e-Liquid Review: Kahuna range from Complex Eliquid
I’ve got something a little different for you today. Rather than my normal way of publishing one flavour per review, I’ve packed x6 flavours into the one blog post!
This range of x6 flavours come from “Complex Eliquid”, and the line is called “Kahuna”. I’m sure you’ve seen some of the marketing posts on your social media, they’ve got a pretty cool concept going on and I’ll tell you now, the flavours in this range, perfectly suit the branding with their tropical yet clean tasting blends. I’ve been vaping this new range for the last week or so, and they are all bright profiles packed with flavour.
If you’ve not heard of them before, Complex Eliquid are fairly new to the game and hail from Sydney, NSW. Other ranges in their reportoir include the “Signature” series, and their “Light Side/Dark Side” range (of which I’ll also be reviewing shortly).
Today, I’ll be reviewing the “Kahuna” range from Complex Eliquid.
(This eliquid was supplied by the vendor for review.)
PIPELINE
From the website:
Complex presents Pipeline. This is a combination of Watermelon, Apple and Blackcurrant.
Watermelon takes the top notes on this mix, with Blackcurrant taking the other end of the spectrum. Apple comes in on the middle note to bind it together. A refreshing cool kick is then thrown into the mix.
Initial Thoughts:
Fantastic dynamic flavour! On the tongue it’s sweet candied fruits with a heap of cooling.
Candy (losenge) Blackcurrant is the dominant note here with bright apple and background watermelon.
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale it’s chilled Blackcurrant, sweet and intense with a touch of apple moving in as the inhale continues. At the top of the inhale things sharpen up with the apple hitting at its strongest, introducing a little acidity and furthering the candy feel.
As you exhale a lovely sweet watermelon appears, knocking back the Blackcurrant and apple a little providing a little more base and building the three flavours into the one delicious profile.
These three flavours work together to create a brilliantly dense and bright flavour right through to the end of the vape.
Final Thoughts:
Delicious. This is probably my favourite flavour of the range. The bright apple and Blackcurrant really make this punchy, and the juicy watermelon on the exhale beefs up the vape for a full mouth feel.
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: This one will damage wicks and coils, I noticed discolouring of wicks after a day and slight gunking of coils after 2-3 days.
Steeping: No steeping necessary
Score: 8/10
MAVERYCK’S
From the website:
Complex presents Maveryk’s. This is a delectable Orange and Blackcurrant combination set.
Sweet Orange hits the front notes with Blackcurrant covering all base notes. This is finished off with a refreshing cool kick.
Initial Thoughts:
Wow! A very dynamic and intense flavour! On the finger test, this tastes delicious, with the orange balancing the citrus with a syrupy sweetness, while the blackcurrant contrasts it wonderfully with it’s sweet hard candy tone. This is a very cold flavour the ws23 percentage is aimed at giving you a chill. Don’t worry, you quickly get used to it!
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale, you’ll notice a bright candy orange to begin with, it’s sweet with a slight citrus hit. The inhale is ice cold, cold enough to freeze your mouth over, well, until you get used to it.
As you inhale the orange takes on a bit of an ‘Orange Tic Tac’ flavour, as the candy BlackCurrant appears, slowly drifting into view.
It’s a very “Blackcurrant Pastille” flavour, sugar coated soft jelly candy with a strong and dynamic Blackcurrant taste. It’s bright and sugary sweet, and as you hit the top of the inhale, it’s at it’s strongest.
The exhale sees the lighter orange fall to the background while the sweet Blackcurrant candy profile continues to dominate right through to the end of the vape.
Final Thoughts:
It’s funny, I get several candy profiles from this, from orange jelly candy, blackcurrant jelly candy, orange tic tacs, right through to a fizzy “Fruit Tingle” feel.
It’s a very tasty flavour. While it’s more candy than fresh or natural this is something I could easily vape for extended periods of time. It’s packed with flavour and very consistent.
A lovely sweet and sharp candy flavour! Well done guys!
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: This one will damage wicks and coils, I noticed discolouring of wicks after a day and slight gunking of coils after 2-3 days.
