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10 Top Vape Flavors That Taste Like the Real Thing

When Did Vaping Start? | ZampleBox Vape School

Jun 22, 2022Updated Sep 17, 20265 min readVape School

The best vape juices taste like the thing on the label. A lemon bar should taste baked, not like lemon candy. A pink lemonade should be tart and bright, not just sweet. Getting that right is harder than it looks, and only a handful of flavors really pull it off.

The ten below were standouts with the ZampleBox community, and all of them picked up honors in our E-Liquid Awards or community voting around 2019 and 2020. Brands and lineups change, and several of these makers are no longer on our shelves, so treat this list as a guide to the kinds of flavors that work. Each pick links to similar flavor categories you can shop today.

Short version: Realistic vape flavors come from layering and balance, and these ten did it well. Two of the brands, Juice Head and Vape Craft, are still on our shelves. For the rest, use the flavor links under each pick to find something similar.

The list

1. Audrey by Bombshell Vapor

A lemon bar that tastes fresh out of the oven, finished with a dusting of vanilla powdered sugar. It layers bakery, citrus and sweet notes without letting any one of them take over. At the time, it was also made as a nic salt. Similar flavors: lemon and pastry.

2. Wild Berry Ice by Gorilla Fruits

A Best Fruit Vape winner in our 2020 awards. This candy-style blend leads with a blast of raspberry and backs it up with darker mixed berries. Similar flavors: raspberry and berry.

3. English Bulldog by Good Life Vapor

Some vapers don’t want fruit or dessert at all, just a real tobacco taste. Our community’s best e-juice flavors survey named this one best in class for tobacco. It has the richness of a fine pipe tobacco with hints of sweet and nutty flavor, so it is far from one-dimensional. It is an acquired taste, but a rewarding one. Similar flavors: tobacco and bold.

4. Sour Deez by BombBombz

A chewy sour candy built on realistic kiwi and strawberry, with just the right amount of sour. It also took Best Fruit Vape honors in 2020, and it pairs a low throat hit with plenty of vapor. Similar flavors: kiwi, strawberry and sour.

5. Churros and Ice Cream by OneUp Vapor

A true classic with multiple awards to its name, and a long-running favorite with our community. The inhale brings cream and cinnamon, and the exhale delivers the churro itself. Similar flavors: cinnamon and ice cream.

6. Blueberry Lemon by Juice Head

A refreshing, summery blend of blueberries and lemon that ZampleBox members have called one of the best they have tried. Both fruits taste true to life, which is why it earned a spot here. Juice Head is still on our shelves, so check the current lineup. Similar flavors: blueberry and lemon.

7. Cinnaswirl by Cali Steam

A sweet, gooey cinnamon bun, complete with creamy icing. With a name like that, you know what it is going for, and it gets remarkably close. Similar flavors: bakery and cream.

8. OMG So Good by Vape Craft

Rich vanilla custard cheesecake topped with brown sugar. It won our Best Milk Vape award in 2020 and has stayed a community favorite since. Vape Craft is on our shelves, so browse the current range. Similar flavors: cheesecake and custard.

9. Pink Lemonade by Risky E-Juice

The 2019 Best Drink Vape winner. It matches the classic drink closely, balancing citrus with ripe strawberry. Similar flavors: lemonade and strawberry.

10. H-Tears by Mighty Vapors

Our community voted it the overall best of 2020. A realistic hard candy base lets a sweet mix of apple, watermelon and berries shine, and its 30/70 PG/VG blend keeps the inhale smooth. Similar flavors: candy, watermelon and apple.

What makes a vape flavor taste real

  • Layering. The most convincing flavors build in stages, like the cream-and-cinnamon inhale and churro exhale above. A single flat note rarely tastes real.
  • Balance. Too much sweetener or cooling can bury the fruit or bakery notes you want to taste.
  • The right setup. Wattage, coil and ratio all change how a flavor comes across. Higher-PG blends carry flavor a little better, while high-VG blends make more vapor. Our guide to PG and VG explains the trade-off.
  • A little time. Custards and bakery flavors often taste fuller after a short rest. Learn more in how to steep your e-liquid.
  • A fresh coil. Old, gunked-up coils mute everything. If a favorite suddenly tastes flat or burnt, see when to change your vape coils.

If a flavor you love starts tasting dull, it may not be the juice. Vaping one flavor all day can dull your sense of it, something vapers call vaper’s tongue. Switching to a different flavor family for a while usually helps.

Finding your own real-thing flavors

Everyone’s palate is different, so the best way to find favorites is to try a few. Browse all our flavor categories, or join the Zamplebox Club. You rate flavor notes when you sign up, every pick in your monthly box comes with a short reason, and you can swap any bottle before it ships. Our guide to perfecting your ZampleBox flavor profile walks you through it.

Bottles worth trying

Common questions

Can I buy these exact flavors at ZampleBox?

Some of these brands are no longer on our shelves. Juice Head and Vape Craft are, so check their brand pages for the current lineup. For the rest, the flavor categories under each pick are the best place to find something similar.

Why does a flavor taste different in my device than in a friend’s?

Wattage, coil type, airflow and the juice’s PG/VG ratio all change how a flavor comes across. Start at the low end of your coil’s wattage range and work up until the flavor comes through.

Why do sweet dessert flavors wear out coils faster?

Sweeteners leave a sticky residue on coils as they heat. If you vape a lot of dessert and candy flavors, plan on changing coils more often. Our guide to why your vape tastes burnt has more.

WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. For adults 21+ only.