I’m always on the hunt for new vaping liquids. Even when you have a favourite eliquid or two, it’s fun to discover a different vape juice. Plus it stops things from getting dull over time, and fires your taste buds up again. So I’ve enjoyed doing these new Halo Vapour Co. shortfill vape liquid reviews, as I already knew the UK-made brand from their very nice Pineapple Juice liquid.
The team at ecigarettedirect.co.uk kindly sent over samples of the new Menthol Blend and Forest Berry liquids for my honest opinions. Both come in a 70-30 VG:PG ratio, which means they’ll work with a good range of mainly DTL vaping kits. To give reasonable opinions, I used my Aspire NX75/Atlantis Evo tank for direct-to-lung, and also tried both liquids in my Aspire Zelos/Nautilus 2 tank to see how they work for mouth-to-lung out of curiosity. In both cases fresh coils were installed prior to testing, and the tanks were given a good clean!
Obviously a lot of vapers prefer shortfills due to the cost saving by getting 50ml of liquid rather than 10ml bottles. For me, it’s actually now as much about the packaging and environment, as I don’t mind paying for liquid I’ll really enjoy, but I do feel bad throwing out so much plastic.
Halo Vapour Co. Menthol Blend Vape Liquid:
Testing a pure menthol flavour was definitely interesting for me. As a former smoker, I hated menthol cigarettes. The cold flavour of them seemed really harsh and nasty, and I avoided them as much as possible for years. And yet since quitting smoking, I’ve found I really enjoy vape liquids with fruit and menthol mixes.
So could I ever enjoy a pure menthol eliquid?
In any case, the Halo Menthol Blend liquid comes in the standard 50ml size with the normal gap in the bottle for your nicotine shot, in a 70:30VG:PG ration. It’s been created to be slightly lighter and sweeter than the current Halo Menthol Blast, so would it work for me?
I do like the packaging for the Halo Vapour Co. brand. It’s a nice clear design which looks fairly stylish. And there’s no issues with adding the nicotine, shaking it up, and letting it steep a little. I know everyone debates how to prepare their liquids, but I managed an impatient 24 hours or so before letting rip.
And it’s really good. There was definitely an initial Menthol shock from the first few puffs as I kicked off with the N75 and DTL. If you regularly vape menthol flavours already, I suspect it’d be much smoother, but it took a minute or two for me to get used to pure flavour. And it certainly has the coolness you would expect. But the lighter, sweeter finish meant that it wasn’t unpleasant for me. And I got used to it very quickly.
Over the coming days, I really started enjoying the Menthol Blend flavour. It works brilliantly as a light, regular, all-day vape. And it’s really refreshing as a break from something sweeter and more powerful. It’s not the strong, overpowering menthol I’d feared, so it works well as a ‘palate cleanser’. But it’s also got enough flavour to be enjoyed on its own merits, and definitely has a nice coolness. It’s great if you’re somewhere hot and need to chill with your vaping.
I also gave it a quick go in my mouth-to-lung set up. I wouldn’t recommend a 70:30 liquid for most MTL vape kits, but some will handle those ratios. And sometimes you need an emergency solution. As a lighter liquid, it’s actually worked pretty well with my Zelos and Nautilus 2. Obviously coils do tend to struggle and need replacing more quickly, but they’ve still tended to last a few days. Whereas sweeter, thicker 70:30 liquids can sometimes kill them in 24 hours or less.
So for me, the Halo Vapour Co. Menthol Blend is pretty much spot on. It’s £14.99 from ecigarette direct, which is a fair price. And it’s a great all-day vaping choice which goes well for DTL vaping. Plus it’ll work for MTL if you need it to. I don’t think I’d have wanted anything with a stronger menthol taste, but I can go through two or three tanks in a stressful day and really enjoy it.
And it also works well if you have a couple of kits running. Just alternate it as a break from whatever bizarre flavour you have in your other vaping set-up. Full-on menthol addicts might want to stick with the Menthol Blast in the 10ml bottles. But I’d say it’s definitely worth trying to see how you get on. And you definitely save money with the larger shortfill bottles.
Halo Vapour Co. Forest Berry Vape Liquid
I’m a huge fan of fruit flavours for vape liquid. And apparently, I’m not alone. So I was happy to get the Forest Berry shortfill sent for review. The Cream Custard sounded intriguing, but personally I tend to stay away from cigarette flavours like the Tobacco Gold.
There’s no equivalent 10ml, although Halo Vapour Co do have a range of fruit flavours, and the Blueberry Burst is probably the closest. Like the Menthol Blend, the aim is a light flavour suitable for using all day, every day. And that’s something which can become an issue with sweeter, more sickly fruit flavours. Even some of my favourites can become overpowering after more than a few days, so if you’re going to be working through 50ml, something more subtle is definitely a good choice.
And it’s definitely a more subtle, nuanced flavour than most. It reminds me of a diluted summer fruit cordial rather than a neon-coloured fruit squash.
And it definitely seems like a mix of mainly blackcurrant and blueberry, with some bilberry in there as well. It smells and vapes like a very ‘natural’ e-liquid. Some fruit flavours feel very synthetic. But the Halo Vapour Co. range always seem closer to an actual fruit juice in my experience. Which means you don’t get any nasty synthetic taste or a bad aftertaste.
There’s no menthol in the Forest Berry, which I appreciated. A lot of berry flavours come with a heavy menthol hit, and that can be another reason why they can be a bit much by the end of the day. And obviously if you do want to add menthol to it, you can add an appropriate nicotine shot.
As with the Menthol Blend, it produced a smooth vaping experience and some decent-sized clouds if that’s your thing. Certainly I didn’t have to play around too much with the wattage settings, and it worked well at the lower end of the coil ratings on every device I used.
It’s definitely a flavour to live with rather than try for just one or two puffs on a tester kit. If you came to it from a strong blackcurrant, it might seem a little weak. But by the end of the first tank you’ll be appreciating it more as something you can enjoy for long periods without becoming too much to enjoy. And it also means it doesn’t interfere with your taste buds if you’re eating or drinking something straight after.
The other benefit to the lighter, all-day flavours is that any secondary vapour won’t be strong enough to cause any offence to people around you. Which is always a nice bonus if you’re vaping in company. In the Aspire NX75, the Forest Berry worked really well, and even in my MTL kits the coils lasted a reasonable amount of time.
Overall, I really enjoyed both the Halo Vapour Co. Menthol Blend and Forest Berry. The flavours work as liquids for using all day, every day. They taste great in an appropriate vape kit for 70/30 liquid, and will still work even if you bung them in something else as a stopgap. And in the right kit, they won’t put a strain on the coils or the wattage, meaning you’ll definitely get your moneys’ worth. The Halo Vapour Co. Menthol Blend and Forest Berry cost £14.99 each for 50ml at 0mg, and obviously you can order your choice of nicotine shot at the same time.
