Since beginning in 2017, UK-based e-liquid manufacturer Pukka Juice have won several awards for their vibrantly flavoured fruity vape juices. Today, I’ll be trying their newest e-liquid range — the Pukka Juice 5000+. The brand claims that it replicates disposable vape flavours, so I’m excited to know how it stacks up with other bar salts.
A short disclosure, though. Taste is entirely subjective; one person’s yuk is another person’s yum. I’ve been vaping for over a decade now, and I feel I have a good sense of flavour when it comes to vape juice. So keep personal opinion in mind as we leap into the Pukka Juice 5000+ range of nic salts!
MIST’s Verdict
Review Summary: The Pukka Juice 5000+ range is packed full of vibrant and tangy flavours. Their citrus offerings were marvellous. As for their berry blends, I particularly enjoyed their take on Blue Sour Razz, a popular flavour that many manufacturers have tried to perfect. In short, when their mixed fruit vapes hit, they hit RIGHT!
Review Disclosure: Pukka Juice have supplied MIST with their new Pukka Juice 5000+ e-liquids for me to give feedback on. I assure you, however, that this is an impartial review and that I will be giving my honest opinion.
Video Review
Packaging and Labels
The packaging for the Pukka Juice 5000+ range of nic salts features clear labelling and helpful flavour notes. The front features a picture of the bottle within with the flavour and nic strength clearly stated above a TPD-compliant nicotine health warning.
The back of the box features a very brief ingredient summary, storage instructions, and health warnings. One side of the box shows a helpful flavour summary, along with an “Ice” rating out of five. This side also features contact information for the manufacturer.
Within the box, the bottle is sealed within a tearable plastic wallet similar to a disposable vape. There’s also a small leaflet with health information and simple instructions on how to fill and refill a vape tank or pod.
The bottle features a simple label with health information and a child-proof cap. The nozzle is thin enough to fit comfortably into any vape kit’s refill ports. The plastic used for the bottle is fairly flexible, so those with painful hands shouldn’t have any difficulty getting the last of their juice out of the bottle.
Flavour
Score: 3.5/5
The Pukka Juice 5000+ line is made up of thirteen flavour combos, and I’ll be trying every single one of them for this review. The juices tried are listed below:
- Frosty Forest Berries
- Black Razz Breeze
- Fizzy Pop
- Berry Blast
- Blue Razz Gummy
- Blue Sour Razz
- Lime Twist
- Polar Mint
- Pineapple Ice
- Berry Frenzy
- Lemon & Lime
- Cherry Burst
- Blueberry Strawberry Burst
The e-liquids tried for this review are all 10mg in nic salt strength. 20mg units are also available for those wishing for a stronger nicotine hit.
The device used for this review is a Vaporesso XROS 3 Nano Innovation Vape Kit and 0.8ohm pods.
To quickly summarise, their citrus offering were marvellous, and while the berry juices were a slight let-down, I did particularly enjoy their take on Blue Sour Razz, a popular flavour which many manufacturers have had a go at perfecting.
Frosty Forest Berries
Score: 4/5
An exceptionally cold first inhale, with quite a lot of noticeable sugary flavour accompanying the cool layer on the throat. The mixed-berry sweetness is present, though has a slightly synthetic edge to it. Far from a downside, this instead puts across a more ‘candy’ like taste profile, with maybe just a hint of sherbert.
Black Razz Breeze
Score: 3/5
A juicy blackcurrant profile surges forth powerfully, with the cooling edge lending it a touch of beverage refreshment. The raspberry notes are gentler than that flavour usually presents itself as, which shows an interesting level of restraint. The main event with this flavour is the cooling blackcurrants, which though refreshing do sometimes stray into being overly sugary.
Fizzy Pop
Score: 4/5
Fizzy Pop has an interestly and at times difficult to pin-down flavour profile. The orange taste is the first that strikes you, a rich and rounded citrus that pleases the palate. This is coupled with the classic duo of lemons and limes, with all three tangy fruits able to showcase their sweetness with the anticipated sour notes muted. A final slightly botanical or ‘gassy’ taste transforms Fizzy Pop into a very believable soda / beverage flavour, without too much ice to distract from the flavour. I would have liked the sour notes to be a bit more pronounced, but the overall taste is very nice.
Berry Blast
Score: 3/5
Berry Blast delivers a powerful berry punch, but with some unexpected guest flavours present as well. The mixed berry flavour is very strong and at the forefront of the overall profile, but in the backnote you can detect elements of orchard fruits like peach and apple pressings.
The result is a tasty fruity puff, however the flavours get a bit lost in one another, with the apple and peach flavours being a bit too muted to stand apart from the very strong berry flavour.
Blue Razz Gummy
Score: 4/5
The gummy candy notes really play well with the sour blue raspberry. The initial inhale is powerfully tart on the tongue, with a candy edge of sweetness coming in when you take the inhale down to the lung. This is another iceless Pukka, which is quite nice as it lets you really focus in on the dance the raspberry and chewy sweet flavours are doing.
There’s also a surprising lack of aftertaste despite the lack of ice, which makes Blue Razz Gummy a great choice for session vaping. Likely to be enjoyed by both fruit and candy fans, as long as they can dig a sour kick.
