MEGA E-Liquids Review – Mega Hits, Mega Misses

Disclosure: The MEGA E-Liquids line was sent to me without purchase from Verdict Vapors for the purposes of review. If you’re interested in trying them, you can use coupon code “VapeDeals20”  to get an extra 20% off your order.

I will endeavor to provide a fair, unbiased, and comprehensive review of the products described below, while also giving my personal thoughts and opinions. All products described in the review below contain nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

A Grain of Salt

Love them or despise them, PAX Labs, the creators of JUUL, created a paradigm shift in the vaping industry. In 2015, they unlocked the secrets of nicotine salts, by introducing benzoic acid to freebase nicotine. In doing so, they were able to create a potent eJuice that allowed a higher concentration of nicotine to be vaped in low-power devices. While the full ramifications of this breakthrough are still unfolding, both in our industry and politically, one cannot argue that nic salt eJuices have impacted vaping in a way that few innovations have.

One of the side benefits of creating nicotine salts is that, in the right concentrations, they can be used in sub-ohm devices. This creates a smoother draw with less throat irritation. It also allows the nicotine to be absorbed more quickly into the blood, satisfying a user’s craving more quickly than traditional eJuice.

At the forefront of the sub-ohm nic salt market is Verdict Vapors. Started in 2015 in California, Verdict was the very first company to create sub-ohm nicotine salt eJuice. And even to this day, all of their products are still manufactured using only nic salts. In this review, I’ll be going over one of their flagship lines, Mega E-Liquids. Eight flavors that mostly fire on all eight cylinders. Let’s get to it.

Mega E-liquids – The Rundown

I wish to preface this by saying, of the eight eJuices provided to me, I will only be reviewing six. I was taught from a very young age that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. Two of the flavors in this line (Watermelon Rush & Watermelon Rush Ice) are so unpleasant to me that it would be difficult to find something positive to write about them. Therefore, in the interests of courtesy, I will be refraining from discussing them. The reviews of the other six flavors continue below.

Mango Rush & Mango Rush Ice – Peachy Keen

I’m not going to beat around the bush here. My favorite flavor out of the entire Mega E-liquids line is the Mango Rush Ice. It takes an already amazing flavor and adds just the perfect amount of menthol to it. Or Koolada. I can’t really tell. All I know is that the level of cooing is exactly like the menthol cigarettes I used to smoke. After trying dozens of menthol/ice eJuices, this is the one that replicates it the closest. And that is an instant win in my book.

[Tasting Notes]

Verdict describes Mango Rush as, “a juicy fusion of fresh mangoes and white peach.” Review over, right? Not quite. Mango Rush is honestly a bit of a misnomer, at least in my opinion. The reason for that is simple: there’s more peach than mango in the flavor profile.

Sure, on the sniff test, you’re hit with a wave of ripe, juicy mango scent. And the finger test reveals a good harmony between the two fruits. But when you vape it, the white peach just stands out more than the mango.

With not one iota of throat hit, this eJuice is spectacularly smooth. On the inhale, your taste buds are washed over with a wave of succulent white peach juice, crisp and clean. It’s so clean, in fact, that it borders on the flavor of peach rings candy. Where you get that burst of promised mango is on the exhale and aftertaste, as the peachiness disperses fairly quickly. It’s a quality mango flavor, more reminiscent of the real fruit than candy, with a bit of tartness that adds to the authenticity.

The Ice version of Mango Rush is just as delicious, but with a blast of koolada/menthol to make your mouth tingle. Indeed, if you take a breath afterward, the menthol provides the same cooling sensation as would a breath mint. If you’ve ever smoked Camel Menthols or Kools, you’ll know the sensation that Mango Rush Ice produces.

[Conclusion]

So of course I’m crazy about the mango eJuice. Anybody who’s been reading my reviews would know that at this point. But over and above that, the addition of white peach, while dominating the inhale, makes for an immaculate mixer with the mango. This isn’t necessarily a complex flavor, and it honestly doesn’t have to be. It’s good as it is. I wholeheartedly recommend Mango Rush, and that goes double for the Ice version.

Gummy Tarts – Does What it Says on the Tin

I don’t hate Gummy Tarts. But I don’t care for it, either. It tastes exactly like it sounds like it would taste, so I’ll chalk it up to personal preference. Out of the six Mega E-liquids I’m reviewing, it’s my least favorite. It’s just not for me. That being said, it does what it’s supposed to do, and does it admirably.

[Tasting Notes]

Verdict is nice and succinct with their descriptions in the Mega E-liquids line. For Gummy Tarts, they say it’s, “gummy candy with a sweet & tart sugary coating,” And that is hitting the nail on the head. But let’s dive deeper.

