Are gourmet flavors really worth the extra buck?
E-liquids are a part of everyday life for most vapers that took a step further from the usual cartridge replacement that came with the ordinary cig-a-like models. However, after trying on and enjoying your first bottle of e-juice, it is highly unlikely that you will stick to that specific product for the rest of your vaping years. Your taste buds will eventually get bored of the same old aroma and will urge you to try something new. This is what all of the e-liquid produces are relying on when selling such a wide variety of flavors. Moreover, in recent years, the industry has grown exponentially. From only a few dozen renowned vendors and the usually china-made cheap stuff, now the market is full with everything from 100% organic products to gourmet flavors.
Gourmet is a cultural notion correlated with the gastronomical arts of enjoying fine foods and drinks, or haute cuisine, which is defined by classy and sophisticated preparations and presentations of delicious and nourishing food dishes. The term is usually used to describe one's passion for something eatable.
But what are gourmet flavors and why are they different from the rest? Well, let’s take an example to make things clearer. If you’re browsing on the internet for a bottle of e-juice you’ll probably stumble upon names like ‘apple’, ‘banana’, ‘blueberry’ and ‘vanilla’. There are all categorized as ordinary flavors. Even though some brands make them better and others make them worse, you will still get what you pay for: a generic sweet taste with a hint of the fruity or candy aroma. Gourmet flavors on the other hand are much more complex and they are usually a mixture of more than two or three aromas.
For example, Vapor Chef’s ‘Apple Bourbon Tobacco’ is described on the website as ‘Apple, bourbon and aged tobacco. This is a sweet and rich vape, light on the tobacco with hints of toffee and brown sugar. I actually made this flavor because I wanted a vape that tasted good while drinking whiskey and not destroy the taste of the libation. I made this, and it is a great pairing for the whiskey drinkers out there. This is a recommended steep.’.
With the same analogy on wine, these flavors even though very good and made with premium ingredients are not going to taste the same for everybody. The online description has a lot to do with one’s experience. Some people might not taste the toffee, others might not taste the brown sugar, and only a few will actually enjoy this e-liquid at its full potential. We’re not saying that they are bad, we’re just saying that taste is very subjective and only very trained taste pallets can actually make the difference between all of the flavors inside such a delicious mixture.
Is it worth the extra buck? Only if you’re the kind of person who has an ardent or refined interest in food and alcoholic beverages.