Blue Sour Razz
Score: 5/5
Now this is a good berry juice! Just pure cold blue raspberry chills sending cascades of tart ice down the throat with every puff. The initial tongue strike is raw and powerful and sends you reeling, with the followup breath giving way to a little more sweetness while retaining that riotously sour profile.
Pukka are perhaps a little overreliant on berry mixes, but Blue Sour Razz is a fantastic vape juice that stands out among the many, many blue raspberry e-liquids available today.
Lime Twist
Score: 5/5
Lime is often paired with lemon in vape juices, so I was keen to see what Pukka’s lime-centric e-liquid tasted like. The choice to pair the extremely tangy lime juice flavour with the taste of kiwi fruit was a brilliant one, as the popular fuzzy fruit helped ground the sour lime with a tropical sweetness that enhanced the otherwise familiar citrus profile.
Pukka also took it easy on the ice for Lime Twist, which allows you to enjoy the slight aftertaste of lime peel zest, a gentle and in some ways slightly botanical addition to the flavour combo that gives it a wonderfully tasty exhale. Lime Twist is one of my favouite Pukka juices tried today!
Polar Mint
Score: 4/5
Polar Mint provided me with a really nice palate cleanser amidst all the tangy berry and citrus flavours tried today. Cool and refreshing from the moment you inhale, the flavour is highly reminiscent of popular crunchy mint candies, particularly ones sold with a hole in the middle.
After some solid puffs I think I identified the herbal flavour as peppermint specifically, which provides a nice spiciness and doesn’t harsh the throat the way that spearmint vape juices often do. While pure mint vapes aren’t ordinarily my favourite, I found Polar Mint easy to vape and very invigorating, without too much lingering sweetness.
Pineapple Ice
Score: 4/5
Now *this* was a tropical treat! Pineapple Ice has a nice and simple paradise fruit flavour, with a very moderate amount of ice which serves to elevate the pineapple taste. Pineapple vape juices often tend to taste a bit syrupy, yet Pukka have managed to convey a genuine natural flavour, with the juicy sweetness grounded by the slightly savoury edge of the eponymous fruit.
Pineapple rarely gets to be the star in vape juices, often paired with mangos, apples or peaches, so I enjoyed this pure pineapple puff.
Berry Frenzy
Score: 2/5
The stated flavour of Berry Frenzy is a combination of blueberries, raspberries, cherries and cranberries. I love cherry and cranberry, so I was excited for this one, but sadly, I found the overall flavour profile not to my liking.
The berry flavours are very strong but not distinct enough. The good thing is that if you enjoy a berry puff without a cooling edge, Berry Frenzy is for you.
Lemon & Lime
Score: 5/5
This was a particularly delicious Pukka puff! Obviously similar to the Lime Twist from earlier, this juice drops the kiwi to instead feature lime’s old partner in crime, lemon. The result is a heady and intoxicating sour splash of flavour, with tart and righteous lime juice surging forth on the inhale, then giving way to delicate lemon sweetness on the subsequent intake of breath.
The ice is reserved but effective in preventing the sour notes from becoming overpowering. As a big fan of sour citrus vapes, Lemon Lime has been one of my favourite Pukka juices tried today.
Cherry Burst
Score: 3/5
Cherry Burst delivers a very candified cherry profile, with a small addition of ice which seems to be characteristic of Pukka’s juices. The cherry flavour is rich and complex, with maybe an edge of sherbert added to it to elevate the flavour. The ordinarily sour edge of cherry has been sanded off to focus on the sweet aspect instead, not a choice I’d have made but it still results in a tasty fruit vape with a complex and moreish flavour.
Blueberry Strawberry Burst
Score: 3/5
The strawberry flavour really punches through the blueberry flavour, a delicious summery addition to the overall taste. There’s a little raspberry present, but it’s mostly there for aromatic purposes and doesn’t outshine the strawberry, which I was thankful for.
Blueberry Strawberry Burst has barely any detectable ice to it, which I approved of as too much cooling effect would have outshined the distinct but occasionally fragile strawberry taste.
Throat Hit
Score: 3/5
Like many bar salt style e-liquids, the Pukka Juice 5000+ range doesn’t have too much of a throat hit, which is partly due to the use of smooth nicotine salts, which lower the base alkalinity of the vape juice they’re added to.
Many of the Pukka Juice 5000+ liquids do, however, contain quite a strong hit of ice. This can provide a very enjoyable cascade of cold air down the throat when vaped, which may not be to everyone’s liking but is generally very refreshing.
Vapour Production
Score: 2/5
As each of the Pukka Juice 5000+ e-liquids are brewed at a 50 VG / 50 PG ratio, there’s barely any vapour produced when vaped.
Summary
The Pukka Juice 5000+ range does a fine job of delivering disposable vape-style sweetness to refillable vape pods and tanks. Their fruity flavours are very zesty, with quite a lot of sour and icy additions. One note I feel I have to make is that Pukka have a bit of an overemphasis on berry blends, which tend to blur into one another without much distinguishing them apart.
However, I was really blown away by their citrus flavours, such as Lemon Lime and Lime Zest. Anyone who enjoys sour fruit vapes is likely to adore this range of nic salts.
The MIST Favourite:
Lemon & Lime: This was my standout favoruite by far. I was very impressed by Pukka’s ability to make the lemon and lime flavours very distinct, something that a lot of citrus combo vapes fail to do.
Leave a Reply