Are they worth picking up?
The juices from Pachamama salts are all delicious, and that’s not something I say lightly. Ordinarily there will at least be a flavor that’s not for me personally but I can see the appeal of, if not one I would say is outright crappy, but the people at Charlie’s Chalk Dust really know how to mix a tasty juice.
All of the flavors come through strongly and clearly even in more basic pods, and the fruit replications – with the exception of the melon – are accurate and nuanced. And for $14.99 per 30 ml bottle it’s definitely worth trying some out, especially the Apple Tobacco.
The rise of pod systems has brought with it a huge demand for nicotine salt e-juice, and the best mixers in the industry are quickly jumping on board. Charlie’s Chalk Dust has put out some exceptional juices over the years – including one of my favorites of all time, Drama Swirl – and their Pachamama brand shifts the focus onto exotic and fruity flavors. Along with the Charlie’s Salts range based on their main line-up, the company has now released Pachamama Salts, which bring some classic flavors from the selection into a stronger, nicotine salt formulation. You can pick them up for $14.99 per 30 ml bottle, but are they worth it? We’ve taste-tested the seven juice line-up for our Pachamama Salts review to find out.
Packaging and Design
The Pachamama Salts juices come packaged in individual boxes, with the squat gorilla bottles inside. The issue of pointless packaging aside, it does make the juices feel a bit more “special” in a way. The bottles themselves are fully child-proof and the spouts are small enough to get into the fill-hole of any pod or tank. The label design is kind of simple, with the “Pacha Mama Salts” logo in the middle, the size and nicotine strength below (all color-coded for the specific flavor), and warnings basically covering the rest of the bottle. The name of the juice is around to the right, backed by the same color used for the logo on the flavor.
Overall the bottles do everything you need them to, and despite a simple design they do look pretty cool.
Mixing Options
Like most salt nicotine e-liquids, the Pachamama juices come in a fixed 50/50 PG/VG ratio. This is ideal for pod-style devices because the wicking doesn’t tend to be as good as in sub ohm tanks, so the fact you don’t have a choice isn’t much of an issue.
The juices come in either 25 or 50 mg/ml, with the higher-nicotine option being great for just-switching smokers and the lower one working well for people who’ve already switched to vaping or less addicted smokers. For me the 25 mg/ml was more than enough nicotine and very satisfying in combination with pod vapes, but I’ve been vaping for years and wouldn’t really need the 50 mg/ml at this stage. Of course there could be more options but overall this is more than enough for most people’s needs.
Pachamama Salts Review – The Flavors
Fuji – Rating 4/5
Accuracy: Fuji is a combination of Fuji apples, strawberry and nectarine, aiming for a sweet and tart fruit e-juice that’s heavy on the apple. The apple is immediately noticeable on the nose in particular, and the strawberry backs it up throughout. The nectarine isn’t as easy to pick out of the mix, fading into the general sweetness but still peeking through occasionally. The fruits are very well captured, the apple in particular is very realistic and does add a touch of tartness to the combination.
Overall: This is a great e-liquid if you’re into fruity flavors. The combination works beautifully, although it’s carried by the apple, the strawberry and nectarine give it a backdrop of fruity sweetness without drowning out the core flavor. It’s an all-day vape sort of juice, striking a balance between having a distinctive flavor and still being subtle enough that you can keep vaping it without getting sick of the taste. Definitely one to pick up.
Icy Mango – Rating 3.5/5
Accuracy: This is intended as a fairly straightforward – though unique – blend of ripe mangos with an icy hit of menthol. And the goal has been achieved very well. The mango is impossible to miss, coming through strongly at the beginning of your draw in particular, with a well-rounded flavor that brings sweetness but also conveys the juiciness and flavor of the real thing. The mint comes later in your draw, adding a cooling twinge to the back of your throat and nose as you inhale.
Overall: Icy Mango definitely achieves what it sets out to, and if you’re a fan of menthol juices but don’t want something generic and boring it’s a fantastic choice. The mango being so well-captured makes it difficult to dislike, even without the addition of the menthol it would be a delicious juice. The minty punch adds the character to the flavor, though, and even though it’s still not the most exciting flavor in the world it definitely makes your tastebuds stand up and take notice.
