Zeus Juice Bar Liq Review

E-liquid is changing. While 50/50 freebase juice used to cut it, it’s all about bar salts now, replicating the taste of our favourite soon-to-go disposables. And, Zeus Juice has stepped up to the challenge with its new Bar Liq range of bar salts.

I’ve taken the time to give all ten flavours an extended session to see what they’re made of. I was a big fan of Zeus Juice’s recent Zodiac releases, so I’m keen to see if they’re ready to surprise me again!

Other Zeus Juice Reviews:

• Zeus Juice Zodiac Oxys and Ravine Review by MIST
• Zeus Juice Zodiac Range Review

Review Disclosure: Zeus Juice has supplied me with the ten bottles of e-liquid for this Bar Liq review. I have provided reviews for Zeus Juice before, and they understand that my thoughts and opinions are honest and impartial. I won’t hesitate to criticise an e-liquid I find unpleasant, and I appreciate Zeus Juice’s respect for this.

Video Review

Packaging and Contents 

The Bar Liq bar salts arrive in tall cardboard boxes with glossy matte finishes. 

• The front of the box shows the bottle within, with the “Bar Liq by Zeus Juice” at the top next to the strength rating (10mg in my case). Behind the picture of the bottle is an artist’s representation of the flavour within. 
• At the bottom of the box’s front, we can see a TPD health warning.
• The sides of the box display the flavour again, one side featuring a barcode and the other with “Double Conc” printed, possible to emphasise the increased disposable-esque sweeteners and flavourings within.

The box’s label shows the contents in terms of bottle size (10ml) and nicotine content (10mg) beneath a standard nicotine health warning. Beneath this is an ingredients list, contact information for Zeus Juice, and a TPD-compliant health warning.

Inside the box is a helpful slip of paper explaining things like propylene glycol intolerance and how to open the bottle.

Beneath this, the bottle is in a sealed, branded plastic wrapper reminiscent of a disposable pen. Once the wrapper is torn open, you can immediately smell some flavour.

Flavour 

Score: 4.5 out of 5

The Zeus Juice Bar Liq range consists of ten flavours. The flavours in the range include:

1. Cola Ice
2. Peach Ice
3. Berry Lemonade
4. Strawberry Burst
5. Watermelon Bubblegum
6. Blackcurrant Juice
7. Grape Ice
8. Blueberry Sour Razz
9. Fizzy Cherry
10. Minty Menthol

Each flavour is available in 5mg, 10mg and 20mg. I’ve used 10mg for this review as it’s closest to my nicotine preference.

The device I’ve used for this review is a Geekvape Wenax Q Ultra Pod Kit with 0.8ohm Q Cartridges. I chose these pods because Geekvape’s VPU coil design allows me to gauge the taste more accurately, giving me the most precise flavours.

A quick tl;dr for the fidgety readers – I found the Bar Liq range very enjoyable. Admittedly, a couple of flavours missed the mark for me, but overall, it’s a delicious exploration of fruity tastes that replicate the disposable vape hit.

Cola Ice

Score: 5 out 5

I love cola vapes, so this was the first I tried. The taste is clear and decent, with a lovely blend of semi-botanical cola flavouring, a sweet and sugary soda water flavour, and, most importantly, a noticeable ‘gassiness’.

Most cola vapes lean too much toward the ‘fizzy’ quality and just end up making a candy/sherbert-flavoured juice, so the decision to try something that captured the carbonated edge of cola was a masterstroke, in my opinion.

Peach Ice

Score: 5 out 5

Peach Ice takes it easy on the icy aspect, and I think it’s paying off. The peach flavour is punchy, zesty, and confident. It has a delectably sweet floral energy, and, as mentioned before, the ice isn’t too overwhelming.

While I love a frosty, cold, fruity vape, the restrained ice in this e-liquid lets the fruity flavour take centre stage, and I can see why Zeus was keen to show off their prize peach flavouring.

Berry Lemonade

Score: 2 out 5

As expected, Berry Lemonade has an extremely sweet profile. Whereas the cola and peach juices above understood a measured approach, Berry Lemonade seems to be on a sweet kamikaze mission, and the target is your taste buds.

There will be many sweet-toothed vapers who enjoy this berry-beverage blend, though I was a bit annoyed by the lack of detectable lemonade flavour. If anything, it’s more of a basic berry blend, and while tasty, it was too sweet for me to try for long.

