Pink lemonade, the Country Time kind, has been a summer staple of mine for as long as I can remember. I like the pale pink color and I think its sweet-tart taste beats plain lemonade. So when I learned that someone had turned it into an e-liquid, I wanted a bottle. This review covers Iced Pink Punch by Lemon Twist, which pairs pink lemonade with menthol. Lemon e-liquids usually make me wary, but my fondness for the drink won out.
My verdict up front
Iced Pink Punch gets a 7 out of 10 from me. The flavor surprised me in a good way and I went through several tanks of it. Two things held the score down: the juice is thin enough to give a burnt hit when I vaped too fast, and the cap on my bottle broke the first time I opened it. The details are below.
Where it sits in the Twist range
Lemon Twist is a sub-brand of Twist Liquids, the family that also includes Cookie Twist, Melon Twist, Fruit Twist, Berry Twist and others. The flavor is made with and without menthol. I went with the iced one, hoping the menthol would stand in for the ice cubes in a real glass, and because a cold flavor suits hot weather.
There are several formats: a single 60mL bottle, a box holding two 60mL bottles, plus nic-salt and disposable versions. The twin pack is the better value per bottle, but I had never tried the flavor, so I bought one bottle. I would sooner finish a single bottle of something I like than own two of something I do not.
The bottle and its label
The bottle itself is pink plastic, a nod to what is inside. I found it fun to look at, though it has a practical cost: you cannot judge the color or thickness of the liquid through it.
The label fades from blue to pink and is dotted with small silver squares that I took to be ice cubes. The brand name runs across the top in block capitals and Iced Pink Punch is printed in bold at the bottom. The front shows the strength, 3mg, and the size, 60mL. The label stops about an inch short of meeting itself, so there is a gap for checking how much liquid is left.
Warnings are easy to find. A large banner at the bottom of both the front and the back states that the product contains nicotine and that nicotine is an addictive chemical. On the back, a further warning sits in the top left corner, followed by instructions to keep the bottle away from children and pets and not to drink the contents.
The back also carries an Instagram handle, a website for questions, a barcode, and an expiration date just under it. Just above the barcode is the VG/PG ratio, 70/30, which I appreciated because plenty of brands have stopped printing it. The ingredient list held one thing new to me: the VG and PG are listed as USP Kosher. I had no idea kosher e-liquid existed.
Opening and filling
Opening the bottle went badly. The childproof cap was stuck fast to the safety seal, and when I forced it the cap snapped off in my hand. After that it would not screw back on properly. I forgot about this, dropped the bottle in my bag, and later found that more than half of it had leaked out. The bag smelled great, but the sticky liquid ruined several things and was a chore to clean. I doubt every bottle does this. Still, go gently if yours resists.
The filling itself was simple. The dropper tip is narrow and fit my tank’s fill port without trouble, and a few squeezes filled the tank. Once the liquid was in the glass I could finally see it: completely clear, even at 3mg of nicotine. It also looked thin, moving freely in the tank and the bottle. That worried me a little, since watery juice can scorch a coil when you take puffs back to back, which is known as chain vaping.
Then there is the smell, which reached me while I was still filling. It is a dead match for Country Time powdered pink lemonade. The label’s reminder not to drink it is well placed.
How it vapes
This was my first Lemon Twist flavor, and it turned out to be very good. The inhale is quiet, with maybe a hint of tart lemon and little else. The exhale is where everything happens, and the three parts arrive in order. Lemon comes first, strong and sharp. The pink side follows straight away, a soft sweetness that rounds off the lemon. Menthol comes last, at the tail of the exhale, and it was the part I did not see coming. The chill sat on my tongue and built until it tingled, then slowly faded. I had not expected to pick out each flavor separately, and that exhale is among my favorite things I have vaped.
At 3mg the throat hit was satisfying: mild, but present enough that I did not reach for another puff immediately. The vapor smells sweet too, both to me and to people nearby.
My worry about the thin consistency proved right. When I took several puffs close together, the coil could not soak up liquid fast enough and I got a burnt taste. That is a pity, because a juice this smooth makes it hard not to keep puffing.
What I liked and what I did not
- Liked: an exhale where lemonade, sweetness and menthol can each be tasted, with the menthol balancing the sweet side well. Without the burnt hits I could vape it all day in summer.
- Did not like: the thinness. Whenever I taste something burnt I cannot tell whether the coil is wearing out or simply is not wicking quickly enough.
- Did not like: the opaque pink bottle, which hides the liquid until it is in the tank.
- Did not like: the broken cap, which meant I could not close the bottle or carry it with me. It may have been a one-off, but it was enough to put me off buying this flavor again.
If you have tried other pink lemonade or lemon e-liquids, or anything else from the Twist family, tell us about it in the comments.