Passionfruit Raspberry Yuzu is the second Pachamama e-liquid I have reviewed, after Huckleberry Pear Acai a few days earlier, and it is one of eight in the range. I scored it 10 out of 10. The three fruits blend into a single sweet, citrus-edged flavor that I could not pull apart, and I did not want to switch to anything else while the bottle lasted.
About the yuzu
Yuzu is the unfamiliar name on the label. It is a Japanese citrus, and the fresh fruit may not legally be imported into the US, reportedly because of concern that it could carry diseases harmful to American groves. It is rumored to be grown in California, and some websites offer it whole or as a ready-made sauce. I had never tasted or even heard of it before this review, so I looked it up. The closest description I found is that it tastes like grapefruit, orange, lemon and lime rolled together.
Box and bottle
Pachamama is a sub-brand of Charlie’s Chalk Dust, a company whose e-juice lines cover nearly every corner of vaping. This flavor comes as a clear 60mL bottle inside a thin cardboard box. The front and part of the sides are a dark teal that I found calming to look at.
What the box tells you:
- Front and right side: brand name, flavor name, company website and the 80/20 VG/PG ratio
- Under the flavor name: bottle size (60mL) and nicotine strength (3mg)
- Bottom of the front: a bold warning that the product contains nicotine and that nicotine is an addictive chemical
- Back: manufacturing details, the US-only sale restriction, ingredients and storage warnings
The bottle label repeats all of that and adds further warnings: what to do if the liquid touches you, who the product is meant for, and a quality assurance note. The expiration date is stamped below the VG/PG ratio on the right of the label. I appreciated that, since other makers hide it under the bottle or leave it off.
All three fruits are pictured, and the artwork made me hungry for the real thing. The fruit in the middle looked like a lemon to me at first. With raspberries and passionfruit on either side, it had to be the yuzu, and it is drawn accurately. Box and bottle both look professional and are easy to read.
At the time of the review, the company website listed this flavor for wholesale purchase only.
Filling the tank
Because the bottle is clear, you can see the juice: yellow, about the color, clarity and thickness of canola oil. It moved freely when I tilted the bottle, with no separation and no bubbles, so I had no worries about clogged coils or burnt cotton.
The cap has a child-proof seal that twisted off without trouble. The slim tip fit my fill port neatly, but my first squeeze was too hard and juice bubbled back out. With lighter pressure it went in smoothly. Inside the tank the liquid looked slightly thicker, though the color was unchanged and it still moved around easily.
Then I smelled the bottle. The scent is fruity and floral, full of sweetness, and reminded me of Welch’s white grape juice. I would wear it as a perfume if I could.
How it tastes
My reaction to the first puff was that it was delicious and that I could not say what it was. The inhale is light and sweet. The flavor opens up on the exhale: a sharp, exotic, very sweet fruitiness with citrus underneath, something like grapefruit tartness with orange sweetness, growing stronger as you breathe out. Even drawing the vapor back in through my nose was pleasant.
This is one of the first juices where I could not tell where one flavor ended and the next began. Separating the raspberry from the passionfruit was hard enough, never mind working out which part was yuzu. What you get is one rich, strong fruit flavor that tastes authentic and left me wanting the actual fruit.
A few practical notes from several days of use:
- I emptied three tankfuls and was about to start a fourth.
- The blend never became overpowering, and the flavor did not fade however often I vaped.
- The nicotine hit was satisfying; one puff was enough for me, yet I kept taking more for the clean, refreshing taste.
- It works as an all-day juice, and it now ranks among my favorite fruit e-liquids.
Verdict
The packaging is attractive, the liquid looked exactly as I expected, and the taste is among the finest fruit flavors I have had. That adds up to my 10 out of 10. Halfway through the bottle the flavor was still improving, and I will be sorry when it is gone. I would still like to know what a real yuzu tastes like, and I am tempted to travel somewhere it grows.
Pachamama describes its range as the most desirable fruits on earth blended into an eclectic assortment of e-liquids. After two of them, I can say both satisfied what I look for in a fruit juice, and I plan to try the rest. The Pachamama and Charlie’s Chalk Dust lines are worth browsing if you are after an all-day fruit flavor. The next review in this series covers Banana Bread Pudding by Country Clouds.