Strawberry Burst

Score: 4 out of 5

This was a really playful one! Strawberry can sometimes be a bit powerful, but this version takes a relatively gentle approach. It focuses on the fruity flavour and doesn’t waste time on too much additional sweetener.

There’s a faint cooling note of ice that doesn’t impact the flavour. While strawberry isn’t my go-to fruit flavour, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this one; it’s going into my regular rotation!

Watermelon Bubblegum

Score: 3 out of 5

While the watermelon flavour is robust and present, I couldn’t detect a strong bubblegum note within the profile. There’s a touch of extra sugar, giving it a watermelon gummy sweet taste. But the distinctively mellow and rounded taste of gum is sadly missing, for me at least.

It’s a tasty watermelon vape juice, certainly, but not quite a bubblegum flavour by my metrics.

Blackcurrant Juice

Score: 4 out of 5

Blackcurrant very rarely gets the chance to shine by itself. It’s usually blended with other berries, and the taste can get lost in the cacophony of berry hits. Well, this flavour focuses purely on rich and zesty blackcurrant tastes and is absolutely delicious.

Despite the very sweet profile, the simple approach to blackcurrant flavour and willingness to let it stand alone results in a digestible and enjoyable sugary wave of tastes. It’s a bit much for all-day vaping, but very tasty.

Grape Ice

Score: 4.5 out 5

Whoa! Okay, I’ve tried a few grape e-liquids over the years, but this is probably the most powerful flavoured. It has the natural grape lusciousness, but a strong dose of extra sweetener works with the grape rather than against it.

The punch of flavour is quite “floral”! That’s the word that’s coming to me. Like grapes and sweet pink blossoms. Far out and incredibly moreish.

Blueberry Sour Razz

Score: 5 out of 5

It’s a classic vape flavour that everyone’s taken a shot at. Zeus being Zeus, I anticipated something fairly special, and I wasn’t let down. I was happy to notice that the blueberry flavour is NOT an afterthought here. Ordinarily, it’s just a grounding flavour for the tangy raspberry, but Zeus has ensured the subtle, mellow taste of blueberries screams alongside the powerful raspberry notes.

I don’t think I’ve ever tried a blueberry/raspberry juice that gave them equal presence. Super impressive!

Fizzy Cherry

Score: 4 out of 5

I have to say that while it’s a very nice cherry flavour, I’m not detecting any kind of ‘fizz’. Perhaps they should have tried using whatever made the Cola Ice really sparkle.

Nonetheless, the cherry flavour is excellent. It leans into cherry candy somewhat and has a touch of what feels like eucalyptus or something you’d find in a cherry drop boiled-sweet. 

However, I was impressed with the sourness of the cherry flavour, an essential aspect many manufacturers overlook.

Minty Menthol

Score: 3 out of 5

I saved this menthol number for the end as a palate cleanser, and it’s certainly done that job well! Minty Menthol is unsure of itself; it doesn’t know whether it wants to be a botanical menthol blast of ice or a candy-esque sweet mint flavour.

However, the middle ground it finds itself in is delightful, with a nice sweet aspect to the mint leaf flavour and a strong menthol note. I would, however, say it’s closer to a candy vape than a pure mint one. Do with that what you will!

Throat Hit 

Score: 4 out of 5

While the nicotine salt contents reduce throat or chest irritation, the use of ice across the majority of the range delivers a gentle cooling waft of air on every inhale.

It seems that Zeus was able to keep the ice in check, as it cleanses the palate and teases the throat on each inhale without dampening the fruity tastes ensconced within.

It’s a subtle approach, but it results in a best-of-both-worlds situation: cool puffs, no lingering sugar on the tongue, and an invigorating throat kick.

Vapour Production 

Score: 3 out of 5

Being MTL e-liquids brewed at a 50VG/50PG ratio, they produce a moderate amount of vapour. Some MTL juices can be light on the visible vapour, which I dislike because it leads to some mental confusion about whether you actually took a puff.

Seeing the vapour matters, in my opinion. Luckily, the Bar Liq juices kick out more vapour than you’d expect to see smoke from a cigarette.

Summary

Zeus Juice’s Bar Liq range is a tasty collection of fruity vapes that accurately pinpoints the balance of sweetness and ice you find in disposable vapes. While a couple of flavours get a bit muddled, the majority are clear and zesty. The choice of three nicotine strengths is great for those trying to reduce their intake over time.