Testing Out the V2 Sample Pack

I just got in my second shipment from V2 and I thought I'd write a post as I'm exploring it. First of all, I finally have a good power cig and let me tell you, it's amazing. When the XL battery is fully charged, it gives a great taste and feeling of vapor in your mouth and throat. But the power cig has even more power than a maximized XL battery. And since it is drawing power directly from the computer or car charger, every hit is as good as the first.

But the main thing I'm going to explore right now is the flavor sampler. First of all, you should know that I don't like the taste of tobacco. I would have sooner quit analogs than smoke a non-menthol. And now that I've been on eCigs for a couple of weeks, I can't even stand the taste of a menthol analog. Therefore I don't hold out a lot of hope for the tobacco flavored carts for myself, but I plan to have my dad, a 45-year-smoker of Marlboro Reds, try them before I publish this. I tried these in order of what I thought would be my most to least favorite.

Menthol – Cart Color: Green – I've been on these since I first received my V2 kit and they're my hands down favorite. I've heard complaints from some people on the forum that they don't taste like menthol tobacco, which is a good thing for me. The taste reminds me of chewing spearmint gum. It leaves your mouth tasting fresh and minty.

Peppermint – Cart Color: Pink (which immediately turns off most guys, who don't want to smoke a pink cigarette) – Also a favorite from the beginning. This tastes more like the round red and white hard candy peppermints. I can use these instead of menthol and not regret it at all. However, the taste is just a bit weaker, so the menthol still holds my #1 spot.

Chocolate – Cart Color: Dark Brown – This is the first new flavor I'm grabbing because it's the one I'm most excited about. I figured it would either become a favorite or it would be gross, not much room for in between. My first impression after a couple of puffs is that it has potential. It tastes warm and chocolaty. However, I don't feel like I've just eaten a piece of chocolate, more like eating a piece of chocolate flavored hard candy. Definitely has potential, but I don't think it can overtake the menthol or peppermint on my personal preference ranking list.

Vanilla – Cart Color: Light Beige – Not bad, but I don't think it's going to be high on the list or anything I would reorder in quantity. The taste is warm like the chocolate, but I don't feel that it has a very distinctive flavor. If I hadn't read the label, I might not even know that it was vanilla. I probably would have guessed some sort of coffee, like the French vanilla cappuccino you can get at a gas station.

Cherry – Cart Color: Dark Red – I'm not usually a fan of cherry, but I kind of like this one. The flavor is stronger than the chocolate or Vanilla and I really think of cherries when I taste it. It's sweet, like the kind of cherries you get in a fruit salad. I was worried it would taste like cough syrup, but although I can see the similarity, it's like they used the same flavoring without having the underlying taste that's hard to mask in medicine. I wouldn't recommend this to people who don't like sweet things, but to those of us who would eat ice cream for breakfast if we could, it's definitely a flavor to consider. Right now I'm moving it into the third place position between peppermint and chocolate.

Coffee – Cart Color: Dark Beige – I tried several flavors of coffee with the V4L carts, so I was a little reluctant on this one. But I was pleasantly surprised. It tastes the way I like my coffee, sweet and with a thick cream. It should probably be called cappuccino or cafe a lait instead of coffee, which is a compliment. In fact, I'm moving it up to 3rd place between peppermint and cherry (poor chocolate, he was the favorite before the race started and he keeps losing ground).

Reds – Cart Color: Bright Red – This isn't a flavor I can describe, but it's much nicer than I thought it would be. It's a little sweet without actually having a candy flavor. It doesn't taste like a cigarette to me, but it's likely that the part of the cigarettes I disliked was the tobacco and burning taste. It's not something I would order more of for myself, but it's definitely something I would suggest to a non-menthol smoker.

Sahara – Cart Color: Yellow – I hear this is supposed to be for those who previously smoked camel or other Turkish tobaccos. I never tried Camel, but now I'm wondering if I should have. The flavor is thick and unique. Definitely strong enough to leave a taste in your mouth, but not in a bad way. I can't think of any food to use as a reference that actually captures the taste, but I think I detect a little vanilla in there. In fact, I think I would like this more than the actual vanilla for that flavor. Oddly enough, this may even be a tobacco flavor I'd consider ordering more of.

Congress – Cart Color: Blue – I only took two puffs of this before deciding that it was my least favorite. I can taste the tobacco flavor in it. It also reminds me of very weak, black coffee. This is not a taste I would want to linger in my mouth or to taste on someone else's if I kissed them. I had to screw the menthol back onto the power cig and take a few puffs to clear out the taste.

So right now, just from my own first impressions and before sharing with my dad to get his opinion, I would have to say that the flavors rank in this order for me: (1) Menthol; (2) Peppermint; (3) Coffee; (4) Cherry; (5) Chocolate; (6) Sahara; (7) Vanilla; (8) Reds; (9) Congress. The menthol and peppermint still took the lead by a mile, so they're likely to be my go-to order. But I could see getting more of any in the 3-6 ranks as well. I plan to try each again a few more times before solidifying my list and placing a re-order. But I figure variety makes the world go round, so I'd like to have at least a small stock of the flavors that appealed to me.

Two hours later....

Well I just got back from my parent's house, which is next door to mine. I offered my eCig to my dad and he rolled his eyes and tried to decline. My mom and I encouraged him to try the tobacco flavors. I gave him the Red flavor and he took a puff then started to hand it back to me. Half way to me, he brought it back to his lips and tried another. After his third puff, he said that it didn't taste like cigarettes, but that it was pretty good. My mom tried it and said that she liked it too, although it was stronger than she would like on a regular basis. I next put on the Sahara. My dad choked on it after just one puff. My mom agreed that it had a vanilla taste that it was really good. Finally, my dad tried the congress. Even though I hated it, he said that it tasted the most like cigarettes, although it had a cardboard after taste. He declared the Reds to be his favorite. My mom also tried the sweet flavors. She said that the coffee was the perfect flavor to go with White Russian drinks. She liked the menthol, but said it was too strong of a mint flavor. I suggested she try the peppermint since my only fault with it is that it's a more subtle flavor. She loved it.

So I guess the moral of the story is that everyone has different taste preferences. Just because I ranked the flavors as I did doesn't mean that someone else may not rank them exactly opposite.