Pitaya is another name for dragonfruit, a flavor you rarely see in e-liquid. That alone made me curious about Mango Pitaya Pineapple by Pachamama. I have reviewed three other Pachamama juices and liked them, so I expected good things from this tropical blend. It did not go the way I hoped: I rate it 4 out of 10, and the reasons are below.
How it tastes
This is the most tropical mix in the Pachamama range. I have eaten dragonfruit, and while I like it, the fruit takes some getting used to. I was expecting the warm, gentle sweetness of other Pachamama flavors, and the first pull surprised me. The sweetness is aggressive and the three fruits seemed to fight each other.
On the inhale I got soft, sweet mango, which was lovely. The exhale was dominated by dragonfruit, with a sharp pineapple tang behind it that I did not care for. Mango lingered on my tongue well after the vapor was gone and tasted very close to the real fruit. Breathing the cloud back in gave a pleasant pineapple scent, which I liked more than the taste itself. The throat hit was strong and satisfying. Still, sharp-sweet dragonfruit plus tangy pineapple left what I felt was a bitter aftertaste.
My opinion kept shifting. Some pulls I enjoyed for the sweetness; on others I wrinkled my nose and wanted the tank to be empty. To its credit, the flavor stayed strong and clean throughout. It never tasted artificial and never went bland. I finished one tank, but I would not vape it for a whole day.
Box and label
Pachamama is one of several lines made by Charlie’s Chalk Dust, alongside the White and Black ranges, Stumps, Mr. Meringue and Campfire eLiquids. Pachamama is the one to look at for fruit that tastes authentic. I wanted to see how this bottle would compare with Huckleberry Pear Acai, Passionfruit Raspberry Yuzu and Fuji Apple Strawberry Nectarine.
The juice arrives in a thin paper box, bright yellow as a nod to the pineapple, printed with the same details as the bottle label. On the label:
- Front: the company name across the top, then the juice name, which doubles as the flavor description. Beside it, in small type, are the bottle size (60mL) and the nicotine strength (3mg). All three fruits are pictured underneath, and a large banner at the bottom states that the product contains nicotine and that nicotine is an addictive chemical.
- Left side: the health warnings and who should take care using the product, a firm warning to keep the liquid off your skin, and Poison control details in case it is swallowed.
- Right side: age and sale restrictions, the source of the nicotine, and the ingredients, which list both natural and artificial flavorings. A black ribbon gives the VG/PG ratio as 70/30.
- Bottle base: batch number and expiry date in yellow dot-matrix characters, a little hard to read but legible.
The ratio caught my eye, since several other Pachamama juices are 80/20. As 70/30 is my preferred mix, I was pleased. The label as a whole looks professional, with strong color and ripe-looking fruit artwork.
Filling the tank
The 60mL bottle is a clear, slim chubby gorilla type. The liquid is bright orange, an uncommon color for e-juice, which I put down to the flavorings and the nicotine. It is very thin and sloshes at the lightest tap. Even so, I was confident it would behave like the other Pachamama juices and neither clog my coils nor scorch the cotton.
The childproof cap came off easily. Under it is a narrow fill tip of a sensible length, so the tank filled fast with no spills. Squeezing the bottle gently under my nose, I picked up a sharp, pungent note I could not quite identify, possibly the dragonfruit, with tangy pineapple and a trace of mango beneath. The overall impression was a smooth, heavy sweetness.
Verdict: 4 out of 10
I love mango and pineapple, and both were excellent here. The pitaya was the odd one out, and it is what turned me against the blend. The flavors clashed too often for all-day use. Other vapers’ reviews I have read are full of praise, so it may be that I simply prefer dragonfruit as a fruit over its sweeter e-liquid form. Oddly, although I was glad to finish the tank, I caught myself wanting to try it again.
Taste is subjective, which is why I have tried to point out everything good about this juice. Pachamama deserves credit for trying something this unusual. It is one of the more distinctive flavors I have vaped, but it is now my least favorite from the brand, and I would only refill with it if no other fruit juice were left. If you are a big dragonfruit fan you may feel the opposite and love it. Our dragonfruit flavored e-liquid collection has more options to compare.