Steeping: No steeping necessary
Score: 8/10
MANU BAY
From the website:
Complex introduces Manu Bay. This is a phenomenal blend of Kiwi, Banana and Strawberry.
Flavour Layering: Kiwi takes the top notes in this mix, with Strawberry in the mid notes pulling the reigns in on the sharpness of the Kiwi. Banana then brings it all together on the base note. This is then finished off with a refreshing cool kick.
Initial Thoughts:
This is an instant taste sensation. It’s a deeper blend than the others with a nice contrast between opposing flavours that magically compliment each other. Combining these 3 flavours and tastes together creates quite a unique profile. Down low and deep banana, contrasting against the tart yet sweet kiwi and strawberry creates a gummy feel, almost a bubblegum but not quite.
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale I get instant kiwi and bubblegum, light but increasing in intensity as the inhale continues. It inevitably comes to a peak at the top of the inhale where the tart and sweet strawberry appears creating a sharper dynamic feel.
On the exhale the strawberry dulls back a little again, as it folds into the other flavours leaving me with a lovely creamy banana and sweeter strawberry kiwi all rolled into one for a fantastic ending.
Final Thoughts:
This is an interesting blend and a fantastic flavour. I love the contrasting flavours, and the bubblegum feel that having the banana in there gives off, brilliant! It also has some sweetener like the others but it’s less noticeable. Also the cooling seems to be a little less chilly too.
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: This one will damage wicks and coils, I noticed discolouring of wicks after a day and slight gunking of coils after 2-3 days.
Steeping: No steeping necessary
Score: 8/10
CLOUD NINE
From the website:
Complex introduces Cloud Nine. This is a Mango Lychee set with a cool hit to keep things fresh.
Flavour Layering: Lychee is the base note with Mango overtones with a refreshing cool kick.
Initial Thoughts:
On the finger and my initial vape this flavour hits you right in the mouth with the succulent juiciness of sweet Mango flesh, and a sharper, sweeter candy lychee.
The mango is very fleshy, no peel here, just that thick gooey juicy fleshy texture. It’s probably why these two flavours work so well, the textures are so very similar, nice and juicy.
The cooling in this flavour is similar to the others, a little stronger than the average Aussie juice, but not quite as strong as e-liquids from our Malaysian brethren.
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale, I get Mango flesh sweet and juicy straight off the bat, no mucking around here. It’s a decently strong hit, and doesn’t hold back. A very full profiled mango to get your tastebuds going.
As the inhale continues, you’ll start to see a little lychee appear gradually. It’s quite light to start and has a bit of a candy feel to it, but don’t get too comfortable yet, this lychee gets stronger and stronger, right through until the top of the inhale. It’s at this point I notice a little harshness. Not something that I can put my finger on really, it’s just that the lychee turns a little harsh. It is a strong flavour after all, and the more I vape this the more I notice it.
On the exhale, that harshness dissipates leaving you with a warm, thick and syrupy mango and sweet candy lychee, evenly blended to follow up the rest of the vape.
Final Thoughts:
This is a really lovely flavour, honestly I thought it would be in the top 3 of this range, unfortunately that harshness from the lychee has ruined things a little for me. Where I would have liked a simple pleasant vape all the way through, it’s interrupted by that tiny bit of harshness right in the middle.
Is it purely the lychee? Could it be the added sweetener? Not quite sure.
Having said that, your results may vary, and you fall in love with this one, with not misaligned flavour or harshness at all.
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: This one will damage wicks and coils, I noticed discolouring of wicks after a day and slight gunking of coils after 2-3 days.
Steeping: No steeping necessary
Score: 7/10
SUPERBANK
From the website:
Complex presents Superbank. This is a combination of Pineapple and Lime.
The Pineapple and Lime take the top notes with the a refreshing cooling accentuating the lime, with a gentle creamy base note that reigns in the sharp fruity profiles.
Initial Thoughts:
Not quite as cold as the other flavours but does also contain some ws23
Pineapple is sweet but tart. Not overly fresh like a half fried pineapple ring a little bit syrupy.
