The care NicQuid put into their flavors is abundantly clear, and there are some excellent options in their selection. It isn’t perfect – some flavors could use a little more punch and the menthol option we tried was overpowering to say the least – but it’s easy to see why NicQuid have built a strong customer-base. Even though some may not suit everyone’s tastes, there wasn’t a bad e-liquid from the bunch we tried, and that is a notable accomplishment. Their dedication to product quality is just the icing on top of an already-delicious cake.
NicQuid claims to be the number one USA e-liquid manufacturer, so saying they’re setting expectations high would be something of an understatement. Founded in 2012, they’re dedicated to producing quality e-liquid, mixing everything at their private lab in Ohio, which they hold up to (or above) food preparation standards. To them, mixing flavors is an art form, and product quality is paramount.
They’re founding members of the American E-liquid Manufacturing Standards Association (AEMSA), an industry-created group dedicated to establishing safe manufacturing practices for e-liquids; effectively a working example of self-regulation. For NicQuid, this provides a firm stamp of approval that the e-liquid is produced in a clean, contamination free environment and you only receive the very best of quality. This is evident in how they source and test their products; everything is USP grade (with kosher vegetable glycerin) and their nicotine is supplied by an industry-leader, who conducts testing on each batch before it is shipped.
If you think that’s enough assurance for NicQuid, you’re wrong – they then re-test the liquids to ensure the concentration is correct. This exemplifies the effort they put into ensuring you receive high quality products. This ideal comes through in their flavor-crafting process too. Each flavor is devised over several months, as the mixers carefully select their combinations and refine the recipes before sending them for final approval and a battery of tests. Admirably, they say they’d rather have a smaller collection of quality flavors than a large catalogue of rushed blends. They allow everything to steep before they’re shipped to customers, ensuring you get a well-matured flavor right out of the mailbox.
The selection is still varied and interesting, separated into tobaccos, menthols, fruits and desserts. They offer four tobacco flavors (with some unique options – Gen 7 is a cocoa leaf blend with raisin and vanilla, and Midnight Express promises a “realistic” tobacco), thirteen menthols (such as Apple Frost and the cinnamon-menthol combination Sinthol), eleven fruit options (including Grape Escape, the peach-infused Strawberry Fuzz and the cherry Maraschino Blast) and seven desserts (including Banana Nut Bread, Chocolate and Sinnabun). We’ve put seven of their e-liquids to the test to see if this is all really as good as it sounds.
PG/VG and Nicotine Options
The PG/VG ratio is fixed at around 60/40 with NicQuid, with some minor variations depending on the particular flavor. This is a nice ratio, still PG-heavy so the throat hit is notable, but with enough VG to offer you satisfying plumes of vapor and give the liquids a slightly sweet undercurrent. It’s not ideal if you’re sensitive or allergic to PG, as NicQuid point out on their FAQ page, but for most vapers the ratio will be suitable. Although, given that they acknowledge the issue with PG sensitivity, it would have been nice to offer one high VG option for sensitive vapers. There are five nicotine options available through NicQuid, the standard spread of 0 mg, 6 mg, 12 mg, 18 mg and 24 mg per ml. This is all we really ask for from e-liquid manufacturers, enough options to satiate our various levels of nicotine dependence and a zero nicotine option for those who just want the sensory experience.
NicQuid Packaging
You have the option of 5 ml, 10 ml and 30 ml bottles through NicQuid, which come in plastic bottles with child-proof caps and nice thin dripping spouts. The Sampler Pack includes five short, fat 5 ml bottles, and we also picked up two standard-looking 15 ml bottles. The labels are fairly straightforward, but provide all of the information you need, including nicotine content, volume, the mixing date, expiry date, batch number and ingredients.
The design may not win any beauty contests – featuring bold colors and the fairly bland NicQuid logo – but it gets the job done. The caps and labels are color-coded, though, so you can tell at a glance whether you’re picking up a menthol, fruit, dessert or tobacco option, which is a pretty nice idea (even if it did take me way too long to notice).
The Flavors
Strawnanna Smoothie – Rating: 4/5
Accuracy: This is intended as a strawberry and banana liquid, blended into a smoothie-like concoction with the addition of a hint of cream. The strawberry is the dominant flavor, but the combination with the cream adds to the lightness and sweetness associated with the fruit, and the entire thing is supported by a notable undercurrent of banana. It accomplishes its goal well, producing an easily identifiable combination of strawberries and banana suitably diluted by a rich, soft cream.
Overall: This e-liquid is very enjoyable, with the fresh fruit flavors blending beautifully with the dessert-sweetness of the cream for a light yet decadent vape. The fruit flavors – primarily the strawberry – provide the character for the liquid, but the well-captured richness of the cream is what really takes it to the next level. This is a definite all-day-vape, with just the right amount of sweetness to remain satisfying without suffering from overkill after extensive use.
Blueberry – Rating: 3.5/5
Accuracy: The blueberry comes through immediately with this liquid. It’s a light flavor, wo you just get a soft and subtle touch of it with each puff. NicQuid likens it to biting into a fresh blueberry, but the flavor is a little more understated than that. The initial whoosh of flavor is strong, but it soon loses its impact as you become accustomed to it. The taste lingers, though, continuing to play on your tastebuds and encouraging you to take another puff. It’s definitely accurate, but not especially powerful.
Overall: Objectively, it seems reasonable to say that this liquid is only so-so. On one hand, you have a nice hit of blueberry, with the fructose-sweetness that makes so many e-liquid flavors popular and the additional character provided by the blueberries. On the other hand there is nothing particularly special about this e-liquid; it’s nothing to really get excited about as a flavor. However, in practice it’s very easy to vape and consistently enjoyable. You find yourself sticking with it for longer than you intended to because it just goes down so easily. It’s one you’ll happily make your way through, but not one you’ll be rushing to tell anyone about.
