RIPE VAPES Tree of Life Series E-Liquid Review: The Full-Bodied Taste of High VG

 　　Today I’m trying the RIPE VAPES Tree of Life series e-liquid, which I bought from the Huoqi vape specialty store.  Overall, the lineup leans more toward cigarette-replacement styles, such as blended tobacco and Honey Cigar. Judging from the flavor names, it’s quite suitable for beginners looking for a tobacco alternative.

  　　The three e-liquids are:   Honey Cigar,   VCT (V for vanilla, C for cream, T for tobacco),   and Coconut Thai.   　　The outer packaging is shrink-wrapped. The label design centers around the Tree of Life, with the flavor name marked above and the e-liquid type shown below.   　　The overall style is relatively simple and minimalist. The production date is also printed on the back of the bottle for users to check.   　　All three e-liquids contain 3mg nicotine. The VG ratio should be 75%, making them high-VG liquids, with viscosity in the medium-to-high range.   　　Test setup:   　　M57 mechanical mod   　　AXIS RTA   　　0.5A1 coil           3.0mm inner diameter               5 wraps, single coil             Resistance 0.57         Recommended wattage: 30-40W   　　Honey Cigar   　　The e-liquid is brown in color. On the nose, the honey comes through more strongly, while the cigar note is not especially obvious.   　　Taste:   　　The flavor integration on the inhale is quite good. The cigar note is mellow and aromatic, while the honey brings a fragrant sweetness with a medium-low sweetness level.    The cigar flavor is rich but not overly heavy, and it’s fairly close to the aroma of a real cigar, with little difference.    Meanwhile, the honey wraps around the cigar flavor, blending in a slight sweetness at just the right level. It doesn’t make the e-liquid cloying; instead, that mild sweetness helps bring out the cigar note, which is a strong point of this blend.   　　VCT (V for vanilla, C for cream, T for tobacco)   　　The e-liquid is dark yellow. Once opened, you can smell vanilla and cream, while the tobacco note is not noticeable from the aroma alone.   　　Taste:   　　On the inhale, the vanilla stands out more, while the creamy note plays a supporting role. Overall sweetness is relatively high, and to be precise, it’s even sweeter than Honey Cigar.  After taking many consecutive puffs, I concluded that the tobacco note is definitely there. When trying this e-liquid, pay close attention to the finish—don’t exhale all at once. If you exhale slowly, you’ll notice that in the aftertaste, the tobacco has already blended into the vanilla cream. Although the tobacco is not easy to detect, that subtle tobacco note is indeed present.   　　Coconut Thai   　　The e-liquid is light yellow. As soon as you open the bottle, you immediately get a sour lemon note, while the sweet aroma of coconut is not very prominent.   　　Taste:   　　The first impression on the inhale is coconut sweetness, but before I can even react, it quickly turns into lemon sourness—a rapid shift from sweet to sour, from coconut to lemon.    If I had to evaluate this one, I’d say the coconut richness is not strong enough, and the lemon covers too much of the coconut’s own aroma. Another issue is that the transition happens too quickly, making it a little hard for me to keep up.    Finally, the sour note is a bit too dominant; as soon as it enters the mouth, it’s clear that the acidity is overly amplified.   　　Summary:   　　First, driven by the high VG, all three e-liquids deliver a very full and satisfying body, which I think is excellent.  Since high-VG liquids are relatively thick, I wouldn’t recommend using them in just any tank atomizer, especially since it’s already winter. An RTA or a dripping atomizer would be more suitable, and wicking will be much smoother. Also, these flavors perform better at higher wattage than lower wattage, as the aroma is released more directly.   　　Second, the three flavors are all quite different and don’t really overlap. If I had to choose my favorite, I would pick VCT (V for vanilla, C for cream, T for tobacco), because its overall performance is smoother, with better finesse, flavor definition, and finish.  My second favorite is Honey Cigar, a pure cigarette-replacement option that isn’t overly sweet, while still offering both honey sweetness and cigar aroma.  The one I like least is Coconut Thai, because its flavor shift is a bit too fast for my taste. Also, if coconut is the main profile, why is the coconut intensity so low?  So overall, I don’t think it suits my palate. #p#Page Break#e#