Grapefruit Gust is a fruit e-liquid from Tropic King, one of the Drip More eJuice labels alongside Candy King, Cookie King and Milk King. It mixes grapefruit, guava and strawberry, and it is the first of three Tropic King flavors built around grapefruit. I wanted to like it a lot. In the end I landed in the middle, and there is a hardware caution that belongs ahead of everything else.
A caution about o-rings and glass
While preparing this review I looked at customer feedback on the DripMore site and found three 1-star ratings, which is unusual for a DripMore juice. The complaints were specific: tank o-rings that swelled, broke down and stopped sealing, and one buyer who reported cracked glass and a leak. Other retailers’ review sections carried more reports of the same kind.
That jogged my memory. Months earlier I had tried this juice in a brand new Smok G-Priv, the magenta one with the large touch screen. The o-ring sits at the top of the matching tank, and right after I filled it with Grapefruit Gust the ring puffed up so much that the swivel lid would no longer shut. Back then I assumed the kit was faulty and returned it to the seller. After reading those reviews, I suspect the liquid rather than the tank.
I have not come across this with any other e-liquid. My guess, and it is only a guess, is that the acidic grapefruit flavoring does not get along with the rubber. You may use it and see no problem at all, but enough vapers have described it that you should go in carefully and keep an eye on your seals.
Packaging and label
The juice ships in a 100mL clear plastic bottle inside a printed cardboard box that repeats the label information. The artwork is bright and nicely done. The Tropic King logo takes the middle, the flavor name sits below it in smaller type, and the three fruit names are printed in matching colors: pale pink for grapefruit, light green for guava, red for strawberry. A halved ruby grapefruit, a halved guava and a strawberry are pictured next to them. Along the bottom, a banner states that the product contains nicotine and that nicotine is an addictive chemical.
To the right of the logo you get the allergy warning, the age requirement, an instruction not to drink the liquid and a poison control phone number, plus a social media hashtag, the company website and its headquarters location. The left panel carries the full ingredient list with the 70/30 VG/PG ratio, a notice that it may not be sold outside the US, more warning icons and the nicotine strength, which was 3mg on my bottle. An expiration date and batch number are printed underneath the bottle. You can find the product page here.
Filling the tank
Because the bottle is clear and the label stops short of wrapping all the way around, you can always see how much is left. The childproof cap twisted off without effort, though the plastic tab beneath it broke away in my fingers. The dropper tip is narrow, so filling was quick and clean.
The liquid is a medium yellow, which I put down to the 3mg nicotine, and it is very thin. A light tap sent it sloshing like water. Thin juice makes me nervous about burnt coils, and I could also see small separation bubbles suspended in it, a bit like water dropped into olive oil. Once in the tank it looked slightly thicker than it had in the bottle.
The smell is the high point. With the cap off and the bottle sitting about two feet away on my desk, a strong, sweet grapefruit aroma reached me within seconds. It is very close to the real fruit, and I credit the food grade flavor extracts for that.
How it vapes
DripMore describes the flavor in three words: grapefruit, guava, strawberry. Given how much care went into the label, I expected more of a description, but brief can work too.
The first pull was all grapefruit, sharp and tangy like the fruit itself, strong enough that I half wanted a spoonful of sugar. Guava followed and rounded the tartness into something smoother and sweeter. I could not pick out strawberry at first; later I caught it at the very end of the exhale. The throat hit was smooth, with no coughing or burn across several puffs.
Those opening puffs were the best part. The longer I kept at it, the harsher the citrus became, until it tasted bitter and nearly soapy to me. I set the mod down for a few minutes and came back more than once, and each time I took fewer hits. I was relieved when the tank ran dry and I could move on to something else.
That was a letdown, because I love fresh grapefruit and would like to see more juices get it right. The name does warn you about a gust, and it delivers one. Adding guava and strawberry was a smart call, since I cannot picture how rough the grapefruit would be on its own. The vapor also smells gentler than it tastes. If you eat a lot of real grapefruit, you may well get on better with it than I did, but I cannot call it one of the better fruit juices I have tried.
Verdict
This one was hard to score. On the minus side: the reports of swollen o-rings and cracked glass, a watery consistency that made me worry about the coils, and a grapefruit bitterness that built up until I could not honestly recommend it. On the plus side: playful packaging with good fruit artwork, an excellent aroma and a first few puffs that I really enjoyed.
I give Grapefruit Gust a 5. Judged only on those first puffs it would have been a 9. I do not think the flavor is bad, but I would not pick it as an all-day vape. Use it sparingly, for a tank when you want a strong hit of citrus, then go back to your regular juice. Fans of grapefruit, guava and strawberry may rate it higher than I have.
If you have used Grapefruit Gust and had an o-ring swell or glass break, leave a comment with what happened. I would also like to hear which other Tropic King or DripMore flavors you have tried. Questions about this review can go to ejuice.deals by email, phone or social media. Next up is a review from Custard Shop by Monster Vape Labs.