Apple Tobacco – Rating 4.5/5
Accuracy: Apple Tobacco is actually a mixture of Fuji with a tobacco flavor, essentially an apple tobacco but with some other notes in the background too. Both elements of the combination come through clearly, with the apple from the Fuji being the main part you pick up alongside the tobacco. The tobacco itself isn’t fantastic – it tastes kind of typical for a tobacco e-liquid, which is to say not hugely accurate – but since it isn’t the whole focus it works really well.
Overall: This juice is genuinely delicious, probably one of my favorite tobacco e-liquids I’ve tried over my many years of vaping and reviewing. It isn’t accurate in the way NET (naturally extracted tobacco) juices (like Black Note) are, but the combination with the apple elements works perfectly, offering enough of the taste of the real deal to tick that box while having the fruitiness to make it more broadly enjoyable. If you’re happy with a non-standard tobacco, I strongly recommend this one.
Strawberry Watermelon – Rating 4/5
Accuracy: About as self-explanatory as e-liquid names get, but as always with Pachamama it’s a simple combination they’ve pulled off really well. The watermelon comes through the strongest, but despite the fairly mild flavor of the fruit, the replication is nuanced enough that it tastes like actual watermelon rather than the candy-like ones. The strawberry comes through as well, more as a background flavor as with Fuji, but still strong enough to be picked up.
Overall: It’s hard not to like this juice. Strawberry and watermelon is a great combination, and as long as you’re happy with the balance being shifted towards the melon, you’ll love it. The sweetness of the strawberry in the background softens the flavor out and the melon brings the character. That all said, it didn’t really grip me as a flavor like the apple tobacco – it’s very nice but nothing exciting. Casual vaping material, not “oh my god you have to try this.”
Sorbet – Rating 3.5/5
Accuracy: Sorbet is a lemon and raspberry flavor, inspired by the desserts of the same name and transport you to Italy on a cloud of vapor. The key flavors of the juice come through well – they’re both subtle, but you get a realistic hit of raspberry on the inhale and the lemon backs it up with a touch of sharpness. Like most of the Pachamama juices, the fruits are very well replicated and strive for accuracy over in-your-face flavor, and here it works very well. It does remind you of sorbet.
Overall: Sorbet works beautifully as a gentle, calming flavor – the sort of thing you can happily vape all day long and not get tired of. The flip-side of this is that it’s another flavor that isn’t overly exciting or interesting, but you don’t need that from every juice flavor anyway. Here, if you like fruity flavors and don’t mind a subtle taste, you’ll enjoy the juice. Overall it does suffer a little because of the subtlety, but it’s well-balanced and pretty tasty.
Starfruit Grape – Rating 4/5
Accuracy: Again, the name here tells you the components, but starfruit is a pretty exotic choice that I’ve never tried in real form. The grape is definitely identifiable in the mix, and as you’d expect from Pachamama it’s a very accurate and nuanced replication, but the starfruit is really the dominant element of the flavor. This makes it kind of hard to describe in terms of accuracy, but the flavor is definitely unique, with a nice touch of tartness that works well, especially in combination with the grape.
Overall: Starfruit Grape is a well-executed e-liquid and a combination you’re unlikely have tried in e-juice form (or otherwise) before. And it works very well, offering an ideal balance between sweetness and tartness, not to mention the unique flavor of the starfruit really keeping you interested in the juice. As always, the fruits are well-replicated and seem realistic rather than exaggerated or candy-like, and this helps give the juice potential as an all-day vape. The flavor here might not be for everyone, but for me it’s delicious and definitely one to try.
Honeydew Melon – Rating 3.5/5
Accuracy: This is another self-explanatory flavor, but noteworthy in that it’s the only one-note flavor in the whole line up. The melon here is easy to pick up – you could even tell what it is if you were tasting blind – but it’s also the only flavor in the line-up where the replication is a bit caricatured. It’s very sweet, and definitely mouthwatering, but it has the over-the-top candy-like flavor you get with quite a few melon e-juices. In terms of accuracy it’s definitely a step down compared to the other options from Pachamama.
Overall: That said, the Honeydew Melon e-juice is definitely delicious. If you don’t mind the slight inaccuracies of the replication – meaning, if you like melon-flavored candy – then you’ll be right at home with the juice, and in a sense it’s nice to have one more overtly sweet option in the line-up. It does lose some points because it flies in the face of the whole Pachamama approach, but it’s still very enjoyable and definitely one I’ll make my way through the bottle of. It’s not an all-day vape, but it’s good for an occasional pod-full.