When you take a big whiff, your mind will instantly go to the smell of a freshly opened bag of gummy bears. That instantly recognizable mixed fruit scent just pours out of the bottle. The finger taste is strong with pineapple and the trio of gummy citrus fruits lemon, lime, & orange. Strangely enough, I can’t seem to detect any cherry in the mix, which would complete the authentic gummy bear flavor profile.

As you vape it, you get that same mix of flavors. On the inhale, the primary flavor is pineapple, followed along behind by the three citrus tastes. It’s actually a lot more subtle vaping it than tasting it, and there’s a reason which becomes clear on the exhale.

When you do exhale, some sort of magic that Verdict put into the bottle activates, leaving your mouth filled with the sensation of being coated in powdered sugar. It’s an incredibly sweet, almost powdery feeling that remains after the fruit flavors have dissipated. It’s quite remarkable and entirely unlike any other eJuice in the line. I’ve only personally experienced it one other time, in a french toast-flavored eJuice I reviewed almost a year ago. I assume there’s a certain flavor additive that makes it happen, but I have no clue what it could be.

[Conclusion]

I think the reason I don’t much care for Gummy Tarts is that sugary aftertaste. When you smell it or taste it, you get the expectation that vaping it will be just as flavorful, which it just doesn’t deliver on. If you’re a fan of gummy eJuices, I see no reason why you shouldn’t give it a try. Just temper your expectations.

Apple Crumb – Pie in the Sky

There is an absurd variety of apple-flavored eJuices on the market. Running the gamut from apple candy to apple juice, apple pie to Apple Jacks, and everything in between. It only stands to reason Verdict Vapors would make their own apple eJuice, and indeed they did. But instead of going with the flow, they put a neat little spin on it. Hence the name, Apple Crumb.

[Tasting Notes]

The official description, “A sweet and savory apple baked in brown sugar with hints of cinnamon in crumble pie crust,” certainly paints a vivid picture of how this flavor is going to taste. And damn, if it isn’t spot on. If nothing else, Verdict has their flavor profiles on lock.

Smell test? Apples and cinnamon and brown sugar and pastry. Finger test? Brown sugar and cinnamon come to the front, but all the flavors from the aroma are there. I had a bad experience when I was a child with artificial apple-cinnamon flavor; so because I find this enticing, consider it a major compliment.

Vaping it, all the flavors combine into a lovely harmony. On the inhale, you get a lot of the apple and brown sugar, with the cinnamon (which can often be overpowering) at just the right balance. On the exhale, you get a little spicier hit of the cinnamon, along with a strong taste of that crumbly pastry pie crust. Finally, there’s just a hint of the apple mixed in with the cinnamon in the aftertaste. Surprisingly, this eJuice is not tooth-achingly sugary, either. It strikes the right balance between sweet and savory for my tastes. And thanks to the sub-ohm nic salts, the throat hit is virtually nonexistent as well.

[Conclusion]

When I first got in the samples for the Mega E-liquids line, I was on a bit of an apple eJuice kick. This one sat in the box for quite a while, slightly written off as just another apple flavor. When I finally did pick it up, I was pleasantly surprised by how tasty it is.

You really do get that apple pie sort of flavor off of it; there’s more to it than just plain apple-cinnamon. The brown sugar and pastry are pronounced enough to be distinguishable without being overpowering, and really do carry this flavor into a higher tier of eJuice. If you’re looking for an apple pie vape that hits all the right notes, Apple Crumb is a winner.

Blueberry Crumb – Sweet, Savory, Soulful

There’s another crumb in the Mega E-liquids line, featuring blueberries instead of apples. As I’ve said in the past, blueberry eJuices fall into two camps. The tart, super sweet candy-like blueberry, and the rich, round authentic blueberry. Guess which one this falls into?

[Tasting Notes]

Once again, Verdict Vapors hits it on the nose with its flavor description. “Sweet ripe blueberries and brown sugar baked in a warm savory crumble pie,” is the tagline, and once more they say everything that needs to be said.

A sniff of the bottle gives you nothing but rich blueberry pie filling, unhidden by any other aromas. The taste test gives you the same, but with a strong bite of cinnamon. Now cinnamon may not be the first spice that comes to your mind for combining with the little blue fruit. But rest assured, it goes well together.

On vaping it, everything comes together. The inhale is strong with blueberry flavor, with brown sugar and cinnamon riding shotgun. As with its apple sibling, the pastry and crumble come in on the exhale and aftertaste. The cinnamon settles down and the pie crust comes out to play. There’s almost a hint of saltiness to the crust as well that wasn’t noticeable in the apple variation.

Perhaps because of the fruit involved, it does seem a bit sweeter than the other. But that might be my mind playing tricks on me. It also seems to leave a much longer aftertaste than Apple Crumb, as well.

