Epic Smoke Pink Lemonade Review

NOTE: This review brought to you courtesy of Arnold Stein over at Epic Smoke! Thanks Arnold!

Brand/Flavor:
Epic Smoke Pink Lemonade

Methodology:
-14 hits/person over 37 minutes
-5 individuals in the circle
-2 CoCo Naras on standard Mya bowl
-3 hose Mya Staff filled with water at room temperature

First Impressions:
Juicy and almost watery, just like the Apple on a Stick. Smells incredible, exactly like pink lemonade.

Post Mortem:
Still quite juicy, with the liquid pouring out of the bowl.

Pros:
-Incredibly huge, thick clouds
-Sweet and fairly accurate flavor
-Strong pink lemonade smell

Cons:
-Flavor was very subtle, at times bordering on absent

Andrew's Thoughts:
Epic Smoke's Pink Lemonade is a little light on flavor. Though it's smell was overwhelming and sweet, the flavor itself was rather subtle. At times I found myself straining to taste it, though when I could it definitely tasted like dilute pink lemonade. However, the smoke was completely over the top. We consistently blew monstrous white clouds, and I had incredible fun practicing my smoke rings. This product surprised me- after the Apple on a Stick experience, I really didn't expect to enjoy it. And while I did have serious problems with it, I could definitely see myself smoking it again, if it were offered to me.

Eric's Thoughts:

Lets just get one thing out of the way right now. This stuff smells freaking fantastic. I mean...if you stuck your nose in a pitcher of pink lemonade, you couldn't get a more accurate smell. And, true to its name, this stuff does produce rather epic smoke. Unfortunately that's more or less where the praises end. This stuff did taste good, however there just wasn't enough of it. When it comes down to it, it tasted like pink lemonade, but it tasted like that watered down lemonade that your camp counselors used to give you at summer camp. Another issue the stuff seemed to have was the stuff was a little bit heat sensitive. Towards the end of the bowl (which ended very very quickly for a phunnel session), everyone's second hit tasted like coal. I suppose this means that this stuff is more conducive to a more relaxed session and simply respond well to the frenetic pace of our reviews. In the end, I would smoke this again, especially if the flavor was stronger.

Peanut Gallery:

(Caroline)
The flavor was alright, although not as strong as I would have liked. Good smoke, though.

(Avi)
I would certainly consider myself an aperture [Editor's note: we think he meant "amateur"] smoker. That being said, I really enjoyed this flavor. As previously stated, the flavor was a little week [sic] and tasted a bit like lemonade mix with a bit too much water. I actually like the lemonade when it is not too sweet, so I really did enjoy this flavor. Again, the smoke was amazing. All in all, I would definitely buy this shisha after having smoked it with Eric and Andrew.

Conclusion:
Light on flavor, big on smoke, Epic Smoke Pink Lemonade may not be for everyone, but if you're a fan of huge clouds you really ought to give it a try.

B-

Epic Smoke Apple on a Stick Review

Brand/Flavor:
Epic Smoke Apple on a Stick

Methodology:
-20 hits/person over 25 minutes
-3 people in the circle
-Mya Staff filled with ice water, heba diffuser attached
-2 CocoNara coals on a Mya bowl

First Impressions:
Cut kinda like Romman, but very very juicy. Sweet but tart smell. Nifty plastic tub.

Post Mortem:
I forget.

Pros:
-Caramel flavor was nice, when we had it

Cons:
-Caramel flavor frequently absent
-Apple flavor was kinda sour
-Generally just not much flavor

Andrew's Thoughts:
This was a fairly "meh" experience, beginning to end. The smell of the stuff in the tub was mildly interesting, sweet like caramel with a tangy finish, but the flavor didn't even deliver that. While I occasionally tasted some good caramel sweetness, I was generally treated to little more than thoroughly rinsed green apple peel. If I seem reluctant to recall this experience, it's because it really wasn't worth recalling.

Oh, and that diarrhea thing it did when we lifted up the bowl was just flippin' freaky.

Eric's Thoughts:
I've seen this stuff online and Andrew and I have joked about how the name is somewhat silly in the past, but when I saw it at a local tobacconist, I decided to buy some. Given their limited flavor selection, I went with something completely novel, caramel apple. The smell was very sweet, and definitely caramel, but I didn't get too too much apple. But given the way a caramel apple tastes, caramel is typically the dominant flavor, so I guess I can't fault the manufacturers for that. While the smoke did kind of live up to his over the top name, the flavor simply wasn't there. There were intermittent bursts of a sweet sugary caramel flavor that, when present, was quite intense, it simply wasn't consistent. Very frequently we would find ourselves searching for a flavor that we knew probably was there, but just wasn't coming through. A note about this, when we lifted the bowl to go clean it out, we found that a huge amount of juice had in fact run down the bowl and pooled in the pan. And while this kind of drippage is expected with a Mya bowl, this amount was just ludicrious. Perhaps a phunnel bowl will fix this, but if it's not made to be smoked out of a regular bowl with any measure of success, it won't score any points from me. I'll keep experimenting with this stuff, but as it stands, it's just bland and boring for the most part.

Peanut Gallery:
(Caroline)
You know how after you eat a popsicle you can still taste a trace amount of its flavor on the stick? That’s what Apple on a Stick is like—smoking a stick that once held an apple.

Conclusion:
Not terrible, but not worth buying again. I imagine we'll finish the stuff at parties filled with people we don't really like.

C+