eLiquid Review 460: Baba Yaga by Tempesta Anteriore

The next couple of eliquids that I’ll be reviewing are from a small company that have been around for quite a while. For some reason, they fly under the radar when people are looking for new brands to try, even though they are widely known for their great flavours and quality mixes.

Tempesta Anteriore is a small operation based out of Melbourne, with a focus on transparency and fast customer service. All of their liquids are produced to a high VG ratio, (70%) to ensure great cloud production as well as great flavour!

Today, I’ll be reviewing “Baba Yaga” by Tempesta Anteriore.
(This eliquid was supplied by the vendor for review.)

Flavour Description

Just as the legend would have it… bourbon and cola, cold but not too icy. Strong but not too strong. A nicely balanced blend if I do say so myself.

The Review

We all know what “Baba Yaga” is. Well, you will have if you’ve ever seen the movie “John Wick“, and if you haven’t I recommend that you do, it’s one of my favourites. 

Sidenote: there is quite an interesting conversation around the interwebs on why the writers chose to align “John Wick” to “Baba Yaga”, (often described as an ancient witch with ambiguous intentions) which of course doesn’t really make much sense until you put it all into context, and the intention of painting John Wick to be a force to be reckoned with, and driving the association to one of the more known figures in Russian folklore. Look it up, it’s an interesting read. 🙂

Given that John Wick’s choice of drink is Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon, makes this a perfectly named eliquid.

“Baba Yaga” is primarily an almost candy cola, with a hint of sweet bourbon, and a slight coolness to it.

Individual Notes

The cola is of course the main flavour here, it’s the first and the last thing you’ll taste. It’s a sweet candy cola, not quite as deep as a cola drink, very much like a cola flavoured chup-a-chup (lollipop). 

Coming through the cola is a light hint of bourbon, sweet and a little caramel based, you’ll struggle to find it but it’s there, adding a touch of an alcohol feel, and a little sharpness.

Throughout the vape, you’ll notice some menthol, only a little. It’s just enough to give this flavour a little coolness without going overboard, keeping it beverage based, rather than a full blown frozen slushie. 

Inhale & Exhale

The inhale is of course dominated by the cola, starting off quiet at the start and intensifying as you inhale, the sweetness of the candy cola really drives this flavour. At the height of the inhale, that hint of bourbon shows through trickling over to the exhale, with it’s caramel like quality, adding some depth, but also a little alcohol sharpness. 

Over to the exhale, while the bourbon builds, the cola stays at a very level intensity, not really getting any stronger, but holding it’s strength and sweetness. You’ll notice now that the caramel of the bourbon is a little stronger against the cola, still quite light, but just identifiable.

The sharpness is gone at this point, where the caramel and cola blend with an almost vanilla like feel, that flows right through to the end of the exhale with that light menthol chill further complimenting the cola.

Final thoughts

This is a very nice cola, granted, more of a cola chup-a-chup type of flavour, but a nice cola nonetheless. I was a little disappointed to not get more of a bourbon hit from it, but there could be various reasons for that. 

The bourbon does come through, just not at the intensity that you would expect compared to the sweet cola.

I think the addition of menthol was a great idea. The best part is that it’s not in your face either, just enough to give a hint of coolness without turning it into a cola slushie.

Nice work guys!

Where to Buy:

You can purchase this flavour as well as many of their others directly from the Tempesta Anteriore website/store or through their various stockists.

Colour:

Honey tinted

Aroma:

Cola

Coil and wick damage:

Wicks will darken and coils will gunk eventually with this one, due to sweeteners in the cola. 

PG/VG Ratio:

70%VG / 30%PG

Texture:

Sweet, thick, syrupy cola

Steeping:

Not necessary but can’t hurt.

Presentation:

This juice arrived in a 60ml dark tinted “Chubby Gorilla” styled bottle, with red cap and childproof ring. The label has a very dark background with Keanu Reeves (John Wick/Johnny Utah) likeness on it with the Juice name prominently displayed. 

There are a few warnings on the label too, mainly “Keep out of reach of children”, ingredients, that sort of thing. It does lack a little on the label information. One thing that I did also notice, is that the logo for “Tempesta Anteriore” is also not present, not at all. The website is listed, but no sign of their logo anywhere… strange.

They are very nice looking bottles and labels however, distinct and instantly recognisable.

Test rigs:

Haku with slam cap running a single 0.17 framed staple coil on a mech mod.
Augvape Intake RTA with a 0.2ohm Stainless coil running @ approx 50-80 watts.

Shane Presser

Shane Presser has been vaping since 2013, and has extensive experience with advanced equipment, coil builds and DIY mixing. He is the man behind VapersGarage, and also more recently Aussie Vape Stores, a resource to help vapers find their nearest Vape Shops, and eLiquid Vendors.