e-Juice Review: Espresso Martini from Hitman Vaping
The end of the week has hit, and we all know what that means, yep, another E-liquid review here at Vapers Garage!
I’ve been trying out the beverage/cocktail range from Hitman Vaping the last week or so, and found it to be pretty incredible so far! While some of the flavours are quite unusual, most of them hit the mark, and do so in a big way. I’m noticing that the attention to detail on each flavour really has been fantastic, you can just tell that a lot of work has gone into these!
This next flavour will likely get the attention of a few of you, as it did me, so let’s get on with it!
Today I’ll be reviewing “Espresso Martini” from Hitman Vaping.
(This e-liquid was supplied by Hitman Vaping for review. )
Flavour Description
[From the website]
Our Espresso Martini rendition is brewed from a blend of dark, rich espresso beans, with hints of Vienna cream and Vanilla extract. Expect a strong combination of rich, sweet, and dry flavours to compliment each other, revealing the true essence of the iconic cocktail.
(This product does not contain any alcohol. Only permitted flavorings are used in producing this e-liquid.)
Initial Thoughts
Coffee. If you’re a seasoned vaper, the very mention of it in vape juice will bring on a few different feelings. Dread, confusion, but also hope. You know that the many coffee flavours you’ve tried just haven’t quite hit the mark, and you’re hoping this one is different! This was exactly what I was thinking when I picked this up, but then I went through the thought process that this might actually be different. It is, after all, based off of a liqueur or alcoholic beverage rather than your average “cup of Joe”.
And it is. This flavour differs from your usual coffee flavoured e-liquid by leaps and bounds. One thing many coffee flavours suffer from is, over-flavouring. Coffee is such a strong profile in itself, you don’t need to go crazy on percentages to get the flavour across the palate. Hitman Vaping know this and have focused on making this a much smoother, and enjoyable experience.
A much sweeter coffee hit than your usual coffee flavour, with hints of vanilla and even chocolate at times. One of the best coffees I’ve tried!
Individual Notes
There are a few flavours in this concoction, mainly creamy notes blended together to create the bulk of the flavour, but there are some stand outs.
First up is the coffee. It’s a strong coffee, a little bitter, and with quite a groundy profile. Think of the bottom of an espresso and you get the idea. Most coffees are like this, it’s like the concentrate manufacturers feel that pumping their flavours full of bitterness will give them a more authentic coffee feel. Hitman have done a great job of toning down this bitterness though, using some other flavourings.
There is a kind of malted cream in this also, it helps to break up the coffee a little, adding a malt or almost chocolate note to it, it smoothes out that ground profile, offering up a foamy or frothy consistency just like a heated milk.
You’ll also find vanilla here too. It helps to spread out the profile, and gives the flavour a really nice back note. Something that both the coffee and creams can cling to, effectively building the flavour up rather than just mashing flavours together.
I’m not noticing any alcohol notes in this at all, if they are there, they’re likely hidden from view by the stronger coffee and creams.
Inhale & Exhale
The coffee hits hard and early with this one, it’s there right from the get go with it’s bitter sweetness, a dynamic flavour even by itself, it’s warm and carries really well. As the inhale continues, I notice hints of cream, with the thicker texture slowly moving into place, and a sweetness that washes over everything.
Getting to the top of the inhale, the vanilla makes itself known here, really beefing up the profile with even more texture and smoothing out the coffee before it hits the point of no return.
As I exhale, the coffee comes back, folded in with the rich cream really filling out the exhale, and offering up an almost Kopiko candy/Latte feel to the flavour. I notice light notes of chocolate or malt here also, which richens things up really nicely, adding to the complexity and silky smoothness.
This profile continues right through to the end of the exhale, where I’m left with quite a smokey, roasted coffee aftertaste.
Final thoughts
I really like that Hitman Vaping have dialed the coffee back on this. They’ve toned it down enough for the creams to really shine, which also then impart their own texture into the mix.
Vanilla is the backbone, where as the cream bridges the Vanilla and the toned down coffee, to create a really smooth blend. The richness of the creams offer up a slightly more complex and dynamic vape than this would otherwise be, which really improves the longevity of the flavour and encourages you to keep vaping it well past the point that you get used to the coffee notes.
I have to say, this is probably one of the best coffee flavours I have tried, smooth, flavoursome, and without going over the top on the coffee!
Great work guys!
Where to Buy:
The entire Hitman Vaping range can be purchased directly from the Hitman Vaping online store or through any of their other stockists around the country.
Colour:
Clear/Honey tint
Aroma:
Fresh espresso coffee
Coil and wick damage:
A little darkening of wicks and gunking of coils after a few days.
PG/VG Ratio:
70VG/30PG
Texture:
Bitter and sweet, with a full and creamy profile
Steeping:
Steeping is likely a good idea with this, due to the creams.
Presentation:
Wonderful presentation here. Hitman have gone the extra peg and had boxes made for their e-liquid bottles, each offset printed, with a UV clear printed over the top giving a brilliantly professional finish, designed to match the bottle’s branding and look.
I received 60ml tinted Chubby gorilla bottles with child-proof and tamper-proof caps, and needle tip dispensers.
The labels are a lovely classy satin/matt black printed with a silver underlay. Front and center are the main flavour and brand name, with an image of the beverage, a lovely hand-drawn piece of artwork.
On the back is where you’ll find all your information. Manufacturing details, ingredients, warnings, PG/VG ratio, bottle size and zero nicotine declaration. You’ll also find a batch number, as well as my favourite part, an ISO 6 certified clean-room stamp. Yep these are bottled in a certified clean room!
Test rigs:
Original Haku Cruiser running a single 0.17 framed staple coil on a mech mod/variable wattage mod.
Haku Xeta, in Billet Box, 0.3 stainless single coil, running about 30Watts on temperature mode.
Rating overview