[Conclusion]

While superficially identical to its Apple Crumb counterpart, Blueberry Crumb manages to change up the flavor blend enough to stand apart. There’s less focus on the spice and more on the crust. Many customer reviews might say this tastes like a blueberry muffin. But anyone who’s had a slice of homemade blueberry pie will know that isn’t the case.

If I had anything to nitpick about either the apple or blueberry, it’s that I personally would prefer the pastry flavor to be stronger. But that’s a minuscule gripe about two awesome eJuices. Both are different enough from each other to warrant trying both.

Coffee Donuts – America Runs on Vaping

Hoo boy, this one was a sleeper. Or more specifically, a ringer. My expectations for a coffee forward eJuice were honestly not that high. But this one turned out to be my second favorite out of the entire Mega E-liquids line. I’ll tell you why.

[Tasting Notes]

The tagline for this one was, “Premium roasted coffee with the perfect amount of chocolate doughy deliciousness,” And I’ll be damned if Verdict didn’t hit this one out of the park yet again. Coffee eJuice has always been hit or miss for me, and I feel like that’s how most vapers feel. Everyone takes their coffee differently, and to expect an eJuice to bull’s eye how you like your Joe is at best a gamble. The trick Verdict pulls here is, instead of adding flavor to the coffee, they dunk a donut in it.

Do you know how it smells to walk into a donut shop first thing in the morning? The smell of freshly brewed coffee and freshly cooked donuts? That’s how this bottle smells when you take a sniff. It’s so realistic, it makes you want to add cream and drink the stuff. But when you taste it, the coffee settles down and you get a big bite of a chocolate cake donut.

When you vape it, man. It’s like taking a sip of that creamy, sugary coffee after a bite of donut. And I’m talking chocolate cake donut. Not one of those yeast-raised abominations. A properly fried donut, with cocoa powder in the dough. You even get that hint of bitterness from the coffee and the cocoa on the back end. On the exhale, the coffee comes front and center once more to finish your puff.

[Conclusion]

This eJuice is liquefied Dunkin’ Donuts. Plain and simple. From the coffee with cream and sugar to the absolute spot-on chocolate donut, this is quite possibly the perfect breakfast vape. I love how the flavors linger in your mouth for ages after you exhale. I love how they got the little spike of bitterness just right.

The sense of smell is one of the strongest triggers for memories. This eJuice conjures up all sorts of comfy, warm recollections for me. The smell of my father making coffee for himself and my mother at 5 AM before he headed to work. The scent of my grandmother scratch making donuts in her kitchen. The way that first sip of Joe and the first bite of still-warm donut breaks the grogginess of waking up in the morning.

I may sound like I’m gushing, and that’s because I am. The only reason this isn’t my favorite eJuice from the entire line is that I couldn’t imagine using it all day long. If you’ve been looking for a good coffee eJuice, stop reading this review right now, and go buy Coffee Donuts.

Mega E-Liquids – Closing Thoughts

Verdict Vapors, thanks to this line of eJuices, is now one of my favorite manufacturers. It’s as simple as that. While I simply could not enjoy the Watermelon juices, every other flavor was fantastic. Zero throat hit, massive clouds, stunningly authentic flavors. It’s all kinds of everything I want out of eJuice.

On the eve of the PMTA deadline, a lot of familiar faces we’ve loved in the past are slipping off into the long grey. Space Jam and Three Dukes were early casualties. Vape Wild is gone. Blue Dot Vapors is out. And what hurts the most, Freeman is shutting their doors. I consider Paul Freeman a personal friend, and I wouldn’t be writing this now if it weren’t for his generosity. Many other companies are condensing their lines because it’s just too expensive to submit the paperwork for all their products. Jeremy and Shane and I, we’ve been feeling the pressure. I’ve been depressed. I’ve literally cried. For a lot of us in the community, this feels like the end. The hammer is finally about the fall.

But you know what? We’re going to make it through. As Howard Jones sang back in the day, “Things can only get better.” Old faces may be gone, but new ones will emerge. We’ll survive. And in the long run, we WILL be on the right side of history. I guarantee it.

The Mega E-Liquids line is produced by Verdict Vapors.

Sizes sold are:

• 2x 60ml dual-bottle packs in 0, 3, & 6mg of sub-ohm salt nicotine;
• 15ml bottles in 24mg of salt nicotine;
• and 30ml bottles in 30 & 50mg of salt nicotine.

Lukas

Having started vaping as a way to stop using cigarettes, Lukas metamorphosed into a regular vape enthusiast over the past seven years. Utilizing his extensive knowledge and problem-solving skills as a regular at his local vape shop, it only made sense to parley that, along with his writing skills, into making vape juice reviews. While conspicuously absent from social media, the 35-year-old former chef now uses his free time by making spectacular home-cooked meals, reading voraciously, and dabbling in multiplayer computer games. Oh yeah, and he vapes too.