The lime is also sharp with a slight bitterness along with its citrus flair. A little fresh and a little candy.
Sweet slightly tart pineapple with lime and a creamy undertone.
Inhale & Exhale:
On the inhale its mainly warmer Pineapple with lime creeping in as the inhale continues. At the peak the pineapple and lime come together with a creamy backnote.
Exhaling sees the cream intensify, very much like vanilla ice cream blending and smoothing out the lime and pineapple for a fruity creamy tropical exhale.
Final Thoughts:
Overall quite a nice flavour but I’m finding that the pineapple is not quite as fresh as I would like it to be. The lime is great and that contrast with the light vanilla cream is very well done.
Fruity yet smooth 7/10
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: This one will damage wicks and coils, I noticed discolouring of wicks after a day and slight gunking of coils after 2-3 days.
Steeping: No steeping necessary
Score: 7/10
CLOUDBREAK
From the website:
Complex presents CloudBreak. This is your punchy citrusy Pineapple lemonade. Sweetness is kept at a perfect level to maintain consistent enjoyment.
Flavour Layering: Pineapple front notes with an effervescent Lemonade base, with a refreshing cool kick across the entire profile.
Initial Thoughts:
Not quite as cold as the other flavours but does also contain some ws23.
Pineapple is sweet but tart. Not overly fresh like a half fried pineapple ring a little bit syrupy.
Lemonade is a little natural a little soda.
Inhale & Exhale:
This is mainly Pineapple on inhale gradually getting stronger as a sweet lemonade starts to work its way in. The lemonade is not quite a real lemon lemonade, but also not quite a soda, somewhere in between.
At the top of the inhale the lemon from the lemonade is quite prominent, working with the pineapple and giving off a little bitterness.
This doesn’t last long however, as when you begin to exhale the lemonade gets quite sweet and more prominent than the pineapple.
Final Thoughts:
A very nice flavour and a good mixing pair. My only complaint is that the lemonade has an unusual feel and creates a slightly off flavour after a while.
Colour: Clear
Coil & Wick Damage: This one will damage wicks and coils, I noticed discolouring of wicks after a day and slight gunking of coils after 2-3 days.
Steeping: No steeping necessary
Score: 7/10
Final thoughts
All in all I’ve found this range to be quite refreshing! They’re all very clean tasting flavours, mostly sweet and candy like with the cooling really hitting the spot!
A couple of them did have a little bit of an unusual feel to them, mainly the flavours containing pineapple. Rather than being a fresh and clean pineapple, it came across as a slightly astringent fried pineapple, a little syrupy and not quite fitting in with the tropical feel.
But there are also some standouts too, the Blackcurrant flavours were fantastic and I’d definitely pick up some more further down the line.
These all do have sweetener in them so be forewarned, your coils and wicks will suffer after a few days, but if that doesn’t phase you, you’re going to love this range!
Great work guys!
Where to Buy:
You can pick up this range directly from the Complex Eliquid online store or through one of their many stockists!
Presentation:
Brilliant presentation! All bottles are tinted 60ml Chubby Gorilla styles bottles with tamper seal and child proof caps.
The dispenser tip unscrews so that you can conveniently top up with nicotine. However, the hole is tiny and topping up with another needle tip causes positive pressure in the bottle and it doesn’t fill easily. I ended up popping the top of by first unscrewing the tip and then with a small screwdriver in the hole from the tip, gently pried the caps off.
Once filled, the little tip also has a small print that you’ll need to make sure seals correctly or you’ll find juice escaping from the threading.
Definitely room for improvement here.
The labels are fantastic, the foil labels with colourful overprint really do give an island paradise/surfer feel. Each label varies in colour for the flavour.
The juice name are easily read with the flavour spelled out, so you’ll know which profile each is at a glance.
Zero nicotine level, Bottle size PG/VG ratios, ingredients and warnings are also on the labels along with the Complex Eliquid logo.
Test rigs:
Original Haku Cruiser 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.
Bonza RDA with x2 Framed Stapled coils (0.2 ohm-ish)
Rating overview
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