fans of candy flavours will appreciate this one!!
Cherry Bomb
Description: Delicious bite sized cherry candies.
My thoughts: Really didn’t expect to like this one with so many cherry flavours coming off like medicine or a bathroom air freshener but this one does a pretty darn good job of tasting just like a Sour Cherry Blaster. It’s quite sweet, a little bit sour and I also get a sort of cotton candy taste so maybe it’s got some EM in it. I rarely go for candy flavours but will admit this set has some good ones, this Cherry Bomb included. Another one for candy fans and folks looking for a good cherry flavour.
Something Fruity
Description: A delicious blend of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and black currant with subtle notes of grapes, plums, apples and cherries that dance on your tastebuds.
My thoughts: This one is quite different and a standout when it comes to fruity mixed flavours. For me it’s got a distinct dark berry lean, at times an almost fermented grape kind of note but it seems to constantly change giving me different hints with each vape. Sweet and fruity with little hints of candy, I get so many different notes from it it’s hard to make sense of it. It too is on the sweet side and leaves a nice fruity sweetness on the lips. It seems to have almost every kind of fruit in it but the main ones I pick up are the blackberries, raspberries, grapes and plums. I’m sure the others are there too but there’s a lot going on in this blend. Surprisingly good for such an eclectic mix of fruits and something well worth checking out if you’re into fruity flavours.
Pink Lemonade
Description: Sweet Strawberries meet tart lemonade to dance on your tastebuds.
My thoughts: This one is a fairly mild for a lemonade flavour. I get the sweet strawberry but for a lemonade it’s not very tart. It’s actually kind of soft with the sweetness taking the sour down a notch. It’s nice and pleasant but admittedly not very zingy or refreshing for a lemonade flavour. This one didn’t quite win me over but people looking for a nice mild lemonade might appreciate this one.
Taffy
Description: Savory salt water taffy infused with the flavours of wild blueberries and sweet vine ripened strawberries.
My thoughts: From Taffy I don’t really get a whole lot. It’s lightly sweet but not like candy sweet and the only real note I pick up is blueberry. The strawberry doesn’t really come through for me but I have to say the lingering aftertaste of blueberry is quite realistic and reminds me of having just gnashed some fresh picked wild blueberries. I don’t however get any sense of taffy or more specifically salt water taffy, just a light blueberry flavour and a bit of sweetness. I don’t have anything particularly against this flavour it just doesn’t quite match up to expectations.
Cloudcake
Description: Light and fluffy angel food cake with layers of rich Bavarian cream, topped with a light vanilla frosting, whipped cream and a strawberry drizzle.
My thoughts: This one gets points for likely being the most complex in the bunch. From it I get notes of Angel Food cake, cream, vanilla with just a hint of strawberry on the end. The strawberry tends to pick up a bit more as you vape it but it’s not quite a strawberry cream more like a strawberry cream cake. A really nice dessert flavour with lots of complexity compared to the more candy based flavours in the line. I usually tend to gravitate to dessert flavours so I really appreciated this one. Nice and light, full of flavour this one is a real treat of a flavour and any fans of cake flavours will dig this one.
Bubble Gum
Description: Our take on a timeless treat. Juicy pink bubble gum with a splash of grape.
My thoughts: This one to me is a lot like Juicy Fruit gum. I don’t really get a distinct grape flavour from it but I do get that classic generic fruity taste that most of us love from the gum in the yellow packet. Although not really a natural fruit taste this one is quite accurate and enjoyable especially if you like the classic gum flavour. I let a friend try this one and they agreed, it’s a super tasty rendition of the classic bubble gum flavour.
Bluebacco
Description: Full and rich tobacco that is complimented by a deep blueberry flavour.
My thoughts: I tend to love tobacco flavours but this one didn’t really win me over. From it I get a very rich, fresh tasting tobacco with a mild burnt ash sort of taste to it. I hardly pick up the blueberry which seems to be fighting to poke it’s head out of the dark wet tobacco leaf taste. That ashy taste is fairly prominent and doesn’t really appeal to me but some folks might appreciate it in this one as it helps give that more realistic taste of actually smoking tobacco. Maybe it’s the darker wetter tobacco that I’m not drawn to but this one isn’t really for me.
Root Beer Float
Description: Rich and creamy ice cream melted into a full frothy mug of rootbeer.
My thoughts: This one tastes like those Rootbeer bottle cap candies. Sort of dry and powdery tasting with a slight creaminess. It’s pleasant at first then eventually the thing that ruins all rootbeer flavours for me creeps in, the taste of black licorice. Unfortunately I’m just not a fan of this one but folks looking for a creamier root beer experience might appreciate it. For me there’s just a touch too much of that licorice taste for me to enjoy it.
Krispy2
Description: Fresh out the oven rice crispy treats, with melted vanilla marshmallows and a buttery glazing.
My thoughts: Hands down one of the best rice crispy flavours out there that I’ve tried. I’ve got a soft spot for rice crispy flavours but will admit they are not all created equally, this one easily competes with if not exceeds some of the top selling rice crispy flavours out there. Unfortunately I didn’t have many on hand to do a side by side comparison but my god did I go through this bottle fast. If you like a nice gooey marshmallow rice crispy treat you are going to enjoy this one!! It’s sweet, buttery with a nice gooey marshmallow flavour and just enough of that rice cereal taste to make it authentic. I’m usually not one to rave about a cereal flavour but oh boy does this one hit the spot!!
Overall:
Although it’s my first time trying anything from Half Pint labs I’ve got to say I quite enjoyed the lot. They have a really nice mix of flavours with most being candy or dessert based which made for a fun time for me trying them all out. Not a single one gave me any odd chemical tastes and none of them came off as harsh or anything, just nice pleasant flavours that all seem to be done quite well. A few of them are on the sweet side but none of them were particularly bad when it came to coil gunk and I even managed the entire 30ml bottle of Krispy 2 without changing wicks if that says anything. If you’re like me and enjoy some sweeter flavours then I’d say these are well worth checking out!! So big thanks to the folks from Half Pint labs for setting me up with these, you guys make some great juice!!