Peach Lemonade – Rating: 4/5
Accuracy: From the first puff of this liquid you can pick up both components of the flavor clearly. The lemonade is the dominant element, and it’s more than just a subtle hint of lemon flavoring – it balances the tart lemon and the sugar sweetness perfectly, producing something genuinely reminiscent of lemonade. It’s tastes accurate enough that your brain tricks you into thinking it’s somehow fizzy. The peach is a bit-player, adding some fruity character to the flavor without detracting from the overriding aroma of the lemonade. It periodically comes through more strongly but largely blends well into the overall flavor, providing exactly what you’re looking for.
Overall: Lemonade might not sound like the most exciting flavor, but the addition of the peach turns this into something more special. The sourness of the lemon is buried beneath the sweetness of the sugar and peach, still playing on your tastebuds but subdued enough so you don’t feel like you’re biting down into a slice of lemon. There may be more interesting options available through NicQuid, and perhaps the peach could be a touch stronger, but if the name of this liquid sounds appealing, you’ll undoubtedly enjoy it.
Southern Freeze – Rating: 3/5
Accuracy: This is one of the menthol liquids from NicQuid, mixed with peach and strawberries and packing the fanciful description “like a light frost on peaches dangling on the tree and strawberries on the vine.” The menthol hits you over the head with all the subtlety of a sledge-hammer made out of ice, and the fruity elements limp weakly behind it in an effort to remind you that you aren’t just vaping pure menthol crystals. The strawberries come through clearly enough, but peach is inherently a gentle flavor, and doesn’t really break through the mix here.
Overall: Upon reading the description of this liquid I was hoping for more a fruity flavor underpinned with light hints of menthol, but to my disappointment this is the exact opposite. If you’re a fan of powerful menthol, you may love this – with the strawberry tones serving to make something you already enjoy even better. Otherwise, you’ll probably feel much the same as me: it would have been a great liquid if they hadn’t dialed the menthol up to eleven and had shifted the balance a little further in the direction of the fruit. It is a menthol liquid, so the minty overtones are to be expected, but it takes an otherwise nice liquid and makes it overwhelmingly cutting and icy. It isn’t bad, of course, but be warned that the strong menthol very much takes center-stage.
Strawberry Fuzz – Rating: 4/5
Accuracy: This is a strawberries and peach liquid, and according to the NicQuid also features “awesomeness.” It’s very much like the Southern Freeze without the punch of menthol, so the strawberries and peach can take the spotlight. The strawberries are easily identifiable, and although the peach is still a subordinate flavor, you can appreciate it much more than in the mentholated version of this juice. You definitely get what you’re promised with this e-liquid.
Overall: This tastes like a summer cocktail, evoking memories of freshly cut fruit and the soft texture of peach skin. It’s the sort of thing you can imagine vaping as you lie on the grass staring idly at the clear blue sky on a hot summer’s day. The light sweetness of the juice makes it an instant winner, a great option for anyone who loves fruity vapes. The subtlety of the peach isn’t an issue, because just enough of the flavor comes through and it works beautifully in combination with the strawberry. This is up there with the best liquids we tried from NicQuid.
Butterscotch – Rating: 4/5
Accuracy: Butterscotch is ordinarily a supporting flavor to something more noticeable, but NicQuid have managed to make it stand on its own two feet with this liquid. The flavor is immediately identifiable, with the velvet, buttery sweetness hitting you with every puff. It’s exceptionally accurate, capturing the flavor well enough to literally make you want to go and eat something laden with butterscotch. On occasion you get an almost alcohol-like overtone, but this is rarely noticeable and fades back into the intended flavor pretty quickly.
Overall: A very enjoyable liquid, devilish sweetness enveloped in the deliciously smooth butter. Other butterscotch options (like the one from Mt. Baker) don’t quite have the punch to go it alone as a flavor, but NicQuid has proven that it’s possible with this liquid. It may be a little too sweet and luxuriously rich to become an all-day vape, but it’s the sort of thing you’ll drip for a while as a little treat: a true “dessert” vape. It probably would still be better if it was mixed with a more substantial flavor, but there’s nothing to complain about with this liquid even without a supporting taste.
Banana Nut Bread – Rating: 4.5/5
Accuracy: This is definitely the most accurate liquid of the bunch from NicQuid, capturing the intended flavor with chef-like precision. The description likens it to “warm, homemade banana nut bread straight out of the oven,” and in this case I’m forced to agree wholeheartedly. Of course it can’t taste “warm,” but it’s hard to imagine a taste so true to the genuine article that hasn’t come straight from the oven. It literally tastes like the best banana nut bread you’ve ever tasted. The walnut nuttiness is the main characteristic, but the supporting aroma of the banana is ever-present, and the fact that it’s intended to be bread would even be detectable in a blind taste-test. It really is that perfect in terms of accuracy.
Overall: This beats Strawberry Fuzz to the title of the best flavor we tried from NicQuid. The only criticism I can offer is that the elements of chocolate included by other mixers (such as Mountain Oak Vapors) would have made it even tastier, particularly for vapers with a sweet-tooth. Still, if you can vape this liquid without being blown away by the flavor I’d suggest getting your tastebuds thoroughly examined. The mixture works beautifully, so much so that if I could bake banana nut bread that tasted this good, I’d have about three loaves in my kitchen right now. If you’re a connoisseur of banana nut bread liquids, the nuttiness is really what takes this one to the next level, and if you’ve never tasted one, this is a great place to start!
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